Ross Thorn

Ross Thorn (Duluth, MN) & Simon Cropp (Decorah, IA) make their Folk Alliance debut, playing the First Timers Showcase and the Adventures in Americana Showcase. Ross Thorn: With a pastoral upbringing in northern Wisconsin, Ross Thorn’s music emanates as a warm and soulful hymn, waking up optimistically beside a snow-covered window. His sharply crafted lyrics—distinctly reminiscent to the likes of John Prine—reveal internal struggles of empathy, questions of human character and virtue, and a search for hope, often finding solace in some unanticipated truth. Simon Cropp: Simon Cropp (Slapdash Bluegrass) is a flatpick guitarist and country and bluegrass songwriter. His performance style is equal parts dive bar bravado and fireside introspection. His writing channels traditional country themes of love, heartbreak, and cheap beer, winking at cliche without bending to it.