Description
About the artists:
Clear-eyed and tough-minded, songwriter/playwright Katie Dahl is known for her smart songs, wry wit, and wise spirit. A small-town celebrity on the Wisconsin peninsula where her family has lived for 175 years, Katie is also an internationally touring, radio-charting artist who “delivers razor-sharp lyrics with a hearty, soulful voice” (American Songwriter). In live shows that are both courageously honest and devilishly funny, Katie dives deep into questions of land and love, family and body image, grief and joy. “In unsettled times,” says Peter Mulvey, “Katie Dahl brings us a grounded spirit.”
Katie’s five albums of original songs showcase her creamy alto, abiding love of the land, and trademark humor, as well as her unflinching vulnerability. Her recent work finds her exploring deeper territory than ever before, from anxiety to body image to the challenges of growing up queer in an evangelical church. Richly steeped in the American songwriting tradition, Katie navigates the muddy waters between the personal, public, and political with tenderness and dexterity.
Singer-songwriter and pianist Anne Heaton has captured audience imaginations for over fifteen years with her songs that are, by turns, “tender, barbed and spiritual” (Washington Post). She’s been featured by the New York Times Popcast, played numerous times on NPR and shared the stage with artists such as Jewel, Sarah McLachlan and jazz drummer Max Roach. She teaches at Berklee College of Music Summer Programs and is the founder of Soul Songs School, an online songwriting program. Anne is currently earning her Master’s in Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she hopes to research the outcomes of songwriting as a social emotional learning tool for teenagers. Anne lives in Milwaukee where she enjoys coffee, Lake Michigan and being a mom to two freethinking daughters.
Jenny Bienemann is an award-winning poet, singer, songwriter, and visual artist with a mission to find the extraordinary in the everyday. With three critically acclaimed studio albums and two live albums, her music has underscored TV, film and theatre projects. She’s offered classes at The Old Town School of Folk Music, Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters, and The Acorn Theatre.
She began a daily practice of taking photos and writing haiku. What started as a lark quickly evolved into Haiku Milieu, a movement of creativity and community. Today, there are four Haiku Milieu books, and more than 350 new songs inspired by Haiku Milieu, written by artists from across the United States. She has been featured in the Chicago Tribune Arts Section, WGN Radio 720 in Chicago, Chicago Public Radio, Northern Illinois Public Radio, Naperville Magazine, and more.
