Portland-based Ashleigh Flynn opened the show with a 50-minute set of folk tunes. Dressed like she walked out of a J. Jill catalog, Flynn impressed with a clear singing voice and strong songwriting. She showed off her chops on her Martin guitar with more rock rhythms than traditional folk.
Flynn offered songs, many based in politics and her home state of Kentucky, from her recent fourth album, “American Dream.” Standouts included “Hazzard County” which she confirmed was about the rural county in the Kentucky not about the Duke boys, and the title track influenced by the events of Hurricane Katrina, but also relevant to the current economic and political climate.
 
One song, however, stood out above all the rest like a shining star. “Evangeline,” her song about her great, great, great aunt who grew up on plantation, married a black schoolteacher and was eventually disowned from the family. With a theme of racism and inclusion the line “We all breathe under the same moon,” resonated with other great lines in the folk canon. This is the type of traditional style folk that makes the genre great.

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