Nora Jane Struthers has written “some of the most quietly powerful narratives within the new wave of Americana artists,” says Ann Powers of NPR Music. The songs that last decades and weave themselves into the fabric of listeners’ lives are usually the ones in which an artist lays her soul bare for the world to hear. Struthers has built her career on these kinds of songs.
There’s an honesty and energy to Nora Jane’s stage presence; a vulnerability that is part and parcel of great artistry. In one moment, she joyfully leads the audience in a dance party… in the next, she lays her soul bare for the world to hear. A performance by Nora Jane and her band is full to the brim with stellar musicianship, unexpected arrangements that blur the lines between folk, roots, and rock, and an audible sense that everyone in the room is having a damn good time.
Joy Askew has enjoyed an embellished career playing alongside music icons such as Peter Gabriel, Laurie
Anderson, Joe Jackson, Rodney Crowell, Jack Bruce and Quincy Jones. She has performed with her own band on stages from NYC’s CBGBs to festivals in UK, USA, Japan and Europe and opened for David Bowie and David Byrne among others.
Now as a re-invented musical poet she has been a dedicated songwriter since the late nineties and her ninth album as an artist, Everything Is Different, was released in May 2022.
She also sings in a choir that was featured on a Sufjan Stevens EP, collaborated with a British brass band and
released a downtempo jazz electronica album along the way.
Janet Feld, Esther Friedman and Jackie Damsky have joined forces as The Secret Sauce, performing tasty originals and choice covers, with lots of sweet 3-part harmony, plus guitar, mandolin, and violin. They came together over a love of each other’s songs, great friendship, and fun and that’s how the Secret Sauce rolls!
Janet Feld is an award-winning performing songwriter, appearing at folk festivals and coffeehouses from coast to coast throughout a nearly three-decade career. She teaches private lessons and offers video lesson programs to people of all ages. She teaches guitar and songwriting atThe Passim School of Music and is the founder and Chief Music Officer at Janet’s Planet: Music Lessons for Humanoids, Inc.
Esther Friedman is a Boston-based acoustic singer & songwriter. She started writing songs in the mid-nineties after moving to the area from Cleveland, for Lesley University’s Expressive Art Therapy, Master’s Degree program. Inspired by buskers who braved street corners and t-stops she started writing and performing. Today, she provides therapy in a private practice, counseling those in recovery from trauma, while performing and song writing as much as humanly possible.
Jackie Damsky was originally trained as a classical violinist, and has developed a unique improvisational style over a range of genres including jazz, folk, blues, acoustic rock, and popular music. From halls and clubs to the recording studio, Jackie’s warm and sweet, passionate and evocative violin playing leaves listeners profoundly affected and deeply moved. Jackie weaves a harmonic tapestry with her fellow musicians, adding depth, color, richness… and a little magic.
Lindsey Sampson, Greg Daigle, and Jim McCann are musicians and songwriters from the Boston area who team up to create the band Visiting Wine. They blend smooth harmonies with Southern stomp and holler for a sound with depth and energy.
Greg and Lindsey started making music together in spring 2017, song by song, just for fun. Some they released immediately, some they released months later just to friends and family, some they never released at all. They were both songwriters playing solo around Boston – they started playing shows together and spending hours and hours in Greg’s home studio. Their creative voices and twisted senses of humor complimented each other’s to a point at which they decided, we have no choice but to be in a band together.
They released their debut album, Visiting Wine, in July 2018. It mixes tight harmonies with Southern stomp & holler for a sound with depth and energy. Their music marries a wide variety of music influences, from the intertwining harmonies of early church music to the rhythm-forward influences of heavy metal. As Greg describes, “now we’re just metal guitarists with acoustic instruments.”
They celebrated the release of the album with a sold out show at the Burren in Cambridge. After the release, they have been performing around New England and continue to create new music for release in 2019.
Bern may be best known for his masterpieces “Jerusalem,” “Marilyn,” and “Tiger Woods,” but he has also released 25 albums and eps, and played thousands of shows across North America and Europe. He is a captivating live performer with a loyal, multi-generational following. Ani DiFranco, an early supporter of Bern’s, took him on tour with her and produced his second album, Fifty Eggs. Bern has written original songs for the films Walk Hard—The Dewey Cox Story and Get Him to the Greek, as well as the 15-song soundtrack for Everett Ruess, Wilderness Song, a documentary produced by Jonathan Demme.
Bern hosts a podcast—10,000 Crappy Songs—a radio drama of a songwriter-turned-detective. He also runs the 24/7 internet radio station, Radio Free Bernsteinn. Also a visual artist, Bern’s paintings are on display at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum and the Bob Feller Museum. Bern is the author of several books, including his latest, Encounters, a collection of poetry based on Bern’s chance meetings of such figures as Jimmy Carter, Bruce Springsteen, Hunter S. Thompson and Wilt Chamberlin.
Paul Izak was born and raised on the Hawaiian Islands and currently lives it up on the Island of Oahu. Paul has been discovering his own voice and unique sound as a singer/songwriter since 2004.
As a young boy, Paul was no stranger to the main stage, performing as a vocal soloist in choruses since 2nd grade. He then became an impersonator of famous artists like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Louis, and Neil Diamond. He performed around the island with the Honolulu Boys Choir for two years. Through Intermediate and High school years, he began to shift interests towards acting, photography, sports, and film production and his vocal talent was put aside. During these years, he began to find a new voice through his Harmonica. His inspiration came from his uncle Brian, a local blues harmonica player, and other blues musicians around the island. He quickly found a new sense of freedom through the harmonica.
During his first year of college, Paul began learning guitar and finding his own sound, which can best be described as a Folk, Blues, Rock, Reggae combination. In 2006, while living on the Island of Lana’i, Paul began playing hand drums. This later led him to establishing a drum circle on Kailua Beach for three years. These drum circles allowed Paul to connect with the community through the freedom of unlimited creative expression weekly. Bringing together the community in a conscious way led to the monthly Yogarden Music Gatherings, an all ages, artistic/music event. Paul’s passion for yoga, gardening, and music set the foundation for these gatherings.
Since 2005-2013, Paul was the lead singer/harmonica/percussion player for local Hawaiian reggae band Pressure Drop, winners of the Mai Tai Rumble in 2010. Paul’s full length albums include, Peaceful Words (2010), Seeds of Love (2011), Everlasting Light (2013), Campfire Anthems (2013), Back to the Roots (2017).
Scott Mickelson is an artist/producer from the Bay Area. His debut release Flickering was on the Grammy ballot for Best Folk Album and Best Roots Music Performance. His follow up full-length A Wondrous Life is receiving great reviews in the US and abroad. Mickelson will be playing his first European tour this Fall.
Mickelson has appeared in NPR Radio, Huffington Post, CBS Morning Show, No Depression, Glide Magazine, Paste Magazine, PopMatters, TheBayBridged, Alternative Press Magazine, San Francisco Chronicle, etc. He also gained national recognition after winning a band search contest sponsored by MTV/7-Up with a prize of $15,000 and a song in the feature film Along The Way.
Mickelson has opened for acts that include David Bromberg Quintet, Matt Nathanson, Larry Campbell and Terese Williams (Grammy producer), Jim Lauderdale (Grammy artist), Griffin House, Nick Lowe, Dr. John, Smashmouth, Jonathan Richman, Peter Case.
“this music is the balance between strong, subtle, unexpected, and sophisticated.” – Paste Magazine
“With a howling voice that echoes heartland heroes like Bruce Springsteen or John Mellencamp, Mickelson keeps it exciting on his latest “Hail Marys,” showing off power pop tendencies similar to Big Star while staying true to folk music spirit”. – SF Weekly
“It’s American folk-Rock with a post punk edge, rustic but scarred.” – Alternative Press Magazine
The Kenny Brothers Band is an improvisational Mountain-Rock Band from the backwoods of Stratham, New Hampshire. Made up of three brothers, they perform original songs with roots in alternative-folk music, accompained by warm-hearted lyrics and earth derived grooves. The band was found in 2014 when all three of them realized they shared a true passion for music. It was time to move out of their parents basement and be heard by music fanatics alike.
Their debut album, Walk in the Woods, was selected to be in the best Seacoast music in 2016 according to the Seacoast Scene. “[Walk in the Woods’} weaves between trees, circles past the no trespassing sign onto the path less traveled and eventually doubles back home to sing about the adventure,” says Siri Undlin from Ear to the Ground Music.
Being brothers, Billy 28, Taylor 27, and Joey 22, they all grew up listening to their parents records while spending quality time in the outdoors. This as well as Joey’s adventures in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas inspired the creation of their debut record. Walk in the Woods examines how nature is an escaoe from technology and modern pressures of society. Through stories about traveling, girls, self-doubt, and independence, The Kenny Brothers illustrate a way of life that has greater emphasis on passion instead of career. “One of the band’s greatest assets is their brotherhood. Growing up listening to the same music, along with their shared love of the outdoors, has made for a successful partnership,” says Charlie Weinmann from The Sound.
Sweat flies and floorboards tremble – Union Duke is a Toronto folk quintet with an explosive live show. Bridging soulful indie rock with bluegrass and country, the group belts out soaring harmonies with three, four and even five voices. The songs are irresistible, the perfect fit for the heatwave of the dance hall or the cool breeze of the park. These five guys have been making a commotion in one way or another since they were kids, and years of making music together have brought them to this: a heartbreak of twang and a bootshake of rock and roll. Union Duke is two fifths city, two fifths country, and one fifth whiskey.
The band works hard, travelling back and forth across the country playing to fans young and old from coast to coast. They’ve played sold out shows where crowds know all the words. They’ve performed at countless festivals including TURF, Mariposa, and Summerfolk, topping the list of must-see acts. Their enthusiasm is infectious, and they leave every audience smiling – maybe the golden days aren’t so distant after all.
The music of Casey Neill & The Norway Rats combines high energy rock rave-ups and haunting lush acoustic reveries built around melodic narrative songwriting. The Norway Rats are a collective of Portland indie all star players whose credits include The Decemberists, Eels, Viva Voce and more. Neill has been touring with the band and solo throughout the USA, Japan, and Europe for more than a decade, performing his songs at venues such as Town Hall in New York, San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall, and the Newport Folk Festival. The new Norway Rats record Subterrene is a major leap forward for the band that No Depression calls “a milestone in Neill and company’s trajectory thus far” while Rolling Stone says ” (Neill’s) songs mask their complexities beneath a simple, singalong-worthy surface… these swimming waters have serious depth.”
