As BONNY LIGHT HORSEMAN, the trio of Anaïs Mitchell, Josh Kaufman and Eric D Johnson have reframed trad-folk ballads for the present, earning a Grammy nomination and the patronage of Bon Iver and The National’s Aaron Dessner along the way. In the latest issue of Uncut magazine – in UK shops from Thursday, August 18 and available to buy from our online store, Erin Osman meets them in Kansas to discuss dulcimers, the unifying power of the Grateful Dead and the joy of late-night jams. “The energy was off the charts,” they share.
Like everywhere else, Kansas City is in the grip of near-unprecedented heatwave. From a shaded patio table adjacent to the swimming pool at the city’s Intercontinental hotel, the three principal members of Bonny Light Horseman – who are here on tour, opening for Bon Iver, the band led by their friend and 37d03d label boss Justin Vernon – are sheltering from the oppressive heat, water and coffee in hands, explaining why they’re not a supergroup. “A supergroup is about vaunting identities, and what we’re doing is about shedding identities,” contends Anaïs Mitchell. “It’s not so much a Mount Rushmore of folk icons,” adds Josh Kaufman. “It’s much more of a collective, making something together.”
Concludes Eric D Johnson: “We’re not a casual one-off or a fleeting ’80s side project. That term reminds me of something that would have a member of Yes in it.”
However, it’s easy to understand why the term has stuck. Each member joined the group as a proven artist with an established fanbase and celebrated body of work. Mitchell has released eight solo albums and won Tony awards for her musical Hadestown, Kaufman is an in-demand multi-instrumentalist and producer whose credits include Bob Weir, The National, Josh Ritter, The Hold Steady and Taylor Swift, while Johnson has been making indie-rock under the Fruit Bats moniker for more than two decades.
It almost doesn’t make sense for the trio to form a humble folk act – except that each artist is clearly not content to inhabit the same role over and over. Kaufman explains that he’s been craving the familial energy that comes with a band; Johnson began as a teacher at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago; Mitchell has long wanted to be a part of something beyond her own silo. “I ran into someone recently who asked, ‘Aren’t you in that band Bonny Light Horseman?’” she recalls. “I felt so incredibly happy to be identified that way.”
Their ravishing self-titled debut album from 2020 reframed trad-folk ballads for the present day, making fresh currency of Napoleonic War-era laments, Appalachian spirituals and Irish ballads. They were rewarded for their efforts with a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album. On Rolling Golden Holy, the band’s second album, and first composed of all original songs, they double-down on the group dynamic. “There were moments where we went into Voltron mode, each using our superpower,” says Johnson. “But it’s not like Anaïs wrote all the lyrics and I wrote all the melodies and Josh played all the instruments.”
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