Two Pennsylvania-based singer-songwriters — Michael Braunfeld and Meghan Cary— will be the featured performers during the Folk Music Society of Huntington’s monthly Hard Luck Café series at the Cinema Arts Centre, 423 Park Ave. in Huntington, on Thursday, Dec. 17.
The 8:30 p.m. concert in the Cinema’s Sky Room will be preceded by an open mic at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 ($10 for Cinema Arts Centre and FMSH members).
For more information, visit www.fmsh.org or call (631) 425-2925.
“Both Michael and Megan had coveted juried Quad Showcases during the recent Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference and also showcased their talents during this summer’s Huntington Folk Festival,” said FMSH president Michael Kornfeld. “We look forward to welcoming these two gifted artists back to Huntington.”
Braunfeld is a storyteller, whose songs capture the everyday struggles and triumphs of ordinary people. His characters — though wrapped in the particular circumstances of their own lives — have universal appeal. Michael has earned critical acclaim and industry recognition, including a slot in the 2013 Emerging Artists Showcase at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival and two Quad Showcases at Northeast Regional Folk Alliance conferences.
He was welcomed into the Writers’ Night family at Nashville’s famed The Bluebird Café in 2014.
Braunfeld’s dynamic guitar style, trading off between percussive strumming and intricate finger picked melodies, has been compared to that of John Fahey. His powerful vocals have been likened to those of Bruce Springsteen.
As a songwriter, he evokes the best of Springsteen, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, John Prine and his hero, Bill Morrissey. And onstage, Braunfeld is a commanding presence.
Cary is a singer-songwriter who didn’t intend to be a musician. But when her then-fiancé unexpectedly died years ago, the former theater actress and successful voiceover artist picked up his guitar, figured out how to play it, and wrote her debut — earning her Billboard Magazine’s Critic’s Choice for Best Newcomer.
“I wrote my grief into music and sang my way out of the abyss. I keep making music to help others move through loss and find joy again,” she said.
A passionate smoky-voiced singer, known for her unabashed willingness to connect with her audience, Cary brings listeners to their feet and, at times, to tears with high-energy tunes, masterful storytelling, and deeply personal lyrics that resonate universally. After pausing to raise two children, she returned to music a few years ago.
Cary was part of last summer’s Emerging Artists Showcase at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. Her multi-instrumentalist husband, Peter Farrell, will accompany Cary.
