Deb Talan

Deb Talan has been writing songs since she was 14 years old. Granted, her style has changed a bit since writing the forever-unknown smash-hit “Through the Window” about feeling numb, like life was going on somewhere out there but not accessible to her (at 14. so jaded.) She played clarinet, wrote songs on piano, later taught herself to play guitar in college, got obsessed with Shawn Colvin, was a vegetarian for 4 years, ended that with a hotdog and a swim in lake Michigan, started a band in Portland, OR with her friend Mark, named it Hummingfish, wrote a lot of fun songs that people danced to ‘til they were all sweaty in that hipster/grungy/geeky Northwest kind of way, moved back to the east coast 6 years and a divorce later and began playing solo in Boston coffee houses (read: 4 different Starbucks that she also poured espresso at) opened shows for Catie Curtis (a songwriter hero of hers) met up with Steve Tannen and formed The Weepies, played shows all over the country and the world, toured in a real tourbus! moved to LA, got married to Steve, made 5 records and 3 amazing boy-children together with him, had songs placed in loads of movies and tv shows, moved to Iowa, got breast cancer, got chemotherapy and relied heavily on marijuana for pain and nausea relief(Legalize, for gods’ sakes, can we grow up as a country, please?) recovered from breast cancer, made a solo album, struggled with mental health issues (Childhood Incest Survivor, lucky to be alive, music has helped, and so have many blessed healers) and relationship issues for 6 years, got divorced from Steve. She has a lot she could say these days. She prefers to listen. But playing songs for people is a close second. Music heals. Songs can be prayers. Deb Talan is some lovely damn proof of that.

Maya de Vitry’s dynamic and vibrant voice seems to rise out of some necessity of bringing songs to life, embracing listeners with what Folk Alley calls a “soulful intimacy”. She grew up in a musical family in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, understanding music to be a place of gathering, a way to spend a summer night by a campfire. She was surrounded by bluegrass and old-time music, and country, gospel, and folk songs. She took piano lessons from her grandmother, and took up classical violin in school, but it was some combination of the groove-centered fiddle music of Appalachia, the vulnerable poetry in Townes Van Zandt’s songwriting, and the deeply emotive phrasing of Billie Holiday’s singing that first compelled her to begin creating tunes and songs of her own - and it was around campfires that she slowly found the courage to begin singing them. Maya first traveled and performed as a fiddling street musician, and then in bars, theaters, and on festival stages as a founding member of The Stray Birds. When the trio parted ways in 2018, Maya embarked on an ever-evolving musical path of solo work and new collaborations. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, she enjoys moving between acoustic and electric worlds, playing in the musical spaces between folk, country, and indie rock - although she thinks of it all as “song music”. Her recordings and live performances embody both sincerity and playfulness, and a compelling reverence for the power of songs to be a place of gathering - whether played on stage, or around a campfire. Maya tours with her acoustic trio, and with her electric band, each featuring a fluid lineup of consistently stellar musicians who create a powerfully dynamic show. An engaging solo performer and an inspired collaborator, Maya also enjoys the art of warming up the stage for other artists and she has been invited to support a variety of tours, from innovative singer-songwriters like John Craigie and Aoife O’Donovan, to the roots-minded supergroup Mighty Poplar.