Joshua Hyslop

I came across this guy on noisetrade about a month ago.  He's an extremely skilled banjo player, and the arrangements are quite powerful.  His voice is also strikingly tuneful and different.  Check out this live video.  His lyrics are very thought-provoking.  Here's another good (non-live) one.  I really like the style of his songs: they are folky, but with a compelling melody and driving beats.  It's a nice balance of different genres.  There are a lot of cool instruments too.  This is one of my personal favourites.