Bloodroots

• Americana
• Folk

Bloodroots is a folk/americana trio based in Madison, WI. Marin Danz, Rianna Straka, and Eva Paddock bonded over a shared love of female songwriters and began playing and writing together in the fall of 2025. Bloodroots’ namesake, a white petalled flower with red bleeding roots, felt parallel to their writing – pure, hard-edged, and far from simple. Bloodroots fresh take on a timeless sound is filled with sisterly harmonies and heirloom knowledge of shared stories.

After a handful of inaugural shows in the Madison area, they are happy to continue making their way into the Midwest scene.

Mel Starr

• Folk
• Singer/Songwriter

Based out of Boston, MA, Mel Starr is a self-taught singer/songwriter inspired by the folk tradition and the fingerpicking style. With no formal music education, intuition is deeply integrated into their music practice. Mel’s songs are soothing and, at times, haunting. They reflect on family, grief, relationships and finding oneself in their writing. They are celebrating the release of their debut record, “Wild Thing.”

Mel cares deeply about mental health and community wellbeing, using music as a path to bring people together in learning and collaboration. In their opinion, it is one of life’s true pleasures to see how a song can transform when many instruments and minds conspire to create something new. They also play in a folk project called The Moonbeams with their dear friend and musical partner, Sharon Engel.

Outside of music, Mel works in expressive and integrative therapies and currently studies at Boston College School of Social Work.