High-res version

We were wowed and began to follow the British band, Bear’s Den, not long after their inception, when they hopped the Atlantic to appear at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival in 2014. That gained them many long standing fans in Canada’s western province. This is how you succeed in today’s music environment. Tour, tour and tour. That’s been the story of Bear’s Den over the years to the point they’ve become one of the most popular indie-folk bands world wide.

Today, Bear’s Den consists of English musicians Andrew Davie and Kevin Jones, with an assist from Dutch musician, Christof van der Ven.

Bear’s Den has been most generous in publishing live performance videos on YouTube. The band has been on our year end list six times since first appearance in 2015. Performers like Bear’s Den are the reason we publish this list, to highlight exceptional musical performances, captured on video. (More on the process here : https://gesprek.net/2024/11/19/how-to-enjoy-our-brand-new-2024-indie-folk-discovery-playlist/ )

Although the band often performs with a full, well rounded and recognizable sound and instrumental lineup, our top ranked selection features simple piano accompaniment, playing an extended repeated sequence. The music is mostly in the vocal lead and harmonies on this track. The song also has a profound and probing lyric. Over the years, the band’s song book indicates a highly empathetic, supportive, and even, wise, outlook on the personal issues of our times.

Our entire list contains 43 great performances captured on video, and typically, high audio fidelity. Rounding out the top ten, here is what you will find:

• a new voice on the indie-folk scene, sure to find success, Bea and her Business, great voice and a brave, intimate confessional, ‘Me against my Head’.
• Freya Ridings is massively popular, and like some popular artists (Bille Eilish, Adele, Becky Hill, Ruth B., and others), often performs with a simple acoustic background, away from all the production machinery found in the pop world. She has been on our list numerous times, but her songwriting is getting stronger with the years, in front of a live audience this time with the sumptuously rendered , ‘Face in the Crowd’.
• veteran folk artist, Kate Rusby, who always exudes positivity in live performance, clearly knows something special and magical is happening in her performance with Lady Smith Black Mambazo, and her excellent normal accompaniment, which should be mentioned.
• another new-to-us artist, Trousdale, has been performing in their native southern California for some years, but this looks like a breakout song and year for them with “Wouldn’t Come Back” featuring an exquisite high counterpoint. Listen for it.
• we’re a little puzzled by this Myles Smith performance, because we hear Myles’ voice but he does not appear. And yet we clearly see and hear the voices of the accompanying “Ndlovu Youth Choir”. I don’t know how it was done, but it’s a great video.
• #5. Katie Pruitt has been on our list a few times now, even near the top of the list with ‘Normal’, and this year rocks out a bit more than previously. It certainly works for us.
• #4. This is now the fourth time in for Twisted Pine, beginning with a deeply buried Paste Studios recording that we found back in 2021. This is an extremely tight, exciting band bringing a refreshing, new twist into the bluegrass genre.
• #3. David Gilmour in the indie-folk genre? Gilmour is not out of place here, and he never would have been. A superb rock guitarist, Gilmour has always demonstrated with his playing that service to the music comes first. Gilmour’s musicality extends to composition: from Astronomy Domine to Echoes to On An Island, Gilmour has built an extensive musical legacy. And yes I know I skipped a few massive hits in my list. This outing with daughter Romany indicates that life long inventiveness is exceptional but not impossible in the churn of the rock music world.
• #2. Lake Street Dive has been on our list many times. Rachael Price has one of the best voices in contemporary popular music today, and she fronts a band of exceptional musicians. ‘Twenty-Five’ is a track from their eighth studio album, Good Together, released this past year. The song was written by Lake Street Dive bassist, Bridget Kearney.

Our list this year also includes performances by: Lawrence, Lucius, Molly Tuttle / Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, Reuben and the Dark, Adrianne Lenker, John Smith, Rachael Kilgour, Katie Costello, Tom Odell, Zaho de Sagazan, Tom Rosenthal, The Hound + The Fox, The Decemberists, Gracie Abrams, Billie Eilish, Bastille, Sarah Jarosz, Tennessee Freedom Singers, Tiny Habits, Bear’s Den feat. Dermot Kennedy, The Strumbellas, Rose Betts, Dominique Fricot, Lizzy McAlpine, Madison Cunningham, Madi Diaz, Sam Fischer, Passenger, Tom Odell, Laufey, dodie, and Jacob Collier, Katherine Priddy, Philip Labes, and Ruth B. with Dean Lewis to round out the list.

You can watch/ listen to the playlist here:

If you experience any issues with the playlist above, please try this direct link:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIXSweDP-2hipYNgvwgoo7aBFghbo9svi

A few things about our list:

Our panel this year includes Anna, Andrea, John, Josh, Nancy and Henry. We live in three Canadian provinces and in the USA.

We like to see the performers perform and play instruments, that is, we want to see the music being made. If we make an exception to this rule, it is with cause – i.e. for a dance, or for an animation. We prepare this list as a labour of love; there is no attempt to monetize anything. The list is not definitive; we use an objective process to rate and score the songs to obtain a ranking, but mainly the list just reflects our taste. We don’t all hear the songs in the same way, one panel member might love a song that another thinks shouldn’t be on the list. Nevertheless, every song on the list has something going for it that appealed strongly to someone – a lyric, a melody, a harmony, a memory, an instrumental line – and while that resonated with one person, it may not have with someone else. But, we also learn to listen from each other through dialogue. Finally, we all love live performance; we attend concerts and folk festivals, we listen to recorded music. Winters are long here in Canada, and this process helps get us through. Ars longa, vita brevis.