Folkadelphia Sessions V shows folk’s many faces with Julie Byrne, Sammus, Harmony Woods, and more

Julie Byrne | photo by Rachel Del Sordo

Though the inherent weary restlessness of folk music can never truly be contained, local folk organization, Folkadelphia, has a home here at WXPN on the air and at The Key through Fred Knittel’s studio sessions. This past year hosted a particularly gem-filled handful of folk discoveries, which is documented in the fifth installment of the Folkadelphia Sessions compilation featured below.

Ranging from the more textbook, acoustic folk stylings of Julie Byrne’s quietly gorgeous, “Natural Blue,” and Shannen Moser’s  achey punk croons in “Yr Undertaker,” the compilation also ventures out to include the honest hip-hop verses of Sammus’s anti “Lovesong,” and the basement folk feedback of Harmony Woods’ “Vignette 2 / Speckled.”

So whether it’s a bittersweet strum of violin, a clash of crunchy drums, or a dotting of electro beats, each featured artist is unified in their earnest and authentic storyteller prowess. Go be serenaded by eighteen of folk’s finest below.