Folk music is alive and well…
The first time I heard Ashley Davis was through the release of Night Travels. She emerged from the same rich folk tradition that gave us June Tabor and Sandy Denny: dusky contraltos, weathered storytelling, and voices that shimmer like “golden silver,” to borrow a phrase from Judy Collins. Listening to her for the first time felt less like discovering a new artist and more like opening a forgotten cedar chest filled with old letters, faded photographs, and songs that still breathe.
This year, Davis returns with Songs I Was Raised On: Songs of Love, Peace, & Hope (Side B), the companion piece to last year’s Side A. To fully appreciate this new release, I found myself revisiting the earlier volume, and together they form a deeply personal and lovingly curated musical memoir. The project itself is ambitious: two albums devoted entirely to the songs that shaped her upbringing and musical identity. Yet what could have been a simple nostalgia exercise instead becomes something intimate and quietly moving.
If you have not yet heard Side A, seek it out immediately, especially for Davis’ rendition of Someday Soon by Ian Tyson, famously interpreted by Judy Collins. That track alone carries enough warmth to put a smile on your face before the first chorus fully lands. The album as a whole serves as a love letter to the folk revival era of the 1960s and 1970s, a period many still consider the golden age of modern folk music.
Side B continues that thread with grace and sincerity, drawing from the songbooks of artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, and Peter, Paul and Mary. One of the highlights is her interpretation of Fire and Rain by James Taylor, where she is joined by Shane Hennessy. Their duet feels wonderfully unforced, like two old friends trading stories by lamplight while the rest of the world sleeps.
Musically, the album favors subtlety over spectacle. Percussion is used sparingly, allowing the arrangements to breathe naturally through acoustic textures, gentle folk instrumentation, and the warm embrace of string arrangements. Davis wisely avoids overproduction; these songs are allowed to stand on the strength of melody, memory, and emotional honesty. Her voice remains the guiding lantern throughout, smoky yet comforting, equally capable of tenderness and quiet ache.
What makes Songs I Was Raised On: Songs of Love, Peace, & Hope (Side B) resonate is not merely its nostalgia, but its sincerity. These are songs many listeners grew up with, now filtered through the perspective of an artist who clearly loves and understands them. Ashley Davis does not attempt to reinvent these classics beyond recognition. Instead, she polishes them gently, giving them fresh light while preserving the soul that made them endure in the first place.
If the modern world has left you weary, restless, or heartsore, this album offers a kind of refuge. Sit beside Ashley Davis for a while, and let these songs remind you that folk music was never merely entertainment. At its best, it is companionship for the journey.
You can get the new album via her website: https://www.ashleydavisband.com/
You can also listen here: https://music.apple.com/ph/album/songs-i-was-raised-on-songs-of-love-peace-hope-side-b/1896182645
every art, I think it’s the sentiment that’s the very foundation of every creation. The aesthetics may change with time, but the raw emotions around these songs remain untamed across centuries.
Celtic Music Fan 