Songwriter, storyteller, and farmer Ismay will release a new album, Desert Pavement, on January 26, 2024. Desert Pavement is a collection of American roots songs invoking a variety of traditional and contemporary sounds. Desert Pavement follows Ismay’s 2020 debut Songs of Sonoma Mountain and continues their lyrical exploration of “life spent on the land.”

Ismay is the project of Avery Hellman, a Bay Area native who creates songs that are influenced by the California ranch where they worked in their 20s. On the track “The Golden Palomino,” Hellman shares the tale of “a miraculous moment with a horse while feeding animals in the pasture.”

Hellman grew up attending Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the music festival launched by their grandfather, Warren Hellman, and incorporated the melting pot of sounds. Desert Pavement evokes the “landscapes of rural land and days of yore.”

Desert Pavement was recorded in Asheville, NC at Echo Mountain Recording with Producer Andrew Marlin of Watchhouse (formerly Mandolin Orange). Marlin also contributes on piano, acoustic guitar, mandolin and backing vocals. They captured the songs in a series of live takes in five days.

Hellman says:

The whole band played together, all at once, and I tracked my vocals live. A big part of the live recording process is embracing the imperfections of a performance, and Desert Pavement sounds real and raw to me.

Ismay has a number of performances in the works, including a set at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada on January 29th, 2024. Additional tour dates will be announced shortly.

ISMAY 2024 U.S. Tour Dates
January 28 – Mill Valley, CA – Sweetwater Mill Valley
January 29 – Elko, Nevada – National Cowboy Poetry Gathering
February 9 – Ojai, CA – Deer Lodge with Kelly McFarling
February 10 – Big Sur, CA – Fernwood Resort with Kelly McFarling
February 21-25 – Kansas City, MO – Folk Alliance International official showcase artist