Bob Dylan hailed from the northern Minnesota town of Duluth. Decades later, another mighty folk artist, Gaelynn Lea Tressler, 40, has risen from the same remote enclave of less than 87,000 residents. “Musically, people here are proud of Bob Dylan. I don’t know if Bob Dylan cares much about Duluth,” Gaelynn laughs, “But Duluth is very enthusiastic about his being from here.”

Jeff Tweedy from Wilco is a fan of Gaelynn’s and states, “Gaelynn makes music that is timeless and singular. It’s serious music that makes you feel lighter, like a weight has been removed.” Bob Boilen, who co-created NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, formally discovered Gaelynn. He recalls, “What I heard from Gaelynn Lea was stunning. Her performance impressed our contest judges, including Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. The choice of her as the contest winner [she won the Tiny Desk Contest in 2016] was unanimous (out of 6,100 entries that year).”

“Gaelynn faces many challenges, but her talents and determination rise above her obstacles to create remarkable music,” he adds. Her Tiny Desk Concert – available on YouTube – has gone on to amass over four million views. Auerbach wrote at the time of her victory that Gaelynn’s song ‘set about absolutely obliterating your heart.’

Gaelynn is a wheelchair user. Among the many distinctive aspects of her music, she plays the fiddle using a cello technique. “[This] is because of my body type. I wouldn’t just do that randomly,” she explains, “I sing a little higher pitched because I’m small. And a person’s unique perspective can resonate with anyone – not just people who are disabled – especially anyone who has ever experienced marginalisation.”

Gaelynn started recording in 2011 with the help of Alan Sparhawk from the critically acclaimed ‘slowcore’ band Low. Sparhawk introduced Lea to live looping, which became a signature of her sound. Lea recorded her debut album, All the Roads that Lead Us Home, live in a single afternoon in 2015 and has gone on to release four more solo albums. She has participated in three other albums by various groups – including The Murder of Crows duo with Sparhawk. She also recently scored Macbeth on Broadway, starring Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga.

Her work has attracted the likes of Michael Stipe from REM, who asked her to record a single with him for last year’s Earth Day (a project conceived by EarthPercent). “Michael’s amazing to record with, obviously,” says Gaelynn. “I mean, he’s got the best advice and energy. And he’s become a friend.”

Gaelynn started playing violin in a fifth-grade public school orchestra. She continued through high school and then switched to fiddle in college. After only three weeks, she’d dropped out of the university orchestra but then stumbled upon a Celtic music group. Following college, she taught fiddle for many years, and the experience teaching children as well as the elderly informed her playing, helping her to realise that “music is equally as valuable even if it is not for performance purposes.”

When she made the transition from recording to solo performances, though, Gaelynn had to overcome stage fright herself, which was “sometimes physical and just kind of hits you.” She reflects that, “the performance isn’t really about you. It’s about the music connecting with the audience. Taking yourself out of the equation to some extent is a good way to get over the fear… You can have a show that doesn’t really go well, and someone can still come up afterwards and tell you, ‘I really needed to hear that today.’”

The late Vic Chesnutt – one of the most striking folk songwriters of the past four decades – was also a wheelchair user. That he, like Gaelynn, conveyed such unique visions doesn’t seem entirely coincidental. A critic once unkindly compared Vic’s voice to ‘farting,’ but those in the know recognised that he was among the most visionary writers of his time. “He had a unique energy, and his performance style was so direct. It was almost like he was speaking to you,” reminisces Lea. “But I feel a little sad thinking about how much harder and isolating it must have been for him during his era.”

In 2021, Gaelynn co-founded RAMPD.org (Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities). She has vowed that, “If a venue doesn’t have a ramp for the stage, I’m playing on the floor.” She continues: “Artists are still expected to be lifted onstage. It’s so backwards because we’ve had the ADA (the Americans With Disabilities Act) since 1990.”

She cites an experience at a New York City nightclub as a turning point. “I had called ahead and confirmed everything. But when I got there, all they had was a snowmobile ramp. And it was much too narrow and steep. And then the toilet was too low for me to use. That was a very sad moment, that even in New York City venues weren’t accessible to performers.”

Current estimates are that over one in four of us will become disabled at some point in our lifetime, with hearing loss and mobility issues being the most common changes as we age. Gaelynn states, “It’s okay to admit you’re disabled. Disability impacts a lot more people than just people like me who were born with it… I think a lot of people from underrepresented populations are kind of juggling these two roles – as an activist and a musician. But, hopefully, there’s a place for us to actually nerd out about the music part of it and really feel seen as musicians rather than just activists.”

Gaelynn has been hard at work on her memoir, Linger in the Sun. It’s slated for publication next year to coincide with the 35th anniversary of the ADA laws being passed in the US. 2025 will also see the release of Music for Macbeth, and Gaelynn plans to tour the UK in the spring.

She also recently co-starred in the musical play Invisible Fences, which she wrote with her friend from the disabled community, Kevin Kling. The show was met with standing ovations.

“In writing, we researched other stories about disability. And what we learned is that most of them are really terrible. They aren’t authentic and empowering, or celebratory. For generations and centuries, going all the way back to the ancient Greeks, the stories have this negative charge… There is such a scarcity of positive, feel-good and authentic stories. So, it’s important that disabled people start writing them.”

RAMPD

Gaelynn Lea founded RAMPD.org in 2021 with blind singer Lachi. They’ve made great inroads with their advocacy, including convincing the Grammy Awards to provide sign language interpreters for the first time and also proper ramps for all stages.

“Our organisation, RAMPD, wants people to realise that disability is actually a form of identity that influences your art and makes it valuable because of your unique perspective. Just like it’s important to hear from artists of colour or a trans artist, our music is formed by our identity, and we are a valuable part of the population,” Lea states.

Current RAMPD President, blind singer Precious Perez, continues, “People automatically think of accessibility as being about physical requirements and needs. But I always say that the biggest barrier that impedes us are people’s perspectives and misconceptions… If someone wants to learn and take those steps, then that’s enough. Because once you want to learn and you’re receptive, then together we can work to make progress happen.”

Gaelynn adds, “Different disabled people have different problems with the industry because we have different needs depending on our disability.” Perez emphasises it’s important for people to know that RAMPD is for all music professionals, not just performers, but sound engineers, producers, managers, agents, journalists and the like. “Disability isn’t something that’s negative, and that needs to be fixed. It’s a culture that should be celebrated… Our mission is to promote inclusion, amplify disability culture, and advocate for accessibility, visibility and equity in the music industry. We are international and growing.”

This article originally appeared in the December 2024 issue of Songlines. Never miss an issue – subscribe today