Boston-based string band Joy Kills Sorrow brings a decidedly modern sensibility to an old-world sound, channeling the prodigious talents of its individual members into elegant arrangements and well-crafted songs. While the group pays due homage to its bluegrass roots—its name is taken from WJKS, a radio station that broadcasted the Monroe brothers' show in the 1930s—the band truly excels in its rich and textured treatment of more contemporary material. With an impressive array of original songs, Joy Kills Sorrow gracefully merges influences as diverse as folk, rock, pop, and jazz. The music that emerges is dark and often funny: a new strain of folk music that ruminates on modern life and love with eloquence and wit while saluting the past.

Joy Kills Sorrow first emerged out of Boston's thriving folk music scene in 2005. Several years and band member changes later, the group currently features founding member and award-winning flatpicking guitarist Matthew Arcara, mandolin virtuoso Jacob Jolliff, uncommon banjo ace Wesley Corbett, distinctive songwriter and bassist Bridget Kearney, and earthy, powerful vocalist Emma Beaton, the 2008 Canadian Folk Music Awards' Young Performer of the Year. In 2007, the group won first prize in the Podunk Bluegrass Festival Band Contest; their latest CD is Darkness Sure Becomes This City (Signature Sounds).

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Listen to a track from Joy Kills Sorrow: