APRIL 22ND, 2015
APRIL 22ND, 2015
“Banjo Gal” Donna Lynn Caskey honors folk tradition while taking it to sometimes edgy new places. Her debut album, Nameless Heart, consists of twelve, timeless-sounding original songs featuring clawhammer banjo. Grammy-nominated producer Mark Hallman (Carole King, Ani DiFranco, Eliza Gilkyson) adds just the right amount of vocals, percussion, guitar, bass, bouzouki, piano and studio warmth to tastefully support Donna Lynn and her classic yet boundary-stretching sound. Stretching boundaries comes naturally to Donna Lynn, who received a scholarship for an intensive beginning banjo class at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina shortly before leaving her hometown on the coast of Virginia by train for California in 2001. She began writing songs and playing shows three months later. Her heartfelt, engaging performances can inspire audiences to sing along, to weep at a soul-stirring ballad, and to laugh at playful one-liners amidst occasional bouts of tuning.