“One of the brightest stars on the Americana music scene”

— A2 PULP

JUDY BANKER

AMERICANA/ROOTS SINGER-SONGWRITER

Described  as “a monster singer-songwriter” by SEMIBluegrass, Michigan-based artist Judy Banker is known for her hook-driven songs with personal, evocative lyrics, and her singular, expressive voice. Judy combines her compelling lyrics with traditional country instruments – acoustic guitar, dobro, pedal steel, banjo – and weaves them with a dirty, gritty buzz and spacey vibe of an electric guitar, lap steel, and keyboards. 

She brings her sound to solo and Judy Banker Band performances at clubs, festivals, and concert halls like The Ark, Johnny’s Speakeasy, Farmington Civic Theater, Mama's Coffeehouse, Michigan Theatre of Jackson, Trinity House Theatre, Ann Arbor Summer Festival, Nor East’r Music Festival, Harvest Gathering, Detroit Arts, Beats, & Eats, Holler Fest, and the Rosalie Sorrels Music Festival in Boise, Idaho. 

A longtime fixture in the Michigan acoustic music scene (performing with Michigan folk legend Jay Stielstra for over a decade), Judy emerged as a solo artist and songwriter in 2014, releasing 4 well-received full-length albums. Her most recent release, Bona Fide, hit 136 on the national Americana charts just a month after it was released in 2023.

.In 2019 Judy released a single, “Blessed Be The Nation”, a poem written by Pete Seeger and Jim Mussleman in 1964 that had never been set to music. Judy composed music for the poem with the exclusive permission of the Seeger family estate to help spread the “people not profits” message of the poem via free downloads of the song (free download available on this site's "Pete Seeger Project" page.)

Back in the studio again (Rooftop Recording) Judy is working on a 5th full length album with David Roof (engineer/producer and multi-instrumentalist) and Ben Sayler (producer) and a newly assembled band of all-star players including Eric Janetsky (guitar), Matt Girard) bass, Dan Gerics (drums), and Alex Anest (pedal steel) with a fall 2027 release date. 

 

 

 

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