Balancing music, circus arts, and storytelling, Aurelia Anne Cohen has carved out a truly unique creative space within the American folk scene. Fresh off an electrifying performance in Bisbee, Arizona—complete with aerial acrobatics, stilt dancing, and live music—she steps into 2026 with new energy and a fresh release under Anti-Corp Music’s The Magnolia Sessions. In this interview with Femme Metal Webzine, Aurelia reflects on her journey through songwriting and collaboration, the making of her solo debut Chrysalis, and the organic, evolving nature of her live performances.
Welcome to Aurelia Anne Cohen
Hi Aurelia, welcome to Femme Metal Webzine! How are you doing, and how’s life treating you these days?
Hello, I’m doing well! I have recently finished with a show in Bisbee Arizona. I was co-directing a mixed medium circus show with aerial acrobatics and a little bit of pyrotechnic action, some stiltS, walking and dancing combined with live music. It was a hit despite the rain.
The new instalment of Anti-Corps’ The Magnolia Sessions
On the 2nd of January, it was released the new instalment of Anti-Corps’ The Magnolia Sessions. Let’s start from the beginning, how you came across Anti-Corp Music’s beloved series The Magnolia Sessions?
I am pretty sure I met Dan in 2013. Jason Dea West and I have a band called Intuitive Compass, and we were visiting friends (Ben & Ashley of Lost Dog Street Band). Jason and Dan go way back and we all went over to the studio, Ben & Ashley were recording, and I believe Jason was doing some tracking on a couple songs for them.
Aurelia Anne Cohen choosing the repertoire
Secondly, your instalment of The Magnolia Sessions features a mix of original songs and a few traditional pieces, with your friend Brice Clayborne Clark joining you on fiddle. When choosing what to perform, whether from your own repertoire or from traditional material, what guided your selection criteria?
There were a few different factors influencing my song selection for this session. My recent solo album Chrysalis has only one song with accordion featured on it because I have been writing on stringed instruments more in the past couple years, so I wanted to include a bit more accordion on this release.
I also thought throwing in a couple traditional was appropriate, I tend to focus mostly on originals, but I think it’s important to keep the flame of the past burning as well. My existing recordings with accordion are all with other projects, having Brice on fiddle recently has inspired me to pull it out more as I love those instruments together.
We had only a couple of days together to sort out our set for Muddy Roots (Muddy Roots is a festival in Tennessee that we were playing a couple of days before the Magnolia session) as well as what we were going to record, so there was a definite spontaneous element as well.
The single Carry It with You
On YouTube, it is present the preview of Carry It with You. I really love it. What can you share about this song?
Carry it With You is actually the second song ever I wrote on guitar shortly after I started playing guitar in earnest. After I finished it I recorded a video in Wisconsin that I didn’t get to see and never ended up releasing and then I kind of just forgot about it.
Then, a couple of days before the Magnolia Session I found it in my notebook and decided that we should try it out, and it turned out that it made sense to record it. The song itself is pretty self-explanatory, in a nutshell, it is for travelling artists and musicians or just travellers in general, and anyone else who feels that they can relate.
I think often people find a hopelessness when they move around more than they stay in one place. It’s important to remember that we have everything we need with us at all times, or at least I believe that.
The experience of Aurelia Anne Cohen at The Magnolia Sessions
About your experience at The Magnolia Sessions, you stated “Sometimes there is a strong mood or feeling which flavours a recording, this session was quite impromptu, and I am interested to see how some of the songs on it mature, but these variations were fun to record”. How did you feel about revisiting and reworking some of your earlier compositions or arrangements?
As I mentioned this recording was quite impromptu in terms of the arrangements. So even now a few months later, I have revised some of the songs on that recording. There will actually be a live video coming out, most likely in mid-February, through a channel called Valley Sessions which will feature Carry It With You, (the single release from the magnolia session) in its slightly more polished format.
Over the years my experience with the writing and releasing music has changed. I’ve had different ideas around how and when to release songs. Currently, I am experimenting with being less attached to everything staying the same. And allowing variations on the same song to be released so that people who are interested can hear the progression and witness the songs journey.
Often, when I have a new song, I will be a faster, slower or extended version of it. And then as I tour it and perform it, it will end up being “tighter”… But as a fan of other people’s music, I often enjoy witnessing the process of a song and its journey. So I am aiming to make that process available to people who are interested. Rather than being a perfectionist and hiding the organic shifts and changes from the public.
The full-length Chrysalis
Your full-length album Chrysalis came out in June 2025. Could you share some insights into its overall production?
Chrysalis, my first solo album which was released in June 2025, was recorded with Max Harms who has a recording studio in the Verde Valley of Northern Arizona. I’ve worked with Max a handful of times on videos. And I find his attention to detail and his ear to be impeccable.
The songs on Chrysalis are all originals. We used a live/ single take approach to these recordings with very little digital manipulation. There is an overdub of Banjo by a friend on one and an overdub of Accordion (by me) on another. Otherwise all the songs on that album are unadulterated, harkening back to the time when you would “sing into a can” and what you played is what you got.
Future (and past) plans
What’s next for you? Are there any plans? Any other upcoming and past projects that you can share with us?
Most immediately I had a Southwest to Pacific North West tour. featuring myself and Brice on fiddle, we will be performing songs from both Chrysalis and the Magnolia Session. That tour kicked off February 1st and ended March 5th. My friend who some may recognize from The Barn Swallows (Maybels Fables) has opened a handful of shows on our way north.
In addition to music, I specialize in multi medium performance art pieces, usually including circus arts of some kind. Often, including pyrotechnics, and as often as possible with a live band.There will be a few such shows on this tour. One, in Santa Rosa at the Arlene Francis Center where I will have access to an aerial point. Another is a masquerade ball/barn dance and Vaudeville show at my friend, the Boat Wrights on Whidbey Island in Washington.
This show will feature magic, fire, stilt walking, aerial acrobatics, and a handful of other musicians who are friends as well. I will also be performing at the Fresno Fringe Festival with a multi medium show. I am currently booking a Midwest-East Coast tour, which will bring me up into Quebec in late July.
Closing words for Aurelia Anne Cohen
Thank you so much, Aurelia, for taking the time to chat with us! Do you have any final thoughts or messages you’d like to share with our readers and your fans?
Thank you for having me and being interested! I suppose that to me, it’s extremely important for people to remember that each one of us makes a difference. Real people caring about my music means the world to me, when you go into a town supporting the local business makes a difference, speaking truth when it is difficult makes a difference.
I think we live in a time when convenience has been prioritized overly much. And remembering to be real should go without saying, but it doesn’t. Thanks for taking the time to shine a little light on my efforts. I look forward to seeing people out in person at shows when I’m on tour. People are welcome to follow me on the Internet if they are inclined, cheers!