2025 Folk Hero online submissions
Please rank #1 for your favorite, #6 for your least favorite
When you have decided please send your vote and select “reply all” in your outgoing email to include all board members. No later than July 25, by noon.
1-Chris Honeman
Hello! I’m Chris Honeman, from Cambridge, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. As a dedicated musician, I’ve spent the last five years honing my craft in songwriting and original music. My songs are crafted like old photographs—worn and intimate, emphasizing storytelling in a way that reflects influences from artists such as Noah Gundersen, Ben Harper, and Ray LaMontagne. Through a blend of fingerpicked guitar and heartfelt vocals, I delve into themes of longing, grief, hope, and resilience.
Performing live is one of my greatest joys, and I strive to create meaningful connections with my audience through vulnerability and storytelling. As I continue to share new music, I aim to inspire listeners to reflect on their own experiences and discover beauty in the quieter moments of life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4Hp0K05LYY
2- Allie Donovan
I am a 20-year-old singer and guitarist from Salisbury, Maryland. My musical influences include folk, rock, pop, and musical theater. I have been writing songs for about eight years, but it was only two years ago that I truly committed to performing them live. For the past year, I have been doing gigs, and I hope that the opportunity to perform at the Delaware Folk Festival will help me establish a name for myself in the music world. Thank you.
https://youtube.com/shorts/DYfzPczUXoU?feature=shared
3-Road Trip Poets
We have been writing songs and making music with the other primary songwriter for over thirty years. We have always stuck with folk instruments, including guitars, banjos, upright bass, and various percussion for songwriting, and the music can fit into many genres. In the last five years, we have released music online that includes stories about growing up in Baltimore, philosophical observations, and stales of relationships either fizzling out or staying strong. We perform at breweries, wineries, and festivals around Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Delaware as a 3-piece (Guitars, percussion, and the world's one and only wireless electric washboard), and look for any opportunity to share the gift of music with everyone around us.
https://youtu.be/sB59cXs3dnU?si=JONLKSm4nu1fxPQP
4-Tyler Treefolk
Treefolk is a one man-folk punk band, currently living in Milford, Delaware. With a plethora of original music, I am known for the energy I bring to the stage as well as my powerful lyricism. Heaviley themed around environmentalism, activism, and making your community a better place, I really try and convey a sense of emotion through my words and topics on stage. My fiction folklore songs often tend to be very fairy-tale coded and have many fantasy elements. I have over 100 performances under my belt and do regular open mic performances around the lower slower Delaware region, as well as multiple Philadelphia DIY shows over the last year. Being intertwined with the Delaware music scene and the Xtreme Folk Scene of Pennsylvania, I bring the genre of folk punk which is a very under looked subgenre in the folk world. With an acoustic guitar and a kazoo, I truly believe I deserve to be on that stage as the 2025 Folk Hero Winner!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irTzpye18K0&t=2s
5- Dark River Darling
https://youtu.be/qDmW-PwF-hQ?si=NQe5JwqwYGVWu1vI
https://youtu.be/MNpIUq08Q1s?si=0jXyn-atUF0twRqt
https://youtu.be/YSrWYT0HtjM?si=ssxnNQxZuAshJNvx
…
6-Josh Brokaw
Josh isn't just a folk musician – he's a true modern troubadour. From his ol' school bus, rumbling across the country, he spends his days collecting and crafting untold stories. While he does roam, his compass always points to the Mid-Atlantic, with Delaware feeling most like home. Armed with his guitar and harmonica, this wandering bard delivers timeless songs and clever originals. Catch him on the road or in the woods, and you'll find his unique twist on tradition is a journey worth taking.
https://youtu.be/EUZO0Twbn4E?si=sM0GLZ9OCo-sbjQo
7- Ami Yares
Ami Yares is the still small voice emerging from the shores of the Mediterranean and Atlantic, bearing his soul to make it sound for you to do the same. Called, “one of Woody’s children” by Peter Yarrow, Ami brings a bit of Richie Havens, Cat Stevens & Robbie Robertson into his universe. With the past at his back and the future calling, Ami is more than just present. Hear/feel/see/experience his songs of relentless perseverance and hope. “Yares wields his 12-string guitar as if it were an entire orchestra, backing his vocals with a dense, rich cascade of sound " (AXS).