Dann Pell is a singer-songwriter and fingerstyle guitarist from Lancaster County who makes meditative folk music in the spirit of Bob Dylan and Iron & Wine, with an occasional psychedelic flare reminiscent of Steve Gunn and Kurt Vile. It’s a beautiful melange of sound, and you can experience its full effect on Pell’s latest album Sanctuary, or on a deep dive through his extensive Bandcamp back-catalog. (His 2021 release Invocation got some international attention via a vinyl pressing on Melbourne, Australia label Ramble Records.)
As you might guess from his album titles, there is a sublime spiritual undercurrent to Pell’s songwriting; he sees his work as music that both grounds and uplifts, and self-describes it as “the traditional and sacred through a lens of deep listening.” Which makes it somewhat perfect for his new monthly series at the Exeter Friends Meetinghouse, with the next installment taking place this Saturday, February 24th.
To give us a taste of what he has in store for these performances — and simply to get this breathtaking artist on your radar — we invited Dann into WXPN Studios for a four-song Key Studio Sessions set. “Meeting” from that most recent album Sanctuary opens the set, and from there, Pell proceeds to share three unreleased songs that vary stylistically from swampy slide guitar blues to bright Appalachian fingerpicking style, all acting as vibrant beds for Pell’s introspective and poetic lyrics.
Watch Dann Pell’s Key Studio Session in full below; his next show at the Exeter Friends Meetinghouse takes place this Saturday, February 24th, at 5 p.m., and admission is available for a pay-what-you-will donation at the door. More information can be found here.