{"id":147339,"date":"2025-04-27T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-27T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=147339"},"modified":"2025-04-24T08:31:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T15:31:13","slug":"five-young-players-honoring-tradition-while-shaping-new-acoustic-sounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/five-young-players-honoring-tradition-while-shaping-new-acoustic-sounds\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Young Players Honoring Tradition\u00a0While Shaping New Acoustic Sounds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As country, Americana, and bluegrass artists like the Avett Brothers, Rhiannon Giddens, Jason Isbell, Sierra Ferrell, and Billy Strings continue to shake up the national charts and rack up record crowds, a rising generation of proudly roots-faithful young players and songwriters is following in their footsteps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These musicians, like the five up-and-comers profiled in this piece, are exceptionally well versed in the history of American folk, country, blues, and bluegrass, admirably devoted to mastering their instruments and their songwriting skills, and stubbornly loyal about bringing their authentic musical voices as well as their personal identities and backgrounds to the evolving lexicon of roots music culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like generations of musical aspirants before them, from Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton to Kacey Musgraves, these determined young artists and players relocated to Nashville from as far away as Hawaii\u2014uprooting from family and friends to nurture the dream of earning both a living from and recognition for their prodigious talents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The five young artists introduced here\u2014Presley Haile, Kapali Long, Jobi Riccio, Presley Barker, and Lizzie No\u2014are also very much following their own paths, putting aside the tempting polish of Nashville\u2019s pop-country industry to create music that\u2019s vivid and raw, honest and personal, and firmly rooted in the deep musical traditions they continue to hold sacred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Presley
Presley Haile, Photo: Bill Peary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Presley Haile<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lone Star State of Mind<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

T<\/strong>he first thing you notice about Presley Haile is her striking voice\u2014authoritative and tonally rich, recalling the timbres of June Carter Cash, Loretta Lynn, and Emmylou Harris. But the 23-year-old is a strong and subtle guitarist as well, gently keeping time and bringing sensitive dynamics on the six-string. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s that special vintage-approved marriage between her picking and singing that makes Haile\u2019s music such a convincing blend of classic country and folk gestures, special enough to land a record deal with Columbia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On songs like \u201cCimarron,\u201d \u201cMosquito,\u201d and \u201cMountain Daughter,\u201d<\/a> the Texas native echoes that state\u2019s great roots songwriting tradition\u2014think Mance Lipscomb to Miranda Lambert\u2014as well as the Southern Baptist upbringing that had her singing hymns and spirituals from an early age. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Picking up the guitar when her gifted late older brother and accompanist Bradley joined the military, Haile saved up to buy an inexpensive acoustic and learned how to accompany herself. \u201cI started by using a pick, and even then I played pretty gently,\u201d she explains. \u201cBut when I started fingerpicking, that\u2019s when I was really able to explore my vocal range and my vocal rhythms. When I\u2019m fingerpicking, it\u2019s relaxed, and I\u2019m much less likely to rush through a tune. If I like what I\u2019m playing, and I sit back with the tempo, that allows my voice the space and freedom to really find the song.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She adds, \u201cI use my right thumb, pointer, and middle finger for playing acoustic. I rarely use my ring finger at all, but if I do, it\u2019s because I\u2019m feeling extra special that day.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though she says she\u2019s had little luck shaping chords in alternate tunings like DADGAD or open G, Haile often uses double dropped D\u2014as she does on the melancholy \u201cLess Lonesome.\u201d Her go-to is standard tuning, with the capo typically placed on the third or fourth fret to complement her vocal range and, she confesses, to take the guitar\u2019s action down a bit. For her gentle style, she likes similarly gentle extra-light strings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the emotional impact of Haile\u2019s songs is anything but light, and with guitar heroes like Doc Watson and Tony Rice, and songwriting reference points like Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, and Shawn Camp, Haile has no shortage of weighty inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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