Alex Sturbaum (they/them) is a folk musician, singer, songwriter, and producer based in Olympia, WA. A performer who both loves and respects the folk tradition and is willing to innovate within it, they have received nationwide acclaim for their sharp, traditional-sounding lyrics, deft musicianship, energetic and engaging live shows, and boundless appetite for collaboration.Alex grew up in a musical household in Cincinnati, OH, and graduated Oberlin College in 2013. Since then, they have performed nationwide, both as a solo performer and as a member of various concert and dance bands, including Countercurrent (a duo with Brian Lindsay), the Engine Room, and Natterjack. A versatile musician, Alex plays over half a dozen instruments, including guitar, bouzouki, bodhran, button accordion, mandolin, and banjo. As a producer and organizer, Alex has produced or co-produced over a dozen well-regarded albums of folk music over the last decade (including four solo albums of their own: River Run Wide, Loomings, Atlantic Dreams, and Slash). Alex is also the founder of Raise the Rafters (an annual inter-generational singing event in the Pacific Northwest) TransTrad Festival (an annual folk festival featuring trans and gender-nonconforming talent in traditional folk music) and the Vashon Sessions, a yearly collaborative recording project.