Music & Lyrics
The following music and lyrics were selected by the editors.
Thanks to all musicians and songwriters who shared their work.
Click on photo to view lyrics and listen to their performance.
Thanks to all musicians and songwriters who shared their work.
Click on photo to view lyrics and listen to their performance.
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Jane Bunnett is the March 2025 Featured Artist of the month. She is a five-time Juno Award winner who is known for her creative integrity, improvisational daring, and courageous artistry. Her exploration of Afro-Cuban melodies expresses the universality of music, and her ability to embrace and showcase the rhythms and culture of Cuba has been groundbreaking. She has toured the world bringing her own special sound to numerous jazz festivals, displaying her versatility as a band leader, saxophone player, flutist, composer and pianist. Jane was nominated for three Grammy Awards, and two documentaries have been made about her work: Spirits of Havana by the National Film Board and, more recently, Embracing Voices.
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Camille Thurman is the January 2024 Featured Artist of the month. She is an accomplished composer, esteemed saxophonist, vocalist, and unique interpreter of the jazz tradition. Camille was the first woman in 30 years to tour and perform full-time internationally with the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as a saxophonist/woodwind doubler (2018-2020 season). A respected bandleader, she has headlined numerous notable concert venues and jazz festivals worldwide. In May 2020, Camille founded “The Haven Hang: Young Lioness Musician Q&A/ Virtual Mentorship Series” for young women musicians. The initiative is to mentor, share advice, and support young women pursuing careers in music and the performing arts.
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Music & Lyrics: 2023
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KT Sullivan is the October 2023 Featured Artist. She is a cabaret icon and Broadway performer who currently sings and plays piano every Tuesday in the lobby of the historic The Algonquin Hotel in New York City. In 2012, KT was named artistic director of The Mabel Mercer Foundation, which produces the annual Cabaret Conventions at Lincoln Center. Besides regular appearances in such New York venues as The Laurie Beechman Theatre, BIRDLAND, 54 Below, and Café Sabarsky, she stars annually at The Pheasantry in London, and has been showcased at Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Spoleto Festival, Chichester Festival, CLUB RaYé in Paris, and Adelaide Festival in Australia.
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Cassie Fireman is the July 2023 Featured Artist of the month. She is a singer-songwriter based in New York. Prior to launching her solo career, she played with an all-female rock band called The Panty Droppers, and then co-founded the band Dirty Mae with her husband, Ben Curtis. Dirty Mae performed throughout New York City, touring 12 states, playing over 90 shows and winning the Battle of the Bands at Grassroots 30th Annual Festival, which led to playing live onstage with “Donna and The Buffalo” at Shakori Hills, as well as being hand-picked as a performer for the Counting Crows’ Adam Duritz's Underground Sunshine Fest. The tour came to a halt in 2020 due to the pandemic, and Cassie began writing prolifically. Cassie’s debut solo album Feel Like Gold was just released.
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Leanne Weiss and Derek Allan formed the modern country duo October Rose in October 2016 and have already made their mark on the country scene. Collectively, they've opened for artists such as Lee Brice, Jake Owen, Jimmie Allen, Russell Dickerson, Granger Smith, and Tyler Rich, and have graced the stage of venues such as F.M. Kirby Center, Starland Ballroom, Opry City Stage, Mayo Performing Arts Center, and Mount Airy Summerstage. This spotlight finds the couple married and shares lyrics to their new single "Hits Home" as well as a studio performance of "Missing Piece," a song they wrote for their wedding.
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Franki Love is the January 2023 Featured Artist of the month. She is an award-winning singer-songwriter and classically trained pianist who began playing the piano when she was four years old. She garnered success at the LA Music Awards as "Female Singer-Songwriter of the Year" and winning "Single of the Year" for her song "Shadow." In 2013, Franki successfully funded her next album release, which was dedicated to her mother who passed away from cancer in January 2013. She was mentored by legendary music producer Phil Ramone, who encouraged her to start writing the album while grieving the loss of her mom. Otias was released in 2017. Franki's latest album, The Moon, was released in 2022. This is a new age instrumental/piano album with healing frequencies and was also on the Grammy ballot.
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Music & Lyrics: 2022
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Becca Stevens is the October 2022 Featured Artist of the month. She is a Grammy-nominated, Brooklyn-based and North Carolina-bred singer-songwriter and musician who has established an outstanding career blending an effortless vocal talent with exquisite compositions that draw inspiration from pop, jazz, indie-rock, and Appalachian folk music. Her most recent album, WONDERBLOOM (GroundUP ’20), which she produced and engineered with Nic Hard, displays Becca’s skill of layering profound and discerning lyrics with funky and dance-ready beats. The track “Slow Burn” from WONDERBLOOM was nominated for a Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals in 2020. Becca is a highly respected collaborator who has worked with the likes of David Crosby as an active member of his Lighthouse Band, and many other notables.
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Queen Sheena is the February 2022 Featured Artist of the Month. She is a Tennessee-based singer-songwriter. When she was ten years old, she began writing poetry and singing in her church youth choir. Over the years, she developed a deep passion for writing poetry, singing, and expressing herself through the arts. After writing her first song, she knew she wanted to reach a broader audience and has since performed at venues in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas. Queen Sheena released her first single in 2018 titled “1964” which tells the story of the civil rights movement. In July of that year, she released her highly anticipated, self-titled debut EP, which showcases her soulful voice and incredible songwriting abilities. Since then, she has released two more singles – “A Long Way from Home” and her most recent hit song, “Amen.”
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