Matt Harlan

Over the course of her twenty five year career, Susan Werner has earned a reputation as “one of the most innovative songwriters working today” (Chicago Tribune). With formidable chops on guitar (she began playing at age 5) and piano (she was a guest on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz), along with a graduate degree in voice performance, her shows are a one-woman master class in musicianship. Although best known as an acoustic songwriter that came up through coffeehouses and folk festivals, the Chicago-based artist has written songs in the style of Gershwin and Cole Porter (I Can’t Be New, 2004), gospel music (The Gospel Truth, 2007), traditional Cuban “son” (An American In Havana, 2016), and New Orleans junk piano (NOLA, 2019). In 2014 she composed the music and lyrics to the musical theater score Bull Durham, The Musical (MGM). Her songs have been recorded by Tom Jones, Michael Feinstein, and Shemekia Copeland, and her latest recording of originals, The Birds of Florida, took flight in 2022.

Sam Robbins is often described as an "old soul singer songwriter." A Nashville based musician whose music evokes classic 70's singer songwriters like James Taylor and Neil Young, Sam adds a modern, upbeat edge to the storyteller troubadour persona. 

Sam Robbins’ third album, So Much I Still Don’t See is a testament to a singer songwriter’s journey through his 20’s, through his formative years of 45,000 miles per year touring and the beginning of a troubadour’s career. Most of all, it is the culmination of firsthand experiences gathered through hard travel and big adventures.

Matt Harlan

Guests Tonight : Jess Jocoy and Krista Gene

Casii Stephan is a MN-born, indie-pop meets soul-rock singer-songwriter now based in Tulsa, OK. Casii’s “gorgeously emotive voice inspires comparisons to alt-pop artists like Florence Welch and Fiona Apple with a writing style reminiscent of Carole King” (NPR).

She has received national songwriting awards, toured regionally, performed at official SXSW and Folk Alliance showcases, performed at the virtual Sundance Film Festival, and profiled on platforms such as Billboard, NPR, and American Songwriter.

Tish Hinojosa is a singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas. Hinojosa’s blend of folk, country, Latino, and pop has an undeniable far reaching appeal, garnering her accolades such as a White House concert at the invitation of President and Mrs. Clinton and teaming up with artists such as Joan Baez, Booker T. Jones, Flaco Jimenez, Pete Seeger, and Dwight Yoakam.

She has recorded as an independent artist as well as for A&M, Warner Bros, and Rounder Records and has been a featured artist on Austin City Limits, A Prairie Home Companion and other NPR programs.

With seventeen CDs to her name, Tish’s distinct sound has gained her much critical acclaim. Tish has toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe and continues to draw a loyal and growing audience.