Kody & Herren co-host Songwriter Showcase. Each artist performs their original songs acoustic “in the round” while also sharing the stories and inspiration behind them in a casual setting.
Kody & Herren
Tyler Wescott
Sarah Elizabeth
Caleb & Carolyn
Tickets: $17 door, $14 pre-sale
Regardless of vaccination status, masks are required for all audience members.
Influenced by a wide range of Rock, Blues, Country and Traditional Folk music, Nick Kody and Lydia Herren offer a unique and diverse interpretation of the Americana genre through both their recorded work and live performances. Based in Springville, New York, both musicians are multi-instrumentalists, performing on guitar, violin, harmonica, piano, and more. Nick and Lydia’s original material is inspired heavily by roots music and their duets provide a strong chemistry on stage. Vocal harmonies and the overall dynamics of a song are very important to them and they aim to entertain an audience.
Tyler Westcott is a poet, singer-songwriter, artist, activist, multi-instrumentalist, and festival promoter from New York state. Over the past 10 years he has become a staple of the folk/blues/jazz scene in Western NY and surrounding areas. Armed with his trusty guitar, banjo, and harmonica. In his original music Westcott has a knack for describing the human condition with humor and joy, as well as producing timely topical songs reflecting the current state of the world. Westcott breathes new life into roots music spanning multiple genres and decades. Westcott founded the successful Western New York based band Folkfaces in 2011 as well as traditional jazz outfit Banjo Juice Jazz Band in 2017. He is also a part of The Observers, The Paper Roses, and Black Rock Zydeco.
Westcott has shared the stage with Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Peter Rowan, Dom Flemons, Abby the Spoon Lady, Richie & Rosie, Baby Gramps, Yes Ma’am, Sierra Ferrell, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Spirit Family Reunion, The Dustbowl Revival, Cage the Elephant, Tab Benoit, Cajun Music legend Jesse Lege, Gill Landry, and many others.
“At the intersection of grit, quirk, and grace, you find Sara Elizabeth – an indie alternative singer/songwriter with stories to tell, energy to share, and love to give.
Based in Buffalo, NY, Sara picked up her first guitar on her ninth birthday, at which point she began eight years of classical and jazz training, followed by a Bachelors in Music and Minor in Sound Design for Theatre from the University at Buffalo by the ripe age of 19. She then turned to a full time career as a singer/songwriter, and after a decade of performing around the Northeast region, Sara’s raw and heartfelt songs and intriguing stage chemistry have gathered and inspired an audience of faithful followers.
Influenced by mid-2000s bands such as Death Cab For Cutie, Jack’s Mannequin, and Paramore and more recent alternative artists such as Mumford and Sons and Pinegrove, as well as other strong women songwriters from Joni Mitchell to Maggie Rogers to P!NK, Sara’s carefully crafted lyrics tell real life stories of a twenty-something working musician. This is evident in her full length releases, “On the Rise” (2012),“Be Well” (2014), and “Twenty Something” (2017), as well as in her invigorating live performances with her virtuosic backing band.
In addition to numerous music venues around WNY and the Northeast region, notable performances include The Town Ballroom, Babeville’s Ninth Ward, The Tralf, Music is Art Festival, Artpark, Sportsmen’s Tavern, The Purple Fiddle (Thomas, WV), Jedd’s (Nashville, TN), Wilbert’s (Cleveland, OH), and Water Street Music Hall (Rochester, NY). She has also shared the stage Bedouin Soundclash, Chris Trapper, Rachel Sage, and Neyla Pekarek of The Lumineers.
Sara Elizabeth has stayed busy throughout the pandemic era, releasing two self-produced singles, “The Strangest Bunch” and “100” in 2020. Most recently, Sara stepped outside her element to collaborate with Hip-Hop artist and producer Ethos Logos Pathos Music, releasing the co-written EP, “Electric Heart 3” to an eager and receptive audience. Look out for a full-length release of brand new music from Sara Elizabeth in 2021, accompanied by a returning tour schedule as the climate allows.
Best of WNY’s Bob Silvestri has noted, “The key to being above everyone else in the singer songwriter mélange is obviously to write good songs, and this talented girl has a few.” He later calls her a “mature artist…aware of herself, her craft, and her direction in life.” Or as Jeff Miers (Buffalo News) has said, “Bringing an indie-rock mentality to the modern folk-based troubadour school is Sara’s deal, and it’s working…she’s become one of the more buzzed-about artists on the local indie-pop scene.”
Melodic harmonies, acoustic mastery, and hand-carved songwriting from the rural fields of New York state. These young pups are creating a hymnal wise beyond their years with songs that tilt back and forth between helplessly in love on one end, and hopelessly broken-hearted on the other. God have mercy.
Newlyweds, Caleb & Carolyn, wear fiction and true life experience on their sleeve in their stark songwriter duets. Sometimes crescendoing upward – yelling together with a punk-angst tinge, sometimes whispering to each other in weary defeat. It’s hard work to stay alive these days. And it’s harder work to try to love somebody.
If you’re lucky enough to see an upcoming performance of these two (usually in a Buffalo dive bar or at the Philadelphia Museum of Art)… definitely clear your calendar. They just popped out their third baby and are building a cabin off the grid somewhere, so they don’t play out a lot, but when they do, they are asked to support Gregory Alan Isakov or Mandolin Orange – the heaviest of hitters in the contemplative folk space. The couple’s songs have a cutting edge to them, and seeing them live feels like watching a tightrope walk worthy of center stage
