Hannah Cohen

Hannah Cohen is the new folk-rock queen of the Catskill Mountains. In 2018, before the Covid-19 pandemic sent so many scurrying to some sylvan outpost, Cohen and her partner, the musician Sam Owens, decamped to the famous New York woods. They slowly converted a two-story barn there into Flying Cloud Recordings, running a domestic studio where bands like Big Thief and Blonde Redhead have since worked. It is also, of course, where Cohen methodically made 2025’s stunning Earthstar Mountain—a stirring reflection on loneliness, love, life, and loss whose mix of Dusty Springfield shuffles, Stevie Nicks allure, and Karen Dalton intuition instantly evokes haunted mountain hollers, verdant country glades, and ripe old nurse logs.

Cohen left San Francisco, where she grew up amongst musicians, as a teenager, heading to New York and quickly becoming part of the city’s creative scene. She credits Norah Jones with teaching her how to sing harmonies and, in some sense, shaping the confidence that led to her debut, 2012’s Child Bride. In the last dozen years, especially after exiting New York City, Cohen’s albums have paired Laurel Canyon smarts with Ulster County playfulness. Earthstar Mountain feels like a charmed barn party—“Summer Sweat” is bucolic disco magic, while “Draggin’” is delirious country funk—and next morning’s comedown, when you’re able to see your whole situation in a welcome fresh light.