I’ve been joyfully welcoming folk back into the pop and indie scenes for more than a decade. I remember the first time I heard Mumford & Sons on my favorite alt radio station, at the release of their first album, and I rejoiced. I grew up in a serious folk family, and all I had ever wanted was for our generation to make it popular again. We need our own Bob Dylans and Kingston Trios. Jeffrey Silverstein is creating indie folk with gusto.

“All Hands Raised” is a quiet, weird ode to the folk tradition and the sounds of the outdoors. Every reverberated note over a cricket call makes me think of the summers I spent as a backpacking guide in North Carolina. It’s a memory getting tucked in for the night; nostalgia that’s only sweet, without any heartache.

Silverstein invokes Bon Iver and Ben Howard in quiet night tunes that sound downright natural. Sure, the forest noises help, but it’s more the music that reaches you. If you’ve ever spent a night in a sleeping bag staring at the stars, then you know “All Hands Raised” already.

Hear it below:

Wm