Underrated Radar: Denison Witmer

Before my Ryan Adams phase, before my Elliott Smith phase, before my Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, Townes Van Zandt, Jackson Browne phases, before digging into the Lomax and Folkways archives, Leadbelly, Woody Guthrie, Son House - my first foray into folk was all because of Iron & Wine and then, Denison Witmer. It was my first year of college and this was the song that hooked me. Having up until then been deeply steeped in punk, emo, ska, and metal - it was like entering an alternate reality.

Denison’s songs are classics around the Berrios house - finding themselves on the same playlists as the greats, but Denison one-ups even Dylan — “Are You A Dreamer” will always be tied to my memory of watching my wife walk down the aisle to this song on an unusually mild March afternoon in the Tennessee countryside.