American Folk Singer Violinist Gaelynn Lea | Inspirational Musician | Musicians with Disabilities

Gaelynn Lea

Location: Duluth, MN

Challenge: Osteogenesis Imperfecta

Gaelynn Lea is an American folk singer, violinist, public speaker and disability advocate from Duluth, Minnesota.

Classically trained violinist and songwriter Gaelynn Lea has been bewitching scores of fans with her haunting original songs and experimental takes on traditional fiddle music. Her work most recently won NPR Music’s 2016 Tiny Desk Contest, a competition drawing submissions of original songs from more than 6,000 musicians across the country.

On March 3, 2016, Gaelynn Lea was named the winner of NPR Music’s second-ever Tiny Desk Contest. The video entry of her original song "Someday We’ll Linger in the Sun" rose to the top of over 6,100 submissions from around the nation, chosen as the unanimous favorite among the contest’s six judges. The very next week, Gaelynn performed a moving Tiny Desk Concert, at which the show’s host Bob Boilen said "there was hardly a dry eye."

Gaelynn Lea’s musical reach has expanded significantly because of the Tiny Desk Contest. She began touring nationally in September 2016 with her husband Paul in their 2002 Ford Econline – and they’ve been on the road ever since!

Gaelynn was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a genetic condition that causes complications in the development of bones and limbs. Lea became impassioned by classical music from an early age, and in fifth grade a teacher took notice and encouraged Lea to pursue music after she had the class's only perfect score on a music listening test. Lea developed a technique for violin which involved holding the bow "like a baseball bat" with the body of the instrument placed in front of her, like a cello, and attached to her foot so it wouldn't slip when she played.

Gaelynn attended Macalester College, where she majored in political science; prior to her music career, she had planned to pursue a career as a lawyer and disability rights advocate. In recent years, she has used her music as a platform to advocate for people with disabilities and to promote positive social change.

Gaelynn's early career collaborations included the alternative folk music duo The Murder of Crows with Alan Sparhawk, an "atmospheric, improvisational project" they began in 2011. Gaelynn Lea has also played with Charlie Parr and Billy McLaughlin.

Gaelynn gained exposure after winning NPR's 2016 Tiny Desk Contest. Her song and performance for "Someday We'll Linger in the Sun" was selected over six thousand other submissions by a committee that included Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, Jess Wolfe of Lucius, Son Lux and NPR staff. Auerbach's citation read: "This song starts off with the sound of 20 old floorboards groaning and creaking in unison and then Karen Dalton and Joanna Newsom melt together in the form of Gaelynn Lea and set about absolutely obliterating your heart."

Gaelynn's style is rooted in classical, Celtic and traditional folk music. With the use of looping pedals, Gaelynn layers multiple orchestrated parts from an electric violin while she sings. Due to her physical stature she plays violin in the style of a cellist, which creates a unique sound: in this stance, her bow strikes the lower strings first (as they do on a cello), in contrast to most violinists for whom the bow strikes the highest string first.

Reviewing her performance at the 2017 Folk Alliance Conference for Paste Magazine, Geoffrey Himes described Gaelynn's "Watch the World Unfold" as the "most moving song" he heard at the conference: "The song draws its power from the tension between a young person’s optimistic plans and the obstacles that life throws in the way of those hopes, a conflict reinforced by the paradox of the sunny, childlike vocal melody and the cloudy, ominous swirl of violin harmony."

Writing for The Kansas City Star, Bill Brownlee contrasted Gaelynn's musical style with what Brownlee called the "fussy forms of indie-rock" often praised by NPR All Songs Considered's hosts, Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton: "Many listeners who object to the tastemakers’ genteel predilections forgave the men after they discovered plaintive folk artist Gaelynn Lea last year...Filmed on a friend’s iPhone, the video of Lea’s rendition of her memorable original song 'Someday We’ll Linger in the Sun' captures her otherworldly voice and ethereal fiddle playing."

Gaelynn Lea was recently a guest speaker at Yale University for a TedxTalk to discuss sexuality, the obstacles for people with disabilities and the use of art as a vessel to overcome physical limitations. She also speaks on accessibility in the music industry.

Gaelynn Lea: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert