Nathan Bowles

A significant player in folk and experimental scenes around Virginia and North Carolina, Nathan Bowles has enjoyed a multi-layered career as a collaborator, teacher, multi-instrumentalist, and solo artist. His work in bands like Pelt and the Black Twig Pickers has placed him in a unique zone somewhere between Appalachian folk and minimalist drone music, though he has also worked as a collaborator with artists like Jake Xerxes Fussell, Rosali, Steve Gunn, and Hiss Golden Messenger. As a solo artist, his recordings like 2016's Whole & Cloven and 2018's Plainly Mistaken largely feature clawhammer banjo and drums, his two primary instruments, which he employs in ways both traditional and avant-garde. After a joint 2021 album with Bill MacKay, Bowles put together a trio to make 2024's Are Possible, which was released by Drag City.