POLSKY WEST is the duo guitar project of Maya Polsky and Lulu West. Maya and Lulu write songs that expand and contract, growing from pin-drop intimate notes into sprawling landscapes of sound. Their music combines contemporary classical textures with folk songwriting melodies. They aim to make music that is welcoming and inclusive without compromising on complexity, merging the concert hall and the campfire into something of their own.
As young guitarists, Maya and Lulu rigorously studied jazz and classical respectively, but each secretly filled her ears with singer-songwriters and experimental music. As a result, their music carries far-flung references, drawing from the forceful acousticism of the Punch Brothers, the unusual harmonies and delicate orchestrations Billy Strayhorn, the lyricism and melodic songwriting sensibilities of Madison Cunningham, the woody tones of John Fahey, and the experimental edge of Bill Frissell.
Polsky West’s forthcoming EP, “No Shadow,” was written in summer 2025 during a residency at Tippet Rise Art Center in Fishtail, Montana. Maya and Lulu spent a week in the shadow of the Beartooth Mountains, surrounded by large-scale outdoor sculptures by artists such as Alexander Calder, Louise Nevelson, and Mark DiSuvero, massive herds of sheep, and two acoustic guitars, one steel-string and one nylon. Over a handful of days, songs poured out of the landscape and through their instruments, culminating in two massive sessions around vintage Neumanns engineered by Monte Nickels at Tippet Rise’s Olivier Music Barn. In the year that has followed, Maya and Lulu zeroed in on overdubs and field recordings they’d gathered during their Montana time and editing with creative focus. They then closed out their process working with mix engineer Trevor Spencer (Fleet Foxes, Father John Misty, Beach House) and masterer Chuck Johnson (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Six Organs of Admittance, Bill Orcutt). The result is a record that pushes the acoustic guitar beyond itself and into an uncanny valley full of subtly multiplying guitars and expansive tones while finding its footing in singable melodies.
A year earlier, Polsky West released their debut live album, “Polsky West Live at the Stone Circle Theater” in March, 2025, which they recorded for a sold-out audience at the Stone Circle, a church turned indie venue in Ridgewood, Queens. Polsky West have also written works for larger ensembles, including their project Play / Space, a collection of duo compositions and their orchestrated counterparts performed side-by-side at the Granoff Center for the Performing Arts in Providence, RI, as well as Touch The Moon, a commission for Ensemble Dal Niente.
Outside of Polsky West, you can find Lulu improvising alongside Billy Martin (Medeski, Martin, and Wood) and Paul Sakai, playing bass in her queer noise-rock band Duchess, teaching composition at the New York Philharmonic, and as an active member of New York City’s improvised and noise scenes as a solo artist. You’ll find Maya in the studio or on stage, producing, writing, or playing alongside indie artists like Annabelle Dinda, Miranda Del Sol, MICHELLE, Claud, and more as well as making her own music. She recently wrapped up a stadium tour with Annabelle Dinda opening for Noah Kahan. You can learn more about Maya and Lulu’s individual work at luluwestluluwest.com and mayapolskymusic.com