Prologue

Grammy-nominated flat-picking harmony duo The Milk Carton Kids have emerged in the last three years as a powerful voice defining the continuing folk tradition. A refreshing alternative to the foot-stomping grandeur of the so-called folk revival, an understated virtuosity defines The Milk Carton Kids to the delight of traditionalists and newcomers to the folk movement alike. Indeed, Garrison Keillor has called them absolute geniuses in close-harmony, while cultural purveyors like T Bone Burnett and Billy Bragg continue to refer the importance of The Milk Carton Kids among a group of new folk bands expanding and contradicting the rich tradition that precedes them. The Los Angeles Times lauds their latest Anti- Records release, The Ash & Clay, as displaying absolute mastery of their craft while Paste emphasizes the intellectual sophistication of their songs, making The Milk Carton Kids an option for purists unsatisfied with some of the pop tendencies seeping in to the genre. In addition to a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album of 2013, The Milk Carton Kids also received a nomination for Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2013 Americana Music Awards. They are featured in T Bone Burnett & The Coen Brothers' concert film documentary, "Another Day/Another Time: Celebrating the Music of 'Inside Llewyn Davis'", alongside Joan Baez, Jack White, Gillian Welch, Marcus Mumford, Punch Brothers and many other folk luminaries and upstarts.