In today’s popular music it has become customary to use electronic elements to create the most captivating sounds and effects – then comes along someone like Joan Shelley from Kentucky with this warm, sparkling voice singing wooden guitar folk that enchants without the use of alienating frills. Only the quietly rocking drums provide an occasional accompaniment to the brightly vibrating strings; the real magic of these songs lie in Shelley’s voice, and the way she uses it to give her pieces the sound of a mild summer breeze. It’s not surprising that on the latest album the folk legend Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy joins in now and then.
Text: Lena Rittmeyer