The best elements of traditional Appalachian Music, including purity, intensity, integrity, and vivid imagery.”

— Old Time Herald

Roots music from the heart of kentucky

About the band...

With a recently release album that debuted at #1 on the Folk DJ list, the decades-old band has reunited with a twist. Zoe Speaks 2.0 consists of Kentuckians Mitch Barrett and Carla Gover who are now joined by their daughter, fiddler/vocalist/bassist Zoey Barrett and her multi-instrumentalist husband Arlo Barnette. The band draws on their deep roots in the region to put their own spin on everything from traditional ballads to finely-crafted originals. Close family harmonies are a defining feature of their sound, and while their music is drenched in the flavor of the mountain music they grew up with, they skirt the cutting edge of tradition. Their music follows in the tracks of socially conscious Kentucky writers like Jean Ritchie and John Prine, with a distinctly progressive bent.  A veritable songwriting powerhouse, their song contest wins include the Telluride Troubador Contest, Merlefest's Chris Austin Contest, Rocky Mountain Folks Fest, and Kerrville New Folk, among others. A staple on the Kentucky music scene for twenty years with four successful CDs under their belt, they are newly back together with a brand-new album called Wings. They accompany themselves on guitar, claw hammer banjo, upright bass, and sometimes dulcimer and clogging feet. 

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