Abigail Dowd
Abigail Dowd is a singer/songwriter/guitarist with a gift for telling stories. She grew up under the longleaf pines in the Sandhills region of North Carolina; land that could only be tamed by Scotch-Irish settlers. Dowd brings this heritage of storytelling and determination to her music and weaves together hints of Celtic melodies with the soulful gospel of the south. There are also strands of something haunting and mysterious, as unique as the journey she took to get to where she is now. Dowd comes from a long line of musicians and always knew music was her destination, and it shows. Every song is like an ethnography of the places she’s been and the people she’s met along the way. Dowd’s playing has been described by PopMatters as “Robust acoustic guitar and subtle tones of instrumentation that offer themselves well to the songs’ feelings of reflection, carried forward most ebulliently by [her] warm, sonorous vocals.” She combines her classical fingerpicking style with the edgy bass and percussion of Jason Duff to create a sound that dances between folk, rock and blues.
Emily Scott Robinson
AmericanaFest 2018 official showcase artist Emily Scott Robinson is an up and coming folk singer/songwriter who has been making big waves in the Americana scene. With her debut album set to release in February of 2019, she has already won the Wildflower Festival Songwriting Competition, the Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Competition and came in 2nd place at Rocky Mountain Folks Fest.
Now booking for Emily’s 2019 album release tour, No Depression describes Traveling Mercies’ songs as “well crafted with strong melodies” and her vocals reminiscent of Iris DeMent and Nanci Griffith. Emily is also slated to open for Ron Pope at City Winery Nashville, City Winery NYC, City Winery Chicago, and Hotel Cafe in LA in early 2019.