Isa Burke is a musician from Maine. She is primarily known as one-third of the folk-rock band Lula Wiles, with whom she has toured internationally and released two albums and an EP on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. On electric and acoustic guitars, vocals, fiddle, and clawhammer banjo, she makes music that balances a respect for tradition with a healthy disdain for the limitations of genre.

Raised in a musical family (her parents are folk duo Susie Burke and David Surette), Isa grew up immersed in the Northeast’s thriving traditional music community. Studying at Berklee College of Music, she deepened her musical practice and broadened her knowledge. She is a versatile collaborator and an instigator of creative projects, whether she’s learning all of Lindsey Buckingham’s guitar parts for a Rumours tribute show, starting a group dedicated to writing a song every day for a month, or playing drums in a country-punk performance-art duo without really knowing how to play the drums.

When she’s not touring and recording with Lula Wiles, Isa plays the occasional solo show, works as a side musician and producer, and teaches private lessons as well as at festivals and camps across the United States. Isa produced singer-songwriter Liv Greene’s debut album Every Bright Penny, released in spring 2020. In the studio and onstage, she has collaborated with artists including Session Americana, Corporate Punk, Rose Cousins, Stash Wyslouch, Billy Wylder, and many others. Driven by a love of good songs and good sounds, Isa is “as versatile a musician as they come, and a true showwoman who commands the stage and the audience’s attention” (Red Line Roots).