2023 Season
January 21, 2023 at 7:30
Kyle Morgan
Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Kyle Morgan grew up in central Pennsylvania, where he spent countless Sunday mornings amidst the broken strains and coffee breath of his church congregation. His music features a conglomeration of Americana styles, from stripped-down acoustic ballads and love-lorn parlor laments to roaring alt-country and 60’s rock’n’roll. His earnest tenor voice reflects his deep love for classic roots music such as The Carter Family, Mississippi John Hurt, and The Louvin Brothers, while taking on the melodic inventiveness of such modern greats as Rufus Wainwright and Ron Sexsmith.
E. W. Harris
E.W. Harris is an alt-folk songwriter, producer, and artist based in Brooklyn, NY. A self-styled “Folktronicist'' and “Dystopian Romantic,” Harris combines sonic textures, memorable melodies, and powerful vocals to create music he calls “folk tunes from an (im)possible future.” He has been influenced by songwriters as disparate as David Bowie, Björk, and John Prine as well as the eclectic musical/cultural legacies of his dual hometowns of Akron, Ohio and Athens, Georgia. His music is all his own but is most often compared to the likes of Bon Iver, John Martyn, Jeff Buckley, and Jim James (My Morning Jacket).
February 18, 2023 at 7:30
Raquel Vidal with Special Guest Kellie Lin Knott
Raquel Vidal has been described as“underground noir” with songs that are “darkly cinematic” and “voice a bittersweet optimism”, her lyrics roam the dark corridors and velvet lounges of the human experience, ultimately peeling back the drapes to reveal rays of light and glimmers of hope.
Kellie Lin (a.k.a. Kellie Lin Knott) is an award-winning singer-songwriter known for quirky commentary, guitar grooves & an eclectic catalog of original tunes in divergent styles, Kellie Lin is entertaining, endearing, and irreverent.
Youth in a Roman Field
Youth in a Roman Field is the surrealist folk project of musician and activist Claire Wellin. The band’s progressive sound (described as a combination of ‘Appalachia, cayenne pepper, and ghosts' and ‘like Radiohead but also folk music’) is reflected both in their inventive recordings and intimate, endearing live performances. Sweeping vocals, dynamic string loops, woven, textured guitars, and percussive bass come together to create music that gives the audience space and time to feel, reflect, or just take a breather. Their third studio album, ‘Get Caught Trying,’ explores self-worth, power, loss of faith, and collective healing.
March 18, 2023 at 7:30
K. J. Denhert
KJ Denhert is an NYC-based, award-winning songwriter, guitarist, vocalist and bandleader. An internationally touring artist, KJ’s career spans 40 years, numerous albums, and legions of devoted fans worldwide. Her soulful and smoky vocal stylings are earthy and elegant. Her lyrics embody the romance and poetry of the American Songbook.
ilyAIMY
For two decades, ilyAIMY has played everywhere - bait shops to biker weeks to clothing-optional resorts - nationwide. Similarly adventurous songwriters, the quartet features multiple lead singers, innovative acoustic guitar, and even vocal percussion. Rapid-fire lyricism is softened with cello and lush harmonies for "a welcome jolt in folk" as likely to rock out as break into a barbershop quartet.
April 15, 2023 at 7:30
Sam Robbins
Sam Robbins is often described as an "old soul singer songwriter." A Nashville based musician whose music evokes classic singer songwriters like James Taylor and Jackson Browne, Sam adds a modern, upbeat edge to the storyteller troubadour persona. An avid performer, he has gained recognition from extensive touring and as one of the six winners of the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk competition.
Rachael Kilgour
Rachael Kilgour is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter whose plain-spoken, lyric-driven work and intimate performances have endeared her to listeners and fellow artists alike. The 2015 grand prize winner of the NewSong Music Competition and a winner of the 2017 Kerrville New Folk Contest, she has been featured at NYC’s Lincoln Center and The Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
May 20, 2023 at 7:30
Jean Rohe
Jean Rohe writes one-of-a-kind narrative songs, concerned as much with the interior lives of her narrators as with the wider world outside them. Jean recently won the 2022 Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk songwriting contest with her deeply personal and timely song “Animal”. Jean is perhaps best known for her video single, “National Anthem: Arise! Arise!” an aspirational alternative national anthem.
Garrin Benfield
Garrin Benfield's sound has been described as Freestyle Acoustic Rock. His music is a blend of moody, guitar driven rock and polyrhythmic groove all run through the filter of a very serious Singer/Songwriter. Garrin has been touring nationally for ten years and played many of North America's best music venues, including Joe’s Pub and Carnegie Hall.
June 17, 2023 at 7:30
Kaia Kater
Montreal-born Grenadian-Canadian Kaia Kater's jazz-fueled voice and deft songcraft have garnered acclaim, including her JUNO nominated and Polaris Music Prize long-listed album ‘Grenades', Kaia leans into a wide array of sounds and styles in order to convey a broad range of emotions and topics, most notably her paternal Caribbean ancestry.
Dan Whitener
Dan Whitener, a favorite of our audience, has hit the Billboard Bluegrass charts as a banjo player with both Emmy-nominated bluegrass-hiphop band Gangstagrass and Philadelphia’s Newgrass Americana band Man About A Horse. His song, “We Are Gonna Be Okay,” with lyrics by Eileen Whitener, was included in the 2018 Spike Lee movie BlacKkKlansman.
October 21, 2023 at 7:30
Heather Pierson Duo
Heather Pierson and Shawn Nadeau bring a down-to-earth honesty to bear on songs that suggest the sounds of the streets of New Orleans and the valleys of Appalachia and everywhere in between. Heather is a virtuoso performer on piano, acoustic guitar, tenor banjo, ukulele, and melodica. The duo’s sweet harmonies and range of styles has brought them accolades in performances from coat to coast.
Reese Fulmer Trio
If you ask Reese about himself, he'll tell you he's a brand new soul. But his songs tell a different story, with a clear eye and poetic touch, of a conduit to something much older and deeper. With a fluid lineup of versatile and talented players in his Carriage House Band, Reese’s music is reminiscent of the early work of Josh Ritter or Iron & Wine.
November 18, 2023 at 7:30
Dwayne Haggins Band
Responding to enthusuiastic reviews from our audience, Dwayne Haggins returns to Voices in the Heights with his full band. He is a singer-songwriter who combines extraordinary musicianship with powerful vocals. He has been described as “the love child of Marvin Gaye and Doc Watson.” and “The John Legend of Rockabilly” and has performed at the Portsmouth Music Hall and Prescott Park in Portsmouth, NH; and the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom in Hampton, NH; sharing the stage with acts such as Chris Lane, Suzanne Santo, and Fitz and the Tantrums.
The Sea The Sea
Chuck E. Costa and Mira Costa ar The Sea The Sea, an Upstate New York based indie folk-pop duo featuring what The Huffington Post calls “Two of the loveliest male-female voices you might ever hear in this or any other year.” Live performance broadcast appearances of The Sea The Sea include Mountain Stage, whose host Larry Groce calls them "ready to take their place among the best young male/female duos now performing. The band has garnered features across all music platforms, gathering 20+ million streams on Spotify to-date.
December 9, 2023 at 7:30
Teddy Hold On
Teddy's music exists where pop rock meets musical theater... which happens to be Queens, NY. A witty songwriter and soulful pianist, it's always been their mission to tell compelling stories through their songs, and encourage audiences to get in touch with their more commonly hidden emotions. Teddy graduated Berklee College of Music in 2018 and has since been gigging throughout the NYC area with their band Teddy Hold On, bringing laughter and tears wherever they go.
Basset the Band
This Toronto-based duo, comprised of songwriters Sam Clark and Yasmine Shelton, will take you through city streets in the hours before the world has woken, or to a corrugated steel home north of the treeline. Their inventiveness shines on Sam's fiddle, and in their intricate harmonies, with Shelton and Clark’s voices wrapping around each other like twin flames in a warm fire. In 2022, Basset performed at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, NXNE, Folk Music Ontario, NERFA, and FAI.