Basic Folk 87 – Alex Sturbaum

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Alex Sturbaum is a traditional folk musician originally from Cincinnati, OH, which offers a thriving community of folk players and contra dancers. There was tons of music in the house growing up thanks to their father, Arthur, who played and hosted jams. The young Alex fell in love with traditional music of all types: the jigs and reels of Ireland, the ballads of Appalachia, sea shanties and began playing on the Irish frame drum, the bodhran. Starting off as a rhythm player still influences Alex’s playing even though they have moved on to many other instruments like the guitar, button accordion, bouzouki, banjo, mandolin and singing. They attended Oberlin college to study biology and geology and that’s where Alex became enchanted with performing at contra dances.

Alex recently came out as a non-binary person, uses the they/them pronouns. Alex has found the contra community to be a welcoming place, which is evident in the gender-neutral dances that have been held in coastal cities. Alex also talked about writing traditional songs that fill vacancies in narratives they wished already existed. For example, on the new album, Loomings, the song “Sweet Mary Starbuck” is a song about the culture of whaler’s wives in Nantucket. The husbands would go off to sea for years and Alex wrote from the perspective of two whaler’s wives who fell in love. This conversation covers everything from environmental restoration to how gender-neutral contra dances lead to better communication when it comes to consent. Enjoy this wonderful person! Thanks Alex!

“Frances Lee,” one of Alex’s songs, as performed by their duo, Countercurrent:

Alex’s new album, Loomings: