Short Bio
Kala Farnham crafts folk songs with roots and wings, weaving age-old truths into modern grooves. The 18th Connecticut State Troubadour and Rose Garden Performing Songwriter Contest winner invites listeners into conversation with intimate, fireside-style performances. With soul-stirring vocals and mystical folk harp, piano, and guitar, she draws audiences into a transcendent journey—one that lingers long after the final note fades.
Long Bio
Kala Farnham crafts folk songs with roots and wings, weaving age-old truths into modern grooves. The 18th Connecticut State Troubadour and award-winning artist has been recognized as a 2020 Falcon Ridge Festival Emerging Artist, 2019 Rose Garden Performing Songwriter Contest winner, Official Northeastern and Southeastern Regional Folk Alliance Showcase Artist, and two-time Great American Song Contest Finalist, among other accolades. Drawing on a background in classical piano and musical theater, she reimagines the folk tradition, infusing fairytales, historical fiction, and narrative medicine into vivid portraits of the familiar world. Her intimate, fireside-style performances—featuring soul-stirring vocals and mystical folk harp, piano, and guitar—invite listeners on a transcendent journey that lingers long after the final note fades.
Song Samples
Press Photos
*Click for Hi-Res download
Photo by Sara McIngvale
Photo by Sara Mcingvale
Photo by Sara McIngvale
Photo by Sars McIngvale
Photo by Sara McIngvale
Photo by Tracy Walton
Photo by Dennis M. Scanlon Photography
Photo by Frank Anastasio
Photo by Jeff MacRae Photography
Press Releases
Interview on NPR’s “Where We Live” (2023)
The Story Behind Her Success w/ Candy O’Terry (2022)
On the Tiny Stage @ 95.9 WATD (2022)
Interview with Sandro, George, + The OG (2022)
CT’s New State Troubadour Kala Farnham Bridges Mental Health, Music - CT Post (2022)
“Your Spirit Is A Work of Art” Exemplifies Its Name - Review by Nick Noble of The Folk Revival (2020)
Kala Farnham - “Your Spirit Is a Work of Art” - Review by Ben Zacarelli (2020)
Kala Farnham Empowers Women With “Beautiful Heart (Shine On)” (2019)
Kala Farnham To Be Featured On BWH Music Group’s “On Peace Street, Vol. One” (2019)
Connecticut Songwriter Wins Rose Garden Contest in Mansfield (2019)
Kala Farnham - ‘Happy for You’ (2018)
Kala Farnham: Lyrical Letters (2017)
Kala Farnham offers beauteous sophomore album Samadhi: Home Is Where You Are (2016)
Kala Farnham, Anahata: Wake Up Your Heart (2014)
Roots Report: Don't Let These Shows Pass You By (2014)
Kala Farnham Off to Promising Start with Debut CD Anahata: Wake Up Your Heart (2014)
Three for 2010 - Chieftains, Farnham & Beck (2010)
Farnham's Take on Solo Artistry (2009)
Accolades
2024 Great American Song Contest Finalist (Folk / Americana category) - “Nunnuhsae (Singing River)”
Connecticut State Troubadour (2022-2025)
2021 New England Music Awards - “Female Performer of the Year” and “Best in CT” nominee
2020 Falcon Ridge Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Finalist
2020 Great American Song Contest Finalist (Singer-Songwriter Category) - “Firefly”
2020 Mid-Atlantic Song Contest Honorable Mention (Adult Contemporary category) - "Elijah”
2020 Limelight Music Awards - “Female Vocalist of the Year” nominee
2020 Limelight Music Awards - “Video of the Year (Solo Artist)” nominee
2019 NERFA Semi-Formal Showcase Artist - Folk Alliance International
2019 Winner of the Rose Garden Performing Songwriter Contest
2019 Honorable Mention - Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Songwriter Showcase
2019 New England Music Awards - “Best In State - CT” nominee
2017 Winner of the RISA Performing Songwriting Competition
2017 Johnny Mercers Songwriters Project alumni
2017 Motif Music Awards Finalist "Best Americana Album"
2015 SERFA Official Showcase Artist - Folk Alliance International
2015 Motif Music Awards Finalist -"Best Americana Vocalist (Female)" and "Best Americana Album"
2014 Motif Music Awards Finalist -"Best Americana Vocalist (Female)"
* Has shared the stage with: Mary Fahl of the October Project, Don McLean, Tower of Power, David Wilcox, Vance Gilbert, Lucy Kaplansky, Billy McLaughlin, Lari White, Christine Ohlman (Saturday Night Live), Steve Katz of Blood Sweat and Tears, Ari Hest (Judy Collins “Silver Skies Blue”)
* Has been featured at: Infinity Hall (Hartford & Norfolk CT), The Garde Arts Center (New London CT), The Spire Center (Plymouth MA), Ethel M. Barber Theater (Evanston, IL) - click here for full list
Performance Videos
Testimonial
"There are some people who are great writers. There are some people who are great singers and there are some people who are great instrumentalists. And there are some people who are also beautiful. Kala Farnham is all of those.”
- Steve Katz of Blood, Sweat, and Tears
“Kala Farnham’s second album Samadhi: Home Is Where You Are offers bold musical accomplishments and one of New England’s best voices in one of this year’s best written and best recorded works."
- Bill Copeland Music News (read the whole review here)
“A very special artist.”
- Lari White, Billboard Top 10 Singer-Songwriter
"Kala is a performer not to be missed. The delicate beauty of her vocals and piano playing will leave a lasting impression."
- Theresa MacNaughton, Hartford Stage
"Kala Farnham shows that she is an ever-growing, ever-engaging, and ever-imaginative artist who continuously stretches the boundaries of genre with honesty, musical grace, and superb song-writing skills. By doing so, she gives us songs that start as a change inside of her, but change us too - And this is what great music is all about."
- Bryon Harris, Indie Spoonful
“Effortless vocals.”
- Andy Walter, Abbey Road Studios
“Playing a brand of folk music that mixes in elements of pop, indie pop, and even neo-classical and Celtic influences, Kala Farnham is not your average folkie.”
- Chip McCabe, Hartford Courant
"Your CD was the highlight of my [post-conference] listening experience. I love your composition and melodic sense and your voice is exquisite."
- Jim, Billboard Top 10 songwriter
"This is what happens when a truly gifted musician invests a lifetime perfecting her skills but somehow maintains the spontaneity of a young and curious poet. It is rare to find both paths intertwining so comfortably together..."
- Don Tassone, The Mediator Stage, Providence RI
"Kala Farnham's show at our coffeehouse tonight blew everyone away. That young woman has so much talent it's shocking. The beautiful melodies, complex arrangements with classical and Broadway chops mixed every now and then with Billy Joel, the complete confidence and utter humility..."
- Stephen Holloway, Harbor Church Common Ground Coffeehouse, Block Island
"Just a note to thank you for the beautiful music and superb audience engagement last Friday for the "67 Park Place" Performance Series. Your melodies, lyrics, poetic references, and voice set in the gallery made for a truly unforgettable and artful evening. Your performance provided the best possible example of how work scaled for chamber presentation can have powerful impact..lovely!"
- Mary, Samaritans of RI
Contact & Booking
Kala Farnham
kala@kalafarnham.com
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