Jake Xerxes Fussell

Reared in Georgia and now settled in North Carolina, Jake Xerxes Fussell has established himself as a devoted listener and contemplative interpreter of a vast array of so-called folk songs, lovingly sourced from a personal store of favorites. He has released five studio albums to-date, beginning with his self-titled debut album, released by Paradise of Bachelors in 2015.

His most recent studio album When I’m Called was produced by James Elkington and features the playing of Ben Whiteley (The Weather Station), Joe Westerlund (Bon Iver, Califone), and others. Blake Mills contributes guitars on several tracks. Joan Shelley and Robin Holcomb provide backing vocals. In their review of the record, Pitchfork wrote: “No other American singer is repurposing our old folk scripts with so much authority or ingenuity.”

More recently, Fussell and Elkington collaborated on the music for Rebuilding - a feature film directed by Max Walker-Silverman and starring Josh O’Connor. A soundtrack of the same name was released on Fat Possum Records in November 2025.

“Critics love to call things unclassifiable, which can sometimes feel like a subtle admission of defeat. But Jake Xerxes Fussell’s music, which draws heavily from nineteenth- and twentieth-century vernacular folk songs and archival field recordings, is idiomatic, and entirely his own…he is a folksinger in the truest sense, collecting ideas and melodies and lyrics from distant and disparate traditions, looking for the things that unite us in our humanity.” - The New Yorker

“(Fussell) is one of the great magpies of American song, collecting forgotten, tarnished gems with a folklorist’s zeal…” – The Guardian

“…maybe the leading interpreter of American folk music right now.” – Ann Powers, NPR

Sam Amidon

Sam Amidon is a singer and multi-instrumentalist (banjo, guitar, fiddle) from Vermont, US, now based in London, England. His new album “Salt River” was released by River Lea / Rough Trade on 24th January 2025. He has previously released seven acclaimed albums of songs on Bedroom Community and Nonesuch Records.

Amidon's material for these albums often consists of adventurous reworkings of traditional American ballads, hymns and work songs, with the New York Times writing that Amidon "transforms all of the songs, changing their colors and loading them with trapdoors." The albums have been deeply collaborative in nature, inviting contributions from musicians such as composer Nico Muhly, guitarist Bill Frisell, and on “Salt River,” saxophonist/producer Sam Gendel.

The release of “Salt River” comes on the heels of the premiere of the Teac Damsa show Nobodaddy in Belfast, followed by a sold out run at Dublin Theatre Festival and London’s Sadlers Wells. Nobodaddy is a dance theatre music piece by choreographer Michael Keegan Dolan, centered around Amidon’s songs and Sam was nominated for “Outstanding Creative Contribution” by the National Dance Awards Critics Circle in the UK for his performance. He has also recently finished work on the forthcoming film “History of Sound,” starring Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor, wherein Amidon served as a consultant and musician. The film will premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.

Previously, Sam Amidon has recorded or performed as a guest artist with musicians such as Bon Iver, The National, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Gloaming, Lonnie Holley, Manami Kakudo, Jacob Collier, Marc Ribot, and Beth Orton, among many others. He has appeared internationally as a soloist with ensembles such as the Kronos Quartet, The Aurora Orchestra, the Australian Chamber Orchestra with Pekka Kuusisto, The Scottish Chamber Orchestra, The Oregon Symphony, Roomful of Teeth, and the Britten Sinfonia.