Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Linden Tree Concerts is excited to present three Songwriters in the Round on Saturday, February 3. This year’s trio are Rachel Sumner, Susan Levine, and Chris LaVancher. In the Round is a great format for performers to showcase their talents while interacting with each other on stage. Often planned set lists are forgotten as other songs they’ve written will complement songs the others have sung. Audiences will enjoy their song choices, musicianship, and overall an evening of live music.
Rachel Sumner has been praised for her powerful, lonesome voice and haunting songs. She carefully spins melodies that get caught in your head and delivers them “with an attitude and drive in her guitar playing…sure to strike a chord and dig deep into your heart. ” (Red Line Roots) Rachel may be best known as the former guitarist and singer-songwriter from bluegrass string phenom Twisted Pine, but it is in her recent venture as a solo artist that she is beginning to be fully recognized as a writer and performer. Whether she’s fronting her new band of lush, low-voiced strings or appearing with only a guitar, audiences will be mesmerized by her elegantly intricate arrangements and captivated by the delivery of each and every word.. Rachel is both a Willie Nelson and a Patsy Cline of indie-folk – writing the heartfelt but catchy songs and conveying their emotional complexity with candor and an achingly beautiful yodel. And it is her diverse love of pop, classical, country and everything in between that she draws upon to synthesize into her own unique sound. Rachel’s songs have been critically acclaimed, winning the Lennon Award in the folk category of the 2021 John Lennon Songwriting Contest for her song “Radium Girls.”WBUR/NPR has chosen her three consecutive years as one of the top Massachusetts entries in the Tiny Desk Competition. rachelsumnermusic.com
Susan Levine is a writer of well crafted songs. You might not find a straight-out love song in Susan Levine’s music, but you will find honest songs about the complexity of modern-day relationships, including the challenges and joys of single motherhood, the ambivalence of finding new love after heartbreak, and the search for grace in the smallest moments. Susan explores the emotional terrain of love, loss and hope with a poetic blend of folk, Americana, pop and country, and a voice that has garnered comparisons to Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton. Since the release of her solo cd, “Atlas”(2007) – described in the Boston Herald as “That rare album where a whole mind and heart are revealed” – Susan has not stopped writing or performing. Through a painful divorce, single motherhood of two young boys, her “day job” as a music therapist, and performing and recording as one half of Americana duo, The Lied To’s, with singer-songwriter, Doug Kwartler, music has remained her constant, her way of processing and experiences and stories. Susan over the past 20 years is frequently nominated for her songwriting. Susan’s song “Time” (on The Lied To’s new record, The Worst Kind of New) was chosen as a top 5 winner for Outstanding Achievement in Songwriting in the Great American Song Contest! susanjlevine.com
Chris LaVancher will host the evening as well as participate with his repertoire of great songs he has written from his three albums. Chris’s performance evokes a mini-movie festival in your head, complete with a full soundtrack. He writes cinematic, character-driven songs. His song Nostalgia from his second album, Big Fat Love, received an honorable mention in the 2018 Woody Guthrie Folk Festival Songwriting Contest. In 2023 and 2014 Chris was selected as a Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Emerging Artist. He was also selected for the Suzi Wollenberg Folk DJ Showcase at the North East Regional Folk Alliance. His third full-length album in November 2021 – “After The Flood” is a collection of songs full of heart from a seasoned and skilled craftsman mining life’s subject matter – family, work, love and love lost, childhood memories, and finding one’s place in the universe. Much of his inspiration comes from his growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania. chrislavanchermusic.com
Tickets for this show will be $25, for those under 13 are $10. WUMB members receive a $2 discount with their membership card. We accept cash or personal check at the door. Reservations are recommended for preferential seating by calling 781 246 2836. Masks recommended but not required.
The Linden Tree Coffeehouse in its 39th season of acoustic music is located in the social hall of the Unitarian-Universalist Church, 326 Main St. Wakefield, MA 01880 We thank the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Wakefield Arts Council for supporting our concert series that has allowed us to bring quality programming to our community. Linden Tree also supports Fair Trade Music Local 1000. For more information see LindenTreeCoffeehouse.org and our page on Facebook
