This week’s indie folk does what the genre has always done best: turns big feelings and hard questions into something you can hold onto. Compassion, conscience and quiet resilience run through these songs, carried on warm acoustic craft and honest, unhurried storytelling.
Ridge Banks – Searching For Savannah
“Searching For Savannah” is a stunning, deeply moving piece of Americana from Ridge Banks, a compassionate song that puts a human face to a heartbreaking story.
Ridge Banks’ new single carries real weight. “Searching For Savannah” was written to shine a light on migrant children separated from their families after crossing the US border. And crucially it reaches for compassion rather than point-scoring. The aim, in Ridge’s own words, was never to make a political statement but to raise awareness of a humanitarian crisis and remind us that behind every statistic is a human story. Built on his stunningly crisp acoustic sound and intricate fingerstyle work, co-written with Bill Hinks and Cheri Carmody, it’s heartfelt and devastating. A moving, important song, beautifully handled.
Ridge Banks is a Nashville-based singer-songwriter, originally from Fenton, Michigan, who blends Americana and country storytelling with folk, blues and rock musicianship. He calls his style “rugged acoustic”, drawing on everyone from Jim Croce and John Denver to Ed Sheeran and Tommy Emmanuel, with a real love of alternate tunings. He left a career in healthcare to pursue music full-time, and has since built an international following, earning International Acoustic Music Awards finalist honours and recently signing with Spectra Music Group. It’s exciting stuff, and we’re pleased to share his work, as a songwriter of real sincerity and craft. We’d love to hear more.
Charlotte Morris – Make America
“Make America” is a superb modern protest anthem from Charlotte Morris, rich acoustic folk that poses hard questions rather than handing out easy answers.
Charlotte Morris’ new single sits squarely in the tradition of American protest folk. “Make America” asks listeners to reconsider what patriotism, compassion and accountability might look like today. And pointedly it poses questions rather than offering easy answers, which are all to easy to lean on in songs. The chorus frames it as a question rather than a declaration, and the concept is skillfully handled. Driven by acoustic guitar and soaring strings, it’s recorded beautifully and Charlotte’s vocal genuinely soars. It’s rooted in frustration but ultimately, as Morris puts it, driven by hope. Whatever your own view, it’s a thoughtful, powerfully written piece of songwriting that knows exactly what it wants to ask.
Charlotte Morris is a Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter blending folk and Americana with roots in classical music, musical theatre and the 60s and 70s folk revival. She began on violin at four, taught herself a small orchestra’s worth of instruments, and turned to songwriting at twelve, drawing on Joni Mitchell, Brandi Carlile and The Chicks. She’s toured extensively, shared stages with members of Peter, Paul & Mary, and picked up recognition from the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk Competition and the Rose Garden Songwriting Competition. Stirring, sincere and beautifully crafted. Charlotte Morris is proving herself to be a thoughtful, rising voice in modern folk.
Firefly Search Party – Some Days
“Some Days” is a gorgeous, quirky-in-the-best-way folk-pop bop from Firefly Search Party, a warm tune about catching the wave or taking a rest.
Firefly Search Party’s new single is a proper charmer, and it’s got a lovely backstory to match. They played “Some Days” live for over a year before committing to an arrangement, then asked their bandmates to develop their parts in isolation, added it all up, and went from there. It doesn’t sound thrown together at all, but definitely a lovely whole. And as they put it together, the parts shifted naturally as they connected, kind of like life, and that’s exactly what gives it its quirky, lived-in warmth. It’s a catchy folk-pop bop about deciding whether to catch the wave or take a rest, and there’s real levity and heart in it. Just lovely.
Firefly Search Party describe themselves, wonderfully, as a quirky couple of humans making honest music with their friends in search of connection, light, and something beautiful in their time together. Based in Madison, they trade in a warm, nostalgic folk-pop that’s easy to love and clearly made without ego. And isn’t that just the best type of music sometimes. The vibe of people who value the company and the craft in equal measure. It’s music with a genuinely open heart, and that sincerity is infectious. More of this please, folks.