Folk-Fusion

Adam Howard, aka The Duke of Norfolk, hails from Oklahoma by way of Siloam Springs, Ark., but has now made his home across the pond performing his brand of “folk-fusion” with an acoustic guitar, while also studying sound at the University of Edinburgh. “I’m a busker, so I’m used to being on the street trying to get the attention of people who, by default, have no interest in listening to me. I think that rubs off on my gigs,” he says of his ability to command a crowd’s attention. His sound is based in Irish and American folk, but Howard also brings in heavy percussion, electronica, orchestral music and blues. He began playing music in a folk-rock jamband growing up, then performed at university gigs and coffeehouses, before taking up songwriting in 2007. While Tunng, Sufjan Stevens and Radical Face are musical inspirations, he says that his creativity also depends on how much sleep he’s had or when his last meal was. “In 2010, in order to get better at writing songs, I wrote a song a day for a month and a half,” he says. The exercise paid off, as Howard recently released a set of five EPs named for migratory birds and his debut full-length, Birds…Fly South! Howard will tour the U.K. this summer and is currently working on another EP. “I’m constantly improving as a songwriter and, as such,” Howard says, “I am keen to share the things I’ve been writing.”