Don't Miss

New York-based Americana band The New Students release ‘Little Blue Dot,’ follow up to Covid inspired album

By Kath Galasso on October 23, 2024

After the critical success of their COVID-inspired last album, 2020’s Quarantunes, New York-based Americana band The New Students have just released their follow up, Little Blue Dot. The New Students generally have sizeable gaps between releases, but each release is a fully formed album, and Little Blue Dot is no exception. With their usual charming mix of whimsy and social commentary, contemporary folk, americana and classic bluegrass, fans are likely to enjoy this album as much as its predecessor.This album has been percolating with us for a long time – we wrote one of the songs over a decade ago, some we’ve been playing live for a few years, and some are more recent.

With a decade and a half together under their belts, the members of The New Students are all top level musicians whose craft with their individual instruments (or multiple instruments in the case of many of the members) is continuously honed. With folk and Americana music, people often picture banjos missing a string or a bass fashioned out of a washtub, broom and washing line a’la Country Bear Jamboree, but even with rudimentary instruments, country, bluegrass and folk musicians are among the most highly skilled of any genre. Likely having abandoned the glass jug and washboard percussion, The New Students have nonetheless retained the authenticity to their beloved Americana.

With those classical blues, bluegrass and Americana skills very much on display, The New Students also clearly have a penchant for the golden age of folk in the 60s and 70s, with their social conscience shining through Little Blue Dot. The album itself is thus titled to refer to planet Earth, as seen from a mile high perspective and calls for listeners to see Earth and humanity from a compassionate perspective. All of The New Students’ work has that thread of social justice, and they state their purpose is to get the message across. With songs like “Greta’s Song,” the title track and the stirring a cappella, Crosby, Stills, Nash &Young-inspired “The Refugee” show the band are very good at expressing such a message.

These songs speak to what we think are some of the universal concerns we all have on this little blue dot floating in space: fear for the future of our planet, the vanishing American Dream, love found and lost. We want to write songs that spread human empathy, but also make you want to sing along.

With whimsy, Americana, social commentary and very good music all part of Little Blue Dot, The New Students are doing their part to educate while they entertain, and their message is likely to spread even farther with that expansive perspective.

Musician Names/Instruments:

Briana Carlson-Goodman – Vocals
Justin Flagg – Vocals, Guitar, Banjo
Matthew Gelfer – Vocals, Fiddle, Mandolin, Guitar
Sam Gelfer – Bass
Beau Moore – Guitar, Mandolin
Paul Pearl – Drums

Producer Name(s): The New Students

Tracklist:

1. Black Earth Country
2. Fly Home
3. Farewell
4. Whale Boy
5. Madelena
6. Greta’s Song
7. Vermont Maple Candy
8. Jackson’s Holler
9. Today A Good Man Is Gone
10. The Refugee
11. Tell Me
12. Little Blue Dot

Websites:
Official Website: https://www.thenewstudents.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenewstudents/
Twitter: https://x.com/TheNewStudents
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenewstudents
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3ydTnbbQaFHxKPebqlkJJG?si=iYs7q26yS3aRG2mj4n5GKg&nd=1&dlsi=d21d573ac76c4b7e
Bandcamp: https://thenewstudents.bandcamp.com/album/little-blue-dot
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/the-new-students
Youtube Channel: www.youtube.com/@thenewstudentsband

Artist Biography:

The New Students perform original songs in an eclectic blend of folk, roots, bluegrass and Americana traditions. Tight three-part vocal harmonies, skilled acoustic instrumentation, and thoughtful lyrics make up their signature sound that has been delighting East Coast audiences for a decade and a half. Together they have recorded three studio albums of original songs and one “almost live” album recorded remotely while in quarantine in 2020. In coffee houses, concert halls and Broadway stages, the members of The New Students have collaborated with the likes of Peter Yarrow and Noel Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul and Mary), George Grove (The Kingston Trio), and Elvis Costello. Combining poetry with conscience, humor with integrity, and—most of all—classic with modern, The New Students evoke the pioneering spirit of the 1960s. Truly, they are new students of an old school.