Country singer Laura Cantrell has balanced different aspects of her music life over the course of a 20-plus years career, whether as a recording artist, radio host, writer, or working parent of a high-school aged musician. Well-known as a recording artist with a devoted following in the US and UK, and as the host of “Dark Horse Radio,” a program devoted to George Harrison on SiriusXM’s The Beatles Channel, or as a performer curating “States of Country,” her monthly live series exploring regional diversity in country music, Cantrell has expressed her passion for country music through various platforms. This June she returns with “Just Like A Rose: The Anniversary Sessions,” an album of original music celebrating her first 20 years of striking this balance. “Just Like A Rose” is a buoyant collection showcasing Cantrell’s songcraft, sense of history, and conviction as a modern woman singing country music.

John Gorka is back by popular demand after his sold out show at Greenvale Vineyards last summer.

"…the leading singer/songwriter of the New Folk movement” – Rolling Stone

“Gorka is widely heralded for the sophisticated intelligence and provocative originality of his songs.” – Boston Globe

Rising from a milieu of lovelorn singer-songwriters, JOHN GORKA illuminates instead with his trademark wordplay, twisting, turning and tying words and phrases in the way a balloon artist creates complex creatures from simple balloons. Few contemporary songwriters coax language as deftly as Gorka.

For over two decades, Gorka’s keen ear has picked up the stories of those along his path, folding them into poetry and song. His keen perceptiveness inspires people from all over the world to share their stories. By involving those tales in his music, he escapes the trap of introspection that hobbles less gifted singer-songwriters.

John Gorka flies below the pop culture radar with an almost cult-like following that never fails to fill concerts. Speak with any of his fans and one instantly feels their enthusiasm and genuine affection. His shy, almost self-effacing stage presence rightfully focuses attention on the songs. His versatility on guitar and piano keeps his sets musically interesting, while his baritone effortlessly executes his biddings. And he's never far from the sly comment or clever joke that invariably ignites the audience.

With his uncanny ability to work every nuance of language, capturing a wide array of topics in memorable melodies, John Gorka continues to engage audiences and to garner ever-increasing attention.

In two decades on the road Jeffrey Foucault has become one of the most distinctive voices in American music, refining a sound instantly recognizable for its simplicity and emotional power. With a string of critically acclaimed studio albums – “Stark, literate songs that are as wide open as the landscape of his native Midwest” (The New Yorker), “Beat-up troubadour folk whittled to dolorous perfection” (Uncut), “Songwriting Brilliance,” (Irish Times) – he’s built a brick-and-mortar international touring career and a devoted following, one that includes luminaries like Van Dyke Parks, Greil Marcus, and Don Henley.

In September 2024 Jeffrey Foucault released THE UNIVERSAL FIRE (Fluff & Gravy), his first album of entirely new material since 2018. A series of high-voltage performances cut live in one room, the album is both a working wake – Foucault lost his best friend and drummer Billy Conway, to cancer in 2021 – and a meditation on the nature of beauty, artifact, and loss.

Augmenting Foucault’s all-star band with members of Calexico and Bon Iver (drummer John Convertino and producer/saxophonist Mike Lewis) THE UNIVERSAL FIRE set Conway’s death against the massive 2008 fire at the Universal Studios lot in California that destroyed the master recordings of some of our bedrock American music, to interrogate ideas about mortality, legacy, meaning, and calling.

Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Leslie Mendelson evokes the sounds of Laurel Canyon with her folk-rock, pop-Americana flavor. Amongst her fans—and collaborators—is legendary musician Jackson Browne, who has praised the Grammy nominee’s voice, songwriting and melodies as timeless.

Described by Relix Magazine as an artist with “a loyal, cross-generational audience that hugs the hippie, hipster, coffee shop and society crowds,” Leslie’s timeless musicality and evocative songwriting indeed cuts a wide swath. All Music writes that Leslie evokes “1970s songwriter influences in the vein of Carole King and Carly Simon,” while The Aquarian declares she is “the closest thing one can get to a truly honest musical experience.”