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Lori McKenna understands love, family, history, and home.
She is a master at chronicling the small, difficult moments between romantic partners as they navigate their relationships, as well as the moments that celebrate the love that accompanies the daily routine of life.
Based in Massachusetts, she entered the Boston folk music scene nearly twenty years ago, and built a fiercely dedicated following with her raw and honest writing. She crafted her songs while her five children were at school, and performed at venues and festivals throughout the Northeast. She is a five-time Boston Music Award winner.
Eventually, with the help of her friend Mary Gauthier, her songwriting drew the attention of Nashville producers and her songs were recorded by Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood, Allison Krauss, Keith Urban, Sara Evans, LeAnn Rimes, and Wynonna Judd, and she remains an in-demand songwriter for Nashville.
Official Website: www.lorimckenna.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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Discovered at an impromptu 3AM hotel room jam at a music conference when just 23 years old, Mark Erelli released his self-titled debut in 1999. Since then, he has cultivated an impressive career as an acoustic musician, songwriter, collaborator, and producer.
Erelli has won several prestigious awards, including the Kerrville New Folk contest in 1999 and the 2006 International Song Contest, where a song he co-wrote with Catie Curtis bested 15,000 entries to win the grand prize. For over 10 years, he has maintained a rigorous, international touring schedule, sharing the stage with Dave Alvin, Gillian Welch, John Hiatt and others, as well appearing at many major folk festivals, including Newport, Philadelphia and Shrewsbury (UK).
In recent years, Erelli has established his reputation as a multi-instrumentalist sideman, accompanying artists such as Lori McKenna and Josh Ritter everywhere from Nashville's Grand Ole Opry to London's Royal Albert Hall. He now has nine records, including collections of western swing (Hillbilly Pilgrim), lullabies (Innocent When You Dream) murder ballads (Seven Curses), and songs of stirring social conscience (Hope & Other Casualties, WUMB Folk Radio's #1 record of 2006).
Official Website: www.markerelli.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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Christine Lavin is a one-of-a-kind artist.
Her witty songs, hilarious on-stage presentation & irreverent attitude have enlivened the folk scene for more than 25 years. Abundantly clever & unabashedly fond of a good laugh, she has become the wry musical voice of the post-Boomer, pre-Gen X generation.
Lavin's live concerts have become a fixture in folk/pop culture, and she has received numerous awards, including The ASCAP Foundation Jamie deRoy and Friends Award, a NAIRD Award, two New York Music Awards, seven ASCAP Composer Awards, The World Music Association's Kate Wolf Memorial Award and a Backstage Bistro Award for New York City Singer-Songwriter of the Year.
She was listed in the TOP 100 Most Influential Artists by Performing Songwriter Magazine. She is also widely known as the original creative force behind the feisty, folky femmes fatales, Four Bitchin' Babes.
"She is what every artist yearns to be: An original" - Jeff Daniels, actor and singer/songwriter
Official Website: www.christinelavin.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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Originally from Jackson, Mississippi, Teneia is quickly making a name for herself in the Indie music scene. Her angelic voice, unique guitar rhythms, and moving lyrics have helped to solidify her growing reputation as a truly gifted artist, one whose dedication is as strong as her music.
Sanders' song "Stand" earned a placement in the HBO documentary Prom Night in Mississippi, featuring Morgan Freeman. The song exemplifies her ability as an artist to address deeply rooted social issues fearlessly and confidently. Her true talent however, is how she strips down the audience, leaving their minds filled with reflection and their hearts filled with hope.
"Teneia Sanders is seducing the ears of people everywhere. One listen to her exploding vocal range, her beautiful melodic voice backed with her clever guitar playing, and you'll be physically moved." - Casey Parks (Jackson Free Press)
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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From the prairies in Southern Alberta comes one of Canada's best folk/roots songwriters, John Wort Hannam.
For five years John Wort Hannam taught grade 9 language arts on the largest reserve in Canada - The Kainai Nation, part of the Blackfoot Confederacy. But in 1997 he heard a Loudon Wainwright III record and was hooked by the music and stories. In 1998 he bought a guitar and learned some chords. In 2002 he quit teaching and began to pursue the dream of being a working musician.
John has achieved some fine accolades in a few short years including a mainstage performance at the 2009 Kerrville Folk Fest, three Grand Prizes at the Calgary Folk Fest Songwriting Competition, and numerous nominations and awards. With comparisons to Gordon Lightfoot, James Keelaghan, and John Prine, John Wort Hannam is a born storyteller with a keen eye for the quirky and lyrics that create stories behind the songs.
Official Website: www.johnworthannam.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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Brian Ashley Jones is a soulful singer, accomplished guitarist, and versatile Americana songwriter.
His songs find influence in the guitar-driven Country, Blues and Bluegrass that he absorbed in his hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina, and have been placed in film and television and recorded by a variety of other performing artists.
Courier, Jones' independent release, made the Top 40 of the Roots Music Report and broke the Top 100 of the Americana Music Association's album chart. He showcased his songs as an official performer at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for Best American Roots Guitar Player in the Alternate Roots 2011 Reader's Choice Awards.
Accompanying Jones on bass and vocals is Columbus-native Tisha Simeral, a graduate of the Ohio State Univeristy School of Music and veteran of the Columbus Symphony Pops. Simeral is a sought-after performer and music educator. She taught at Capital University and Fort Hayes Career Center, and served in the Greater Columbus Arts Council's Artists-In-Schools program.
Now based in Nashville, Jones and Simeral have accompanied numerous artists on stage and in the recording studio, including Grammy-winning songwriter Jon Vezner, Caroline Aiken, Sara Hickman, and Jeff Black.
Official Website: www.BrianAshleyJones.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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Joe Crookston's music and songwriting are deeply rooted in the grand celebration of life, death, ancestry and the interconnectedness of us all. His music draws from his rural Ohio roots and exudes a remarkable intergenerational, universal, and timeless quality.
His keen musicianship as guitarist, clawhammer banjo player, fiddler, singer and songwriter fuse contemporary and traditional elements, with his crafted writing style.
Fall Down as the Rain, was chosen by Performing Songwriter Magazine as a "Top-12-Do-It-Yourself" independent recording, and two of his songs recently won runner-up in the folk category in the prestigious National John Lennon Songwriting Contest.
His latest CD Darkling & the Bluebird Jubilee, which blends a traditional feel into wonderful originals has also received rave reviews.
Official Website: www.joecrookston.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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Rj Cowdery is a Columbus-based artist who has solidified her place as a standout of the next generation of performing songwriters.
Though she wrote her first songs as a teenager, Cowdery took a circuitous path to becoming a full-time artist. She experienced exciting creative breakthroughs followed by distractions and obligations that took her away from her lifelong dream of being a professional singer/songwriter. But it has all paid off in recent years.
Cowdery's past few years on the folk festival trail have been nothing short of extraordinary. She has received major accolades at some of the most prestigious festivals in the U.S., including wins at the 2007 Mountain Stage NewSong, 2008 Kerrville New Folk, and 2008 Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist competitions. Most recently, she won the Dave Carter Memorial Songwriting Contest at the Sisters Folk Festival in Oregon.
Her most recent release In This Light has been met with rave reviews from critics, fans, and her fellow artists.
"There is no possible way to listen to Rj Cowdery's music and not feel deeply. The tone of her voice, the clarity of her guitar and spot on emotive lyrics plumb the depths of human hope and struggle. These are not just songs, they are arrows shot directly to center of the heart". -- Joe Crookston
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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Musical troubadour Patty Larkin has redefined the boundaries of folk-pop music for more than 25 years with her inventive guitar wizardry and uncompromising wit. Acoustic Guitar hails Larkin for expanding "her singer-songwriter folk style with soundscape experiments" while Rolling Stone praises her "evocative vocals, warm tunes, and subtle sonic shading."
Patty Larkin is part of the urban-folk/pop music phenomenon that spun off of the singer/songwriter explosion of the seventies, reinterpreting traditional folk melodies, rock, pop, bossa nova, drawing on anything from Dylan (Bob) to Dylan (Thomas).
A self-described "guitar driven songwriter," Larkin has wound her way through unique soundscapes of evocative vocals, inventive guitar wizardry and imaginative lyrics. Her songs run from impressionistic poetry to witty wordplay.
Official Website: www.pattylarkin.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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A native of the Bronx, Ari Hest began to concentrate on his music career while attending college at New York University.
Developing a loyal following by touring colleges and clubs across the United States, and selling more than 20,000 CDs on his own independent label, Hest was signed a to recording contract by Columbia Records. But after releasing The Break-In, Ari decided it was time to take more creative control over his music and parted ways with his label.
In 2008 Hest launched his highly successful 52 project, a web based subscription service that found him writing, recording, and releasing a new song every Monday for an entire year. At the end of the year, the subscribers were asked to vote for their 12 favorite songs from the project and the ones that got the most votes were then reworked and digitally released in the form of the album Twelve Mondays in early 2009.
Hest's latest release, 2012's The Fire Plays is an album about the thought processes that keep people from being present, explains Ari. "We tend to fall into the trap of thinking too much about where we expect to be in our lives instead of embracing where we are. I am a black belt in such thinking."
"...seasoned and professional performer, but his stage presence and delivery are as intimate as if he'd just written the song minutes prior." - Performing Songwriter
Song Samples:
I've Got You
If I Knew You'd Say Yes
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One of the leading voices in American songwriting, Ellis Paul was a principle figure in the wave of performing songwriters that emerged from the Boston folk scene, creating a movement that revitalized the national acoustic circuit with an urban, literate, folk pop style that helped renew interest in the genre in the 1990's.
Paul is a critically-acclaimed singer, songwriter, poet, and troubadour originally hailing from a potato farming family in northern Maine. He has earned thirteen Boston Music Awards, second only to multi-platinum act, Aerosmith. Ellis Paul has built a vast catalog of music, which weds striking poetic imagery and philosophical introspection with hook-laden melodies.
Paul has released two family music albums, including The Hero in You, which was selected by the Parents' Choice Foundation for a Gold Award, its top honor, calling it "an inspired family album with execution to match."
"Ellis is one of our best human compasses, marking in melodies and poems where we've been and where we might go if we so choose to." -- Nora Guthrie
Official Website: www.ellispaul.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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A Boston area native, Anna Vogelzang recently moved to the Midwest. Settling in Madison, WI, she has been embraced by the thriving local music community, receiving multiple Madison Area Music Awards and even taking a teaching role at Madison's Girls Rock Camp.
Vogelzang is truly an independent artist - producing most of her own recordings, funding her latest album through fan pre-sales and self-booking her tours. Her determined approach has landed her a spot at many respected folk festivals. She has won several awards along the way, including 2011 Madison Area Music Awards: Unique Album of the Year, 2010 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist and 2010 National Women's Music Festival Talent Competition
Her latest full-length venture, Canary in a Coal Mine, is a fully crafted folk-pop album complete with poetic ballads, plucky banjos, shimmering strings and Vogelzang's warm yet commanding voice. Performer Magazine describes the album as "varied and jubilant," showcasing a "voice that can knock down a listener, clashing from a sweet, nearly conversational tone into a confident country-girl howl."
"The Wisconsin troubadour has a penchant for playfulness when it comes to her music; however, when she gets serious, few craft a better folk song," praises the Huffington Post.
Official Website: www.TheAnna.com
Song Samples: Die Trying
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Lively and Engaging Show For All Ages!
Playing selections from his Parent's Choice Award Winning albums The Hero In You and The Dragonfly Races, Ellis Paul creates a lively and engaging show for all ages.
Known for his deeply felt and socially conscious songwriting, often about heroes, Paul was inspired by his own two growing daughters and four years of performing for families to write about people who contributed something to the world through their work and art.
The Hero In You is a collection of songs that reminds both parents and children of the important individuals who had an incredible impact on American culture and history. America enjoys the kind of freedoms that have produced a long list of free thinkers, risk takers, innovators. Ellis hopes to inspire kids to reach for the same great heights that these wonderful characters achieved.
"These people did amazing things, but they can also inspire young people today to go out and do something out of the ordinary to become the heroes of their own lives," explains Paul.
Don't miss this incredible musician and performer for a fun concert the whole family will enjoy!
Official Website: www.ellispaul.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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David Myles' unabashed joy at being on stage is infectious. His enthusiasm, along with his tendency to entertain audiences with his humorous anecdotes, wins him fans instantly. Known for his versatility and ability to fuse styles, Myles can just as easily evoke the image of a steamy Sam Cooke, or a rockin' Buddy Holly.
Hailing from Fredericton, new Brunswick, and currently residing in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Myles has taken the Canadian music scene by storm. His surprising and intricate songwriting has garnered him wins in the international Songwriting Contest, song placements in film and television, and a place on CBC's Great Canadian Song Quest.
Most recently, Myles' song "Simple Pleasures" from his album Into The Sun won the 2012 East Coast Music Award for Song of the Year.
"Everyday brilliance." - Toronto Star
Official Website: www.davidmyles.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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Connor Garvey calls his music "Acoustic Funky-Folk-Rock For The good Hearted".
A native of Portland, Maine, Garvey writes songs that tend toward optimistic and humorous portrayals that spark deeper reflection. His disarming stage presence draws the attention of the entire room with humor, daring honesty, and grace.
The Portland Phoenix describes Garvey's style as "Martin Sexton-ish jangle-funk, Mraz-y confessionals, and a very clear voice."
Listeners across the US became enthralled with Garvey's sound when his song "Soul on the Line" remained in extensive airplay on Sirius XM's The Coffeehouse, garnering him a spot in their top 6 new Singer Songwriters of 2010. Most recently, garvey won the prestigious 2012 Wildflower Arts and Music Festival Performing Songwriter Contest.
"One of the brightest young performers on the folk scene." - Phil Daligan, Songwriters by the Sea
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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Sam Baker is first and foremost a storyteller, using the music accompanying his unique stories and poetry as if it is punctuation.
That he is a professional performing songwriter at all is remarkable. While traveling in Peru at age 32, Sam Baker took a train ride that would change his life. On a clear cool morning in Cuzco in the summer of 1986, he boarded a passenger train that was blown up minutes later by terrorists. Seven died, including a German boy and his parents who were sitting with Baker in the car. Baker survived, but with lasting damage - deafness, a mangled hand and leg, and brain damage affecting speech and memory.
After a lengthy recovery, Baker rediscovered music, learned to play guitar left-handed, and today is known as one of the most original songwriters and performers in the genre.
Official Website: www.sambakermusic.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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Carrie Elkin has emerged as one of the defining new voices in the world of Texas singer-songwriters, being celebrated by Texas Music Magazine as one of their artists of the year.
The voice, the stories, the images, the grace and infectious enthusiasm, it's a complete package. But it's the power of her live performances that really have been creating an incredible buzz around this young artist. Maverick Magazine said it best, after a recent festival performance: "I have never seen a performer so in love with the act of singing. That's the gospel truth. Onstage Elkin was simply a force of nature."
Elkin's insightful songwriting, soulful vocals and lively performances have won her fans across North America, Europe and the UK. She has been invited to several well-known folk festivals, including Storyhill Fest Midwest, the International Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis, and official showcases at South By Southwest.
Official Website: www.carrieelkin.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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Despite his relatively young age, Massachusetts based Seth Glier is a seasoned troubadour.
In a remarkably short time, Glier has gone from opening act to headlining his own shows and playing major folk festivals. He makes as many personal connections as possible with his music. He declares, "I am inspired, and I will inspire the person sitting next to me. Promise!"
After spending his teens and early twenties on the road, Glier describes his latest release, Things I Should Let You Know, as "a reckoning with adulthood." The album offers one young man's perspective through expertly crafted stories. Glier's songs cast light on the challenges of adult life, through the lens of the everyday person.
In addition to his grueling schedule of more than 250 live performances annually, Glier is a national spokesperson for the Autism Awareness Foundation and an advocate for Musicians On Call.
"If Seth isn't destined for huge super stardom then no one is" - Livingston Taylor
Official Website: www.sethglier.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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A recent Berklee College of Music graduate, Liz Longley is already showing signs of becoming the next acoustic breakout artist.
After an overwhelming response to her first public performance, when she sang an original song at a high school concert, her parents bought her studio time at a local recording studio as a present for her sixteenth birthday.
Longley left her home in Philadelphia to attend the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she has received several awards for songwriting. She garnered first place in the Rocky Mountain Folk Fest Songwriter Showcase, and was co-winner of the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, received first prize in the BMI John Lennon Scholarship competition and won the Chris Austin Songwriting Award.
Still at the beginning of what promises to be a long and successful career, Longley is highly regarded for her personal, emotionally engaging songwriting.
Official Website: www.lizlongley.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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Mary Gauthier has distilled the bitter aftertaste of the booze and drugs and bad relationships that long ruled her life into one lovely narrative after another, chronicling a merciless world in which it's always a little bit too late to change your mind.
Gauthier found her talent later than many artists, writing her first song at age 35, and quickly earned accolades for her independent releases, winning the Independent Music Awards for Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Song, and her album Filth and Fire, was named Best Indy CD of the Year by Jon Pareles of The New York Times, in 2002.
Moving from Boston to Nashville, she secured a publishing deal, and her first major label release Mercy Now was on the top 10 list for 2005 in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, the Los Angeles
Times, the Daily News, and Billboard Magazine. She was awarded "New Artist of the Year" by The Americana Music Association the same year. Her latest release, The Foundling was named the #3 Record of the Year by Los Angeles Times music writer Randy Lewis.
Mary Gauthier exhibits a poet's unflinching eye, a counselor's compassionate heart and a trickster's wry spirit. She quickly has become an influential and in-demand voice, having her songs recorded by Jimmy Buffett, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton - and even Boy George.
"One of our most evocative storytellers and fearless stewards of the emotional landscape." -- Acoustic Guitar Magazine
Official Website: www.marygauthier.com
Song Samples: www.youtube.com
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Rod Picott is the songs he sings. Since before Woody Guthrie, songwriters have soaked their public image in sepia tones singing about the working life, but Picott bears the scars of actually living that blue collar life.
The son of a welder and former Marine, Picott grew up in the small mill town of South Berwick, Maine. His father's record collection spanned Ray Charles to John Philip Sousa and James Brown. His older brother introduced him to the punk poetry of Lou Reed and Patti Smith.
His songs are inhabited by drinkers, circus hands, boxers and working girls, and he sings about his characters with intimacy. The tall, wiry framed Picott made his living as a sheetrock worker from high school until he released his first CD, Tiger Tom Dixon's Blues, in 2001.
His latest release, Welding Burns, is an album about scars of the skin and scars of the heart. Picott's ragged and soulful voice spins songs of loss, desire, rapture and work. Three songs are co-written by Rod's longtime collaborator Slaid Cleaves.
"Rod Picott's world weary songs glow with both self awareness and humility." -Mary Gauthier
Song Samples:
Welding Burns
Little Scar
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