This stunning oil painting by Laura Radwell instantly caught my eye as the perfect cover art for Going Going Gone, released June 20, 2024. It’s a ballad, written on the summer solstice, about creating time for new beginnings and following instincts. It starts with a stripped-down folksound, blooming into cinematic strings and drums. Canadian multi-instrumentalist Quinn Bachand produced, engineered and mixed, and mastering was done by Trevor Buckingham. I’m thrilled with how this came out, hope you enjoy (and if you do, go tell all your friends to listen too)!
Montana Wildflower (2023) is the third album of original folk music I’ve released. It’s an all-instrumental celtic fiddle album with a touch of oldtime. Each original tune was named after a favorite wildflower found in Montana, the lovely state which I am from. I also collaborated with Quinn Bachand on this one, we arranged and recorded all the instruments and had a whole lot of fun making it. I am very proud of what we came up with and I hope you might give it a listen!
Reviews for Montana Wildflower
“…it was her album of fiddle compositions, Montana Wildflower, that I kept coming back to again and again this year. Beautifully recorded, she fiddles with an intensity that belies how carefully each note is laid on the neck of the instrument. But she’s also a great tune composer. Instrumental dance tunes are usually learned and taught by ear, passed down from olden times, and though many young players compose their own tunes, it’s not as common that these tunes are as captivating as Padilla’s. As a fiddler myself, I wanted to jump to my fiddle to learn each one! The reason she can compose tunes so ably is because she’s taken the time to learn multiple traditions of fiddling inside and out. There’s a great respect I can hear in these new compositions of hers.” - Devon Léger (Folk Alley Favorites:Best Trad of 2023)
“Listening to Montana Wildflower it's easy to think that most of these tunes have been arund for generations: the slipjig on Lady Slipper could come from an Altan album, the delightfully crooked oldtime reel Bittercress could be a version of Sally Ann. The waltz Forget-Me-Not is in classic country style, reminding me of compositions by Frankie Rodgers, Andy Dejarlis, Reg Bouvette and others. Prairie Flax starts with one of many O'Keeffe slides, an old tune indeed, given a treatment somewhere between Sliabh Luachra and Cecil Sharp House. A simple banjo melody and a sweet Celtic air bring us to a traditional oldtime reel and the final hard-hitting Americana medley of two contemporary tunes, dark and earthy, underpinning the wildflowers and ending this album on solid rock. Natalie Padilla's fiddle music fits right in, and takes these traditions to new and interesting places.” - Alex Monaghan (FolkWorld)
“…All in all, Montana Wildflower is a tour-de-force, a great shop-window for Natalie Padilla's strong compositional abilities and the masterful playing and strong musical rapport shared by herself and Quinn Bachand.” - Bob Leslie (Fatea UK)
“Forget Me Not” feature in Strings Magazine, July-August 2023 issue
Bluegrass Country Radio interview with Brad Kolodner, March 2023
Americana UK feature, March 2023
Bluegrass Today feature, March 2023
Bluegrass Situation feature, March 2023