The latest album from A Different Thread is built around themes of longing and wanderlust, two things most of us felt over the last few years.

The band is fronted by the duo of Alicia Best from North Carolina and Robert Jackson from the Midlands of England. The transatlantic nature of their act proved difficult throughout the pandemic and brought a host of challenges. With artist visas on hold, the band were forced to separate for a while. Before parting ways in 2021, they went into the studio in Bristol, UK, to lay down these tracks, not knowing when they’d be able to reunite again.

The result is powerful and potent record that pulls on the band’s respective roots, weaving together elements of British and Appalachian folk into a timeless, minimalist sound.

The Devil You Don't

Ode To The Leaving Of Liverpool

Behind The Curtain

Get Close

The Chase

Change

Call Of The Road

Cradle To The Grave

Didn't Wanna Go

Big Crane

A Wayward Sun

The second EP from our recording session at Alma Vale studio in Bristol 2016. Featuring Robert Jackson, Isaac Collier and Alicia Best.
Produced by Luke Cawthra

High Time

Banjo Tune

Cherry Tree

Chairs Instead

Honey And Fire

The Prickly Bush

Rosa Rosa

Potters Field

Hold Me Down

On A Whim

Long Black Veil

Pretty Polly is an age-old murder ballad, originally from England, that tells a tragic tale of betrayal and revenge.  This version, rearranged by A Different Thread, is the first single from their new folk Ep "Some Distant Shore".

Pretty Polly

Red Is The Rose

“Warm, deep, songwriters who have drank from the well of 20th century folk tradition” - Folk Radio UKaTransatlantic Americana band, A Different Thread, is fronted by Alicia Best from Durham, North Carolina and Robert Jackson from Lichfield, England. The two songwriters first met while busking in Galway, Ireland — a chance encounter that sparked a creative partnership that has flourished over eight years of independent music-making and living on the road.   Their original music exudes a timeless quality with hair-raising harmonies, mournful fiddle and harmonica, guitar, double bass and Alicia’s distinctive suitcase drum-kit.

Folk Radio UK lauded them as “warm, deep songwriters with a strong, independent sound,” a testament to their writing, which delves into themes of change, counter culture, travel, and the parting ways and reuniting that is inevitable with a life on the road.

A Different Thread is a transatlantic band fronted by Alicia Best from Durham, North Carolina, and Robert Jackson from the Midlands of England. The two met busking in Ireland in 2016 and have been on the road ever since, touring and creating original music together. 

Pulling from their respective roots, they weave together elements of 70s’ Folk Revival, Country, and Appalachian Blues into a timeless blend of Americana.  
Their music has garnered the attention of the BBC and NPR radio and landed them support slots with the likes of Jody Stevens (Big Star) Native Harrow, and the Milk Carton Kids. Their intimate blend of raw vocals and atmospheric instrumentation is reminiscent of The Band, Bert Jansch, and Joni Mitchell, with a nod to more contemporary artists such as The Wood Brothers, Rhiannon Giddens and Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings.

The band released their second album, Call of the Road, in September last year, followed by a UK tour with double bass player, Mike Seal. The new album was recorded in Bristol, UK, with producer Luke Cawthra (Phantom Limb) and the Folk duo, Chris Elliott and Caitlin Jones. Written over lockdown, these eleven songs deal with the themes of love, loss, wanderlust, and life on the open road.

A Different Thread

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