Amythyst Kiah w/ Dida Pelled at The Iron Horse on Friday, January 15 2027
On her new album Still + Bright, Tennessee-bred singer/songwriter Amythyst Kiah explores the vast expanse of her inner world: her deep-rooted affinity for Eastern philosophies and spiritual traditions, a near-mystical connection with the natural environment, the life lessons learned in her formative years as a self-described “anime-nerd mall goth,” and much more. Produced by Butch Walker (Taylor Swift, Green Day, Weezer) and recorded at his Nashville studio, Kiah’s second full-length for Rounder Records merges her revelatory storytelling with a darkly cinematic twist on the rootsy alt-rock of her 2021 breakthrough Wary + Strange—an LP that landed on Rolling Stone’s list of the 25 Best Country and Americana Albums of 2021 and drew acclaim from major outlets like Pitchfork. With its sonic palette encompassing everything from fuzzed-out guitars and industrial-leaning beats to gilded pedal steel and Kiah’s exquisitely graceful banjo work, Still + Bright makes for a vital new addition to a body of work largely dedicated to exploring the struggle and joy of true self-discovery.
The latest turn in a dynamic career that’s included joining Our Native Daughters (an all-women-of-color supergroup also featuring Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell), Still + Bright emerged from a deliberate transformation of the songwriting process Kiah adopted after composing her first song on a Fender acoustic at age 13. To that end, the album marks her first time opening up her approach and working with co-writers, including punk legend Tim Armstrong, Sadler Vaden (a guitarist/vocalist for Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit), and former Pentatonix member Avi Kaplan. Although her third LP is an undeniable departure from the anguished emotionality of its predecessor (an album informed by losing her mother to suicide at age 17), Kiah imparts each track with a hypnotic intensity born from boldly stating her convictions. Revealing her rare ability to spin her fascinations into songs uncovering essential truths about human nature, Still + Bright ultimately affirms her as an artist of both daring originality and uncompromising depth.
Dida Pelled seems like she could steal your girlfriend in a New York minute. A jazz prodigy, her talent and laid-back charm have a universal appeal across genres. The Brooklyn-based guitarist, singer, and songwriter is known for her playful personality with a dedication to authenticity. Pelled’s career represents a life-long devotion to music, while her following has grown around a certain steadiness and charm, wide-ranging in its inspiration and deeply intimate.
Whether she’s delivering a jazz standard, a scorched blues, a torch song, or an original, Pelled’s gift is palpable–in every room she plays, she has the audience in the palm of her hand; every lyric hitting just so. Audiences leave her shows with their tastes enriched and emotional worlds expanded.
Pelled moved to New York at age 20. As a freshman at The New School, playing a bar gig in the West Village, she was discovered by trumpeter and producer Fabio Morgera , who offered her the chance to make her first album. Featuring jazz greats Roy Hargrove and Gregory Hutchinson, this breakout album Dida Plays and Sings (Red Records, 2011) was promptly named one of AllAboutJazz.com’s albums of the year. The album was praised for its distinctive combination of warm, emotive vocals and soulful, highly personal guitar work. Pelled had found her place on the New York City scene for good, and soon scored international tours across Europe.
Following the release of her second album Modern Love Songs (2015), Pelled expanded her touring significantly with dates in France, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Czechia and various cities around the States. A smash hit from the album, “Jack Nice,” positioned her as much more than a jazz singer, with new appeal to a wider audience. It also put her in her first ever cowboy hat.
Dida’s third album, A Missing Shade of Blue (Red Records, 2016), showcased her instrumental voice in a bluesy organ trio, featuring Rodney Green on drums and Luke Carlos O’Reilly on organ. Pelled’s dynamic repertoire demonstrates an innate artistry that extends far beyond any single tradition.
Pelled is a regular at many of New York’s iconic venues, including Smalls, City Winery, Ornithology, Dizzy’s Club, and the now shuttered Living Room, Rockwood Music Hall, and Highline Ballroom. She has toured extensively in the US and internationally, with appearances at major festivals including the Padova, Ottawa, Atlanta, and Red Sea Jazz Festivals, among others.
This roving spirit animates her fourth album, Love of the Tiger (2022), a bold and playful work that reframes love songs into stranger and more expansive beasts. The album is both intimate and personal as well as kaleidoscopic and fantastical. Rooted in Dida’s personal background with a particular nod to her loving Thai grandmother, stern Iraqi grandfather, magician mother, and father who changed his legal name to “The Tiger”.
Pelled also has a knack for finding and playing songs that feel like secrets worth sharing. Part musical sleuthing, part radical archive-building, “The Lost Women of Song,” a live show she has developed over the years, is a beloved project devoted to uncovering folk music’s forgotten sirens. The show draws attention to female artists and songwriters under-celebrated in their time, such as Connie Converse, Elizabeth Cotten, Molly Drake, Mistress Mary, Tia Blake, The Space Lady, and Norma Tanega.
In 2022, Dida fulfilled a childhood dream of having her own radio show. She now produces and hosts “The Dida Show” on Radio Free Brooklyn with full episodes appearing on YouTube, allowing the global guitar and songwriter communities to share and receive trade secrets and discover emerging stars. Pelled also brings the best in the business for raw live interviews, with celebrated guests coming to gab with her every Friday from 3-4 PM Eastern. Past guests include Larry Goldings, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Rachael Price, Mei Semones, Emmanuel Michael, Ben Monder, Cassandra Jenkins, and many more.
In 2025, Dida began picking up steam with appearances at the Alternative Guitar Summit’s NYC Winter Jazzfest showcase alongside Gilad Hekselman, Pedro Martins, Jerome Harris and Rudy Royston. That same year, she performed at BRIC JazzFest in Downtown Brooklyn, continuing her rise as an artist revered among fellow guitarists and New York insiders.
Pelled is entering 2026, the Year of the Fire Horse, in full leather chaps, rolling out her unapologetically blues-drenched album I Wish You Would featuring Sullivan Fortner on piano, Tony Scherr on bass, and Kenny Wollesen on drums. With this project, she sharpens the qualities that have always made her a singular act—expansive musicality, narrative bite, and a refusal to sand down the edges. This long-awaited album is Dida’s grand coming-out with her first love–the blues.
Dida Pelled is that rare artist who commands a room with her virtuosity, disarms it with a laugh, creates a sense of belonging, and sends her audiences home wanting more. Everyone from the casual listener, the jazz-curious, the die-hard bebop heads, and beyond find something to love.
