Canadian-American Singer Songwriter Rachael Kilgour with Jillian Matundan

Singer Songwriter Rachael KilgoutCanadian-American Singer Songwriter Rachael Kilgour with Jillian Matundan

Rachael Kilgour is a Minnesotan songwriter and singer whose lyric-driven work and intimate performances have been called both brave and humane. The 2015 grand prize winner of the NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition and winner of the 2017 Kerrville New Folk Contest, Kilgour has been featured at NYC’s Lincoln Center, at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and at the Sundance Film Festival. 

Married in her early twenties, Kilgour devoted her young adulthood to step-parenting, family and community. Her work from that time (Self-Titled 2008, Will You Marry Me? 2011, Whistleblower’s Manifesto 2013) chronicled her life as a young parent in a same-sex partnership and addressed sociopolitical issues from government corruption to income inequality and religious hypocrisy. Kilgour’s music career took a backseat during those years as she focused on a slow, home-focused life. In 2014, Kilgour found solace in songwriting after a difficult divorce and family separation. She began touring nationally with her grief-inspired album, Rabbit in the Road.

Called “...a heartfelt slice of master crafted indie folk brimming with the battle-tested capacity to endure the worst in others” by Billboard, Rabbit in the Road took an intimate and often painful look at the failed marriage and loss of family. Kilgour’s writing and delivery cut deep, with resolute simplicity. Ravelin Magazine observed "this sort of metonymic ability to evoke the whole of someone or the entirety of a feeling is typical of Kilgour’s poetic songwriting." 

In February of 2019, Kilgour followed up with the release of her new EP, Game Changer. The aptly titled work examines the artist’s tentative first steps into a new existence, post-heartbreak. With a clear head, Kilgour touches on the complicated nature of romance and relationship, sets up a stunning defense of queer love, and reassesses her priorities as a citizen of a changing wider world. 

Kilgour was awarded a 2020 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant to focus on a songwriting project about the life and recent death of her father. up with the release of her new EP, Game Changer. The aptly titled work examines the artist’s tentative first steps into a new existence, post-heartbreak. With a clear head, Kilgour touches on the complicated nature of romance and relationship, sets up a stunning defense of queer love, and reassesses her priorities as a citizen of a changing wider world. 

Kilgour was awarded a 2020 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant to focus on a songwriting project about the life and recent death of her father. 

Jillian Matundan is an award-winning, multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter living in Northern Virginia who rediscovered her music after a 15 year hiatus. She ventured to local open mics in 2019 and has been on a tear, winning ten Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Awards since. Her music and style are a blend of her favorite acoustic, rock, indie, and folk influences and inspirations. She continues to win audiences with her deft and percussive guitar style, soothing vocals, and her warm, unassuming, and self-deprecating stage presence. She released her debut EP, "Hangin' On", in 2020 and will release her first full-length, fully crowd-funded album in 2023

 

 

This concert is a private event. It is for friends and friends of friends. We sell tickets in advance to reserve seating as it is limited — we usually sell out. All of the proceeds from the sales of the reserved seating go directly to the artist. Please reserve your seat WELL IN ADVANCE. House concerts are a wonderful grassroots phenomenon! World-class musicians and developing local talent alike perform in the intimacy of private homes and similar nontraditional spaces!

Featured video

"Game Changer" by Rachael Kilgour

Documentation from the performance

Rachael Kilgour with Jillian Matundan at The Sevareid House