Figures of the Year

While it's tempting to term the Barefoot Movement a bluegrass band, they're really more of a 21st century Appalachian string band, mixing country and folk, and even a little rock, into an Americana roots blend that features reimagined traditional songs and ballads alongside original material, all with a pop sense at work, too. The band had its beginnings during the teen years of singer, songwriter, and fiddler Noah Wall in Oxford, North Carolina. Wall had just begun writing her own songs when she...