Occupying a space between straightlaced folk and the spacy Americana of Sturgill Simpson, Ian Noe arrived during the twilight of the 2010s, delivering the Dave Cobb-produced debut album Between the Country in 2019. The record was the culmination of a decade of writing and gigging in his native Appalachia, hard work that eventually paid off as audiences gravitated to his evocative, finely etched original songs. He followed it up in 2022 with the equally impressive River Fools & Mountain Saints.