MAR 30-APR 2 | AMERICANA ROOTS WEEK
Mar 30, 2023
Joe Henderson Lab
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This page is an archive of a past production
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Original show description below.
The brainchild of singer, songwriter, and guitarist Avery Hellman — the granddaughter of bluegrass icon and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass founder Warren Hellman —Ismay was inspired by the historic music of the rural American West. Raised in a Petaluma and immersed in the deep bluegrass legacy of her family from childhood, Hellman was deeply influenced by the American folk tradition preserved in the priceless field recordings of Alan Lomax and the work of Emmylou Harris, Hazel Dickens, Mississippi John Hurt, and Leonard Cohen.
She developed a dazzling fingerpicking guitar style that, when matched to her beautifully ethereal vocals, creates a dynamic blend that references the sounds of the past while remaining steadfastly modern. A reference to the small Montana town detailed in author Jonathan Raban’s valentine to the rural west, Bad Land, Ismay is the name used by Hellman both as a solo artist and for performances with her band, and her ghostly and evocative original songs bring the lives and landscape of the rural country into vivid focus.
She has shared the stage with Justin Townes Earle, Robert Earl Keen, Chuck Prophet, and The Mother Hips, and her full-length album debut, Songs of Sonoma Mountain, was named one of “The Best Bay Area Albums of 2020” by KQED Arts.
Ismay's ghostly and evocative original songs bring the lives and landscape of the rural country into vivid focus.
In her music, Ismay is intent on emanating the tale of her coming into her own as a singer-songwriter through her revitalized passion for the natural world. She does so with an accomplished poise and grace without losing a strand of sincerity.
PopMatters
In her music, Ismay is intent on emanating the tale of her coming into her own as a singer-songwriter through her revitalized passion for the natural world. She does so with an accomplished poise and grace without losing a strand of sincerity.
PopMatters
Watch & Listen
Ismay
River of Light (Through the Inland Empire)
Ismay
Oh Precious Light
Ismay
River of Light (Through the Inland Empire)
Ismay
Oh Precious Light
MAR 30-APR 2 | AMERICANA ROOTS WEEK
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