Xander Starobin

Xander Starobin is an indie-folk singer and songwriter from Olney, Maryland. Despite growing up between DC and Boston, he’s come into his young adulthood working on farms and traveling across the American West. Xander’s music offers a pensive reflection on his wide-ranging adventures, and as he discovers new landscapes and new people, the quiet grandeur of their stories inspire his songs. 

Xander began playing music when his parents pushed him to study classical piano at 7 years old, but he found his creative spark when he picked up guitar at 14. Drawing on folk icons of the past like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger and present-day influences like Gregory Alan Isakov and Watchhouse, Xander has crafted a wide-ranging array of acoustic tunes that cover ground from loneliness to love and everything in between.

When he’s not out in the fields or out on the road, Xander is a senior at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where he co-founded the Wesleyan Folk Music Collective. By organizing jam sessions and songwriter showcases and lending his skills to a wide array of bands, Xander has established himself as a mainstay in the Wesleyan scene who loves bringing people together around the warmth of acoustic music.

Xander’s debut single, Afraid to Be Scared, was released on July 17th and is available on all streaming platforms.