Hear the Best New Folk Music with Fresh Cuts Friday

Ready for some of the best new music we’ve heard this week? It’s a great list as you’ll see below — and as you’ll hear when you join me for my “Fresh Cuts” radio hour! Listen every Friday at 2 p.m. Eastern, 11 a.m. Pacific via the 24/7 stream on our website, app, or your smart speaker.

Or, just click on the Fresh Cuts stream whenever it’s convenient for you.

In the meantime, check out some of the best new music we’ve been listening to this week.

Ben Harper – “Love After Love” 

Ben Harper’s latest showcases the quiet side of the incomparable musician, who is known as a bit of a chameleon when it comes to style. Harper shares: “‘Love After Love’ illustrates love as the ultimate renewable resource. Resurrected and restored like an ill-kept ancient Stradivarius violin. Not only learning to love again but learning to trust again. Inventing a new language for two. A shorthand for the long haul.”

Brennen Leigh – “Running Out of Hope, Arkansas”  

That classic country and western sound are celebrated in Brennen Leigh’s new song from her upcoming release (out June 2). “I’m in love with this idea of the real Nashville, ” says Leigh. “The idyllic golden age, which, to me, is around 1967, 1968, because of the alchemy, the explosion that occurred, with the best country music songwriters ever, the best singers in country music.”

Caitlin Canty – “Odds of Getting Even”

Produced by Punch Brothers’ Chris Eldridge, songwriter Caitlin Canty’s upcoming album is out on June 23. “Odds of Getting Even” sees her getting groovy alongside her thoughtful lyrics, written by Canty and Maya de Vitry

Loudon Wainwright III – “Just Like Buster Keaton”

This one-off jangly single, written by George Gerdes and Marc Jonson three decades ago, has never been released. According to LW3, “George was my best buddy and a major songwriting influence for me. The Double G shuffled off the mortal coil in January of 2021 so it makes me very happy to think of people digging his work.”