Four songwriters, trading songs and swapping stories. And you have a front row seat.

The New Year’s Resolution from Songwriters in the Round at the Center for the Arts at the Armory is simple: up our game. Every session we have a nice group of around 20 people to lose themselves in the artistry of local performers while enjoying fresh food and drink from the café. But we are setting our sights higher for 2024. We want to bring in 30 people every night. To do this, we need your help. You know about the sustained excellence of this series. You know how the musicians never disappoint. You know that this is a dazzling night out for a low price that still gets you home in time to catch up on Season 5 of Fargo. So we are asking you now: please tell your friends what you know. Suggest they join our email list. Better yet, bring them along. It’s a great opportunity to catch up with that friend you haven’t seen since the summer.

For our inaugural session of 2024, we have some old friends and some new. Kylie Harris, originally from New Zealand and now of Massachusetts, has had a Nashville-based career marked by mentorship by country legend Charley Pride.  Thaddeus Hogarth plays virtuosic guitar and harmonica, and sings searing R&B and funk. Britt Connors plays guitar and sings songs that are rockin’, country, sweet, and rootsy. And your host David Thorne Scott will be on hand to perform his poignant and funny jazz-shaded songs from the piano.

Four songwriters take the stage, seated in a comfortable semi-circle. They take turns playing songs, occasionally joining in with each other on harmony vocals or guitar licks. The format encourages conversation between the writers, which gives the audience an opportunity to hear these creative people talk as if in their own living rooms. Inspired by the “guitar pulls” of the legendary Bluebird Café in Nashville.

Hosted by Somerville singer/songwriter David Thorne Scott. Held on the first and third Wednesdays of each month from 7:00-8:30 p.m. Suggested donation is $10.

Part of the ROOTED Armory Café Series. Café menu is available here. Beer and wine also available!

You might hear a young up-and-coming pro, an established mid-career performer and mentor, and a cherished elder of the scene — all sharing music. The growing relationships will warm your heart and enrich your soul. Come every week as the lineup shifts and new friends are made.

Our songwriters this week

Kylie Harris is an acclaimed country music singer/songwriter who hails from New Zealand and currently resides in Massachusetts. Kylie has a storied career starting as a teen in her home country. This two-time Gold Guitar Award winner has recorded four albums and toured with the likes of Charley Pride and Patty Loveless. In addition, she has won four Tui Country Music Awards including Album of the Year, Song of the Year awards and Rising Star Award. She has also performed at The Opry and Ryman, while living in Music City, and has played around the world. https://www.kylieharrismusic.com/

Thaddeus Hogarth continues his musical evolution as an award-winning singer/songwriter who plays guitar and harmonica, balancing it with his career as guitar faculty at Berklee College of Music.  Born in England and raised in St. Kitts, West Indies, his musical influences range from the 70’s soulful styles of Bill Withers and Sly Stone to the hypnotic grooves and sociopolitical commentary of the early reggae movement in the West Indies. The feel is raw and organic. He has written several educational books which form the basis of his online guitar class which has over 500,000 enrollees. Thaddeus is a Bose artist. “… Take a healthy dose of Sly and The Family Stone, add a liberal pinch of Stevie Wonder, put on your dancing shoes and boogie to the music of Thaddeus Hogarth …“– –Bruce Gelerman, NPR. https://thaddeushogarth.com

Singer/Songwriter Britt Connors was born and raised singing in small-town West Boylston, MA before taking her studies to Ithaca College in NY. But, the lure of the talented Boston singer/songwriter scene and the thought that she may someday try her hand at songwriting brought her to Boston in 2001. Her acclaimed 2010 debut “The Bad Side of Good” was released under her maiden name of Britt Sawdon and blended blues, folk, and country with jazz voicings and pop sensibilities. By the time she released her second album, “Warmer Season” in 2014, she had met and formed her backing band, “Bourbon Renewal,” and had written the songs with that sound in mind, with tunes that are alternately rockin’, country, sweet, rootsy, and New-Orleans-street-parade. The record needed its own category, so they started calling it “Y’all-Ternative” music. Britt continued to expand into the band’s sound, calling on even more of some of Boston’s talented musicians for her 2020 album, “Longitude.” On this third record, she slips nimbly and authentically between soulful ballads, pop-rock, and gospel-infused Americana, reminiscent of recent feminist-inspired albums by Sara Bareilles and The Highwomen. https://brittconnors.com/

David Thorne Scott is a singer and songwriter in jazz and Americana styles. A 20-year resident of Somerville, he organized Songwriters in the Round to foster a creative, dynamic music scene for his adopted home city. He believes that music can bring a community together like nothing else. “At a time of great conflict in our country – when words often fail us – music has the power to bridge divides… David Thorne Scott explores the intersection of Jazz and Americana, city and country, instrumentation and lyrics to create lush compositions and covers that are unifying, and healing, in their beauty.” – Laurie Fanell, Eponymous Review www.davidthornescott.com