Kora Feder
Brooklyn, New York, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2017 | SELF
Music
Press
Kora Feder's entry, "Automatic Times," carries an emotional weight that can stop you in your tracks, even long after the song is finished. Simple in its presentation, it's a skillfully structured and impassioned plea for an end to gun violence. Its lyrics are increasingly heartbreaking. One line in the chorus, "Mass murder headlines are like photos on your hearth," brought me to tears the first time I heard it; it's one of many moments in the song that artfully shows how normalized these tragedies have become. - NPR All Songs Considered
"The most talented new singer-songwriter I've heard in the past decade." - Rich Warren, Chicago Folkstage
With a single stroke, Kora Feder propels herself into the protest song pantheon with her depiction of the country’s recurring gun-violence trauma, “Automatic Times”. With a lyrical straightforwardness evoking that of Pete Seeger, Ms. Feder masterfully shows the power of song-as-clarion-call. Balance is provided on her new offering with the moods of “Dance With Me”, “Meditation Song” and “Lists”. - Roots Music Report
In these dark and troubling times, we must create art. It’s more important than ever before. We must frame the tragedy in a fresh coat of paint or find ourselves lost in the underlining beauty of it all. Dangerously bigoted forces are as menacing and red-faced as ever, but we can’t lose sight of the vital role expression plays in revitalizing our fight. A folk wanderer in her own right, musician and singer Kora Feder prompts the listener with gentle urgency of art’s continuing consequence on our lives. “Still we write poetry / And paint it in the sky / Here in this galaxy, we still wonder why,” sings Feder, her voice a tender reed of grass piercing our skin but relating a tale of gilded hope. Fires and devastation tower as high-rise buildings, but she remains clinging to what has not be imagined quite yet, figurines of fragility and the yearning for a future cast in light.
“Still We Write” is an essential cut from Feder’s debut LP, In Sevens, out now. - B Sides and Badlands
Folk singer/songwriter Kora Feder looks much too young to have produced an album this mature and consistently terrific. Then again, the record radiates a level of idealism, vulnerability, and candor that veteran artists often lack. Her vocals—which remind me a bit of Iris Dement and also of Canada’s under-appreciated Lynn Miles—are passionate and captivating. So are her poetic lyrics on this all-originals album, which address romantic relationships as well as life in the age of Trump and issues like gun violence. (See “Automatic Times,” below.) Producer Rich Brotherton (Robert Earl Keen, Eliza Gilkyson) wisely keeps the focus where it belongs, on Feder’s gorgeous vocals and consummate guitar work; but other instruments, including piano, accordion, and mandolin, add color at just the right moments. Kora Feder will knock your socks off. - Americana Highways
"In Sevens" 2019 The three words on Facebook Kora Feder chose to characterize her music, "delicate but bold," describe perfectly her Iris Dement-like voice and the production on "In Sevens." Kudos to the producer, multi-instrumentalist Rich Brotherton. The sparse arrangements fill the sound space beautifully. Feder labels herself a "songwriter and concerned citizen." This debut full release introduces a fine songwriter who puts her concerns into her songs. "Automatic Times" is a moving protest of our gun culture. But, even the romantic "Dance with Me" says, "Just love me forever, ...tell me our country will get better, and dance with me." The confessional "Seven Hours," brims with details ("taxis and temples and dreams... two flies make love on my knee") from spiritual wanderings now ending. Feder muses, "out of all the languages I have cried in, which one meant the most?" The lyrics of album highlight "Meditation Song" take the listener inside Feder's wandering mind. The tune showcases: Feder's light touch ("...seven years in a cave is what it takes, I suppose"); her concerns ("what about the refugees?"); her love life ("my mind took a dangerous path straight to you"); and a terrific tenor guitar solo. Delicate, bold, concerned, gifted and young, Kora Feder is a talent to watch and hear. - Minor 7th
Discography
2019: 'In Sevens'
Full length album, produced by Rich Brotherton (of Robert Earl Keen, Mary Gauthier, etc.) in Austin, TX.
2017: 'Marigolds'
5-track EP made in Northern California at Foxtail sound. Solo.
Photos
Bio
Kora Feder (Feder rhymes with Peter) is a rising voice in the new generation of songwriters up to the task of confronting the times we live in. "The most talented new singer-songwriter I've heard in the past decade,” says Rich Warren, host of Chicago’s Folkstage. Spring of 2019 brought the release of her first full length album, In Sevens, produced by Rich Brotherton (of Robert Earl Keen, Mary Gauthier, Eliza Gilkyson, etc.) in Austin, TX. The record has already received critical acclaim, drawing comparisons to Pete Seeger's writing (Roots Music Report) and Iris Dement's voice (Americana Highways, Minor 7th). With features on numerous top picks and playlists, a highlight thus far has been the song 'I'd Be a Maria' making its way past 60,000 Spotify streams thanks to its placement on a Spotify editorial playlist in Europe.
A self proclaimed "songwriter and concerned citizen", Feder has already gained international recognition for her craft: from winning second place in the International Songwriting Competition in 2019 (19,000 entries from 140 countries), to being featured for her writing at the Kerrville Folk Festival and Telluride Bluegrass Festival in 2018. In response to Feder’s Tiny Desk submission that received an All Songs Considered feature, NPR’s Pilar Fitzgerald described her song Automatic Times as carrying “an emotional weight that can stop you in your tracks, even long after the song has finished...a skillfully structured and impassioned plea for an end to gun violence."
Feder holds a degree in Global Studies with a focus on songwriting as empowerment in indigenous and migrant communities. She spent over two years wielding a backpack and guitar in places like China, India, Thailand, and Italy. While attending lectures, writing essays and leading songwriting workshops, she composed a collection of songs that reflect stories encountered along the way. In 2017 she graduated and recorded her debut solo EP, Marigolds. The set of 5 original songs was met with glowing reviews, described as “a melodic salutation to all that is neglected and forgotten by a world at the mercy of Father Time; the carefully conceived work of a thoroughly engaging and exceptionally capable storyteller” (A Lonely Ghost Burning, UK).
Growing up in the Northern California acoustic music scene, Feder played violin from a young age and joined parents Rita Hosking and Sean Feder on stage as a mandolin and banjo player throughout her teens. Since leaving home and venturing into the solo singer-songwriter realm, she has performed on stages across the world; from a weekend special on Thai PBS in Bangkok, to town halls in Canada, to folk festivals across the United States. After playing Northern California’s acclaimed Strawberry Music Festival in 2018 along with acts like Greg Brown and Del McCoury, Feder’s solo set was described as “brilliant and life changing” by music veteran Joe Craven.
Although originally from Northern California, Feder currently calls Brooklyn, NY a home.
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