MIXTAPE: Songwriter Showcase with Alysia Kraft and Megan Burtt

This is an intimate live show in downtown Longmont, Colorado presented by The Soundpost Sessions at The Times Collaborative featuring two songwriters and host Monica Marie LaBonte all on stage swapping songs and stories in-the-round. Music is from 7:30-9:30, doors at 7:00. Join us for this very special ongoing musical series every other month!

$18 Advance (reserved seating)

$20 Day of Show

The Artists:

ALYSIA KRAFT www.helloiamalysiakraft.com

Having amassed devoted regional followings for projects Leashy, Whippoorwill, and The Patti Fiasco as a celebrated, genre-bending songwriter and incomparably magnetic frontwoman, Kraft has sold out most of Colorado’s big stages and directly supported icons Bon Jovi, Blondie, Nathanial Rateliff and Bonnie Raitt on significantly bigger ones. Embracing the complexities of growing up queer on a cattle ranch in small-town Wyoming and choosing to love within a landscape that didn’t always love back, Kraft’s solo debut “First Light” (2022) was lush, open-hearted, and thoughtfully hook-adorned– with soundscapes as dimensional as Kraft’s western upbringing and the liberated narratives contained therein.

First Light charted third on Colorado radio in 2022 (alongside giants The Lumineers and Nathaniel Raitliff), won Best Original Song from the LA International Independent Film Festival, and earned Kraft one of nine inaugural Sonic Guild Grants in Colorado. The Colorado Playlist nominated First Light for a 2022 best album, and Kraft was named a NIVA Artist to Watch in 2023 and won the Colorado Sound Award's Outstanding Live Performer in 2023. Kraft is a rare songwriter who can hush a crowd with an intimate solo set or bring fervor to a packed stadium. While she toured First Light’s folky and ethereal pop songs solo, her follow up EP Electric Blooms unleashed LEASHY as a live power trio alongside Northern Colorado icons, Oliver Mueller (Slow Caves) and Shane Zweygardt (Dead Pioneers). It’s power pop colliding with premonitions of punk, and is featured on the soundtrack of Award-Winning Indie Film, Tina Tina Bo Beena.

A fiercely community-oriented artist, Kraft is a prolific collaborator, producer, educator, and advocate for the queer, sober, and artist communities of Colorado. She offers private instruction in songwriting, production, performance from her studio THE WILD SWEET ORANGE and teaches workshops for youth and adults.

Megan Burtt www.meganburtt.com

Megan Burtt is an international touring singer/songwriter decorated with national recognition. She is the winner of the Kerrville NewFolk, Rocky Mountain Folk Festival and Westword Music Award and a finalist in Mountain NewSong, Songwriter Serenade and Great American Song Contest.

In 2010 she released “It Ain’t Love”, a 12-song collection she made with bandmates, among them, Louis Cato (of Jon Batiste and Stay Human, house band for Stephen Colbert, Marcus Miller, Snarky Puppy, and Bobby McFerrin). She worked with the same group for her 2015 release “The Bargain” which charts her recovery from a serious illness with songs that move from darkness to light. In 2013 she released “In Good Company: The Colorado Sessions” a collaborative album of co-writes with Colorado bands including SHEL and Covenhoven.

December 2019 marked the 10th year Megan performed throughout the Pennsylvania state maximum security Pr*son system with her band.

Megan has toured as a headlining artist, and as support for acts including Gregory Alan Isakov, Mark Cohen, Brett Dennen, Glenn Phillips of Toad The Wet Sprocket, Lissie, Stephen Kellogg and Leanne Rimes. In 2015 she collaborated with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra as a featured artist.

Monica Marie LaBonte www.monicamariemusic.com

From a wide-eyed tike delicately pressing the keys of her mother’s upright piano to a seasoned artist taking various stages across the country, Monica Marie LaBonte has always been guided by song.With the sharp ability to craft tracks that speak to the fragility and wonder of life, the crystalline vocalist continues to attract listeners with her stirring blend of folk and country. At times, her lyrics come across as wise whisperings from a dear friend. At others, they hold all the vulnerability and transparency of raw confessions. A keen observer, LaBonte bears witness to life’s magic and heartache and artfully weaves the intricacies of the human condition into tunes that possess undeniable intimacy, grace and grit.In her over 10-year career, the Colorado native has played hundreds of venues, including the historic Gold Hill Inn and Planet Bluegrass. Whether belting out ballads in a small listening room or playing to tens of thousands at an open-air venue, she brings a palpable authenticity to each gig.Known for her stint in mystic-Americana band Monocle, her stellar musicianship and gift for commanding a stage shines just as bright in her solo work.Armed with an acoustic and her truth, it’s clear LaBonte is pursuing her art for all the right reasons. Although her creative pursuits are guided by pure passion, LaBonte hasn’t escaped critical praise and success. A finalist In the 2018 Songwriter Showcase, at Rocky Mountain Folks Fest in Lyons, Colo., she continues to impress with her art.A natural-born wordsmith — in the vein of Joni Mitchell and Alison Krauss — it’s easy to see why the songstress has packed coffeehouses, held her own on the lineup at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and been hailed as having “a voice I trust” by fellow musician Daniel Rodriguez (founding member of Elephant Revival).Powerful, yet understated — poetic, yet real — LaBonte remains one to watch.

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