Live from Studio A: Ponyfolk

By Christine Dean

Published February 25, 2025 at 5:31 PM CST

Four people standing in front of a frosted window with The North 103.3 FM in blue lettering. The woman on the right is leaning on a cello case that's covered in colorful stickers.

Clifton Nesseth and Paul Sauey formed Ponyfolk in 2014 after connecting as students in the music program at Northfield, Minnesota's St. Olaf College. Both multi-instrumentalists, the pair brought their mutual interest in folk music traditions and love of harmonies to the project. The group has since expanded, with Mikey Marget on cello and Alex Nelson on pump organ joining Nesseth and Sauey for a session in our studios on February 21, 2025. Their set included songs from their first full-length album, The Woods Have Shown Us, due to be released the following day. While this release featured more traditional folk tunes, the eclectic group said it plans to release a rock album that's been in the works for several years later in 2025.

Clif Nesseth and Alex Nelson of Ponyfolk — A man plays fiddle and another man in the foreground plays pump organ. The walls behind and to the right of them are lined with shelves full of CDs and behind the fiddler is a door with a red sign that says emergency exit. The door has band posters on it.

A man playing guitar on the left and a woman playing cello on the right. Both are seated and singing into microphones. Behind them is a wall of shelves full of CDs in a radio studio. — Paul Sauey and Mikey Marget of Ponyfolk