Blake Hornsby plays folk guitar like he’s summoning it from the soil, coaxing spirits and landscapes into existence through his fingertips. His latest album, A Village of Many Springs, weaves Appalachian roots, raga-infused mysticism, and the ghostly echoes of American Primitive greats.
Hornsby’s picking style is hypnotic, twisting traditional techniques into angular, mesmerizing forms that drip with raw emotion. Tracks like “Laurel Creek Blues” dance with joyous abandon, while “O How the Water Flows North” paints pastoral dreamscapes in sound.
The deeper you go, the stranger and more enchanting the journey becomes. “Bury My Soul in the Linville River” bursts with droning tanpura, swirling violin, and tabla-driven ecstasy, pushing the folk tradition into the cosmic unknown.
Reverb-laden harmonium drones wash through the record like mist rolling over the Blue Ridge Mountains, while playful, demented interludes of bells and eerie voices sneak in like spirits at a séance.
This is folk music untethered—fluid, wild, and transcendent. Hornsby’s vision stretches from the deep past into an uncertain, spellbinding future. A Village of Many Springs is highly recommended for fans of other modern pickers like Joseph Allred and those willing to lose themselves in its waters.
Grab the vinyl or digital via Echodelick Records on Bandcamp here.
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