# Folk Bitch Trio
**Folk Bitch Trio** is an Australian indie-folk trio from Melbourne (Naarm) made up of Gracie Sinclair, Jeanie Pilkington, and Heide Peverelle, known for close three-part vocal harmonies and minimalist songwriting built around acoustic and electric guitar. They signed to the US label Jagjaguwar in 2025 and released their debut album, *Now Would Be a Good Time*, on July 25, 2025.[1](https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time-review-3880561) • [2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/folk-bitch-trio-future-of-music-2026-interview-95635/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Members | Gracie Sinclair, Jeanie Pilkington, Heide Peverelle; all three sing, with Pilkington and Peverelle doing most of the guitar work[3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/sep/05/folk-bitch-trio-being-pathetic-and-lonely-is-great-for-songwriting) |
| Origin | Met at age 12 on the first day of school at Princes Hill Secondary, Melbourne; began singing together the summer after finishing high school[4](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2025/10/folk-bitch-trio-talk-beginning-a-new-little-chapter/) • [2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/folk-bitch-trio-future-of-music-2026-interview-95635/) |
| Label | Jagjaguwar (home of Bon Iver, Sharon Van Etten, and Angel Olsen), signed 2025[1](https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time-review-3880561) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/sep/05/folk-bitch-trio-being-pathetic-and-lonely-is-great-for-songwriting) |
| Debut album | *Now Would Be a Good Time*, released July 25, 2025; recorded in Auckland over the winter of 2024 with producer Tom Healy[1](https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time-review-3880561) • [5](https://anydecentmusic.com/review/14365/Folk-Bitch-Trio-Now-Would-Be-A-Good-Time.aspx) |
| Critical reception | A consensus score of 77.5/100 across four professional reviews; standout tracks cited include "God's a Different Sword", "Mary's Playing the Harp", and "Moth Song"[6](https://chorus.reviews/albums/folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time) |
| Recognition | Won the J Awards' Unearthed Artist of the Year; the album was nominated for the Australian Music Prize and the ARIA Awards[2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/folk-bitch-trio-future-of-music-2026-interview-95635/) |
| Phoebe Bridgers' description | "Boygenius if it was from the '40s or something"[7](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/folk-bitch-trio-analogue-song-you-need-to-know-47935/) |
## Formation and name
The three members met at Princes Hill Secondary in Melbourne at age 12 and became best friends, sharing a growing obsession with music. After finishing high school, Pilkington asked her friends "Do you wanna start a folk bitch trio?" in a group-chat message; the name became official when Pilkington's mother, Barb, who booked the band's first gig in a tiny Melbourne bar, championed what they had loosely called themselves.[4](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2025/10/folk-bitch-trio-talk-beginning-a-new-little-chapter/) • [8](https://mancunion.com/2026/03/02/an-interview-with-folk-bitch-trio/)
Accounts of the band's early dates differ. *Rolling Stone Australia* writes that they began singing together after meeting in high school and "formed properly in 2020 with the release of their debut single 'Houselights'".[2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/folk-bitch-trio-future-of-music-2026-interview-95635/) In a 2024 interview, the band themselves dated the group's birth to pre-COVID 2019 and described the 2022 debut single as "the rebirth post-lockdown".[9](https://atwoodmagazine.com/fbct-folk-bch-trio-band-interview-music-2024/)
## Early singles and touring
Before the debut album, the trio built a catalog of independent singles in pairs, including "If I Was a Man"/"Friendly Neighbour", "Lost"/"Shivers", and "Analogue"/"I Heard".[7](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/folk-bitch-trio-analogue-song-you-need-to-know-47935/) Their balance as a trio drew audiences at the Port Fairy Folk Festival and Queenscliff Music Festival, among other Australian dates.[7](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/folk-bitch-trio-analogue-song-you-need-to-know-47935/) They also toured as support to compatriots including King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and [Courtney Barnett](https://www.edgepedia.org/courtney-barnett) across Australia and Europe.[10](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2025/07/25/selection-albums-leos-janacek-valentin-silvestrov-folk-bitch-trio-tyler-the-creator-jackboys-et-travis-scott-kaabi-kouyate_6623880_3246.html) In 2024 they played the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg.[11](https://fkpscorpio.de/fileadmin/press_downloads/fkp.de/Press/FOLK_BITCH_TRIO/PM_Folk_Bitch_Trio_14.10.2025.pdf)
## Now Would Be a Good Time
The debut album was workshopped on tour and recorded in Auckland over the winter of 2024, with warm, direct-to-tape production by Tom Healy.[5](https://anydecentmusic.com/review/14365/Folk-Bitch-Trio-Now-Would-Be-A-Good-Time.aspx) • [12](https://www.occult-magazine.com/reviews/folk-bitch-trio-review) The setup is minimalist: three-part vocals over acoustic and electric guitar, occasionally joined by subtle drums, violin, and bass.[12](https://www.occult-magazine.com/reviews/folk-bitch-trio-review) Anita Clark's violin features on "Sarah" and on "Moth Song", the album's five-minute emotional centerpiece.[1](https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time-review-3880561) • [13](https://ourculturemag.com/2025/07/25/album-review-folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time/)
The songs are portraits of love and coming of age written separately over a couple of years, then brought together because, as the band put it, "our lives are so intertwined and we write with each other in mind".[14](https://uclaradio.com/rising-artist-spotlight-a-qa-with-folk-bitch-trio/) Subject matter is wittily specific: "The Actor" tells of falling in love with an actor and being broken up with at their one-woman show, a story Peverelle confirms is true; "Hotel TV", written by Sinclair in a Brisbane hotel, describes having a sex dream about someone else while lying next to a partner; "Moth Song" is about hopeless infatuation; and the closer, "Mary's Playing the Harp", is set on a drive across regional Australia.[1](https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time-review-3880561) • [13](https://ourculturemag.com/2025/07/25/album-review-folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time/)
Reviewers consistently framed the record around its harmonies and its darkness. NME wrote that the members "are not blood-related, but you'd never know on the basis of their magnificent three-part harmonies", and described the album as "sprinkled with strangeness", comparing its atmosphere to *Picnic at Hanging Rock*.[1](https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time-review-3880561) *Le Monde* heard an "indie folk de chambre", noting "Foreign Bird", "Cathode Ray", and "Moth Song" as evoking [Joni Mitchell](https://www.edgepedia.org/joni-mitchell).[10](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2025/07/25/selection-albums-leos-janacek-valentin-silvestrov-folk-bitch-trio-tyler-the-creator-jackboys-et-travis-scott-kaabi-kouyate_6623880_3246.html) The Guardian placed the sound "somewhere between Boygenius and Laura Marling".[3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/sep/05/folk-bitch-trio-being-pathetic-and-lonely-is-great-for-songwriting)
## Reception and touring since 2025
The album earned nominations at the Australian Music Prize, the ARIA Awards, and the J Awards, where the trio won Unearthed Artist of the Year, with APRA recognition following.[2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/folk-bitch-trio-future-of-music-2026-interview-95635/) After its release they toured it "around the world nearly nonstop", including an eight-week run through North America, Europe, and the UK during which the album was launched from the road.[2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/folk-bitch-trio-future-of-music-2026-interview-95635/) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/sep/05/folk-bitch-trio-being-pathetic-and-lonely-is-great-for-songwriting) Their first headline tour of Germany, with stops in Hamburg and Berlin, came in March 2026.[11](https://fkpscorpio.de/fileadmin/press_downloads/fkp.de/Press/FOLK_BITCH_TRIO/PM_Folk_Bitch_Trio_14.10.2025.pdf) In 2026 they appeared in Rolling Stone Australia's Future of Music series, and announced upcoming dates including four nights at the [Sydney Opera House](https://www.edgepedia.org/sydney-opera-house) with Mitski plus UK, European, and US festival appearances.[2](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/folk-bitch-trio-future-of-music-2026-interview-95635/)
## Influences and comparison points
The three members bring different musical backgrounds: Pilkington was raised on [Gillian Welch](https://www.edgepedia.org/gillian-welch) and [Lucinda Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/lucinda-williams), Peverelle loves pop music classic and contemporary, and Sinclair's taste leans darker and more gothic.[13](https://ourculturemag.com/2025/07/25/album-review-folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time/) Their shared starting point, by their own account, was the "divine pastoral harmonies" of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.[10](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2025/07/25/selection-albums-leos-janacek-valentin-silvestrov-folk-bitch-trio-tyler-the-creator-jackboys-et-travis-scott-kaabi-kouyate_6623880_3246.html) Reviewers and interviewers have compared them to The Staves, Boygenius, and [Laura Marling](https://www.edgepedia.org/laura-marling), and they have been described as retaining the stark minimalism of labelmate Angel Olsen's early work rather than the baroque arrangements of gothic contemporaries like The Last Dinner Party.[1](https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time-review-3880561) • [13](https://ourculturemag.com/2025/07/25/album-review-folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time/) • [3](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/sep/05/folk-bitch-trio-being-pathetic-and-lonely-is-great-for-songwriting) Phoebe Bridgers' quoted description, "Boygenius if it was from the '40s or something", has followed the band since their early singles period.[7](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/folk-bitch-trio-analogue-song-you-need-to-know-47935/)
## References
1. [Folk Bitch Trio – 'Now Would Be A Good Time' album review, NME (Joe Goggins, 25 July 2025)](https://www.nme.com/reviews/album/folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time-review-3880561)
2. [Folk Bitch Trio: Future of Music 2026 Interview, Rolling Stone AU/NZ (25 May 2026)](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/folk-bitch-trio-future-of-music-2026-interview-95635/)
3. [Folk Bitch Trio: 'Being pathetic and lonely is great for songwriting', The Guardian (Katie Cunningham, 5 September 2025)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/sep/05/folk-bitch-trio-being-pathetic-and-lonely-is-great-for-songwriting)
4. [Folk Bitch Trio Talk 'Beginning a New Little Chapter', SPIN (Steve Appleford, 2 October 2025)](https://www.spinmagazine.com/2025/10/folk-bitch-trio-talk-beginning-a-new-little-chapter/)
5. [Now Would Be A Good Time review aggregation, Any Decent Music](https://anydecentmusic.com/review/14365/Folk-Bitch-Trio-Now-Would-Be-A-Good-Time.aspx)
6. [Now Would Be A Good Time review score, Chorus.Reviews](https://chorus.reviews/albums/folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time)
7. [Song You Need to Know: Folk Bitch Trio, 'Analogue', Rolling Stone AU/NZ (Conor Lochrie, June 2023)](https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/folk-bitch-trio-analogue-song-you-need-to-know-47935/)
8. ['Now Would Be a Good Time': An interview with Folk Bitch Trio, The Mancunion (2 March 2026)](https://mancunion.com/2026/03/02/an-interview-with-folk-bitch-trio/)
9. [Interview: Folk Bitch Trio Emerge With an Unforgettable Name and a Beautiful Sound, Atwood Magazine (2024)](https://atwoodmagazine.com/fbct-folk-bch-trio-band-interview-music-2024/)
10. [Sélection albums : Folk Bitch Trio, Le Monde (Pierre Gervasoni, 25 July 2025)](https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2025/07/25/selection-albums-leos-janacek-valentin-silvestrov-folk-bitch-trio-tyler-the-creator-jackboys-et-travis-scott-kaabi-kouyate_6623880_3246.html)
11. [Folk Bitch Trio press release, FKP Scorpio (14 October 2025)](https://fkpscorpio.de/fileadmin/press_downloads/fkp.de/Press/FOLK_BITCH_TRIO/PM_Folk_Bitch_Trio_14.10.2025.pdf)
12. [Folk Bitch Trio – 'Now Would Be A Good Time' review, Occult Magazine (Beau Croxton, July 2025)](https://www.occult-magazine.com/reviews/folk-bitch-trio-review)
13. [Album Review: Folk Bitch Trio, 'Now Would Be a Good Time', Our Culture (Konstantinos Pappis, 25 July 2025)](https://ourculturemag.com/2025/07/25/album-review-folk-bitch-trio-now-would-be-a-good-time/)
14. [Rising Artist Spotlight: A Q&A with Folk Bitch Trio, UCLA Radio](https://uclaradio.com/rising-artist-spotlight-a-qa-with-folk-bitch-trio/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Ensembles and groups › Folk, world, and traditional ensembles › Folk, bluegrass, and country groups › Folk revival and folk-rock groups*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license