Conversation with Rachel Sumner and Traveling Light

Stephen Winick sits down with Rachel Sumner, Kat Wallace and Mike Siegel of Traveling Light to discuss their music. This Boston based acoustic trio come bearing new interpretations of traditional folk songs and lend their deeply rooted bluegrass know-how to tightly crafted original songs written by Lennon-Award-winning songwriter Sumner. In addition to their own songs, the group will performed their own take on songs taken from the American Folklife Center archives. While their instrumentation and textures show roots deep in bluegrass and traditional folk music, Sumner's lyric-forward writing and penchant for snaking chord progressions venture beyond folk conventions, highlighting the acrobatic range of her bandmates Kat Wallace on fiddle and Mike Siegel on upright bass. The Homegrown Music Concert Series is part of The American Folklife Center's ongoing public programming activities highlighting the fields of folklife, ethnomusicology, oral history and related disciplines, foregrounding its archival holdings, and fulfilling its Congressionally-mandated mission.
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