Across the Horizon, Volume I

Northern Spy Records and Bob Holmes of SUSS invited eight innovators from the wide landscape of instrumental music to curate the first volume of the Across the Horizon series, with the mission of exploration, collaboration and discovery.

MISSION STATEMENT

The “Across the Horizon” series sets the goal of bringing together a like-minded community of instrumental pioneers and encouraging them to explore beyond their normal pathways, taking them, and their fans, into previously unexplored territories. By choosing a group of artist/curators each year and asking them to bring forth their favorite artist peers, we hope to broaden the landscape of instrumental music and emulate the kind of discovery that happens when artists sit down to chat about their influences. Finding connections, shared roots, and new inspiration in the process.

LINER NOTES

Across the Horizon is a bold exploration of where Americana’s roots intersect with the boundless expanse of ambient music. Curated by Bob Holmes and Northern Spy Records, this collection invites you into a realm where sound becomes landscape and music transcends genre, inviting listeners to wander through vast, uncharted spaces of sonic possibility.

These artists redefine the boundaries of sound, blending the organic with the ethereal to craft soundscapes that feel both familiar and otherworldly. The performances in this compilation evoke open skies, endless roads, and a sense of drifting between worlds, creating a space where time stretches and bend.

The 24 tracks gathered here offer an invitation to lose yourself in the immersive, introspective, and transformative power of music. Here, sound becomes a journey leading you beyond the familiar, into the vast and the unknown. Step into the experience, let the music guide you, and explore the sonic space across the horizon.

– Bryan Crow, Festival Director, Big Ears Festival

released October 3, 2025