The Details

Portsmouth Singer Songwriter Festival

23 singer songwriters - Legends, Stars, & Up-And-Comers - in a packed festival weekend, this year celebrating Americana music. Concerts, parties, round robin featuring Seacoast talent, two venues. Click here to see all the shows in the Festival!

Round Robin of Seacoast Singer Songwriters

The Portsmouth Singer-Songwriter Festival will have a Round Robin of Seacoast singer songwriters from 1-6pm on Sunday in the sassy chic Music Hall Loft. Emceed by Seacoast Media Music Critic Chris Hislop, the Round Robin will showcase the talents of 15 originals. The Round Robin format is different from an open mic. It encourages singer-songwriters to enjoy each other’s talents and jamming and collaborating spontaneously or pre-rehearsed. With the audience coming and going, Bloody Marys at the bar, and artists seated on stage together the vibe is distinctly festival oriented. It’s three mics, an instrument or two and all the creativity that can be managed in fifteen minute slots.

Line Up

1pm:  Dan Walker, Deidre Randall, Liz Frame
2pm:  Adrian Emberley, Ryan Flaherty, Tom Schena
3pm   Guy Capecelatro III, Dan Blakeslee, Stuart Diaz
4pm:  Dave Talmage, Andrea Szirbik, Martin England
5pm:  Skyler, Chris Cote, Mary-Erin Dellea

ABOUT THE ROUND ROBIN MUSICIANS

Dan Walker performs soulful, organically grown - acoustic rock ‘n’ roll.

Deidre Randall From dusty farms and hard love, to liquor stores and plane crashes; Deidre Randall’s rock-infused-folk songs hook you so hard you won’t be able to get away.

Liz Frame “…is one of the most compelling, interesting and emotive voices I’ve heard in a long, long time…(S)he’s someone who has to be heard!” - Marian Leighton-Levy, Rounder Records founder.

Adrian Emberley, “A very individual and genuine affair, an absolute delight to listen to…exuberant and lovely”- Alex Cleary, AmericanaUK Magazine

Ryan Flaherty, “Flaherty is trained in flamenco guitar, and he brings a range of world styles to his debut disc. Hints of Van Morrison and Tom Waits revolve around a core of gypsy jazz and Arabic folk, all delivered with soulful vocals.” - Matt Kanner, editor of The Wire

Tom Schena is a singer/songwriter with deep, earthy vocals and lyrics that belie his years. Born to sing, he writes and sings folk songs reminiscent of days gone by, rock songs that lift and energize and ballads that can make you feel every ounce of the human condition.

Guy Capecelatro III is a landscaper and prolific singer-songwriter who lives in Portsmouth New Hampshire

Dan Blakeslee Blakeslee’s music, categorically speaking, is impossible to classify. It sparks images of melted candles in city square vigils, lone tree hills or a shoreline drive at dawn. Blakeslee seems unconcerned with where the songs fall, only that he’s tapped into their ghostly essence and emerged with a blinding account of life itself.

Stuart Diaz left Earth in a 6-string spaceship to find the essence of awesome and plug his amp into it. The alien prince of funk himself.

Dave Talmage runs the bluegrass night at the Stone Church on Tuesday nights.

Andrea Szirbik’s “folk with a twist” frolics through country, pop, blues and rock, her lilting vocals offering up naked-hearted, sultry, sometimes downright silly lyrics that reveal with glassy vulnerability her path through life and love.

Martin England The heart-trip soundtrack of Martin England’s music is that of all great American troubadours; Americana, folk, roots rock, and occasional old school country.  It’s the common language he shares with contemporaries like Ray Lamontagne and founding legends like Johnny Cash, equal parts light and shadow cast in emotionally-charged, heart-harvesting songs.

Skyler is an upcoming 20-year old rock/pop/country songwriter/performer from York, Maine. He was recently nominated for Best New Act of the Year by The New England Music Awards. Skyler will be releasing a new music video for his latest single, “This Dream (Nashville)” later this month.

Christopher Cote, who records and performs as Almanac Mountain, plays melodic, acoustic based original songs that often include elements of electronic production and mellow, hushed, psychedelia.

Mary-Erin Dellea Primarily known for backing other musicians on upright bass and sitting in at bluegrass jams, Dellea stepped into the spotlight this year and proved herself a more than capable lead woman. She’s got a soothing voice and a collection of back-porch country-folk songs that drip with feeling throughout her first full-length album.

About Chris Hislop

Christopher Hislop, a former co-manager of the Stone Church Music Club in Newmarket, who worked there from 2005 to 2008 (in varying capacities), is Spotlight magazine’s music reviewer and columnist. He is a man about town. a consistent contributor to the local arts scene, and recently became a proud new father. Life as he knew it, has changed. For the better.

A Word About Sampling

We’re getting asked about SSF and how best do the Festival experience – we have two venues practically across the street from each other. So, let’s say you buy a pass for the weekend, and on day two you’re sitting in the Historic Theater for the evening show but you’ve heard that Elsa Cross who opened for Merle Haggard the night before has her own show with Lucy Wainwright Roche so you think, I’ve got to head to the Loft – and you can! You have that pass. Or you bought a ticket for the Round Robin on the closing day and you think hmmm this is six hours long – but you can come and go – right? So, get lunch and see some singers – but no need to stay the entire time! Part of the festival experience is trying things you haven’t tried before – with two venues across the street, it couldn’t be easier.

Food & Drink

Try our new menu of small plates that you can bring right to your seat during the show – enjoy a wine pairing or signature cocktail. And, for the rest of the Spring into Summer, we’re serving up national, regional and local artists, from famous names to discovery acts – it’s concerts, comedy, celebrated authors at the Loft.