Sara Trunzo: Songwriters' Round

Four musicians converge to perform in the Nashville tradition of a “songwriters’ round,'' in which a group of writers perform in a round-robin style sharing original songs and some of the stories behind them. A variety of voices will be represented in this offering: Kate McCann, Seth Gallant, Roger Ramsey, and Sara Trunzo.  Trunzo will also act as emcee, and the show will be co-hoste by WERU.

Mehuman unfortunately is unable to be with us for this evening's performance, however,

Kate McCann will fill the last slot. She is a folk singer and banjo player based in Midcoast Maine. Playing both original and traditional music, Kate draws from her time spent immersed in old-time, Irish, and maritime folk music traditions.  Through her arrangements of traditional songs and original compositions she explores how traditional music exists in the contemporary world not as a static artifact of the past but as an active practice that both the musician and audience can engage with. Her first EP “Sea Songs,” was released during the summer of 2023 and pulls from the maritime music tradition she became deeply familiar with after spending a year working as a chanteyman at the Mystic Seaport Museum.  The EP’s first single “Bone Dry”, was winner of the 2023 Maine Songwriters Association Songwriting Contest.  With a sound comparable to classic troubadours such as Joan Baez and Peggy Seeger but with contemporary flair and distinct New England roots, Kate is excited to continue creating material that straddles the line between old and new.

Seth Gallant grew up in a Maine mill town to a family that played music on the front porch on almost any occasion. These traditions of folk, country, and Acadian music would shape the music that Gallant writes and performs today.

Roger Ramsey is a western-country songwriter based out of the smoky hills of Tennessee. His songs echo the bygone era of true frontiersmen. While living life on the highway– working as a busker, chuckwagon cook, and ranch hand – Ramsey shared his music and collaborated with acts like Amythyst Kiah, Jon Langston, Adam Bolt, and Boy Named Banjo.

Sara Trunzo is a singer-songwriter, community organizer, and creator and host of “Country & Northeastern” on WERU Community Radio. Lonesome Highway said her last record, Cabin Fever Dream, was “loaded with truly touching lyrics and provide[s] a glimpse of an unquestionably talented artist.”