There are many folk singer-songwriters out there, but not all concern themselves with folklore. Dom Flemons does. A modern-day troubadour, Flemons breathes new life into old-time music, often accompanying himself with a banjo or guitar. Listening to him perform feels like an auditory journey back in time, and if that illusion wasn’t already cemented, it certainly will be when his upcoming record, Making American Music: The Smithsonian Sessions, releases in January 2027.

The inception of the project dates back to 2018, when Flemons became the first Artist in Residence at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Being around countless legendary instruments, including the 140-year-old Emory guitar that once belonged to Mississippi John Hurt, Flemons felt deeply inspired to revive history through music. Fortunately, he was invited to record with some of those precious instruments that are ordinarily safely guarded at the museum’s vault.

The sessions resulted in Flemons’ third studio album on Smithsonian Folkways, which is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. And though there’s only one single available so far, Flemons performs a few of his unreleased songs from the album to give a taste of what’s coming for the listeners of Soundcheck. - Sırma Munyar

Setlist: 1.Lost River Blues  2.Night And Day  3.Take Me Back to Bronzeville

(Dom Flemons photographed by Emily Cummings)

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Grace Cummings is a contemporary Australian musician whose songs often have the big, technicolor sound of the 1960’s. But the featured sound is always her striking voice – as we’ll hear when she plays solo in our studio. Her latest album, Bloodhorse!, wrestles with darkness and doubt, Shakespeare and spirituality. And speaking of spirituality, sax player Isaiah Collier has spent much of this year marking the centennial of John Coltrane’s so-called spiritual jazz by playing Coltrane’s classic A Love Supreme around the country. But at the same time, Collier has also been singing his own brand of spiritual R&B. He brings his band to our studio to play some of his latest tunes from his EP, Joy.

Grace Cummings set list: 1.John Lennon 2.I'm Not Crazy 3.FAKE

Isaiah Collier set list: 1. Where I'm Loved 2. Joy

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New York-based Rasputina, the steampunk cello-rock outfit led by Melora Creager, draws lyrical inspiration from history and the headlines. What began as an ad seeking women for an electric cello choir became a touring electro-chamber outfit known for original songs with unsettling perspectives and inventive arrangements of rock classics, all with an eye for retro fashion of the 19th century.

Grigori Rasputin, the Russian mystic and faith healer, is the figure after whom the band is named - although their lyrics may look further back in history to the 1590’s with the Shakespearean authorship controversy (The Oxford theory that the actual author was Edward de Vere), show music of Elizabethan times (the first) by Thomas Weelkes, and madrigals. (During their interview, Creager seemed open to the suggestion to adapt the J.S. Bach Cello Suites with pedals, and invoked My Ladye Nevells Booke, a collection of works for keyboard by English Renaissance composer William Byrd.) Even as inspiration may also come from macabre events – mutiny, disease, war, and/or news headlines over the centuries, the storytelling is always front and center.

Rasputina’s trajectory from major label to indie cello rockers happened early on in the 1990’s (despite the origin myth of having formed in the 1890’s), when after having toured with Nirvana, Creager made a choice to opt out of fame and world domination. Recently though, Rasputina has been offering some music online, yet some things are still kept old school and in limited runs; their latest release, Daddy Likes Bread, is a three-song seven inch vinyl record, available only in person, at “recitals” where the band does public performances. Rasputina, the “Traveling Ladies’ Cello Society” (Bandcamp), is once again coming to a music hall near you after a years-long break; they play live, in-studio. - Caryn Havlik

Watch the video performances on the New Sounds YouTube channel:
Set list: 1. Draconian Crackdown 2. Hunter’s Kiss 

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Juana Molina began her professional career not as a musician, but as an actress – and a fairly successful one at that. In her home country of Argentina, she gained popularity as a sketch comedy star, even getting her own television show in the 90s. Feeling more drawn to music rather than acting, Molina began writing and singing songs at the peak of her success and never looked back. Now, she has eight studio albums under her belt, with her latest, Doga, receiving praise from critics all over the world.

The record proves that Molina has an insatiable thirst for creating sophisticated music with unpredictable yet thoughtful sound design; a product of endless hours of experimenting with her collaborators. It was years in the making, with some songs dating back to 2019, but Molina’s perception of the process shows how symbiotic her relationship with music is: “When you get into it, and you just let you go, and you don’t think anymore, then sounds get awakened, and they start talking to you and tell you what to do with them. It’s easy.”

Now, almost a year after the release of Doga, Molina visits our studios to play a few of her new songs amid her world tour, for this episode of Soundcheck. - Sırma Munyar

(Photo of Juana Molina by Verena Algranti)

Setlist: 1.Uno es árbol  2.Caravanas  3.La paradoja 

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We perceive loneliness as a human emotion. Dive into any decade and you’ll find countless songs written on the subject. But it’s not only humans who sing about being lonely – birds do it, too. On this episode of Soundcheck, you’ll get to hear one of those birdsongs, recorded in 1987, when the now extinct, last Moho braccatus bird of Hawaii called for a mate that no longer existed. Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov’s piece inspired by that birdsong, “The Last Moho Braccatus”, is performed live in our studio by acclaimed cellist Alisa Weilerstein, alongside her renditions of a couple of familiar Bach pieces. The chamber pop duo, Gracie & Rachel, who are equally moved by themes of loneliness and dealing with absence, also share their introspective songs from their latest album with an exclusive full band performance.

Gracie & Rachel's Setlist: 1.Leaving Home Is Going Home  2.Green Light  3.Caroline  4.Myself Again

Alisa Weilerstein's Setlist: 1.Bach: Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, Prelude, BWV 1007  2.The Last Moho Braccatus / J.S. Bach Cello Suite no. 5 in C minor, Courante, BWV 1011

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Montreal-born Americana/Folk singer Allison Russell is a multi-instrumentalist who spent nearly two decades performing with music groups like Po’ Girl and Birds of Chicago, before launching her solo career in 2021 with her monumental debut record, Outside Child. A survivor of abuse, Russell poured her emotions into her songs not to revisit her darkest memories, but to celebrate her resilience and eagerness to live a fulfilling life, surrounded by the people she loved. In “Nightflyer”, she sang, “I’m the wounded bird, I’m the screaming hawk, I’m the one who can’t be counted out,” elegantly summarizing the journey it took her to get to a place she’s immensely proud of — and rightfully so. Now back with her latest and third album, In the Hour of Chaos, Russell readily shares her joy and unyielding hope, celebrating humanity and her community, one collaborative song at a time.

The record is filled with a wide range of guest artists including Brittney Spencer and Norah Jones. And though they’re not present for Russell’s exclusive live performance for Soundcheck, The Rainbow Coalition is, with Caoi de Barra on drums, Caoimhe Hopkinson on guitar, and Ganessa James on bass. All band members also join Russell on vocals, sometimes even singing the lead parts, as Russell also plays the clarinet. - Sırma Munyar

(Photo of Allison Russell by Mason Poole)

Setlist: 1.No Springtime  2.Black Lavender  3.Really Real

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Ruthie Foster was born into music, grew up with music, and it was only natural that music would follow her wherever she’d go. The now Grammy-winning singer-songwriter was a soloist in a local choir in her hometown of Gause, Texas, soaking in the soulful melodies of gospel music. After high school, Foster majored (much expectedly) in music – and broadcast journalism. She joined the Navy shortly thereafter, where she often took the stage to sing. Soon, she’d be in New York City, developing her unique brand of blues and folk music as a regular at local clubs where she’d end up on the radar of Atlantic Records.

Her label and Foster had different ideas about the kind of artist she could be at the time. But Foster still walked into every session with an open heart where she often felt the urge to write about being back at home in Texas. So, she went back home, leaving her record deal behind, to be with her family and live a simpler life, which would eventually lead to the creation of her aptly titled record, Full Circle.

In the following three decades, Foster never stopped making and releasing music. Having become highly comfortable playing her guitar, she actively toured, sometimes with a band and other times solo. Now back with her fourteenth album, Just Say Yes, Foster brings her skillful guitar playing and powerful vocals to our studio for a solo performance to share some of her new songs for this episode of Soundcheck. - Sırma Munyar

(Photo by Jody Domingue)

Setlist: 1.Yes  2.Thank You  3.Tangled

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The artist known as Everlast was the lead rapper in the group House of Pain, whose single “Jump Around” remains one of hip hop’s most familiar songs. But in the 1990s he began adding bluesy guitars to his songs - which continues with his latest, Embers To Ashes. Everlast plays his B-boy country punk rock blues in-studio. Then, Ghost Hounds is a Pittsburgh-based blues-rock band with a sound that may remind you of classic early 70s bands like The Rolling Stones. In fact, they’ve opened for the Stones and do a cover of that band’s song “Gimme Shelter” on the new Ghost Hounds album. But most of their music is original and their latest record, called Justified, is full of apocalyptic imagery and songs that swagger their way through the End Of Days. Ghost Hounds brings a rootsy, intimate version of the band to play these new songs, in-studio. in-studio for this episode of Soundcheck.

Everlast set list: 1. Losing Man's Game 2. Stones

Ghost Hounds set list: 1. Something Wicked 2. Pale Horse

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For the past 20 years or so, Eli Paperboy Reed has been making records that revel in the vintage sounds of Memphis and Chicago soul, with a healthy dose of R&B, early rock’n’roll, and a bit of country. His latest album is called Getting There, a mature reflection on love, life, and romance-  where in the face of hard times, romantic partners “respond with more determination, more commitment and more love” (EliPaperboyReed.com). Eli Paperboy Reed and his band have set up camp here in our studio, and they’ll play some of their latest bluesy-soulful grown folks music.

Watch the video performances on the New Sounds YouTube channel:
Set list: 1. Getting There 2. Asking For a Friend 3. One Man's Trash (Is Another Man's Treasure)

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It’s rare to come across a traditional origin story like The Royston Club’s nowadays: a group of small-town kids from Wrexham, Wales, coming together to form a band in high school and taking the stage on open mic nights at their local pub. Their music, woven with nostalgic lyrics and crunchy, anthemic guitars, also feels as though it belongs to a different time. And yet, The Royston Club has no trouble finding new fans with each release and tour they embark on, having hit the top 20 on the UK album charts with both of their albums, Shaking Hips and Crashing Cars and Songs for the Spine. Now based in Liverpool, the band still visits their hometown frequently, keeping all the people that cheered them on close. Even the word “spine” from the title of their latest record refers to those same people in their lives, who hold them up and keep them going, as The Royston Club travels the world to reach new masses. 

The band takes a short break from their US tour to play a few new songs in our studio for this episode of Soundcheck. - Sırma Munyar

Setlist: 1.Shivers  2.Glued to the Bed  3.Cariad

(Photo by Sam Crowston)

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Helado Tropical ("tropical ice cream") is a collaboration between Helado Negro, the experimental pop project of Ecuadorian-American singer/songwriter Roberto Carlos Lange, and Reyna Tropical, which is the work of the Mexican-American musician Fabi Reyna (also of the cumbia band Savila).They bring their langorous brand of Latin electro-pop to our studio. And another duo takes a more acoustic approach: Irish fiddler Martin Hayes and guitarist Kyle Sanna. Hayes is one of the great fiddlers of our time, and one of the things that makes his playing so distinctive is the way he incorporates elements of jazz and contemporary classical music. Hayes is a founding member of the Irish-American supergroup The Gloaming, and he’s led a couple of ensembles, the Martin Hayes Quartet and the Common Ground Ensemble, that include musicians from the New York new music scene, including guitarist Kyle Sanna. They also play jigs, reels, and hornpipes in-studio for this episode of Soundcheck.

Helado Tropical Set list: 1. Tocando 2. Sensacion 3. Soledad

Martin Hayes / Kyle Sanna Set list: 1. The Wild Geese/Lord Leitrim 2. Port An Deoari/My Mary Ann 3. The Golden Castle/Mikey Callaghans

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