Tickets: $22

Ellis Paul has been traversing lands and discovering their riches since 1965. Born in the potato farming country of upstate Maine, he struck out for Boston after excelling as a middle and long-distance runner in high school on the strength of results good enough to earn an athletics scholarship to Boston College. It was there that he turned to guitar and songwriting after fate intervened to sideline his athletics career in the form of a knee injury.

Open mic stages and New England coffee houses were the incubator that set him on the fast track to honing his craft as a singer-songwriter-guitarist in the early 1990s. Before long he had emerged as one of the brightest lights in the galaxy of prodigiously talented stars working the Boston-area folk scene at the time, a cohort that included Patty Griffin, Patty Larkin, Vance Gilbert, Dar Williams, and Martin Sexton, among others. Paul's distinguished discography, released on the Rounder, Black Wolf, and his own Rosella labels, was also launching at around this time. Stories (1994) and A Carnival of Voices (1995) stand out as particularly impressive examples of his precocious command of folk song forms and growing confidence as a lyricist. The 1990s and early 2000s saw him accumulate a cabinet full of music awards, maintain heavy annual touring schedules, and steadily build a nation-wide audience of loyal fans, an audience that continues to grow with the release of each new album.

Several critics have noted that Ellis Paul embodies a distinctively Boston school of songwriting, characterized by observational economy, vividly drawn characters and a "show-don't-tell" philosophy of lyric writing. And indeed, he does exemplify all of these traits in his extensive catalogue, brilliantly and abundantly. But to focus on him as a master of songwriting alone is to miss the bigger picture, for he is and does so much more. An original American renaissance man, he is also an illustrator, poet, children's book author, producer, music tour leader, collaborator, innovator, educator, commencement speaker, honorary doctorate recipient, respected spokesperson among his peer group of leading folk artists, and esteemed mentor to newer songwriters such as Rebecca Loebe, Antje Duvekot, and Seth Glier. Then there are his forays into other media, such as song placements in successful movies, covers by Grammy nominated artists, his Parent's Choice Foundation award for two children's albums, and his headlining roles as a performer at Woody Guthrie festivals and tribute concerts. The achievements and accolades go on and on.

More recently, his 22nd and latest album, 55 (2023), culminates a string of outstanding recent releases stretching back at least as far as Chasing Beauty (2014) and The Storyteller's Suitcase (2019), each of which has continued to set the bar ever higher on his oeuvre. From the emotionally charged, sophisticated Americana of "Plastic Soldiers" and "Kick Out the Lights (Johnny Cash)" from Chasing Beauty, to the abject pathos of "I Ain't No Jesus," the metaphysical heartbreak of "The Innocence and the Afterlife" and the hilariously unreliable narration of "4th of July," all from The Storyteller's Suitcase, Paul turns his attention to midlife reflections on 55.

In this latest suite of songs he examines who and where he is, checking the pulse of an exhausted, post-COVID nation in the process, and further refines his storytelling craft. A case in point is "Holy," a devastating masterpiece that discloses only just enough for us to paint our own picture of the tragedy of the doomed dreams of a young Irishman. Allowing space for his listeners to add their own individual and shared layers of meaning is something Ellis Paul creates with consummate ease. That's why legions of fans each have their own favorite Ellis Paul stories, encounters, shows, and, of course, songs. Like all great artists, he is able to communicate with us all, but in languages that are unique to each of us.

But while he may seem to have made all this sound easy, it wasn't. The making of 55 coincided not only with the COVID years, but also with his ongoing struggles to manage Dupuytren's contracture, a debilitating condition that afflicted both of his hands with potentially career- ending consequences for playing guitar and piano. Fortunately, potato farming and distance running teach endurance and resilience!

The storyteller closes his suitcase, but the worlds within it keep changing, the traveler keeps moving on, and brand new vistas keep opening up with each twist and turn in the road. From Maine to Big Sur, Okemah to Homer, Alaska, from hardscrabble rustbelt towns to peachy Georgia, from the plains of Texas to the snows of Alberta, these lands are our lands. This land is his land.

"Born in Okemah shoes, with the Dust Bowl blues, a friend of the working man," was how Willis Alan Ramsey described Woody Guthrie, a description that doubles to perfectly situate Ellis Paul's exploration of the fractured, kaleidoscopic landscape of America's soul. Ellis Paul shares his land with us. And in sharing it with us, the truth he reveals is that it is also ours.

Tickets: $20

Acclaimed singer-songwriter, Rj Cowdery is known for her soulful folk music that blends heartfelt storytelling with poignant melodies. With a career spanning over two decades, Cowdery has captivated audiences with her evocative lyrics and expressive vocals, drawing inspiration from personal experiences and the landscapes of her Midwest roots.

Born and raised in southeastern Ohio, Cowdery's passion for music began at a young age, influenced by the rich tapestry of Appalachia. Her songwriting blossomed into a distinctive style marked by introspective narratives and a gift for capturing universal emotions in her songs. Cowdery's music resonates with authenticity and a deep connection to the human experience. Her performances are characterized by an intimate charm, inviting listeners into her world through melodies that are both soothing and stirring.

Cowdery has released several critically acclaimed albums, including "One More Door," "In This Light," and "What If This Is All There Is." Garnering praise for its lyrical depth and emotional honesty, earning her a loyal following among folk music enthusiasts and fellow musicians alike. "Rj plays a clean guitar, flat picking or strumming and stringing chords together to build melodies built like a proverbial brick house and pours over it all with a voice like butter," ~ TheVancouver Island Music Festival.

"Katie Dahl's songs aren't just melodies and words, they're journeys that are firmly grounded in a sense of place-beautiful, real landscapes that help you feel places that you may have never been before. That's the very best kind of songwriting." - Dar Williams

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. Says Nero, "Katie Dahl is the real deal. She's a 'regional' artist the way Robert Frost is a regional artist, meaning everybody in the world can appreciate the way she captures the spirit of a place... and the generations of humans who've lived, loved and died there...with such grace, nuance and grit."

Ordinary Band (2015), produced by Eric Lewis and featuring a guest appearance by Tracy Grammer, found an unexpected hit with the bluegrass-tinged "Crowns," which spent a month at #1 on the folk charts. Leaky Boats and Paper Birds (2012) produced Dahl's biggest crowd-pleaser, an ode to local restaurants called "Hometown Tables." County Line (2009) was her debut album.

Katie is also a musical playwright; her latest musical The Fisherman's Daughters (2024) tells the story of two sisters in 1908 who fight the state of Wisconsin's efforts to take their rural homestead via eminent domain to make a state park. Victory Farm (2012; co-written with James Valcq and Emilie Coulson) is a fictionalized account of the real-life German POWs who came to Wisconsin to pick cherries during World War II. Both plays were made into live cast recordings. Katie is currently writing three more musicals.

Not much has changed at Hope Dunbar's house out on the Nebraska plain. If you look out her window, you see the same thing you saw three years ago: the same infinite prairie and tantalizing horizon. Her husband still pastors at a nearby church; their teenage sons still live at home.

But all of that is just one dimension in this singular artist's world. Another one lives in her imagination, where through song she transforms the mundane into the magical. We witnessed this alchemy four years ago, when Dunbar released Three Black Crows. She conceived its music during the hours when her husband and kids were at work and school, without any nearby singer/songwriter rounds or club dates or supportive community. When released in 2017, Three Black Crows inspired positive comparisons to Springsteen's Nebraska. One critic cited her references to "dusty roads, endless fields and massive starry skies," to which she adds layers of meaning through her "visceral authenticity and raw honesty." American Roots host Craig Havighurst extolled her "incredible language and truth-telling."

Dunbar's emergence led to what she remembers now as "a frenzy of activity." Her homebound days gave way to touring, interviews, radio appearances. Yet as this door opened, another one closed, much to her alarm. "I didn't skyrocket to fame," she says. "But I did rocket right into hitting a wall. Things got so overwhelming because the hustle became more important than the artistry. By the summer of 2018 I was thinking,...I'm not in love with music the way I was prior to my last record.' I wasn't expecting that and it was a little jarring."

Something had to change. So once the hoopla passed and she was able to come back home, Dunbar began looking hard at where she was and what had to be done. With help from a life coach, she found the right questions to ask and then looked for answers. "I wound up on a new path of taking ownership of my musical journey," she says. "I'd been saying yes to every voice giving me advice on what I should do. So I learned not to listen to those voices. Now I'm not going to do anything anybody tells me to do ... unless I know I really want to."

With this she kindled the dormant spark that had inspired her to write in the first place. With her sister-in-law Emily, Dunbar launched a weekly podcast they called "Prompt Queens." Each week they would agree on a new "prompt" - a person, a band, a movie, even just a word. Then each would spend the week writing her own song based on that prompt, which they would premiere and discuss on the next episode.

"We were trying to model for our listeners ... and for ourselves ... that you can always write a song," Dunbar explains. "The well is never dry. You don't need an a-ha moment to write something meaningful. You can mine an idea that's outside of your inspiration zone, even if it doesn't speak to you at the get-go, and still bring truth and integrity to what you write."

So Dunbar began to compose again. New songs poured forth, which she brought to Nashville for her second album, Sweetheartland. With Zack Smith, one-half of the celebrated duo Smooth Hound Smith, and Jesse Thompson sharing production with her, she led a carefully selected group of Nashville musicians on a journey through stories lifted from everyday routine and secret dreams.

Brilliant lyrical snippets abound. "A gift card to a gasoline station is not a valentine," she admonishes some dim bulb on "What Were You Thinking?" "I don't need a cage; I've forgotten how to run," she mourns on "Dust." Daring to hope for something beyond farmland, she sees the highway as "where the wife with a black eye places all of her chips" on "The Road Is" and insists "'more' ain't a four-letter word" on the last track, "More." Even her homage "John Prine" illuminates both his genius and her restless introspection: "I'm flipping through the pages of a waiting room magazine while the clock keeps on ticking like a pickaxe steadily chipping away at the vision of who I thought I could be."

In its hope and resignation, its candor, craft and vast Midwestern Americana resonance, certainly in its insight and poetry, Sweetheartland echoes its predecessor. Yet Dunbar sees two crucial differences between the two albums. "On this record I wanted to bring all the raw material, the songs I'd written on my own, to Zack and Jesse and then riff on what they could be. Also, as a small-town preacher's wife, I had been kind of tentative with my identity. It just felt unbecoming for me to express feminine, sexual power on a record. But I've always had a sense of rebellion, so this time I just decided to put that out there along with everything else."

Even more important in something more ephemeral, hard to pin down but absolutely real. "I'm really proud of Three Black Crows," she continues. "But it has the spirit of asking for permission, a feeling of tentativeness. My intention with Sweetheartland was to walk in and say, ‘I'm not asking your permission. I'm doing what I want to do. I am fully empowered and I'm choosing to make this record.'"

It would be wise for us to hear it too. Maybe we don't live as remotely as Hope Dunbar - but all of us can draw from the wisdom and empathy honesty of Sweetheartland. Its message is both regional and, metaphorically at least, universal. In her words, "It's important for me as a songwriter to express that small towns are great - provided there's a road to take you away."

Tickets: $20

The portion of this show from 8pm to 9pm will be broadcast live by our friends at WFMT 98.7, or listen worldwide on http://www.WFMT.com

Called Canada's finest singer-songwriter by one of the most respected and lauded music journalists of the last 50 years, James Keelaghan is an artist who has proven to be a man for all seasons. As the calendar pages have turned, for almost a quarter of a century now, this poet laureate of the folk and roots music world has gone about his work with a combination of passion, intent and intensity, and curiosity.

Fusing his insatiable appetite for finding the next unique storyline Keelaghan also forges his pieces with brilliantly defined craftsmanship and a monogrammed artistic vision, making him one of the most distinctive and readily identifiable voices of not only the Canadian scene, but as a member of the international singer-songwriter community.

"I've always had the urge to write. Some things weren't being said in the way I wanted to say them. Then there are the different sides of what I write about. The narrative writing, the historical material, as well as the personal, where you have to take responsibility for what you are saying," says the Calgary native who has been calling Winnipeg home for the past few years.

A disciplined visionary, Keelaghan's aces have long been a love of language, and history, as he earned a history degree years ago, his skills as a thespian that he acquired at an early age, that explain his ability to make an immediate connection with audiences in a live setting, and an ear for a memorable melody, and harmonies that make those melodies glisten.

"I'm good for 80 or so books a year, mostly history, non-fiction, but inspiration can come in many forms, I'm always on the lookout for a good story or idea. My sister told me the story that became Kiri's Piano. It was such an image," says Keelaghan that visits a dark chapter in Canadian history, Japanese interment camps in the Second World War.

Not only does his deep catalogue include timeless originals like Fires of Calais, Cold Missouri Waters, Jenny Bryce, Hillcrest Mine, and Kiri's Piano. Keelaghan is also a possessive interpreter of outside material, a fine example being his gripping take on Gordon Lightfoot's epic Canadian Railroad Trilogy on the Lighfoot Tribute disc Beautiful. There are a number of illustrations of his interpretive skills on his 2006 recording A Few Simple Verses. The closing tune on that spellbinding set, My Blood written with Jez Lowe, is one of many examples in Keelaghan's career, where he has invited collaboration into his creative process.

"I was at the Celtic Colors Festival in 2008 and the producers locked six of us in a house for a week, and the company included Dave Gunning, David Francey, and Rose Cousins, it was an amazing experience. We had to come up with enough material for a show at the end of it.

Tickets: $20

The portion of this show from 8pm to 9pm will be broadcast live by our friends at WFMT 98.7, or listen worldwide on http://www.WFMT.com

Known for fearless, truth-telling lyrics and melodies you can't resist singing, Emma's Revolution is the award-winning activist duo of Pat Humphries & Sandy O. Performances feature the duo's signature soaring harmonies and lush acoustic instruments, in songs that span folk to jazz and funk to rock. For more than 20 years, Emma's Revolution has written about critical issues happening in the world, lending their voices to the movements those issues inspire and delivering moving, uplifting performances. Their songs have been praised by Pete Seeger, covered by Holly Near, featured on NPR's All Things Considered and Pacifica's Democracy Now!, and sung around the world.

Emma's Revolution Bios & "Pete Seeger & Pat Humphries: A Friendship from First Song to Last"

"Pat's songs will be sung well into the 22nd century"-- Pete Seeger on NPR's All Things Considered

"Fervent and heartfelt" ~ The New York Times

Known for fearless, truth-telling lyrics and melodies you can't resist singing, Emma's Revolution is the award-winning activist duo of Pat Humphries & Sandy O. Performances feature the duo's signature soaring harmonies and lush acoustic instruments, in songs that span folk to jazz and funk to rock. For more than 20 years, Emma's Revolution has written about critical issues happening in the world, lending their voices to the movements those issues inspire and delivering moving, uplifting performances. Their songs have been praised by Pete Seeger, covered by Holly Near, featured on NPR's All Things Considered and Pacifica's Democracy Now!, and sung around the world.

Emma's Revolution carries on in the spirit of their mentor, Pete Seeger. "Activist musicians inherit a legacy of the indivisibility of truth-telling and soul-stirring," Pat explains, "We sing stories wrapped in the taste of freedom, the triumph of overcoming, the grief of injustice, weaving stories, melodies and harmonies in a rich alchemy of vintage genres and emerging sounds to create an experience full of humor, heart and hope." Sandy continues, "Especially in these times--with threats to our democracy, climate chaos, wars, and the continuing effects of the pandemic--we are buoyed and inspired by the activists and communities we work with. Singing is part of what keeps us grounded and connected to one another."

With an expected release date of 2026, a feature documentary, KEEP ON MOVING FORWARD, is being made about Emma's Revolution and their work on the frontlines of peace and social justice movements by award-winning independent filmmaker, Tom Weidlinger. The duo's film fundraiser at famed The Freight & Salvage in Berkeley CA in 2024 sold out, with almost 500 people joining online, as well. The duo's latest recordings are: Evolution, a celebration of the duo's 20th anniversary, with best loved songs including "Swimming to the Other Side", Pat's signature song which was featured on NPR's "All Things Considered" and Rooted, a musical reflection on joy and justice which includes "Our House is on Fire", the duo's electrifying call-to-action for the climate which was featured by a national nonprofit co-founded by Noel (Paul) Stookey of Peter, Paul & Mary. A number of songs from Rooted, released as video singles, have collectively garnered more than 500,000 views on social media and charted in Top 10 and Top 25 Songs on folk radio.

As independent artists and queer and non-conforming women, Emma's Revolution has a national presence among communities, organizations and venues that share the duo's vision of valuing people over profit, choosing compassion over violence, demanding accountability and building a more just and sustainable world.

Tickets: $30

The portion of this show from 8pm to 9pm will be broadcast live by our friends at WFMT 98.7, or listen worldwide on http://www.WFMT.com

Over the course of her twenty five year career, Susan Werner has earned a reputation as "one of the most innovative songwriters working today" (Chicago Tribune). With formidable chops on guitar (she began playing at age 5) and piano (she was a guest on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz), along with a graduate degree in voice performance, her shows are a one-woman master class in musicianship. Although best known as an acoustic songwriter that came up through coffeehouses and folk festivals, the Chicago-based artist has written songs in the style of Gershwin and Cole Porter (I Can't Be New, 2004), gospel music (The Gospel Truth, 2007), traditional Cuban "son" (An American In Havana, 2016), and New Orleans junk piano (NOLA, 2019). In 2014 she composed the music and lyrics to the musical theater score Bull Durham, The Musical (MGM). Her songs have been recorded by Tom Jones, Michael Feinstein, and Shemekia Copeland, and her latest recording of originals, The Birds of Florida, took flight in 2022.

Over the course of her twenty five year career, Susan Werner has earned a reputation as "one of the most innovative songwriters working today" (Chicago Tribune). With formidable chops on guitar (she began playing at age 5) and piano (she was a guest on Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz), along with a graduate degree in voice performance, her shows are a one-woman master class in musicianship. Although best known as an acoustic songwriter that came up through coffeehouses and folk festivals, the Chicago-based artist has written songs in the style of Gershwin and Cole Porter (I Can't Be New, 2004), gospel music (The Gospel Truth, 2007), traditional Cuban "son" (An American In Havana, 2016), and New Orleans junk piano (NOLA, 2019). In 2014 she composed the music and lyrics to the musical theater score Bull Durham, The Musical (MGM). Her songs have been recorded by Tom Jones, Michael Feinstein, and Shemekia Copeland, and her latest recording of originals, The Birds of Florida, took flight in 2022.

"(Werner is) a songwriter and musician who is in such complete command of her gifts that it's almost scary." - All Music Guide