Rupert Wates, David Thorne Scott, Sam Bayer at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday June 7

Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents singer/songwriters Rupert Wates, David Thorne Scott and Sam Bayer on Saturday June 7. The show begins at 7:00 pm and admission is $15 at the door. The Armory Cafe is at 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, just a few blocks from the Magoun Square Green Line T station. For more information call 617-718-2191, visit <a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/">artsatthearmory.org</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a> or email <a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first Saturday of each month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups, desserts and coffees, and plenty of free parking. Our 6/7 performers: Multi-award-winning singer-songwriter Rupert Wates combines unforgettable songs with virtuoso guitar playing. His music is the fruit of twenty years at the top of his profession. Folk tinged, with flavors of jazz and even classical, it bears the impression of his English roots as well as his years in New York City and on the road in America. By turns witty, erudite and moving, his songs will go straight to your heart. More at <a href="https://rupertwatesmusic.com/">rupertwatesmusic.com</a>. David Thorne Scott is a singer, songwriter, composer, and writer. His current project is Animal Spirits, a new musical about economist John Maynard Keynes, which examines the role of love, art, and sexuality in a world of war, ideological polarization and economic inequality. Eponymous Review wrote that David "explores the intersection of Jazz and Americana, city and country, instrumentation and lyrics to create lush compositions and covers that are unifying, and healing, in their beauty." He has been a soloist with the Boston Pops, the Capital Jazz Orchestra, the New England Wind Symphony, the Melrose Symphony, the Cape Symphony, and the Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra. His composition "I See You" was featured in the television show The Blacklist on NBC. David is also the host and producer of Songwriters in the Round, an ongoing semimonthly series at the Somerville Armory Cafe that has presented over 90 performers to the Somerville Armory. More at <a href="https://davidthornescott.com/">davidthornescott.com</a>. Boston musician Sam Bayer is your literate, exuberant guide to an imaginary world where housewives win the Nobel Prize in physics, poker-playing children gamble over their bedtimes, and metaphorical elephants pirouette in the den, four and a half minutes at a time. His latest studio CD, Bad Apple, brings 11 gems from his universe to yours. More at <a href="https://sambayer.com/">sambayer.com</a>.

Arts at the Armory Cafe

Dennis Brennan, Kemp Harris, Terry Kitchen at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday May 3

Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents singer/songwriters&nbsp;Dennis&nbsp;Brennan,&nbsp;Kemp Harris&nbsp;and&nbsp;Terry Kitchen&nbsp;on&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;May 3.&nbsp;The show begins at&nbsp;7:00&nbsp;pm&nbsp;and admission is $15 at the door. The Armory Cafe is at&nbsp;191 Highland&nbsp;Avenue, Somerville, just a few blocks from the Magoun Square Green&nbsp;Line T station. For more information call&nbsp;617-718-2191, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/">artsatthearmory.org</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a>&nbsp;or email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first&nbsp;Saturday of each month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an&nbsp;intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups,&nbsp;desserts and&nbsp;coffees, and plenty of free parking. Our 5/3 performers: Dennis&nbsp;Brennan&nbsp;has been a Boston music legend since fronting the bands The Martells&nbsp;and then Push Push in the 1980s.&nbsp;In the 1990s he began a solo career&nbsp;which continues to this day, releasing such landmark albums as&nbsp;Iodine&nbsp;in the Wine,&nbsp;Rule&nbsp;No. #1,&nbsp;and most recently&nbsp;Dennis&nbsp;Brennan and the White Owls – Live from Electric Andyland.&nbsp;His music is Americana in the&nbsp;truest sense, combining Memphis R&amp;B,&nbsp;Bakersfield Country, and Tom Petty jangle, all sung with the complete&nbsp;conviction of&nbsp;someone who's lived every line. Though he often&nbsp;performs with an all-star band, he's just as effective, and even more&nbsp;moving, with just a guitar. More at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/p/The-White-Owls-100063563981862/">https://www.facebook.com/p/The-White-Owls-100063563981862/</a>. Kemp&nbsp;Harris&nbsp;is a composer, musician, actor and teacher. He taught himself piano&nbsp;and was writing songs at age 14.&nbsp;He has shared stage with such&nbsp;artists as Koko Taylor, Gil Scott-Heron, Taj Mahal, Kandace Springs&nbsp;and Freebo. He&nbsp;has composed for the Alvin Ailey American Dance&nbsp;Theater and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. Kemp partnered&nbsp;with Chad&nbsp;Stokes of Dispatch and The Urban Bush Women Dance in a workshop&nbsp;called “Artists as Activists” at&nbsp;Berklee College of Music. Kemp&nbsp;currently serves on the boards at Passim in Harvard Sq./Cambridge,&nbsp;MA, NERFA&nbsp;(North East Regional Folk Alliance) and is on the advisory&nbsp;board of FARHOF (Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame at&nbsp;The Boch&nbsp;Center, Boston, MA). More at&nbsp;<a href="https://kempharris.band/">kempharris.band</a>. Called&nbsp;"one of New England's best songwriters" by&nbsp;The&nbsp;Boston Globe,&nbsp;Terry&nbsp;Kitchen&nbsp;has been performing on folk&nbsp;stages across the country since the&nbsp;1990s, releasing a dozen albums filled with literate musical&nbsp;storytelling, supple&nbsp;guitar playing and distinctive, intimate vocals.&nbsp;His new CD&nbsp;We&nbsp;All Dream,&nbsp;with its title song written just after the 2024&nbsp;election, offers a&nbsp;hard-won glimmer of hope just when we need it most. His 2020 CD&nbsp;Next&nbsp;Time We Meet&nbsp;reached&nbsp;#5&nbsp;on the national Folk-DJ chart (with its single "Party on the&nbsp;Roof" reaching #4 on the song chart), and his songs have&nbsp;won the&nbsp;Mid-Atlantic and USA Song Contests and been runner-up in the John&nbsp;Lennon Song Contest. His novel&nbsp;Next&nbsp;Big Thing,&nbsp;set in the&nbsp;Boston music scene, was called "a great debut novel" by&nbsp;The&nbsp;San Francisco Book Review&nbsp;and&nbsp;he also authored a short story collection,&nbsp;Coping&nbsp;Mechanisms.&nbsp;He is also currently working on a musical,&nbsp;Once&nbsp;More&nbsp;with Hurt Feelings.&nbsp;More at&nbsp;<a href="https://terrykitchen.com/">terrykitchen.com</a>.

Phil Henry, Alice Di Micele, Beth DeSombre at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday April 5

Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents singer/songwriters&nbsp;Phil&nbsp;Henry,&nbsp;Alice Di Micele&nbsp;and&nbsp;Beth&nbsp;DeSombre &nbsp;on&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;April 5.&nbsp;The show begins at&nbsp;7:00&nbsp;pm&nbsp;and admission is $15 at the door. The Armory Cafe is at 191&nbsp;Highland&nbsp;Avenue, Somerville, just a few blocks from the Magoun Square Green&nbsp;Line T station. For more information call 617-718-2191, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/">artsatthearmory.org</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a>&nbsp;or email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first&nbsp;Saturday of each month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an&nbsp;intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups,&nbsp;desserts and&nbsp;coffees, and plenty of free parking. Our 4/5 performers: Singer-songwriter&nbsp;Phil&nbsp;Henry&nbsp;has always believed in making it himself. As a kid, he was never&nbsp;content to only look at art, but&nbsp;instead he had to paint and draw&nbsp;something new. An avid fan of music, Phil studied the masters in&nbsp;music school but was&nbsp;drawn to the DIY pluckiness of folk music. He&nbsp;concentrated on steel-string guitar and writing his first&nbsp;compositions. Phil's&nbsp;songs reflect that same creative drive - he&nbsp;builds detailed worlds and creates characters who speak through his&nbsp;words. His&nbsp;upbeat acoustic rhythm and melodic sensibility is also&nbsp;instead an expression of his individuality and craft. Vermont's Seven&nbsp;Days calls it "vivid lyrical imagery that captures the&nbsp;imagination." Phil's songs have been recognized with concert&nbsp;wins at&nbsp;SolarFest and Susquehanna Music and Arts, a "most&nbsp;wanted" designation at Falcon Ridge, and a showcase set at&nbsp;Kerrville.&nbsp;Henry's music exudes the skills of a craftsman and the&nbsp;authenticity of an artist. More at&nbsp;<a href="https://philhenryband.com/">philhenryband.com</a>. Alice&nbsp;Di Micele&nbsp;is an Americana/Folk artist, rooted in the natural world, using the&nbsp;earth as her primary source of inspiration.&nbsp;Her connection to nature&nbsp;creates a deep bond with listeners, giving people a safe space to&nbsp;express their emotions and heal&nbsp;in the process. She has released 17&nbsp;albums, including her latest works&nbsp;Every&nbsp;Seed We Plant&nbsp;and the covers project&nbsp;Interpretations:&nbsp;Vol. 1.&nbsp;Alice weaves a rich tapestry of sounds, from the early days of her&nbsp;folk-inspired songs, through to the&nbsp;sensual influences of jazz and&nbsp;soul, and the energetic pulse of funk and rock. Her kaleidoscopic&nbsp;soundscapes are grounded&nbsp;by her warm, magnetic vocals, ranging from&nbsp;deep tones to Joni Mitchell-esque vibrato inflexions. "Alice's&nbsp;music has that great&nbsp;combination of earthiness and groove that keeps&nbsp;it funky from the inside out. She's for real." –&nbsp;Bonnie&nbsp;Raitt. More&nbsp;at&nbsp;<a href="https://alicedimicele.com/">alicedimicele.com</a>. Beth&nbsp;DeSombre&nbsp;writes songs that are "smart and uplifting...focusing on the&nbsp;quiet meaning to be found in ordinary life" (Sing&nbsp;Out! Magazine),&nbsp;exploring issues from the personal to the political. Her music&nbsp;touches both mind and heart, with insights&nbsp;wrapped in melody and&nbsp;harmony that stay with you after the echoes of the last chorus have&nbsp;faded away. Her newest CD,&nbsp;Holding&nbsp;the Threads&nbsp;(2024), is her most personal album to date, telling stories about&nbsp;family, and crisis, and trying to find hope&nbsp;in dark times. Her&nbsp;previous EP&nbsp;The&nbsp;Sea Beside Us&nbsp;(2023), tells stories of ships and the ocean. Her 2017 EP,&nbsp;Resistance,&nbsp;which was written in response to the political situation after the&nbsp;2016 election, is a fundraiser for the ACLU. It reached #10 on&nbsp;the&nbsp;folk charts (with two top-10 songs). An award-winning writer in many&nbsp;formats, she has published 8 books. More at&nbsp;<a href="https://bethdesombre.com/">bethdesombre.com</a>.

Sarah Grella, Kelvyn Koning, Rachel Marie at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday March 1

Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents singer/songwriters Sarah Grella, Kelvyn Koning and Rachel Marie on Saturday March 1. The show begins at 7:00 pm and admission is $15 at the door. The Armory Cafe is at 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, just a few blocks from the Magoun Square Green Line T station. For more information call 617-718-2191, visit <a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/">artsatthearmory.org</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a> or email <a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first Saturday of each month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups, desserts and coffees, and plenty of free parking. Our 3/1 performers: Hailing from Boston, Sarah Grella is a singer-songwriter with a raw, heartfelt approach to storytelling. Singing from a young age, music has always been her way of making sense of the world. Throughout her twenties, Sarah spent years on the road as part of a traveling folk band, The Novel Ideas, playing in small clubs, living rooms, and festival stages across the country. Those years shaped her sound - rooted in folk traditions but deeply personal, weaving introspective lyrics with soulful melodies. Now crafting songs under her own name, Sarah writes with honesty and vulnerability, turning life’s joys and struggles into songs that resonate with listeners. Whether performing solo with just a guitar or piano or backed by a full band, her music creates an intimate connection, inviting audiences into the stories she tells. With each song, Sarah continues to explore, reflect, and bring people together through the power of music. More at <a href="https://sarahgrella.com/">sarahgrella.com</a>. Kelvyn Koning (he/they) specializes in composing for choir and theatre and in performing as a countertenor and pianist. He completed his Master of Music in Composition from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and has been commissioned to write pieces for middle school, high school, college, church, and community choirs. In addition to writing several children’s musicals, he has written two award-winning full-length musicals, The Glassblower’s Daughter with Columbia Entertainment Co. and The Prince and the Painter with Moonbox Productions. He is currently the Minister of Music at St. Paul’s Natick and accompanies/music directs at the Boston Conservatory, Freelance Players, and Watertown Children’s Theatre. Kelvyn is a founding member of the Nightingale Vocal Ensemble and the West Michigan Choral Lab, and sings with Lilith Vocal Ensemble and the Seraphim Singers. He recently released his first queer Christian album, The Veil is Torn. More at <a href="https://kelvinkoning.com/">kelvinkoning.com</a>. Rachel Marie (she/they) follows in a tradition of unapologetically forthright women folksingers, with songs that hearken to "overstuffed lines of Tori Amos, philosophical turn of Indigo Girls, and lilting vocals like Joni Mitchell" (Victoria Farmer, The Christian Humanist Podcast). The social awareness of folk meets the introspection, catharsis, and healing of the singer-songwriter tradition. "Add in a brilliantly woven, genuine, and sometimes silly banter and Rachel’s unique show will stay with you a long time" (Tom Bianchi, 24 Hour Music). Boston-based and Pennsylvania-raised, Rachel has played at prestigious folk venues including the me&amp;thee (MA), Club Passim (MA), the Burren (MA), and Godfrey Daniels (PA). Rachel's latest full-length album, False Foundations, was released in May 2018, and a new album is in the works that explores introspection, grief, and growth. More at <a href="https://rachelmarie.com/">rachelmarie.com</a>.

Jack Byrne, Bailey Harris, Talia Rose at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday Feb 1

Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents singer/songwriters&nbsp;Jack&nbsp;Byrne,&nbsp;Bailey Harris&nbsp;and&nbsp;Talia&nbsp;Rose&nbsp;on&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;February 1.&nbsp;The show begins at&nbsp;7:00&nbsp;pm&nbsp;and admission is $15 at the door. The Armory Cafe is at 191&nbsp;Highland&nbsp;Avenue, Somerville, just a few blocks from the Magoun Square Green&nbsp;Line T station. For more information call 617-718-2191, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/">artsatthearmory.org</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a>&nbsp;or email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first&nbsp;Saturday of each month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an&nbsp;intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups,&nbsp;desserts and&nbsp;coffees, and plenty of free parking. Our 2/1 performers: Boston-based&nbsp;singer/songwriter&nbsp;Jack&nbsp;Byrne&nbsp;was raised in a musical family and has been writing songs for as long&nbsp;as he can&nbsp;remember. Jack has played in rock bands, jazz combos, sung&nbsp;in operas, and enjoys infusing his songwriting with elements&nbsp;from&nbsp;these various musical experiences. He has played at Boston venues&nbsp;such as Club Passim, Gallery 263, The Burren,&nbsp;and Zuzu. His new&nbsp;single, "Dreams in a Jar", is available to stream at&nbsp;<a href="https://jackbyrne.bandcamp.com/">jackbyrne.bandcamp.com</a>.&nbsp;More at&nbsp;<a href="https://jackbyrnemusic.com/">jackbyrnemusic.com</a>. Bailey&nbsp;Harris&nbsp;is an artist from Los Angeles currently residing in Boston. Her&nbsp;talents and passions spread across multiple&nbsp;styles and genres. She is&nbsp;a songwriter and performer as well as a teacher and entrepreneur.&nbsp;Bailey’s endeavors in Boston&nbsp;started with her recording her first&nbsp;album&nbsp;To&nbsp;The Moon&nbsp;under the name Count And King. C&amp;K went on to record a three song&nbsp;EP,&nbsp;Chasing&nbsp;Mania,&nbsp;in 2017 and an EP entitled&nbsp;All&nbsp;My Love&nbsp;in 2023. Over the last couple years, Bailey has started and grown&nbsp;a&nbsp;booking management business, Beezlo Music, in the Greater Boston&nbsp;Area. Beezlo Music provides live entertainment for&nbsp;venues and helps&nbsp;to build their entertainment programs. More at&nbsp;<a href="https://beezlomusic.com/">beezlomusic.com</a>. Born&nbsp;and raised in Boston,&nbsp;Talia&nbsp;Rose&nbsp;has been writing songs with her guitar for as long as she can&nbsp;remember. Her writing&nbsp;combines intricate guitar accompaniment and a&nbsp;complex understanding of harmony with carefully crafted, deeply&nbsp;personal&nbsp;lyrics. Talia’s diverse career has included shows as a&nbsp;solo artist and sideman at venues including Club Passim (Boston), The&nbsp;Blue Note (NYC), Duc Des Lombards (Paris), The Kofferfabrik&nbsp;(Nuremberg), and at the Belize International Jazz Festival.&nbsp;Her 2024&nbsp;release&nbsp;Carry&nbsp;It Closely&nbsp;was dubbed "A celebration of song, orchestration, and creative&nbsp;freedom" by guitarist Julian&nbsp;Lage. More at&nbsp;<a href="https://taliarosemusic.com/">taliarosemusic.com</a>.

Rachel Marie, Brian Theoret, Nick Carter at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday Dec 7

Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents singer/songwriters Rachel Marie, Brian Theoret and Nick Carter on Saturday December 7. The show begins at 7:00 pm and admission is $15 at the door. The Armory Cafe is at 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, just a few blocks from the Magoun Square Green Line T station. For more information call 617-718-2191, visit <a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/">artsatthearmory.org</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a> or email <a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first Saturday of each month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups, desserts and coffees, and plenty of free parking. Our 12/7 performers: Rachel Marie (she/they) follows in a tradition of unapologetically forthright women folksingers, with songs that hearken to "overstuffed lines of Tori Amos, philosophical turn of Indigo Girls, and lilting vocals like Joni Mitchell" (Victoria Farmer, The Christian Humanist Podcast). The social awareness of folk meets the introspection, catharsis, and healing of the singer-songwriter tradition. "Add in a brilliantly woven, genuine, and sometimes silly banter and Rachel’s unique show will stay with you a long time" (Tom Bianchi, 24 Hour Music). Boston-based and Pennsylvania-raised, Rachel has played at prestigious folk venues including the me&amp;thee (MA), Club Passim (MA), the Burren (MA), and Godfrey Daniels (PA). Rachel's latest full-length album, False Foundations, was released in May 2018, and a new album is in the works that explores introspection, grief, and growth. More at <a href="https://rachelmarie.com/">rachelmarie.com</a>. Brian Theoret is a passionate folk-rock musician whose songs seamlessly blend storytelling with his hard-hitting acoustic guitar style and emotionally engaging depth. Studying alongside artists like Ellis Paul and Antje Duvekot, Brian has crafted a style rooted in themes of love, perseverance, and self-discovery reflecting a balance of happiness and melancholy, seriousness and humor, inviting listeners into a world where every note tells a story. His music reflects influences like Dave Matthews, Eddie Vedder, Jethro Tull and the Grateful Dead, highlighting the eclectic yet relatable nature of the music. Since releasing Chasing Daylight in 2015, Brian has continued to evolve, with a new album set for early 2025, each performance inviting listeners to connect and explore the beauty of the human experience, one song at a time. More at <a href="https://briantheoret.com/">briantheoret.com</a>. Nick Carter is a New England-based singer songwriter, on a life-long journey across music's rich, boundless landscape. He brings a knowing voice to his life-long love of story through songs. Nick’s earlier album Fountain Pen, released in September, 2022, (with Grammy-nominated producer Seth Glier) drew praise from both folk radio and print media as evocative, deeply emotional, with several songs cited as "instant standards" and the title track as "a gem." Carved in the Bark is Nick’s latest, most serious effort yet, again with Seth Glier as producer, to compellingly convey contemporary concerns with experimentation, lyrics and musicianship to match. More at <a href="https://nickcartersmusic.com/">nickcartersmusic.com</a>.

Terry Kitchen, Mark Stepakoff, Jack Byrne at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday Nov 9

Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents singer/songwriters Terry Kitchen, Mark Stepakoff and Jack Byrne on Saturday November 9. The show begins at 7:00 pm and admission is $15 at the door. The Armory Cafe is at 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, just a few blocks from the Magoun Square Green Line T station. For more information call 617-718-2191, visit <a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/">artsatthearmory.org</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a> or email <a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert, usually on the first Saturday of each month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups, desserts and coffees, and plenty of free parking. Our 11/9 performers: Called "one of New England's best songwriters" by The Boston Globe, Terry Kitchen has been performing on folk stages across the country since the 1990s, releasing a dozen albums filled with literate musical storytelling, supple guitar playing and distinctive, intimate vocals. His 2020 CD Next Time We Meet reached #5 on the national Folk-DJ chart (with its single "Party on the Roof" reaching #4 on the song chart), and his songs have won the Mid-Atlantic and USA Song Contests and been runner-up in the John Lennon Song Contest. His novel Next Big Thing, set in the Boston music scene, was called "a great debut novel" by The San Francisco Book Review. He is also currently working on a musical, Once More with Hurt Feelings. More at <a href="https://terrykitchen.com/">terrykitchen.com</a>. A longtime fixture on the Boston folk music scene, singer-songwriter Mark Stepakoff is widely admired for his mix of wryly humorous and wistfully poignant material, in the vein of artists such as John Prine and London Wainwright III. Mark has received numerous songwriting awards and was selected for the Emerging Artist showcase at the 2024 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. Mark recently released his seventh album, The Sound Of That. His previous releases have reached as high as number 2, and his songs as high as number 3, on the national Folk-DJ airplay chart. More at <a href="http://markstepakoff.com/">markstepakoff.com</a>. Boston-based singer/songwriter Jack Byrne was raised in a musical family and has been writing songs for as long as he can remember. Jack has played in rock bands, jazz combos, sung in operas and choirs, and enjoys infusing his indie-folk songwriting with elements from these various musical experiences. He has been playing originals around the Boston area for the last decade and has released three EPs to date. Jack also teaches private lessons in guitar, voice, banjo, ukulele, and songwriting. Jack is passionate about sharing the gift of music in the local community through performing, collaborating, and teaching. More at <a href="https://jackbyrnemusic.com/">jackbyrnemusic.com</a>.

Erin Ash Sullivan, Colette O'Connor, Beth DeSombre CD Release Concert at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday Oct 5

Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents singer/songwriters&nbsp;Erin&nbsp;Ash Sullivan,&nbsp;Colette O'Connor&nbsp;and&nbsp;Beth&nbsp;DeSombre&nbsp;on&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;October 5.&nbsp;All three artists are celebrating new CDs. The show begins at&nbsp;7:00&nbsp;pm&nbsp;and admission is $15 at the door.&nbsp;The Armory Cafe is at 191 Highland&nbsp;Avenue, Somerville, just a few blocks from the Magoun Square Green&nbsp;Line T station. For more information&nbsp;call 617-718-2191, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/" target="_blank">artsatthearmory.org</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a>&nbsp;or email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com" target="_blank">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first&nbsp;Saturday of each&nbsp;month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an&nbsp;intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups, desserts and&nbsp;coffees, and plenty of&nbsp;free parking. Our 10/5 performers: New&nbsp;England native&nbsp;Erin&nbsp;Ash Sullivan's&nbsp;music reflects a deep sense of place, and her lyrics—sometimes&nbsp;heartfelt, sometimes funny—are&nbsp;always authentic and drawn from her&nbsp;lived experience. WFUV's John Platt describes Erin as "a special&nbsp;talent that reminds me of early Dar&nbsp;Williams." Erin's 2021 debut&nbsp;solo album,&nbsp;We&nbsp;Can Hear Each Other,&nbsp;reached #10 on the FAI DJ Chart, and she was a 2023 "Most&nbsp;Wanted"&nbsp;selection from the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. She's won&nbsp;the Rose Garden Coffeehouse Performing Songwriter Competition and the&nbsp;Mark&nbsp;Erelli Judge's Choice Award in the New England Songwriting&nbsp;Competition, and she has been a finalist in the Great American Song&nbsp;Contest and&nbsp;the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest. Her new album&nbsp;Signposts&nbsp;and Marks&nbsp;debuted in July 2024. More at&nbsp;<a href="https://erinashsullivan.com/" target="_blank">erinashsullivan.com</a>. Colette&nbsp;O'Connor&nbsp;is a New England-based singer, storyteller, songwriter, neoclassical&nbsp;composer, and skilled acoustic guitarist. Her voice&nbsp;combines the&nbsp;richness of folk with the strength of Americana, and the charm of her&nbsp;songs is all in the balance. Her new album,&nbsp;Double&nbsp;Down,&nbsp;was released in summer 2024. Born on San Diego Naval Base in&nbsp;California, Colette came to Massachusetts after her father's tour of&nbsp;duty was&nbsp;over and the family moved back home to start an organic farm&nbsp;in Plympton, MA. Influenced by two coasts, O'Connor's music is a&nbsp;delightful&nbsp;blend of sunshine, kindness, philosophy, and New England&nbsp;wit. Now with three album releases, O'Connor has been touring the&nbsp;country with her&nbsp;music since 2012, and is regularly featured in&nbsp;concerts, community radio and television from New England to&nbsp;Nebraska. More at&nbsp;<a href="https://coletteoconnor.net/" target="_blank">coletteoconnor.net</a>. Beth&nbsp;DeSombre &nbsp;writes songs that are "smart and uplifting...focusing on the&nbsp;quiet meaning to be found in ordinary life" (Sing&nbsp;Out! Magazine),&nbsp;exploring issues from the personal to the political. Her music&nbsp;touches both mind and heart, with insights wrapped in melody and&nbsp;harmony that&nbsp;stay with you after the echoes of the last chorus have&nbsp;faded away. Her newest CD,&nbsp;Holding&nbsp;the Threads,&nbsp;released this summer, is her most&nbsp;personal album to date, telling&nbsp;stories about family, crisis, and finding hope in darkest of times.&nbsp;The first two singles from the album each&nbsp;debuted at #3 on the&nbsp;Folk-DJ chart. Her previous EP,&nbsp;The&nbsp;Sea Beside Us&nbsp;(2023), tells stories of ships and the ocean. Her 2017 EP,&nbsp;Resistance,&nbsp;which was written in response to the political situation after the&nbsp;2016 election, is a fundraiser for the ACLU. More at&nbsp;<a href="https://bethdesombre.com/" target="_blank">bethdesombre.com</a>.

Cafe at Arts at the Armory

The Lied To's, Cosy Sheridan, Sam Bayer at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday Sept 7

Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents an evening of musical duos on&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;September 7&nbsp;with&nbsp;Americana duo&nbsp;The&nbsp;Lied To's,&nbsp;nationally&nbsp;known songwriter&nbsp;Cosy&nbsp;Sheridan with&nbsp;Charlie&nbsp;Koch&nbsp;and&nbsp;host&nbsp;Sam Bayer with&nbsp;David&nbsp;Troen-Krasnow.&nbsp;The show&nbsp;begins at&nbsp;7:00&nbsp;pm&nbsp;and admission is $15 at the door. The Armory Cafe is at 191 Highland&nbsp;Avenue, Somerville, just a few blocks from the&nbsp;Magoun Square Green&nbsp;Line T station. For more information call 617-718-2191, visit&nbsp;<a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/" target="_blank">artsatthearmory.org</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a>&nbsp;or email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com" target="_blank">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first&nbsp;Saturday of each&nbsp;month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an&nbsp;intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups, desserts and&nbsp;coffees, and plenty of&nbsp;free parking. Our 9/7 performers: The&nbsp;Lied&nbsp;To's&nbsp;are Susan Levine and Doug Kwartler, two multi-talented Massachusetts&nbsp;singer-songwriters who joined forces in 2014 to create&nbsp;a potent mix&nbsp;of folk, Americana and country. The duo took their name, in part,&nbsp;from the Everly Brothers song, "When Will I Be Loved.” Their&nbsp;self-titled debut CD, released in 2015, rose to the top of the roots&nbsp;rock charts and landed in the top 100 of the&nbsp;No&nbsp;Depression&nbsp;readers' poll.&nbsp;Their 2018 CD&nbsp;The&nbsp;Lesser of Two Evils&nbsp;received universal praise for its gritty instrumentation, impeccable&nbsp;harmonies and honest songwriting.&nbsp;The music website&nbsp;The&nbsp;Daily Country&nbsp;wrote that it was "contemporary and timeless," while Tom&nbsp;Haugen of The Daily Vault called it, "nothing&nbsp;short of&nbsp;brilliant." Their 3rd album,&nbsp;The&nbsp;Worst Kind of New,&nbsp;released in March 2022, has been hailed “the best kind of hurt”&nbsp;by Folk Radio UK.&nbsp;The Lied To’s play venues throughout New England&nbsp;and beyond, including sold-out concerts at Club Passim in Cambridge,&nbsp;MA, and The&nbsp;Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, TN. More at&nbsp;<a href="https://liedtomusic.com/" target="_blank">liedtomusic.com</a>. New&nbsp;Hampshire folksinger&nbsp;Cosy&nbsp;Sheridan&nbsp;has been called one of the era’s finest and most thoughtful&nbsp;songwriters. She first appeared on the&nbsp;national folk scene in 1992&nbsp;when she won the songwriting contests at both The Kerrville Folk&nbsp;Festival and The Telluride Bluegrass Festival and&nbsp;released her&nbsp;critically acclaimed CD&nbsp;Quietly&nbsp;Led.&nbsp;The&nbsp;Albuquerque&nbsp;Journal&nbsp;called her "a Buddhist monk trapped in the body of a&nbsp;singer-songwriter." She plays a percussive, bluesy guitar style,&nbsp;which perfectly offsets the intimate poetry of her lyrics. She has&nbsp;performed at&nbsp;coffeehouses, festivals and concerts in every corner of&nbsp;the country, and is the founder and director of the Moab Folk Camp in&nbsp;Moab, Utah.&nbsp;Backed by the strong rhythms and harmonies of her bass&nbsp;player Charlie Koch, her live performances are wide-ranging,&nbsp;entertaining and&nbsp;always tuneful. More at&nbsp;<a href="https://cosysheridan.com/" target="_blank">cosysheridan.com</a>. Boston&nbsp;musician&nbsp;Sam&nbsp;Bayer,&nbsp;accompanied by long-time percussionist David Troen-Krasnow, is your&nbsp;literate, exuberant guide to an imaginary&nbsp;world where housewives win&nbsp;the Nobel Prize in physics, poker-playing children gamble over their&nbsp;bedtimes, and metaphorical elephants&nbsp;pirouette in the den, four and a&nbsp;half minutes at a time. His latest studio CD,&nbsp;The&nbsp;Great Indoors,&nbsp;brings 11 gems from his universe to yours.&nbsp;More at&nbsp;<a href="https://sambayer.com/" target="_blank">sambayer.com</a>.

Mary Casiello, Jay Verchin, Rachel Marie at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday May 4

Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents an evening of music on&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;May 4&nbsp;with&nbsp;songwriter/songwriters&nbsp;Mary&nbsp;Casiello,&nbsp;Jay Verchin&nbsp;and&nbsp;Rachel Marie.&nbsp;The concert features a set by each artist, followed by&nbsp;a round robin&nbsp;song swap. The show begins at&nbsp;7:00&nbsp;pm&nbsp;with an open mic and the features begin at 7:30 PM. Admission is&nbsp;$15&nbsp;at the door. The Armory Cafe is at 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville,&nbsp;just a few blocks from the new Magoun Square&nbsp;Green Line T station.&nbsp;For more information call 617-718-2191 or visit&nbsp;<a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/" target="_blank">artsatthearmory.org</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a>.&nbsp;To sign up for the open mic email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com" target="_blank">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first&nbsp;Saturday of each month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an&nbsp;intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups,&nbsp;desserts and&nbsp;coffees, and plenty of free parking. Our 5/4 performers: Mary&nbsp;Casiello&nbsp;is a Boston-area&nbsp;singer, songwriter, and pianist. She is a graduate of Berklee College&nbsp;of Music, where she&nbsp;was a voice principle and received a Bachelor’s&nbsp;of Music in songwriting.&nbsp;Her&nbsp;solo material is creative, quirky, and cathartic,&nbsp;and has received&nbsp;favorable comparison to artists like Sara Bareilles, Billy Joel, Ben&nbsp;Folds, and Carole King. She has been a&nbsp;frequent face in the&nbsp;Boston-area music scene, having shared stage with Darlingside,&nbsp;Gretchen and the Pickpockets, Kristen&nbsp;Ford, Rachel Marie, Jessye&nbsp;DeSilva, Kristen Ford, George Woods, Olivia Brownlee, Florie Namir,&nbsp;and many others.&nbsp;She&nbsp;is&nbsp;also a singer, songwriter and keyboardist for the energetic rock&nbsp;band Three At Home, who were 2019 New England Music&nbsp;Award nominees&nbsp;for Best in Massachusetts. The band have received critical acclaim&nbsp;from publications like&nbsp;Medium&nbsp;and&nbsp;features in&nbsp;Country Queer.&nbsp;"Mary should be a famous songwriter for Disney or Pixar ….&nbsp;Positive energy in spades … a&nbsp;wonderful voice … just plain&nbsp;likable." - Brian Carroll,&nbsp;Red&nbsp;Line Roots.&nbsp;More at&nbsp;<a href="https://threeathomeband.com/" target="_blank">threeathomeband.com</a>. Always&nbsp;colorful,&nbsp;Jay Verchin&nbsp;is an alto, tenor, songwriter, and conductor from Worcester, MA.&nbsp;Graduating from Clark&nbsp;University in 2021, Jay served for two seasons&nbsp;as the Assistant Conductor and Tenor Section Leader for the Clark&nbsp;University&nbsp;Concert and Chamber Choirs. They currently are a member of&nbsp;the Tutti Music Collective board and chorus, and sing weekly&nbsp;with St.&nbsp;John’s Catholic Church professional Schola in Worcester. Formerly,&nbsp;Jay held section leader positions at All Saints&nbsp;Church in Worcester,&nbsp;St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Cambridge, and has appeared with&nbsp;Nightingale Vocal Ensemble,&nbsp;Magari Ensemble, and Jubilate Choir.&nbsp;Their most notable work was&nbsp;premiering Rachel Burckardt’s Mt. Auburn Requiem in&nbsp;October 2022,&nbsp;and as the Bo’sun in the 21st Century Premiere of Gena Branscombe’s&nbsp;Choral Drama,&nbsp;Pilgrims of&nbsp;Destiny.&nbsp;In&nbsp;addition to singing, Jay is a&nbsp;Jewish educator, and in 2021, released their first full length album,&nbsp;Vessels.&nbsp;More at&nbsp;<a href="https://jayverchin.com/" target="_blank">jayverchin.com</a>. Rachel&nbsp;Marie&nbsp;(she/they) follows in a&nbsp;tradition of unapologetically forthright women folksingers, with&nbsp;songs that hearken to&nbsp;"overstuffed lines of Tori Amos,&nbsp;philosophical turn of Indigo Girls, and lilting vocals like Joni&nbsp;Mitchell" (Victoria Farmer,&nbsp;The&nbsp;Christian Humanist Podcast). The&nbsp;social awareness of folk meets the introspection, catharsis, and&nbsp;healing of the singer-songwriter tradition. "Add in a&nbsp;brilliantly woven, genuine, and sometimes silly banter and Rachel’s&nbsp;unique show will stay with&nbsp;you a long time" (Tom Bianchi, 24&nbsp;Hour Music). Boston-based and Pennsylvania-raised, Rachel has played&nbsp;at prestigious folk&nbsp;venues including the me &amp; thee (MA), Club&nbsp;Passim (MA), the Burren (MA), and Godfrey Daniels (PA). Rachel's&nbsp;latest full-length album,&nbsp;False&nbsp;Foundations, was released in May&nbsp;2018, and a new album is in the works for 2024.&nbsp;More at&nbsp;<a href="https://rachelmarie.com/" target="_blank">rachelmarie.com</a>.

Terry Kitchen, Ksenia Mack, Thea Hopkins at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday April 6

Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents an evening of music on&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;April 6&nbsp;with&nbsp;songwriter/songwriters&nbsp;Terry&nbsp;Kitchen,&nbsp;Ksenia Mack&nbsp;and&nbsp;Thea Hopkins.&nbsp;The concert features a set by each artist, followed&nbsp;by a round robin&nbsp;song swap. The show begins at&nbsp;7:00&nbsp;pm&nbsp;with an open mic and the features begin at 7:30 PM. Admission is&nbsp;$15&nbsp;at the door. The Armory Cafe is at 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville,&nbsp;just a few blocks from the new Magoun Square&nbsp;Green Line T station.&nbsp;For more information call 617-718-2191 or visit&nbsp;<a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/" target="_blank">artsatthearmory.org</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a>.&nbsp;To sign up for the open mic email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com" target="_blank">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first&nbsp;Saturday of each month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an&nbsp;intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups,&nbsp;desserts and&nbsp;coffees, and plenty of free parking. Our 4/6 performers: Called&nbsp;"one of New England's best songwriters" by&nbsp;The&nbsp;Boston Globe,&nbsp;Terry&nbsp;Kitchen&nbsp;creates songs that are portraits&nbsp;of ordinary people and emotions,&nbsp;captured with extraordinary compassion, honesty and humor. He's been&nbsp;performing&nbsp;on folk stages across the country since the 1990s,&nbsp;releasing a dozen albums filled with literate musical storytelling,&nbsp;supple guitar playing and distinctive, intimate vocals. His 2020 CD&nbsp;Next&nbsp;Time We Meet&nbsp;reached&nbsp;#5 on the national&nbsp;Folk-DJ album chart (with its single "Party&nbsp;on the Roof" reaching #4 on the song chart), and his songs have&nbsp;won the&nbsp;Mid-Atlantic and USA Song Contests and been runner-up in the&nbsp;John Lennon Song Contest.&nbsp;In&nbsp;the 1980s he was the&nbsp;leader of the groundbreaking Boston band Loose&nbsp;Ties, whose experiences he recounts in his novel&nbsp;Next&nbsp;Big Thing,&nbsp;called "a great debut novel" by&nbsp;The&nbsp;San Francisco Book Review.&nbsp;He also published a collection of short stories,&nbsp;Coping&nbsp;Mechanisms,&nbsp;in 2020. More on Terry at&nbsp;<a href="http://terrykitchen.com/" target="_blank">terrykitchen.com</a>. Boston-based&nbsp;singer/songwriter&nbsp;Ksenia&nbsp;Mack&nbsp;performs with blend of fiery and sultry vocals while her unique style&nbsp;of guitar&nbsp;playing tells a deeper truth. A founding and current member&nbsp;of the Porch Party Mamas, Ksenia is continuing a performance&nbsp;career&nbsp;that spans decades. She is also a respected guitar teacher.&nbsp;More&nbsp;on Ksenia at&nbsp;<a href="https://kseniamack.com/" target="_blank">kseniamack.com</a>. A&nbsp;member of the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe of Martha’s Vineyard,&nbsp;performing songwriter&nbsp;Thea&nbsp;Hopkins&nbsp;calls her music&nbsp;Red Roots Americana.&nbsp;The&nbsp;Washington Post&nbsp;describes Thea as a "standout”. She's performed at clubs,&nbsp;concert halls and&nbsp;festivals throughout North America and Britain and&nbsp;released a series of acclaimed CDs. Her new album is scheduled to be&nbsp;released in May 2024. More on Thea at&nbsp;<a href="https://theahopkins.com/" target="_blank">theahopkins.com</a>.

Zion Rodman, Rob Laurens, Sam Bayer at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday March 2

Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents an evening of music on&nbsp;Saturday&nbsp;March 2&nbsp;with&nbsp;songwriter/songwriters&nbsp;Zion&nbsp;Rodman,&nbsp;Rob Laurens&nbsp;and&nbsp;Sam Bayer.&nbsp;The concert features a set by each artist, followed by&nbsp;a round robin&nbsp;song swap. The show begins at&nbsp;7:00&nbsp;pm&nbsp;with a short open mic and the features begin at 7:30 PM. Admission&nbsp;is&nbsp;$15 at the door. The Armory Cafe is at 191 Highland Avenue,&nbsp;Somerville, just a few blocks from the new Magoun Square&nbsp;Green Line T&nbsp;station. For more information call 617-718-2191 or visit&nbsp;<a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/" target="_blank">artsatthearmory.org</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions" target="_blank">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a>.&nbsp;To sign up for the open mic email&nbsp;<a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com" target="_blank">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville&nbsp;Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe&nbsp;presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first&nbsp;Saturday of each month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an&nbsp;intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups,&nbsp;desserts and&nbsp;coffees, and plenty of free parking. Our 3/2 performers: Zion&nbsp;Rodman&nbsp;is a multi-instrumental singer-songwriter. He grew up in Cape Cod and&nbsp;has been performing his original work&nbsp;since the age of 15. After a&nbsp;5-year stint in Chicago, Zion is back in the Boston music scene for&nbsp;good. Zion's debut album&nbsp;You're&nbsp;Invited&nbsp;(2017) was recorded and released in Boston to positive reviews, and&nbsp;his follow up EP&nbsp;Did&nbsp;Not Wake Up Today&nbsp;was highlighted by AFROPUNK prior to its release: "Rodman turns&nbsp;up the volume of his melodic indie pop, with his stunning&nbsp;voice just&nbsp;barely masking his anger beneath the hook." His most recent&nbsp;album&nbsp;Whatever&nbsp;Happens&nbsp;was recorded in Chicago&nbsp;and released in 2020. These days, Zion is&nbsp;dedicating his time to playing with his band around the Boston area,&nbsp;organizing&nbsp;events with EBASS to support local musicians, securing a&nbsp;monthly residency at The Ford in Medford, and freelance sound&nbsp;engineering. He's shared the stage with nationally touring musicians&nbsp;such as Ellis Paul (Club Passim) and The Ries Brothers&nbsp;(Taffeta).&nbsp;Zion currently lives in Jamaica Plain with his fiancé and two cats.&nbsp;More at&nbsp;<a href="https://zionrodmanmusic.com/" target="_blank">zionrodmanmusic.com</a>. "Rob&nbsp;Laurens&nbsp;culls his naturalistic ballads from the fertile soil of American folk&nbsp;tradition, but his intimate, incisive lyrics&nbsp;embody the best&nbsp;instincts of the contemporary songwriter movement."-Scott&nbsp;Alarik,&nbsp;Boston&nbsp;Globe.&nbsp;Rob Laurens is a&nbsp;songwriter's songwriter. With a keen eye for subtle,&nbsp;understated detail, Rob creates songs whose lyrics resonate like the&nbsp;words of a writer; his songs tell stories, often expressing the kind&nbsp;of ideas and complexity of emotions more typically tackled&nbsp;in the&nbsp;work of a poet or novelist. Steeped in the knowledge of many kinds of&nbsp;American traditional music—especially&nbsp;Appalachian ballads—Rob&nbsp;paints his stories in the simple language of the best folk songs. Rob&nbsp;has lived and traveled&nbsp;throughout the United States, and has what has&nbsp;been described by Dave Palmater of WUMB 91.9 FM Boston as "the&nbsp;rare&nbsp;ability to write songs that seem like they've always been&nbsp;there." Rob has won the New Folk Award for Songwriting at both&nbsp;the&nbsp;Kerrville Folk Festival (TX) and its sister festival, The&nbsp;Columbia River Festival (WA). He has returned to play the main stage&nbsp;at these and other festivals, including the Strawberry, High Sierra,&nbsp;and Napa Valley Festivals in California. He tours both east&nbsp;and west&nbsp;coasts, playing such clubs as The Freight &amp; Salvage in Berkeley,&nbsp;California, and Club Passim in Cambridge. More&nbsp;at&nbsp;<a href="https://roblaurens.net/" target="_blank">roblaurens.net</a>. Boston&nbsp;musician&nbsp;Sam&nbsp;Bayer&nbsp;is your literate, exuberant guide to an imaginary world where&nbsp;housewives win the Nobel Prize in&nbsp;physics, poker-playing children&nbsp;gamble over their bedtimes, and metaphorical elephants pirouette in&nbsp;the den, four and a half&nbsp;minutes at a time. His latest studio CD,&nbsp;The&nbsp;Great Indoors,&nbsp;brings 11 gems from his universe to yours. More at&nbsp;<a href="https://sambayer.com/" target="_blank">sambayer.com</a>.

Alex Fam, Tom Smith, Jack Byrne at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday February 3

Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents an evening of music on Saturday February 3 with songwriter/songwriters Alex Fam, Tom Smith and Jack Byrne. The concert features a set by each artist, followed by a round robin song swap. The show begins at 7:30 pm with a short open mic and the features begin at 8 PM. Admission is $15 at the door. The Armory Cafe is at 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, just a few blocks from the new Magoun Square Green Line T station. For more information call 617-718-2191 or visit <a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/">artsatthearmory.org</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a>. To sign up for the open mic email <a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first Saturday of each month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups, desserts and coffees, and plenty of free parking. Our 2/3 performers: Alex Fam is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose lyric-driven songs invite listeners on a journey of reflection and joy. Alex's songs draw inspiration from nature and a sense of childlike wonder. She masterfully combines violin, ukulele, and vocal looping. Alex is also a visual artist. Alex’s second album Real Life Magic is accompanied by an original collage exhibit. Alex is the 2022 recipient of the UU Mass Action "Ruth Rowan Award", which is given to a person or group who is actively engaged in social justice and who motivates others to take action, as well, through music. More at <a href="https://alexfammusic.com/">alexfammusic.com</a>. Tom Smith's songs are in turns humorous, touching, thought provoking, and inspiring. Deeply rooted in the old-school folk tradition, his timeless stories are told with a voice that is honest and sincere with melodies that you will remember forever. In the words of noted singer/songwriter Barbara Kessler, "Tom Smith will make you laugh and cry (maybe even in the same song) – a very captivating songwriter and performer." Tom grew up in rural Pennsylvania and honed his music chops in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Now a folk veteran of over forty years, Tom performs at festivals, coffeehouses, schools, and concerts throughout the Northeastern United States to audiences large and small, young and old. More at <a href="https://tomsmithmusic.com/">tomsmithmusic.com</a>. Jack Byrne is a Boston-based singer/songwriter who weaves intricate fingerstyle guitar lines into his intimate indie-folk songs. Jack was raised in a very musical family and his earliest musical experiences were playing and singing with his parents and siblings. In Jack's own music, you can hear influence from artists such as Iron &amp; Wine, Johanna Warren, and Simon &amp; Garfunkel. Jack also teaches private lessons at NEMPAC and The New School of Music, and sings in the choir at the Old North Church in Boston. His latest album, New Beginnings and Resolutions, is available on all streaming platforms. More at <a href="https://jackbyrnemusic.com/">jackbyrnemusic.com</a>.

Rachel Marie, Rob Siegel, Dann Russo at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday December 2

Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents an evening of music on Saturday December 2 with songwriter/songwriters Rachel Marie, Rob Siegel and Dann Russo. The concert features a set by each artist, followed by a round robin song swap. The show begins at 7:30 pm with a short open mic and the features begin at 8 PM. There is a suggested donation of $15 at the door. The Armory Cafe is at 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, just a few blocks from the new Magoun Square Green Line T station. For more information call 617-718-2191 or visit <a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/">artsatthearmory.org</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a>. To sign up for the open mic email <a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first Saturday of each month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups, desserts and coffees, and plenty of free parking. Our 12/2 performers: Rachel Marie follows in a tradition of unapologetically forthright women folksingers, with songs that hearken to "overstuffed lines of Tori Amos, philosophical turn of Indigo Girls, and lilting vocals like Joni Mitchell." The social awareness of folk meets the introspection, catharsis, and healing of the singer-songwriter tradition. "Add in a brilliantly woven, genuine, and sometimes silly banter and Rachel's unique show will stay with you a long time." More at <a href="https://rachelmarie.com/">rachelmarie.com</a>. Rob Siegel is a performing songwriter (and car guy) from Newton, MA, by way of Old Bethpage, NY, Amherst, and Austin, Texas. In addition to his songwriting, Rob has written the monthly column The Hack Mechanic™ for Roundel, the magazine of The BMW Car Club of America, for 35 years. In addition, online Hack Mechanic columns appear weekly on Hagerty’s and BMW CCA’s websites. Rob has also written for Road &amp; Track, Sports Car Market, Forbes, and Bimmer, and is the author of eight automotive-related books, including The New York Times-reviewed Memoirs of a Hack Mechanic. Given his druthers, he’d rather be a full-time performing songwriter, but damn the cars sure are a lot of fun. More at <a href="https://robsiegel.com/">robsiegel.com</a>. Dann Russo used to play in and around Boston as a solo artist, rocking venues like The Burren and the Lizard Lounge. With reckless abandon, Dann (and band) leant into driving, acoustic rock &amp; sweet, sweet ballads. He currently performs with Mary Casiello and Kari Paisley-Flango (and friends) in Three at Home - rocking faces, knocking down doors, and wrecking all the china as if they were bulls. More at <a href="https://threeathomeband.com/">threeathomeband.com</a>.

Eric Schwartz, Terry Kitchen, Chris & Meredith Thompson at Somerville Armory Cafe Saturday November 4

Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents an evening of music on Saturday November 4 with songwriter/songwriters Eric Schwartz and Terry Kitchen and folk duo Chris &amp; Meredith Thompson. The concert features a set by each artist, followed by a round robin song swap. The show begins at 7:30 pm with a short open mic and the features begin at 8 PM. There is a suggested donation of $15 at the door. The Armory Cafe is at 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, just a few blocks from the new Magoun Square Green Line T station. For more information call 617-718-2191 or visit <a href="https://artsatthearmory.org/">artsatthearmory.org</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions">www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions</a>. To sign up for the open mic email <a href="mailto:SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com">SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com</a>. Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first Saturday of each month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups, desserts and coffees, and plenty of free parking. Our 11/4 performers: If Lenny Bruce and Bill Withers had a lovechild… Award-winning singer/songwriter, performer, satirist, multi-instrumentalist and entertainer Eric Schwartz has been prodding and wooing folk audiences for twenty-five years. From Bleecker Street’s Bitter End to Hollywood’s Improv, from Philly Folk to Falcon Ridge to Kerrville… Eric's songs have been sung by Ronny Cox, Holly Near and Van Dyke Parks, and been played on radio shows as diverse as Bob and Tom’s Morning Show and NPR’s All Things Considered. Eric is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Music Therapy in order to treat those he has traumatized from the stage. More at <a href="https://ericschwartz.com/">ericschwartz.com</a>. Called "one of New England's best songwriters" by The Boston Globe, Terry Kitchen creates songs that are portraits of ordinary people and emotions, captured with extraordinary compassion, honesty and humor. He's been performing on folk stages across the country since the 1990s, releasing a dozen albums filled with literate musical storytelling, supple guitar playing and distinctive, intimate vocals. His 2020 CD Next Time We Meet reached #5 on the national Folk-DJ album chart (with its single "Party on the Roof" reaching #4 on the song chart), and his songs have won the Mid-Atlantic and USA Song Contests and been runner-up in the John Lennon Song Contest. In the 1980s he was the leader of the groundbreaking Boston band Loose Ties, whose experiences he recounts in his novel Next Big Thing, called "a great debut novel" by The San Francisco Book Review. He also published a collection of short stores, Coping Mechanisms, in 2020. More on Terry at <a href="http://terrykitchen.com/">terrykitchen.com</a>. Twin sisters Chris &amp; Meredith Thompson are "powerful performers with a natural warmth for the live concert stage" writes Tom Lounges in The Beat. They achieve a vocal harmony known uniquely to siblings, combining effortlessly as two parts of a whole, then emerging as unique individual voices, creating the vocal sound that has become their trademark. Chris plays percussive, riff-driven guitar. Meredith plays congas and flute. The Thompsons tell stories that resonate with the audience, stories that celebrate common experience. The Thompsons have performed in venues across the US and released seven albums. "It is their mix of intriguing stories of people's hopes and histories that makes The Thompsons' music so compelling." (MaryAnn Robertson, Spotlight) More at <a href="https://www.cmthompson.com/">www.cmthompson.com</a>.

S22: conversations

Wondering what to do in Boston? Places to eat? Free activities? Good for a group? Date night spot? Girls night out? The best things to do? Ask Joyraft!

Best places to go in Boston? Things to do? Places to eat?

Questions & answers about things to do in Boston

Recs 💬

Community recs 💬

S4: top picks

The most fun, cool and unique things to do in Boston. Can’t miss events, shows and experiences. Concerts, restaurants, bars, free things in Boston and beyond.

The most fun and cool events happening around Boston

Hot and new things to do in Boston

Hot & new

Hot & new 🔥

S11: happening this weekend

What to do in Boston this weekend? From festivals, concerts, performances, free events, screenings and more, Joyraft has the best things to do in Boston.

25+ things to do in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville this weekend

Things to do in Boston this weekend

This wknd

This weekend for you

S21: roundups

Our top picks: outdoor dining, free events, spring festivals, best bars, upcoming concerts, museum parties - the latest in and around Boston.  Slug: joyraft-top-picks-best-things-to-do-boston-ma

Top picks of the best things to do in and around Boston

Joyraft picks: Boston’s best things to do

Roundups ⭐️

Curated by Joyraft ⭐️

S28: calendar experiences

This week in Boston

This week in Boston 📆

This week 📆

S20: c+d experiences

Discover new, unique events and experiences happening in and around Boston. Perfect for date night, good for a group or with a friend. Be the first to know.

The newest events happening in and around Boston

The newest events on Joyraft

Just added

Just added to Joyraft

S16: editor picks

The most unique and can’t miss things coming up in Boston / Cambridge / Somerville and beyond. Festivals, food, drinks, fairs, concerts, art and free activities.

Unique and Can’t Miss Things to Do in Boston

Can’t-miss things to do in Boston 🚨

Can't-miss things to do 🚨

S2 (A): top experiences

The most popular things to do on Joyraft. Concerts, restaurants, bars, events, parties, openings, kid friendly, date ideas, free things in Boston and beyond.

Top 20 things to do in Boston

Top 20: Joyraft’s most popular

Top 20

Top 20 on Joyraft

S3 (A): trending experiences

Discover can’t miss events and things to do in Boston. The most fun, unique and cool events coming to the Boston area this spring and summer.

The hottest events happening in Boston

Trending events on Joyraft

Trending 📈

S17: interest based

Your guide to everything free in and around Boston. From events, to fairs, to festivals, to outdoors. Joyraft has all the free events happening near you.

100+ free things to do in Boston and beyond

Free things to do in Boston

Free things to do

S19: interest based

Kid-friendly events in Boston

S18: interest based

Where to eat and drink in Boston? Joyraft has Boston’s newest bars, restaurants and specials. Drinks and pre fixe dinner menus. Cambridge & Somerville too.

Where

joyraft.host20535

Experiences