Songwriters In The Raw w/Jessica Smucker, Marc Douglas Berado, and Heather Aubrey Lloyd
- Sun, Oct 20
Run Time: 150 min.
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Marc Douglas Berardo
“Berardo takes you to a place within yourself to make changes you want to see in the world.” – Mary Sue Twohy, The Village, Sirius/XM Radio
website: https://marcdouglas.com
For two decades, Heather Aubrey Lloyd has travelled the country playing anywhere that might make a good story: bait shops, biker weeks, even clothing-optional resorts. She’s a recovering reporter whose love of the journey evolved into equally adventurous songwriting. Pat Wictor hails her “sing-me-the-phone-book” voice.
“Janis Joplin meets Joni Mitchell,” says the Montgomery Caller. Comfortable in any genre, Lloyd blends folky finger-picked guitar with lyrical rhythms/hand percussion influenced by Baltimore’s diverse music scene. Best known as the co-front of ilyAIMY, Lloyd’s recent solo efforts are gaining national recognition: Falcon Ridge Folk Fest Most-Wanted Artist, National Women’s Music Fest Emerging Artist, No Depression-FreshGrass Finalist and Top 4 Telluride Troubadour. She is also the 2019 Grand Prize Winner of the prestigious Bernard Ebb Songwriting Award. You’ll find her back on her beloved road, performing solo, with ilyAIMY, and alongside Grammy-nominated lute-rocker Ronn McFarlane as part of Ayreheart.
Lloyd has been a Lilith Fair Talent Search Finalist and ilyAIMY is a repeat Best Contemporary Folk Group/Duo in the Washington Area Music Awards, among other honors. Lloyd’s solo collection of stories turned lyrics became her first solo studio effort, A Message in the Mess, in 2017. Mess received the Director’s Award for Album of the Year from the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, and the awards haven’t stopped since (along with spots as an opening act for the likes of Gretchen Peters and Gordon Lightfoot).
website: https://www.heatheraubreylloyd.com
video: https://youtu.be/U5qRLSQBAZ4?si=7Gmd9RXHjVyj1lVY
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Jessica Smucker believes that the best way to change the world is to channel our pain into connection. Her songs have a way of reaching deeply into people’s souls and inviting the kind of reflection that feels both reassuring and unsettling. Wrapped in catchy melodies, her lyrics appear simple and relatable on the surface, but each listen will uncover more hidden pockets of nuance. She’s the kind of writer and performer who can lull a noisy room into a hush with a single line.
Based in Lancaster, PA, Jessica was raised in the Mennonite faith tradition by a family full of storytellers, activists, adventurers, and pranksters. She has toured nationwide and performs regularly throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S. Her discography spans from 2008-2022 and includes two EPs three full-length albums, and a handful of singles.
Jessica has won or placed in several national songwriting contests including SolarFest’s Singer/Songwriter Showcase Competition, the Connecticut Folk Festival Song Competition, and the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest. In her life beyond music, Jessica is a published poet and essayist, a social justice warrior, a freakishly good Scrabble player, and mother to two of the smartest people she’s ever met in real life!
Website: https://jessicasmucker.com