Introducing No Depression’s Winter 2024 Journal + Playlist

EDITOR’S NOTE: Managing Editor Hilary Saunders’ letter, below, opens our Winter 2024 quarterly journal, featuring the best and most timely stories in roots music today. Buy the Winter 2024 issue in print or digitally here, which contributes to No Depression’s year-end fundraising drive. Better yet, start a subscription with this issue and help support No Depression’s music journalism all year long.

The Tønder Festival in rural, southwest Denmark has a tradition like none other I’ve experienced at a music festival anywhere in the world. After the last set in the main tent, all the musicians, volunteers, and staffers still around on Saturday night congregate onto the stage for a free-for-all singalong of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”

There’s even a special note on the festival schedule and app that expounds: “This song, deeply rooted in American folk and gospel tradition, holds special significance at the Tønder Festival. It symbolizes community, unity, and a shared love of music. As voices blend together, the song becomes a heartfelt expression of gratitude and togetherness, creating an unforgettable atmosphere as we collectively say thank you for another fantastic Tønder Festival.”

I was skeptical to a degree; I’ve been in this industry long enough to be able to sniff out manufactured sentimentality. But the Tønder Festival is a special one. It’s one of the oldest and largest folk festivals in Denmark. Even though only about 7,500 people live in the town, nearly 15,000 come in each year for the four-day event.

Over the last 50 years, Tønder’s reputation has spread across North America, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, and entire European Union. Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie have played. John Prine and Emmylou Harris have played. Younger artists like like S.G. Goodman and Jon Muq came last year. And these are just some who live in the United States! Last year, I also discovered bands like the harmony-centric Danish trio Twang, Norwegian folk-metal band Gangar, and the Scottish bagpiping electronic outfit Peatbog Faeries.

After the Texas-based Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel finished its set in Tent 1 last August, dozens more people ambled on stage to join them. As those three sweet chords of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” rang out, I felt my chest tighten ever so slightly, a little twitch in the corner of my eye. A couple thousand people started singing, “I was standing by my window … ”

This folk song, an old hymn that has lapsed into the public domain, never fails to hit me right in the feels. And standing side-stage, watching musicians from all over the world sing in unison and in harmony — in a town that’s closer to the German border than the Danish capital — struck me as particularly implausible and especially poignant.

This was my second time at the Tønder Festival through Folk Spot Denmark, an organization that specializes in cultural export development and international networking. I was one of 40 music industry professionals invited to attend this year, and one of just three Americans. I’m always struck by the connections that are made at these kinds of things — between performers and audience members, among fans and among members of the visiting cohort, and even between people who haven’t met in person.

In fact, Tønder is how I discovered that musician Lizzy Ross drew, carved, and pressed the linocut design that became the festival’s 50th anniversary poster art. Ross told me that her band, Violet Bell (ND album review), had played the previous year. That connection, as well as her thoughtful artistic vision, made her the perfect choice to create our Winter 2024 cover art.

The Winter 2024 issue covers a wide range of popular culture and current events. It includes features that explore the television shows MTV Unplugged and Saturday Night Live. It tackles social issues like the carceral system through a benefit compilation called Better Than Jail. And of course, some of the most beloved roots musicians from around the world, like Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Janis Ian, Manu Chao, and Turnpike Troubadours are included as well.

I’m grateful too, to share original essays from the blues rock sisters in Larkin Poe and up-and-coming singer-songwriter Jerron Paxton. The issue closes with Paxton’s musings on education, in music and beyond. It’s the perfect way to end another thoughtful issue of No Depression — highlighting music as a way to teach and learn, and to grow individually and communally.

Listen to our Winter 2024 playlist, featuring songs and artists mentioned in the issue: