“You’ll be astounded,” says Maverick Magazine, describing what it’s like to hear Mare Wakefield & Nomad, a rootsy, country-tinged folk duo based in Nashville, who were recently chosen as finalists at Kerrville’s New Folk Songwriting Competition and as emerging artists at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. Mare was born with a wandering spirit. She moved eight times before she turned ten. “It was a roller-coaster way to grow up, but my brother and I learned to fit in fast,” she says. “We had our rural Wisconsin accents down in two weeks flat. And eighteen months later we were drawling like native Texans.” The New York Times calls her “a little bit old country, a lot contemporary folk a la Patty Griffin” and praises her “lovely voice and even lovelier songs.” The Louisville Eccentric Observer calls her a “merger of Natalie Merchant, Shawn Colvin, and Dolly Parton” and praises her “cozy brilliance.” Nomad was born in Turkey, grew up in Germany, studied piano at the Istanbul State Conservatory, and won a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music. Together, the husband and wife make music that goes roaming through Arizona deserts, Oklahoma oil fields, and South Dakota plains, with side-trips to ancient Babylon and the streets of Amsterdam. The music goes inward too, exploring heartbreak and hope, as well as the occasional whiskey-soaked barroom brawl. For an intimate evening of story and song, catch Mare Wakefield & Nomad at the Freight.

visit the Mare Wakefield website