Rising Appalachia — Preservation Hall, New Orleans, 2022

This full concert brings Rising Appalachia to Preservation Hall in New Orleans on 27 January 2022, part of a performance streamed live and later released as a live album the same year. Led by sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith, the American folk band returns to this legendary French Quarter venue, a landmark of traditional New Orleans jazz, in the city where the group long made its home. This complete performance blends Appalachian folk, world influences and Louisiana sounds, carried by the sisters’ signature vocal harmonies and a rich array of acoustic instruments. The band is joined by guest musicians from the local scene, including clarinettist and accordionist Aurora Nealand and trumpeter Branden Lewis of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, who lend the repertoire warm jazz colours. Filmed in 2022 in an intimate, acoustic setting, this show reflects the band’s deep roots in the musical traditions of the American South and its commitment to cultural heritage, with a share of the recording’s proceeds donated to the Preservation Hall Foundation. This full concert live at Preservation Hall stands as a representative document of Rising Appalachia’s stagecraft and of its ongoing dialogue between folk, roots and world music.