Mama’s Broke is neo traditional folk and bluegrass for any dreary occasion. Their name brings to mind the socially abject, the down-and-out, the social reality that is both deeply relatable and also preternaturally horrifying. The mixed influences of bluegrass and Eastern European traditional music eschew a specific point of origin except straight from the thinnest heartstrings. But though their approach often speaks from a mournful place, there is a haunting and evocative vivacity and energy that is also immensely warming and familiar.

Mama’s Broke is a duo of eastern Canadian multi-instrumentalists, Lisa Maria performing fiddle, mandolin, banjo and guitar and Amy Lou Keeler on guitar, banjo and fiddlesticks, with nearly every song featuring the two voices harmonized. The two met literally on the road, a crisis of circumstance sticking them in a car for 17 hours in which they shared their philosophy on music and arrived at their destination as a band. They are now two albums deep and signed to the apropos Free Dirt Records.

— Liam Prost