Folk

Even in its moodiest, most downbeat moments there’s a spark of energy that bursts out of A Face In Your Life, the new album from Pet Fox. Where past efforts played around with after-the-fact layering of instrumentation, the band’s third full-length comes alive in the moment. Tracked live in one room, the ten songs that unravel across the album capture Theo Hartlett (Guitar/Vocals), Morgan Luzzi (Bass), and Jesse Weiss (Drums) in their rawest, most immediate form.

Boston-based emcee Akrobatik has been releasing music and touring since his first official single in 1998, "Ruff Enuff". His work has appeared in TV, movies, video games, and advertisements throughout his career. His high-energy live performance and freestyling skills have helped bring him to over two dozen countries to perform at concerts and festivals. Akro is also a member of The Perceptionists, a duo consisting of himself and long-time partner-in-rhyme Mr. Lif, and has been teaching courses on the history and practice of Hip-Hop at UMass Boston since 2014.

Born in Mali, Balla Kouyaté was raised in the Djeli tradition. His knowledge of his traditional repertoire is unparalleled. Today, the first balafon, over 1000 years old, remains in his family, guarded by his father, El Hadji Sekou Kouyaté. It is considered a UNESCO Artifact of Oral and Intangible History.

Jorge Santiago Arce was born in Bélgica, a working class neighborhood of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Ponce is a city well known for its rich cultural traditions and is characterized by the emergence and evolution of important Afro-Caribbean music and dances such as the "Bomba," "Plena" and "Danza." Half of Jorge's family comes from San Antón, mainly a black community known for the African tradition of the Bomba music; the other half comes from the music tradition. His life in the "barrio" Bélgica was filled with the Plena music.

Andy Macbain (Tunnel of Love, The Monsieurs, Andy California) is the last true savior of rock’n’roll. Along with the mighty Billy Childish, Mark Sultan, King Khan, Haunted George, Oblivians, Cheater Slicks, Gories and a monkey’s paw full of others that were actually there for, and brought up on, 20th century noise, Andy California is an essential and spiritual component of the great force of primal, rhythmic skronk, and possibly the only man left with the sincerity and inalienable right to deliver it.

Receita de Samba, taken from Jacob do Bandolim's choro of the same name, means in Portuguese "recipe for samba", an apt name for a group who's focus is to showcase the many flavors of Brazilian music in their purest form, with no artificial additives like drum machines or electronic sampling. The chefs de cuisine are husband and wife duo Anna Borges and Bill Ward, who draw from Boston's vibrant Brazilian music scene to cook up only the finest bossa nova and samba, and well as regional specialties such as forró, ijexá, and coco.

Borrowing her name from her father’s 70s band, Spats Riley brings biting lyrics to classic Americana in what has been dubbed “broken-hearted country blues.” Hailing from Somerville, MA, Spats has rock ‘n’ roll roots in the city but owes her Northern twang to an upbringing in the woods of Maine.

Check Spats Riley out on Instagram!

Amy Kucharik & The Four-String Serenaders perform traditional 20s and 30s blues and jazz, originals, and creative pop mashups with a vintage flair for dancers... and everyone else! The time-traveling combo, led by ukulelist, singer-songwriter, and swing dancer Amy Kucharik, is united by a love of vintage music, dance, and style. The band includes a rotating cast of top-notch jazz musicians from New England.

The Collect Pond is a Boston group led by Bellingham, Washington native Danny Moffat. Underwater Features is the second Collect Pond album, but the first Moffat has made with a full-time band (bassist/keyboardist Roger Maranan, drummer Rob Carrington, and guitarist/keyboardist Ben Bonadies).

Celebrating a love of songwriters like Paul Simon and Elliott Smith with the rhythm and swagger of Spoon and Booker T & The MGs. Sinnet mixes tasty indie-rock nuggets with bits of soul, surf, pop, psychedelia and Sinnet™ brand spookiness.