Brian Dolphin is a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, Fulbright recipient, and doctoral candidate in Ethnomusicology at the CUNY Graduate Center.
He has studied and performed folk and original music all over the world, in villages and large venues alike. He leads an active life as a songwriter, performer, producer, and songleader, uniting diverse communities through the “Dolphin & You” Patreon and Community Sing, Ukrainian Village Voices, and the Philly Folk Choir.
There are many ongoing collaborations, including with his wife Elizabeth LaPrelle through their album of original and traditional Lullabies. They also comprise half of the “freak folk” band Doran, who released their first album with critical acclaim from Pitchfork, NPR, The Guardian, Bandcamp, Record Crates United, and Raven Sings the Blues.
For several years, Brian has been channeling most of his creative output through the “Dolphin & You” Patreon, where every month, he releases his own music and that of other singer-songwriters whose songs might otherwise go unrecorded and unheard. He also shares traditional and original arrangements of different folk songs and distributes the harmony part-recordings through the site.
On December 15th, 2024, “Dolphin & You” released “Dolphin & You Compilation No.1”, a big, 31-track double-album with half of the songs written by Brian Dolphin and half by his collaborators. It is a selection of some favorite songs and moments from the past five years of recording people in “6-hour albums” - marathon recording sessions where people collectively learn, arrange, and record each others’ songs. Although the genres include Indie Folk, Old-Time American Fiddle music, Sludge Metal, Tanzanian Wagogo hocketing, Birdsong, and even EDM, there is a consistent grounding in folk harmony singing and a reverie of the miraculous in the everyday, with songs about skinny-dipping, driving, parenthood, mourning, and climate change. There is something here for every listener to resonate with, above all the feeling of a bunch of people coming together to sing each others’ songs and channel the enduring power of collaborative community creation.
He has studied and performed folk and original music all over the world, in villages and large venues alike. He leads an active life as a songwriter, performer, producer, and songleader, uniting diverse communities through the “Dolphin & You” Patreon and Community Sing, Ukrainian Village Voices, and the Philly Folk Choir.
There are many ongoing collaborations, including with his wife Elizabeth LaPrelle through their album of original and traditional Lullabies. They also comprise half of the “freak folk” band Doran, who released their first album with critical acclaim from Pitchfork, NPR, The Guardian, Bandcamp, Record Crates United, and Raven Sings the Blues.
For several years, Brian has been channeling most of his creative output through the “Dolphin & You” Patreon, where every month, he releases his own music and that of other singer-songwriters whose songs might otherwise go unrecorded and unheard. He also shares traditional and original arrangements of different folk songs and distributes the harmony part-recordings through the site.
On December 15th, 2024, “Dolphin & You” released “Dolphin & You Compilation No.1”, a big, 31-track double-album with half of the songs written by Brian Dolphin and half by his collaborators. It is a selection of some favorite songs and moments from the past five years of recording people in “6-hour albums” - marathon recording sessions where people collectively learn, arrange, and record each others’ songs. Although the genres include Indie Folk, Old-Time American Fiddle music, Sludge Metal, Tanzanian Wagogo hocketing, Birdsong, and even EDM, there is a consistent grounding in folk harmony singing and a reverie of the miraculous in the everyday, with songs about skinny-dipping, driving, parenthood, mourning, and climate change. There is something here for every listener to resonate with, above all the feeling of a bunch of people coming together to sing each others’ songs and channel the enduring power of collaborative community creation.
bridylph at gmail dot com