Simon Joyner

Cited as a key influence by Bright Eyes, Beck, Kevin Morby and Gillian Welch, Omaha, Nebraska singer/songwriter Simon Joyner has been putting out delicate, intimate, mournful songs since the early '90s.

He is also known for the so-called "Peel Incident," when British DJ John Peel played his album, The Cowardly Traveller Pays His Toll, from beginning to end on air.

Despite his status as a respected and influential performer and his collaborations with members of Wilco, Lambchop, the Dirty Three, and John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats, Joyner has remained staunchly independent, working without managers, booking agents, or publicists for the entirety of his career.

His focus on songcraft first resulted in a steady run of brilliant albums, with frequent highlights such as 2012's sprawling double album Ghosts, the insular reflections of 2019's Pocket Moon, and 2022's Songs from a Stolen Guitar, which ruminated on themes of isolation and memory. The 2024 album Coyote Butterfly was made up of songs of love and grief Joyner experienced after the death of his son.