With a lilting alto voice, Lindsay Straw delivers a rootsy blend of Celtic, Americana, original and cover songs, alternating deft fingerstyle and flatpicking on guitar with twinkling bouzouki accompaniment.
Lindsay Straw is a genre-hopping singer, acoustic guitarist and Irish bouzouki player. Born and raised in Montana, she was drawn to Boston by Berklee College of Music. She found her way in music initially through the vibrant New England Celtic folk scene, putting her spin on age-old British ballads and songs and accompanying Irish melody players in sessions and bands. This immersion has left an indelible stamp on her style. Listeners often pick up on Celtic phrasing and melodic runs even when she’s singing country or contemporary music, which these days she performs in equal measure. Ultimately she just loves a good song, no matter the genre.
Lindsay’s work as a soloist has received accolades from folk publications, fans, and clients alike. Her two albums of traditional Celtic ballads have been described as hearkening back to the greats of the folk revival and “bringing the songs to life with delicacy, yet energy and verve” (Celtic Radio). As a working musician in New England and beyond, she’s taken on a wide variety of gigs, from festivals, coffeehouses and listening rooms to private parties, corporate events and markets, receiving praise for her beautiful voice and guitar playing as well as for her professionalism.
As a collaborator, Lindsay splits her time evenly across many forms of music that fall under the “folk” umbrella:
The New Grown-Ups (Americana, Old-time, Bluegrass, Folk)
With Andy Cambria (Americana, Folk)
Fair Liberty’s Call with Larry Young (18th Century Traditional)
Accardi, Frankowicz & Straw (Traditional Irish)
Recent live highlights include Ossipee Valley Music Festival, Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival, Crooked River Gathering, Joe Val Bluegrass Festival, Maine Celtic Celebration, and Passim’s Down Home Up Here Festival and BCMFest. In 2024 she was part of the Midwinter Revels band for “The Selkie Girl & The Seal Woman,” and in 2025 she presented guitars built by Kathy Wingert and Noemi Schembri at the Artisan Guitar Show in Pennsylvania.
She also loves teaching, whether that be in private one-on-one lessons or at music camps, especially the bouzouki-centric Zoukology which she co-organizes with friends in New Mexico. Folks from all over can learn from her online tutorials and transcriptions on Patreon.
Acoustic guitar aficionados may also know her from her work in the boutique lutherie world for shops like The Music Emporium, Cedar Rock Studio & Guitar Gallery, and The North American Guitar (now Carter Vintage), where she worked closely with some of the world’s best modern luthiers to showcase their instruments.
"With a voice as bold and beguiling as the songs she chooses, Straw carries the torch of traditional folk music with striking elegance and a fierce breath of originality . . . “ - Spencer Brown, Triad City Beat
Instruments:
Lindsay is a Jewitt Guitars artist, playing a Jewitt 00-13c redwood and walnut, as well as a Blind Guitars artist, playing a B-26 Indian rosewood and Adirondack spruce and a 12-fret B-26 mahogany and Alpine spruce. She also plays a Brondel A-2 cocobolo and Carpathian spruce, and a Fylde long-scale archtop bouzouki in spruce Indian rosewood.
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Lindsay Straw is a Boston-based folk singer, acoustic guitarist, and Irish bouzouki player. A Berklee graduate, she blends her original tunes with traditional and modern music from both sides of the Atlantic. Performing solo, with numerous duos and trios, and octet The New Grown-Ups, she has five albums and a rich performance history. Known for her deft fingerstyle, lilting alto voice, and creative arrangements, she’s been heralded as a reincarnation of folk revival legends.