BONUS TRACKS: Folk Alliance International Invokes Aurora Borealis for 2025 Gathering

When Folk Alliance International (FAI) convenes for its 37th gathering in 2025, it will be occupying space in Montreal, QC, Canada. The annual conference will be held February 19-23, 2025, and is set to be one of the organization’s largest collection of artist showcases in its nearly four decades.

Among those on the roster are Kaia Kater, Alex Wong, ISMAY, Steve Poltz, Ron Sexsmith, Tania Elizabeth, Mama’s Broke, Amy Speace, Basia Bulat, Flamy Grant, Bella’s Bartok, and so many others. (Full lineup here.)

As the conference moves far north from its previous home in Kansas City, organizers have chosen to make the theme for the 2025 event, “Illuminate,” an invocation of the Northern Lights which, according to the organization, “serve as a powerful symbol of the interconnectedness between humans, the natural world, and the spiritual realm within Indigenous cultures across Northern Canada. …We invite our folk community to approach their work with a renewed sense of wonder and awe. ”

Speaking of awe, the FAI keynote speaker is always well worth pausing to listen to. Previous keynote speakers have run the gamut from Rhiannon Giddens to Ani DiFranco and Margaret Atwood. This year’s invitee is yet to be announced, but it will be worth it to keep your eyes peeled for that bit of news when it comes.

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO

Los Bitchos – Talkie Talkie
Father John Misty – “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All”
Amy Helm – Silver City
Mount Eerie – “I Walk”
The Heavy Heavy – One of a Kind

Etran de L’Air – 100% Sahara Guitar
Creekbed Carter Hogan – Creekbed Carter
Ruthie Foster – Milage
Bo Ramsey – Sidetrack
Daniel Donato – “Lose Your Mind”
Cactus Lee – “Sister”
Amythyst Kiah – “I Will Not Go Down (featuring Billy Strings)”