1st & 3rd Wednesdays at ROOTED Cafe at 7 PM

Songwriters in the Round at the Armory in Somerville is celebrating! After enjoying a long weekend full of hot dogs, fireworks, and beer (you may substitute the food and bev of your choosing), please join the party on Wednesday, July 5. Summertime is a great time to enjoy music. Make an evening out of it, relish the long daylight, see your friends and neighbors and say hello.

Micah Nicol is a welcome addition to our gang. He is an unbelievable young musician, multi-instrumentalist, old-school bluegrass troubadour and modern-day song and dance man. You may have heard Mark Shilansky opening for Bill Frisell last month. If not, you are in for a treat. Think Billy Joel meets Keith Jarrett, “only better,” as one fan said last week. Alizon is a veteran bandleader and arranger who truly rocks out on keyboard and *gasp!* accordion. And your host David Thorne Scott is going to show you some jazzy songs and do a duet with one of our guests. Which one? You’ll have to come and find out!

Songwriters in the Round
Wednesday July 5, 7pm-8:30pm
Arts at the Armory Café

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

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: https://artsatthearmory.org/rooted-cafe/rooted-menu/
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

Micah Nicol grew up with a mandolin in one hand and a banjo in the other playing bluegrass and classic country music with his father.  Micah has had stints as a semi-professional actor, competitive ballet, tap, jazz and ballroom dancer, and was awarded Best Performer and Best Male Soloist a record six times as part of Singsation, a show choir from Wapakoneta, Ohio. He received his Music Production & Engineering degree from Berklee College of Music as a pianist and spends most of his musical life as a guitarist and singer for The Ruta Beggars and Bookmatch. Micah has a deep love for musical theater and content creation and lives parallel lives as a magician, uni-cyclist, and clown. https://www.micahnicol.com/

Inventive, modern mainstream jazz pianist” (Jon Garelick, Boston Globe) Mark Shilansky provides melodic improvisation and infectious compositions on his own and to a host of jazz luminaries, as well as to the classroom, as a professor at Berklee College of Music and the University of New Hampshire. Shilansky’s six recordings as a leader include 2000’s “Different Songs” (breakups, dirty jokes, and self-pity with lots of jazz chords) “Fugue Mill,” the eponymous debut of his Jazz/Bluegrass/Celtic project featuring violin phenom Sara Caswell, and he is featured on over 60 recordings as a keyboardist, vocalist, composer/arranger, or producer, and in performance as band member for such artists as the New York Voices, Luciana Souza, and David Thorne Scott. As an artist he embraces the history of the styles in which he works, while seeking connections between them as a way of expressing a personal musical vision, characterized by lush harmonies, the exploration of the line between composition and improvisation, and an ever-present sense of humor. His works have been recorded by Robin McKelle, Kim Nazarian, and by Jazz All-State and College ensembles around the world. http://www.markshilansky.com

Alizon is a truly seasoned musician with decades of experience as a performing and recording multi-keyboardist, vocalist, songwriter, and arranger. She is a professor at Berklee College since 1997, teaching harmony, piano, and yoga.  Alizon co-produces Storytellers with Didi Stewart, a popular annual concert at Berklee, featuring the vocal and songwriting talents of students. She has earned regional and national accolades, ranging from critical acclaim in Musician Magazine to Boston Music Awards’ Outstanding Keyboardist.  Alizon released So What About You, a self-produced CD of twelve original songs. Among her other recording credits are four discs with The Love Dogs, an established jump swing rhythm & blues group that has been performing domestically and internationally since 1994. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063329612004