Alela Diane with special guest Matt Bauer at Joe's Pub

"Alela Diane’s knack for gentle, immediate melodies and her fine voice, possessed of a hint of twang that suggests a combination of Dusty Springfield and Kristin Hersh, with a rich maturity beyond her years. The high and lonesome catch’ is quite something, while the interplay of vocals and guitar are particularly beautiful. Like her contemporary Larkin Grimm, she brings older forms of music to life with vivid performances...”
-All Music

“...a continuum from the Carter family to Gillian Welch and ending up near Joanna Newsom.  Falls between all these: rural rather than country, ancient and modern”
-Rough Trade Album of the Year 2007 Alela Diane is a folk singer that could only have come out from under the purple-dusk skies of the post-acid West. Still, the acoustic siren songs on her 2007 debut, The Pirate’s Gospel—lyrically populated with raw rural landscapes and macabre daydream visions alike—exude the quiet patience of Nick Drake and the wandering spirit of Townes Van Zandt.  But any names dropped only serve to diminish the Nevada's City, California songwriter's finest quality:  She rarely writes a lyric or sings a note that doesn’t sound completely natural. Alela Diane is nothing short of the genuine article; her nostalgic rhapsodies and spectral live charms have marked her cards as an imminent star.

"Heart-breaking tales of modern life, of condoms and Coke cans left by cemetery fences, and of wildfires burning in the west. Influenced by country and bluegrass Bauer is reinterpreting those traditions to create a haunting modern sound."
-San Francisco Bay Guardian

Brooklyn resident Matt Bauer grew up in Kentucky, and his music is rooted in the sounds and natural surroundings of the region. His melodies and banjo style bear the markings of traditional mountain music, but his sound is distinctly contemporary. The lyrics live unflinchingly in the present and the arrangements draw on influences as varied as gamelan orchestras and post-rock.