What is Folk Alliance? Well, it’s part festival, part industry conference, part gathering of the tribes. Most importantly though, it’s about the most ground level assemblage of music talent each year.
What is Folk Alliance? Well, it’s part festival, part industry conference, part gathering of the tribes. Most importantly though, it’s about the most ground level assemblage of music talent in the United States each year. This is where many up-and-coming artist young and old go to try and get discovered, or at least find the managers, labels, booking agents, publicists, and festivals who might help foster their career to the next level. As one prominent independent label head once stated, “You know who the real mother f–ckers are when you see them in a hotel room at Folk Alliance at 3:00 in the morning.” That because along with discussion panels during the day and “official” showcases in the evening, multiple floors of the host hotel are taken over by groups of artists, management companies, promoters, non-profits, and everything in-between, showcasing performers until the wee hours in the morning. That same prominent independent label head also once said about Folk Alliance, “There is a hell of a lot of chaff here. But the wheat can be so sweet.” That’s the reason those who really want to be on the cutting edge of the talent bubbling up in music make their way to the event each year, including this year where it was held in New Orleans January 21st to 25th. One recurring theme that kept coming up in conversation was one you hear outside of music as well: affordability. Artist Carsie Blanton was the co-winner (tie) for Artist of the Year at the annual Folk Music Awards held on the Wednesday of every Folk Alliance. She split the accolade with supergroup I’m With Her (Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan). I’m With Her were not there to accept the award. Carsie Blanton was, but didn’t accept it either, instead using the opportunity of her speech to say that Folk Alliance (and music in general) is too expensive to make it in. It’s hard to argue with that, since everywhere you seem to turn, the gulf between the have’s and the have not’s only widens, with so much true talent getting lost in the attention economy. But we can all complain about it, or roll up our sleeves and get to work trying to do something about it. That’s what Saving Country Music does, and tried to do at Folk Alliance 2026, surfing from hotel room to hotel room, showcase to showcase, trying to find what might be next great artist to emerge, and of course focusing on the more country side of things, but keeping an open mind. Here were the Top 5 discoveries from Folk Alliance 2026, as well as some other great connections, rec-connections, and general stellar performances.
Sammi Accola presents herself as a songwriter, and she most certainly is that. But she is also a genuine star deserving of discovery. Her fearless and advanced lyricism is willing to explore the most difficult and sometimes tense of subject matters, and in often enrapturing ways. She also uses songwriting as therapy, working in Nashville with battered and trafficked women, as well as with the Beyond Bars prison songwriting program authored by songwriter/performer Caitlin Cannon. Originally from Seaside, Florida and now living in Nashville, Sammi Accola’s ability to use her vocal range and dynamics to pull the emotion out of songs and deliver “moments” is singular. And for such a serious songwriter, she also can be seriously fun and disarming, self-describing herself as a “goofball.” There is so much possibility in a Sammi Accola career.
Just when you think you’ve discovered the very apex talent within the bluegrass discipline—or the next blazing band to take the subgenre to another layer of the stratosphere—there’s yet another right around the corner that seems to best all comers, and leave you agog. That is the experience of witnessing The Cody Sisters. AI ain’t no match for these young women.Originally from Colorado, and now living in New York, sisters Megan Cody (brown hair), and Maddie Cody (blonde hair) present the very pinnacle of human possibilities when it comes to instrumental performance. They started in a family band with their dad playing bass. Now they’re joined by Will Pavilonis, who is responsible for the incredible and imaginative arrangements of their cover and original material. They were also joined by fiddle player Jackson Earles at Folk Alliance. You absolutely have to get this band on your radar, and do not miss any opportunity to see them live.
Combining adept flat-picking with top-caliber songwriting and a voice perfectly tooled for bluegrass and Appalachian roots, Mason Via brings an accessibility and immediacy to the music that sometimes can be missing from the roots disciplines. As intrepid and inspiring as bluegrass can be, it can also feel like you’re witnessing a technical skills competition. That’s not the Mason Via experience. Though he can pick with the best with them, his focus is telling stories and evoking feelings in his songs, while gracing them with timeless appeal.Mason Via has a natural disposition to making quality songs fun and entertaining, and he’s a hoot to see live. Formerly of Old Crow Medicine Show, he released a killer self-titled bluegrass album in 2025, and his newer songs sound great. Mason Via feels like the future of accessible string band music.
Yasmin Williams is able to unlock the magic out of wood and wire unlike anyone else. There are plenty that can pick fast. There are plenty who can strum beautifully. But few if any bring the diversity of influence and musical dialect to bear on the instrument while synthesizing it into something distinctly their own through a brilliant approach of imagination. Williams also takes no BS, whether from Beyoncé and the over-commercialization of Cowboy Carter, or The Kennedy Center where she had to field heckles after criticizing its politicization. As always, Yasmin received as massive, standing ovation for her official performance at Folk Alliance 2026 in New Orleans. Wherever she goes, she mesmerizes audiences. She’s not exactly a new discovery, but she definitely left a major impact at Folk Alliance 2026.
Originally from Fairhope, Alabama, Summerlyn Powers features great country songs, and a great voice (and whistle too, apparently). She started performing when she was only 11, and has been mentored by Pam Tillis over the years. She’s got songs you could hear being hits on country radio in a good way like “Peaches,” and others that would earn the acceptance of the distinguishing Americana crowd. You really look forward to what Summerlyn has in store for the future.
Ali Holder, Alice Wallace, Beth Chrisman, Blake Tallent, Caitlin Cannon, Carsie Blanton, Drew landry, Emily Scott Robinson, Folk Alliance, Garrett T. Capps, Hope Dunbar, I’m With Her, Jack Barksdale, Jimmy Fretwell, Lucy Clearwater, Mason Via, Matt The Electrician, Meredith Moon, Morris Holdahl, Philip Bowen, River Shook, Sammi Accola, Silas Lowe, Simon Flory, Summerlyn Powers, The Cody Sisters, Will Pavilonis, Yasmin Williams
Very cool lineup. Exited to check some of these out. Very happy Rivers Shook has a solo album coming out I hope it’s brings their sound that was so good on the first two albums and maybe has been missing a bit. And I think Garrett Capps had one of 2025s best albums with Life is Strange so very excited he has a new one coming so soon.
Source: savingcountrymusic.com