Writer Profiles

We are thrilled to have the following people contributing their insights and experiences.  Our list of contributors continues to grow!  Please read on for more information about each writer, their bio, influences/interests, and music.  Let them know you heard about them here.  Your ears will thank you.

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Ruthann Baler – Pop, folk, and blues guitarist/piano player/singer-songwriter who released her debut album, “Life on Mars,” in September 2009.  Her songs often tell stories of others’ struggles, her own pivotal life moments and places of abundant inspiration.  Founder of Strike a Chord Concerts for Charity, which supports Boston-area nonprofits at different venues.  With the diverse talent and generous support of more than 50 Boston-area musicians, Strike a Chord concerts have raised nearly $17,000 for a local care package fund for troops serving overseas, School on Wheels, The Home for Little Wanderers, and Art BeCAUSE Breast Cancer Foundation (artbecause.org). A concert to benefit Rosie’s Place is currently in the works.

Listen: I’ll Carry You

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Sam Bayer – Boston musician Sam Bayer is your literate, exuberant guide to an imaginary world where housewives win the Nobel Prize in physics, poker-playing children gamble over their bedtimes, and metaphorical elephants pirouette in the den, four and a half minutes at a time. Visit his Web site to listen to his music or check out his newsletter, “Sam Bayer’s Low Notes”.

Listen: I’m Not a Modest Man

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John Boehmer – singer/songwriter, guitar, harmonica and piano player.  Influences include traditional folk and rock icons like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon, as well as more eclectic artists such as Jane Sibbery, Lauri Anderson, Brian Eno and Ricky Lee Jones.  His love of classical music and Jazz, combined with his love of New Orleans R&B and celtic music fuse to create a style that is unique and accessible.

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Dan Cloutier – singer-songwriter, folk/roots/Americana music, guitar and banjo player.  Entrepreneur and co-founder of Birch Beer Records.  Host of the folk open mike at Amazing Things Arts Center, Framingham, MA.  Other interests: the cold north, Patagonia, bad vinyl records, family, the Michael Carter Lisnow Respite Center.

Listen: The Masquerade Ball

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Tom Crossman is a total music junkie. His passion is local music of all styles. That’s why for the past 3 years he has been working with local musicians at Porter Belly’s in Brighton as both a booking agent and host of their Open Mic. He recently started Local Music 101, an all local music podcast dedicated to all things local music.

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Patti DeRosa – well-known singer-songwriter-guitarist, touring on the local, national, and international music scene. Playing acoustic music peppered with rhythm and spice, she conjures up an eclectic mix of musical magic, bursting with the flavors of jazz, R&B, rock and funk, all grounded in a folk sensibility with lyrics and melodies that are passionate, insightful, and full of attitude.  Her diversity lends to a unique and exciting stage presence and an unforgettable type of performance. Motif Magazine calls her “A must-see artist …”, performer Vance Gilbert says, “Her honey-warm voice, clear and adventurous guitar work, and incisive lyrics are only the tip of her talent iceberg…”, and Madalyn Sklar of GoGirls Music says, “Patti DeRosa is a gem that stands out in the vast sea of singer/songwriters.”

Listen: Italian Heart

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Beth DeSombre (pronunciation: de-SOM-bree) writes literate songs, inspired by tradition, complex but fundamentally optimistic. Sing Out! Magazine describes her songs as “smart and uplifting . . . focusing on the quiet meaning to be found in ordinary life.” Beth has released two CDs, Crooked Highways (2007) and At Home In This Town (2011), both produced by Dave Chalfant. She blogs about her music career at http://www.bethdesombre.com/blog.html.

Listen: No Toll In Canaan

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David Greene is the founding principal of Greene Means Go Consulting and serves as news editor for Pet Connection.com, where his columns appear at least twice a week.  He is a veteran writer, journalist, trainer and consultant whose blog BlahBlahGinger will celebrate its fifth anniversary in October. When he’s not hopscotching around the country on business, David spends his time in Maynard, MA with his wife Perry Desmond-Davies and their two longhaired dachshunds.
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Buffie Groves – singer-songwriter, folk/contemporary acoustic music,  arranger/producer, live sound & home studio engineer, guitar player, instrumental dilettante (piano, banjo, mandolin, electric bass, dulcimer, autoharp, harmonica, fiddle, recorder, pennywhistle, concertina, melodica, percussion).  Proud half of Fishken & Groves, New England’s premier old-time Country/Western music duo.  Partner in Lightwheel Entertainment, Inc., a film production company based in Los Angeles.  Other interests: Internet marketing, eco-activism, horror & sci-fi, building community through shared experience, telling our own stories, saving the world.

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Terence Hegarty - grey eminence of folksong noir.  Awfully literary, but musical withal. Once in a while, he intentionally makes people laugh.  Terence loves structure with ornament, subtly balanced like an unwobbling pivot (look that up).  Marxian socialist in all things socioeconomic, conservative and Luddite in most things. Digital troglodyte. Dublin born and bred – that’s important.

Listen: I Hate It Here But I Need The Money

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Tom Henell – Chief Marketing Officer, and partner, in an Inc 5000 company (www.naplia.com).  He is passionate about marketing and finding unique solutions.  His previous experience includes working with various Fortune 500 companies to develop their online marketing programs and he has been called a “passionate evangelist”, and a “total force of positive energy”.  Outside the office he is an Idealist, who spends time reading, daydreaming, and imparting fatherly wisdom on his two boys.  He is a mediocre guitar player who tends to sing flat, but is a great fan of local music and its power to move people.

Listen: Exit 9

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Kim Jennings – singer-songwriter, acoustic/folk music, harmony angel, guitar and piano player.  Entrepreneur and co-founder of Birch Beer Records.  Guest blogger, Mamapalooza.  Other interests: technology, the business of music, law of attraction, work/family/music/life balance, songwriting inspiration, moms helping moms/women empowering women.

Listen: Leave With Me

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Ashley Jordan – singer-songwriter, guitarist, pop/country/acoustic.  Dually enrolled this year in school as both a high school senior and a first year college student.  Passionate about music, songwriting and performing (everywhere possible)!  First CD called “Simple Love” was released in February, 2010.

Listen: Empty Heart

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D. Michael Loveridge – singer/songwriter born from the late ’70s punk scene, still largely inspired by a vestigial punk aesthetic.  Avid student/eclectic archivist of popular and decidedly not so popular musics from Bessie Smith’s first ’20s recordings onward. Produced two lo-fi DIY tapes (now CDs!); “…of a like (or similar) mind” in ’89 and an ’06 compilation of ’90s recordings (-demotasse-), which were once characterized as “quirky art pop”.  Sporadically appearing at open mikes in the greater metropolitan Boston area, and enjoying sonically enhancing his peers from behind the board at The Amazing Things Arts Center open mike. Slowly compiling the next recorded chapter of his musical quest to simply add his voice to the chorus.

Listen: My Day Off

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Trisha Knudsen – Trisha has been writing poetry for 35 years and is in the midst of publishing her first book entitled Step, Stumble, Step, due to be released in the Spring of 2011. She’s also a singer, and hosts the TCAN open mic in Natick, MA, along with her husband singer/songwriter/musician, Phil Knudsen (www.trishandphil-music.com). Trisha is a former teacher of special needs and gifted students and a magazine copy editor. Just “retired” as long-time Director of Operations and Communication for a non-profit organization, she is about to launch her own business as a freelance writer. Check the website above to track her progress and find links to her poetry and business website-to-be.

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Jon McAuliffe – Personally encouraged from Joni Mitchell, Jon began writing seriously in 1965.  He recorded 2 LPs with progressive/country rock band Thirty Days Out for Warner Bros.  Reprise in the early ‘70s.  In the late 1970s he was a staff songwriter for United Artists in New York.  Jon’s songs have won awards in the American Song Festival.  He has worked with Emmylou Harris, The Cars, Robin Batteau, Andy Pratt, Robin Lane, and others.  Jon is currently working with Seth Connelly on a CD of all new songs.

Listen: When the Lights Go Out (scratch)

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Mike Mellor – Chief writer and editor of The Killing Floor, a Boston-based music and culture blog that leans heavy on live local music, local history, rhythm & blues, black history and songwriters.  You can also join the Facebook page for The Killing Floor.  Other interests: American regionalism, urban exploration, outsider art, migration narratives.

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Jake Ostreicher – Jake Ostreicher is a Hip-Hop junkie. He released his 1st album in 2008 entitled “Talent”. The first single “Here Now” reached #3 on college charts and he was invited to perform on NECN’s “Coffee House”. Currently, he focuses on his barbershop and comedy-writing while still putting out quality hip-hop reminiscent of the golden era.
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Amy Petty – Amy Petty is a classically-trained-singer-turned-pop/folk-diva. Born and raised in Detroit and currently based in the Boston area, Amy is signed to Red Pill Records in St. Louis, MO and tours and performs full time. Her album “Mystery Keeps You” was released in 2008 to rave reviews. Her second album “House of Doors” will be released in October 2010.

Listen: Broken Record

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Steve Rapson – Nobody wishes on their death bed they had spent more time at the office.  Or, in Steve’s case, any time at the office.  After life in corporate America he is now a recording artist, songwriter, and performing musician.  Steve has released 6 albums, has countless credits on other CDs as both performer and producer, and written a resourceful and educational book entitled “The Art of the Solo Performer.”  As a performance coach, Steve also helps local, regional and national artists grow in their own careers.

Listen: E Blues

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Daniel Senie – singer/songwriter, guitar, harmonica. Owner of Amaranth Networks, a web technologies firm. Member, along with wife Faith, of the duo “Dan & Faith,” who together also host Still River Concerts house concert series, and host the Bolton Public Library Unplugged open mike. Daniel is also an accomplished and award winning photographer, and also enjoys sea kayaking, scuba diving and gardening.

Listen: South of Spain (Live)

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Ellen Schmidt – Ellen Schmidt is an award-winning singer/songwriter, musician, and producer who plays piano, bass, and guitar. She is also a teacher of mathematics, and is married to Allan Schmidt, with whom they raised a blended family of seven children, and they now have eight grandchildren! She performs in the duo “Two for the Show”, with Jake Kensinger, and together they host the Emerson Umbrella and Savoury Lane Open Mikes. She is involved with a variety of charitable events locally and has recorded four CD’s of original compositions with Seth Connelly, as well as two Two for the Show CD’s.

Listen: Will There Ever Be Peace

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Tom Smith – Tom Smith grew up in rural Pennsylvania in a family where music was part of the fabric of everyday life. Starting with a ukulele at age five, and family singing around the living room piano, Tom naturally moved on to playing guitar, banjo and several other instruments with which he accompanies himself in numerous performances of original and traditional music throughout New England.

Listen: Tom’s Jukebox

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Craig Sonnenfeld – Traditional folk singer, influenced by old classic country music and old rural blues stylings.  Born and raised on the South Jersey shore, Craig Sonnenfeld grew up during the folk-boom of the 60′s. Craig studied finger-picking style guitar as a teenager with famed folk and blues artist Philadelphia Jerry Ricks. The urge to write and perform returned in recent years and Craig began playing open-mikes and other venues in the greater Boston area, where he has made his home for his entire adult life.  Encouraged by audience responses and by other local Boston-based artists, Craig has sought to continue to write and perform and released his first independent cd ‘Reverie’ in October 2004.

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Jon Waterman – Singer and songwriter Jon Waterman writes and performs the roots driven blend of classic country, blues and roots rock that is nowadays classified as Americana. His music has a retro quality, and is influenced by the styles and sounds of artists such as Bobby Bare, George Jones, the Rolling Stones, Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Cash, CCR and Gram Parsons. On his 2009 release, ‘Waterman,’ Jon teamed up with classic country producer John Penny and Dawn Frost to record a CD with an edgy classic country feel that unabashedly displays his influences.  The CD ‘Waterman’ is available on New Roots Records.  Music samples can be heard at jonwaterman.com.

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Heather Waxman – singer/songwriter, piano player, crooner of all genres, uninhibited daydreamer, spreading love through music, veteran performer on the BCTV Telethon.  Other interests: swooning over fellow musicians, running in nature, balancing my love for music with 2 jobs/studying nutrition + journalism (and pulling my hair out, courtesy of chemistry).

Listen: Boy Back in Boston

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Please note that in order to bring you the most real and relevant content, we ask our bloggers to write in a style that is in line with our vision, but we generally want their unique voice to come through in what they write.  So for each blogger, their opinions are their own and not officially the opinions of www.we-support-local-music.com, I Support Local Music in Massachusetts or Birch Beer Records.