We're very lucky to feature two winners of one of the most prestigious song-writing contests in Folk/Americana music today!  It's going to be a great night of music in the living room!

CLAUDIA NYGAARD writes a song like a surgeon with a fish knife. She scrapes off the scales, pulls the flesh back, and “aims right for the bone.” -Making A Scene Magazine. She is a mesmerizing storyteller, a cinematic lyricist, and her work reveals a daredevil’s vulnerability and a complete lack of self-censorship. On her latest album Lucky Girl she tackles unwanted pregnancy, dysfunctional relationships, statutory rape, alcoholism, and betrayal. “These are songs ripped right out of our tumultuous country, and sung with such strong belief that it all feels like a come-to-Jesus experience.”  Americana Highways

Claudia’s writing has won her numerous awards; and radio chart success. The awards began in Los Angeles during the early years of her career, and they propelled her move to Nashville. In Music City she landed a job as a staff songwriter for Greenwood Music Publishing on Nashville’s Music Row. The position gave her the chance to polish her craft, and she went on to win both the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival Songwriting Competition; and, with the title cut from her latest album Lucky Girl, the Tumbleweed Music Festival Songwriting Competition. The song rose to #3 on the Folk Alliance Radio song chart and the album to #5. It also received generous airplay on the Americana and roots music charts.

Claudia is a quick witted and charismatic performer, with a twinkle in her eye that convinces everyone in her audience that she is sharing a secret with them alone. And her storytelling doesn’t end when the song does. Sharing both the inspiration behind the tunes, and also frequently creating outlandish, irreverent, and humorous monologues, her patter is as important a part of her performances as the songs themselves.

Letitia has played for us before but this year she brings new songs from her recently released record, "Eye of the Storm" with David McKindley-Ward. Letitia VanSant’s lyrics trace questions about why the world is the way it is into the human soul. With sparse indie folk arrangements fortifying a distinctly intimate vocal style, her stage presence is down-to-earth and immediate.

Paste Magazine named her among 10 Artists to Watch in 2020, BBC Radio says she is “a fascinating new artist.” Her songwriting has earned several awards, including the Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Competition. VanSant’s debut album Gut It to the Studs and its follow up Circadian established her as an emerging talent on the Americana scene and propelled her on to tour in the UK/Europe

Letitia is one half of Golden Aster, a vocal harmony-focused duo with Laura Wortman of the Honey Dewdrops, and lead vocalist for classic country band Rusty Sal. Her forthcoming collaboration with David McKindley-Ward came out in fall of 2024.