Robby Hecht

• Folk
• Singer/Songwriter

Robby Hecht is a modern folk musician-of-all-trades: singer, songwriter, congenial collaborator to some of the biggest up-and-coming names in the genre, celebrity to some, generally decent human.

Robby first fell in love with the emotional potential of music as an awkward pre-teen in Knoxville, lying alone on his bed and listening to “Hits 100” on the radio. He hadn’t figured out how to talk to girls, but he was so moved by the music that one night he called in to dedicate Aerosmith’s “Angel” to a crush. He used full names. They played Mariah Carey instead. Robby will be forever mortified.

A couple of decades later, Robby tries to capture that same emotional resonance he felt during those earliest interactions with music. His music blends nostalgia with unabashed honesty: 1970s golden era of folk meets personal confessions of the Facebook era. He turns a lost battle with alcohol into a powerful country duet, weaves 2,000 years of history into a sparse musing on morality, and transforms insecurities left over from broken relationships and mental illness into deceptively catchy melodies.

Robby is also a prolific songwriter as a collaborator. His songs have been recorded by a number of other artists including Meghan Linsey, Jennifer Knapp, Nora Jane Struthers, Liz Longley, The Steel Wheels, and Amy Speace, among others.

Katie Dahl

• Folk
• Singer/Songwriter

Clear-eyed and tough-minded, songwriter/playwright Katie Dahl is known for her smart songs, wry wit, and wise spirit. A small-town celebrity on the Wisconsin peninsula where her family has lived for 175 years, Katie is also an internationally touring, radio-charting artist who “delivers razor-sharp lyrics with a hearty, soulful voice” (American Songwriter). In live shows that are both courageously honest and devilishly funny, Katie dives deep into questions of land and love, family and body image, grief and joy. “In unsettled times,” says Peter Mulvey, “Katie Dahl brings us a grounded spirit.”

Katie’s five albums of original songs showcase her creamy alto, abiding love of the land, and trademark humor, as well as her unflinching vulnerability. Her recent work finds her exploring deeper territory than ever before, from anxiety to body image to the challenges of growing up queer in an evangelical church. Richly steeped in the American songwriting tradition, Katie navigates the muddy waters between the personal, public, and political with tenderness and dexterity.

In 2024, Katie was named a Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Finalist, as well as “Most Wanted to Return” at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist Showcase. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes, “Katie Dahl . . . combine[s] old-fashioned populism, an abiding love of the land and wickedly smart love songs, all delivered in a rich and expressive alto.”

Katie was a first-year college student in Minnesota when she slipped on a patch of sidewalk ice and broke her wrist. Suddenly unable to play the oboe in her college orchestra, Katie used her newfound free time to learn guitar, teaching herself chord shapes as she strummed the strings with her stiff right hand. Twenty-odd years later, that icy day has proven to be a blessing in disguise, leading Katie into a life of work that Dar Williams calls “the very best kind of songwriting.”

Katie’s most recent album, Seven Stones (2023) is a deep dive into vulnerability originally titled Things Katie Dahl Finds Hard to Say. Produced by Julie Wolf and featuring appearances by such luminaries as Kris Delmhorst, Peter Mulvey, Eliza Gilkyson, Vicki Randle, Todd Sickafoose, and Jenny Scheinman, the album was praised as “breathtaking” by Country Queer and spent a month at #2 on the folk radio charts. Her 2019 album Wildwood, which explored her ancestry and contemporary life in Door County, was produced by JT Nero (Birds of Chicago) and features Allison Russell; the album’s song “Worry My Friend” hit #6 on the folk radio charts in 2019.