ISMAY

There’s music you hear and there’s music you see, the best kind achieves both. ISMAY creates music that is a tapestry of alternative American roots full of alt-country textures and lush folk songs that transport you straight to the land where they were written - deeply rooted in the heart of Sonoma Mountain. It is music that transcends tradition and blurs boundaries, embodying the sound of the New American West.

Driven by singer/songwriter Avery Hellman, ISMAY released their debut full-length album Songs of Sonoma Mountain in 2020, to widespread acclaim. It was named one of the 10 best Albums in the Bay Area and garnered features in American Songwriter, No Depression, Sonoma Magazine, and more. Their sophomore album, DESERT PAVEMENT (1/26/24) was produced by Andrew Marlin of Watchhouse and recorded at the famed Echo Mountain Recording studio in Asheville, NC.  It is a brilliant representation of ISMAY's unique sound, its songs evoking the landscapes and lifestyles of rural northern California, where Avery spent most of their 20s working the land on the family's ranch. "The perspective of my songwriting is very rooted in ranch life," says Avery.   "I didn't know what sound I was creating at first, but I knew I was writing songs that made me curious. That was the most important thing to me. I'm not trying to copy anybody else or take a predetermined path with my music. I'm just trying to be me, whatever that may be."  In other words, it's ISMAY's kind of music, owing more to geography than genre. With Desert Pavement, ISMAY paves a path toward a new horizon, filling the journey with songs about the sights, sounds, and singular characters found way out west.

Growing up backstage at their grandfather’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, ISMAY was inspired early on by artists such as Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, and Hazel Dickens.  Since then, they have appeared throughout the West Coast at music festivals such as Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Strawberry Music Festival, Huichica Festival, The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, The Lantern Tour, SF Jazz Americana Roots Week, and at renowned venues such as the Great American Music Hall, Slim’s, The Chapel, Golden State Theater, and the Mystic Theater. They have opened for acclaimed artists including Steve Earle, Watchhouse, Justin Townes Earle, Sunny War, Margo Cilker, James McMurtry, and Chuck Prophet. They were also a featured artist on AppleTV's 2023 music show, My Kind of Country.

Avery also executive produced the film, Finding Lucinda.  This captivating documentary takes listeners on a heartfelt journey through the life and early career of the iconic country/folk music star Lucinda Williams, as ISMAY searches for inspiration in their own artistic journey, and to help answer the question of whether or not to pursue being a musician in the face of self-doubt.