Andrew Victor has shared bills in the U.S. and Europe with Sharon Van Etten, Lael Neale, and Damien Jurado. His new album There Are Hummingbirds was released on 8/16/24.
Artist Category: Singer/Songwriter
Lily Talmers
Lily Talmers writes of the innate divinity in humanity from a palpably Midwestern vantage. Her lyrics are spiritual and strange—vivid images that range from sludge-covered and dismal to childlike and wondrous. Every song on It Is Cyclical, Missing You was recorded live, each song in one continuous take, often with a full band in tow, produced by Talmers herself. Lily Talmers has seen praise from NPR, No Depression, Under The Radar, and The Bluegrass Situation among others. She won the Kerrville Folk Festival’s 2024 New Folk Competition and has opened for the likes of Tommy Emmanuel, The Brother Brothers, and Anna Tivel.
Shannon McNally
Grammy nominee Shannon McNally’s live music career began on the jam band circuit of the 1990s with bands like Derek Trucks and Railroad Earth. Since then, her catalog has grown to span the whole of the Americana music spectrum, both writing original songs as well as interpreting the songs of others. She brings a soul-stirring musicality to her craft. Her honest and, at times, elegant voice immediately grabs one by the heartstrings. Not to mention as it turns out, she is also an exceptional electric guitar player.
McNally has fourteen albums to her name and a string of single self-releases on her personal label, Queen Maeve Records. Her latest album, “Live At Dee’s,” is a career retrospective song list captured over four nights in September of 2022 with a revolving band of Nashville musicians. Showcasing McNally’s wonderful storytelling and sense of wry humor, the 18-song disc captures her at her most relaxed in her natural habitat of neighborhood Honky Tonk.
For those who have followed McNally’s twenty-plus-year career, the thing that sticks with listeners the most about her is the timeless effortlessness she brings to all she does. With an impressive catalog and extensive list of collaborators with whom she has written, recorded, and toured; McNally continues to turn out great music across wide-flung ends of the spectrum, defying genre-fication. At home on any stage, from Lincoln Center to the juke joints of Mississippi—she always brings the house down.
Max Gomez
Singer/Songwriter Max Gomez grew up in Taos, New Mexico, where he fell under the influence of country blues early on and developed a songwriting style that was uniquely his. As a budding performer, Max apprenticed in the rarefied musical micro-climate of northern New Mexico, where troubadours like Michael Martin Murphey and Ray Wylie Hubbard helped foster a Western folk sound both cosmic and country.
He received critical acclaim upon the release of his debut album Rule The World (2013, New West Records); and his subsequent EP, Me and Joe (2017, Brigadoon Records), contained a freshly minted classic, “Make It Me.”
He has shared billing on hundreds of stages with stalwarts of the genre like James McMurtry, Buddy Miller, John Hiatt, Patty Griffin, Tommy James & The Shondells, Jeff Beck, and Johnny Depp. Judging by the company he keeps, Gomez is poised to emerge as a prominent voice of Americana’s next generation. The forthcoming album, Memory Mountain, is set to be released in August 2025.
Pete Droge
Born in Eugene, Oregon and raised on an island outside of Seattle, Droge rocketed to early acclaim on the strength of his 1994 debut, Necktie Second, which prompted the Los Angeles Times’ Robert Hilburn to compare his songwriting to Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Breakout single “If You Don’t Love Me (I’ll Kill Myself)” became a multi-format radio hit and landed a prominent spot in the iconic Farrelly Brothers comedy Dumb & Dumber, and within a year, Droge was on the road supporting Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. In the decades to come, he would go on to release a series of similarly well-received solo albums, appear in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous (performing alongside his wife and longtime collaborator, Elaine Summers); team up with Matthew Sweet and Shawn Mullins to form the Americana supergroup The Thorns; co-produce records for Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard and Chris Ballew of The Presidents of the United States of America; record three collections with his wife as The Droge and Summers Blend; and compose a variety of works for film and television, including feature scores and commercial spots for brands like Toyota, T-Mobile, and State Farm.
This summer he releases his new album, Fade Away Blue. Recorded with Grammy-winning producer Paul Bryan (Aimee Mann), the collection is largely autobiographical, offering up a series of dreamy, cinematic snapshots from throughout Droge’s life as he reflects on the existential forces that mold and shape us.
Merrie Amsterburg
Merrie Amsterburg is a singer-songwriter born in Ludington, Michigan. Her music has folk, rock, and pop influences. She has been compared to Beth Orton, Tori Amos, Aimee Mann, and others. She has won two Boston Music Awards, a Boston Phoenix Award, and a Jam Magazine Award.
She began her musical career as the singer and guitarist for the late-’80s early-’90s band the Natives, who were nearly signed by KISS’ Gene Simmons, and recorded tracks with Blondie producer Richard Gottehrer.
Her 1996 solo debut Season of Rain came out on Q-Division records, the namesake label of the studio where it was recorded, and where other Boston artists like Aimee Mann and Jennifer Trynin have laid tracks. 1999 saw the album’s re-release on Zoe/Rounder Records, as well as the release of an EP, A World of Our Own Making. Little Steps followed in mid-2000.
Ron Sexsmith
Ron Sexsmith is a three time, Juno award winning singer songwriter from St Catharines Ontario. Born in 1964, Ron was drawn to music from an early age by the melodic songs of the era, which he heard on the radio and by his Mom’s record collection. His earliest musical heroes were Buddy Holly and Elton John. He always loved to sing and started playing guitar at age 14. Although he tried to write songs throughout his teens, it wasn’t until he was 21, when he had his first child, that he truly became a songwriter.
Ron eventually moved his young family to Toronto in 1987 to further pursue a career in music. He worked as a courier by day, while performing in the clubs by night. He formed the band ‘Ron Sexsmith and The Uncool’ and started gaining attention from music label executives, though all passed on signing him.
In 1991 he released his first full length album on cassette called “Grand Opera Lane”. The album was rejected by the Canadian music industry, although it found its way to Los Angeles where Ron ultimately signed his first music publishing deal with Interscope Records followed by a recording contract.
With producer Mitchell Froom, Sexsmith released his self-titled label debut album in 1995. The melancholic tone and sparse acoustic arrangements of the album were met with disapproval from Interscope. However an enthusiastic endorsement from Elvis Costello drew media attention and the album was declared a critical success. In his Sept 7, 1995 review for Rolling Stone, Bud Scoppa wrote: “He just may be the most fluent balladeer to come along since Tim Hardin or Harry Nilsson.”
He has built a steadfast reputation with critics and with some of his own songwriting hero’s (Elton John, Ray Davies, John Prine, Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen and Paul McCartney) for his characteristically honest, sensitive, and enduring approach to the songwriting craft.
Ron has released albums on a consistent basis since 1995 and has recorded with noted producers Mitchell Froom, Daniel Lanois, Steve Earle, Jim Scott, Don Kerr, Brad Jones, Bob Rock, and Martin Terefe. His extensive song and album catalog has garnered Sexsmith a substantive cult following and an international touring career. His early years of touring included opening for established artists such as, John Hiatt, Elvis Costello, Sarah McLaughlin, Squeeze, Aimee Mann, Coldplay, Nick Lowe, John Prine, Lucinda Williams and many others. His songs as well, have been covered by the likes of Rod Stewart, Nick Lowe, Emmy Lou Harris, Feist, Michael Buble, and Stevie Nicks to name a few. In the past few decades as a headlining artist, Ron has performed at some of the most prestigious venues in the world, such as Massey Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, and The London Palladium.
Jill McCracken
Jill McCracken (they/them) is a queer singer/songwriter making emotionally raw retro soul music. Heartfelt passion and vocal power remain front and center whether it’s a boisterous full band performance or an intimate solo set. McCracken’s influence has resonated with their home city of Boston, earning consistent Boston Music Award nominations over the past five years (Singer/Songwriter, Vocalist of the Year), clinching a New England Music Award (Soul/R&B act of the year), and being regarded as “a force to reckon with in the Boston Music Community” (Allston Pudding).
Ryan David Green
Ryan David Green’s music has been called “virtuosic acoustic guitar that is remarkably accessible”, with fast fingerwork that is always in service of unmistakeable melodies. Performing a blend of instrumental guitar pieces and delicate vocal tunes, Green takes audiences to a place both otherworldly, and somehow surprisingly intimate.
A graduate of Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, Ryan David Green has performed on four continents, been profiled in Acoustic Guitar Magazine, endorsed by Takamine Guitars, and twice been named “Best Guitarist” in the Tucson Music Awards (where he currently resides). He was awarded 1st place in the 2024 American Songwriter Song Contest and his original compositions have received numerous film and TV placements, including shows on E!, Lifetime, and ABC Family/Freeform.
His acoustic-duo Ryanhood (with musical partner Cameron Hood) has performed with a wide-range of artists including Jason Mraz, Matt Nathanson, and Train, and were named the “Best Group/Duo” in the International Acoustic Music Awards.
His debut solo-guitar album Off and Running released on June 14, 2024.
Laura Cortese
Laura Cortese might best be described as a sonic magpie: a curious and resourceful adventurer traversing great distances, collecting melodies and rhythms that glitter like jewels in the sun. Driven by the gravitational pull of human connection, her tendency towards exploration and collaboration have led her into countless niches, each providing its own unique feather with which to decorate her distinct and ever-evolving sound. But all of these explorations have one thing in common: the power of strings. This may seem limiting to some. To her, it is anything but. “Strings are at the core of what I do,” she says. “Genre is secondary to that palate.”
After over 5 years of living abroad, Laura has a new solo show based on original American folk songs. When Laura is alone on the stage, the audience becomes her band, stamping and clapping like a kick and snare drum, sometimes singing along sweetly and occasionally reminiscent of an enthusiastic gang vocal. She can be found performing internationally, exploring, and exalting in her passion for American roots music.
Laura Cortese has built a career weaving together a musical tapestry as diverse as it is masterful, highlighted with experiences like playing the Newport Folk Festival with Pete Seeger in 2009, standing onstage at the iconic Carnegie Hall in New York with Band of Horses in 2009, and a stint touring alongside Uncle Earl in 2007. She has recorded with artists ranging from Aoife O’Donovan and Brittany Haas to Tao Rodriguez Seeger and Session Americana, and has released 7 albums under her own name–All in Always (2016), Into the Dark (2013), Simple Heart (2012), Two Amps 1 Microphone (2011), Acoustic Project (2010), Blow the Candle Out (2007), Even the Lost Creek (2006), and Hush (2004). She has toured across the globe, acting as an ambassador of American music on behalf of the US State Department by performing and teaching in India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Estonia, Greece, Ukraine, and Montenegro. Now, she holds space and builds community for musicians in Belgium as the co-founder of the monthly Bright Lights Session in Ghent. As always, her vision is as expansive as her background. “We’re working to basically write a new folk tradition,” she says. Were it anyone else, you’d think it impossible. But with Laura Cortese at the helm? It just might come true.
