Songwriters Mike Berman along with Andrew Dunn & Todd Dennison

An evening of Singers, Songwriters, and Storytellers
Thursday, March 27th
Doors open at 7 PM; Music starts at 7:30 PM
$15 at the door (Cool Cat Cardholders are welcome to use your cards)

California based Mike Berman (https://mikebermanmusic.com) writes and performs original songs rooted in the folk and California folk rock traditions.  Mike’s album Ghosts, arriving in April, 2025, contains eight original tracks addressing themes such as growing up amidst gun violence, lost relationships, the dangers of looking back, and the redemption and mercy that love and music can bring to your soul. Produced by Ed Tree and with performances by Mike and outstanding Los Angeles musicians, Ghosts is a sonically and thematically rich addition to Mike’s musical library. Performances in California and in the Northeast (including the Cape May Singer-Songwriter Festival) are coming in 2025.

Mike’s first album Where I’m From, released in January 2023, received excellent reviews and was featured on dozens of folk radio programs across the USA and beyond. Mike is a veteran musician, having performed in the 80’s with the Hudson River Sloop Singers (associated with Pete Seeger) as well as in his duo The Rusty Lock String Band, including festival gigs at the New Jersey Folk Festival and the Raritan River Festival. After a long layoff to raise a family and build a career as a university administrator and information technology expert, he has dived head-first in songwriting in the last few years. His songwriting his developed through workshops and master classes with the likes of Richard Thompson, Tom Paxton, Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, Guy Davis, Ellis Paul, Laurie McAllister, Gretchen Peters, Michael McNevin, and many other accomplished songwriters and performers.

Andrew Dunn (https://andrewdunnsongwriter.weebly.com) is a songwriter from Jersey, where talent seems to grow in the fertile soil. His poignant wit and infectious melodies are staples of his canon of memorable story songs drawn from everyday theater of life moments. 

A favorite on the NJ folk scene, Andrew has been repeatedly featured on the legendary stages of The Folk Project and Godfrey Daniels. He has opened for folk icon, Judy Collins and shared songwriting nights with veteran songwriters Tice, Bill Hall, and former Melanie sideman, Ron Heacock.  In 2018, Andrew was a finalist in the prestigious Kerrville Grassy Hill Songwriter’s Competition. He was also a finalist in the Great American Song Contest. The music, like his point of view, is full of space and completely irresistible. His songs have been called “rare…with a gravity akin to James Taylor.” Dunn’s latest CD, House Above the Factory, reintroduces his momentum as an artist and places an Americana shine on his unique panorama of everyday experiences.

He is accompanied this evening by guitarist, bassist, accompanist, and arranger, Todd Dennison (https://www.toddsguitarsings.com). With influences like James Taylor and Kenny Rankin, Todd’s approach to playing guitar, bridges folk and jazz with running bass lines and melodic chordal voicings. When accompanying a vocalist, Todd creates a musical conversation, a dialogue, between singer and guitar.