Songwriters@Scup#34 w/Juliet Lloyd, Kirby Heard, & John Gillespie

We're back with another great show, with perennial favorites Kirby Heard and John Gillespie, being joined by our first out-of-state touring artist, Juliet Lloyd.

Juliet Lloyd is an acclaimed singer/songwriter who splits her time between the DC region and Nashville and has garnered comparisons to Patty Griffin, Grace Potter, Carole King, and Chris Stapleton for her signature blend of soulful, roots-infused folk/pop. Across her 20-year career as a writer and artist, Juliet has released four studio albums, garnering placements on television shows on MTV and VH1 and airplay on more than 175 radio stations across the country. Her 2024 full-length album Carnival has been hailed by reviewers for its "evocative storytelling and raw honesty" and "beautiful imagery...a truly dynamic album." It features nine new songs that "transcend genre, moving between indie pop, folk, soul, and rock as effortlessly as Lloyd glides across the notes of her vocal runs." Juliet's songwriting and performance chops have earned her top honors in the 2022 Bernard/Ebb Songwriting Awards and Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, four “Wammie” finalist nods, and multiple prestigious national songwriter awards across the past several years. Both solo and with her band, Juliet has performed 150+ shows a year since 2020, including headlining and supporting slots at regional festivals and a growing number of listening rooms across the US.

Back for her third Songwriters@Scup performance, Kirby Heard has become known for songs that take listeners on journeys through yesteryear and memories of home. Introspective, inquisitive, and witty, these songs shine with her authentic voice and perspective. Her songs recall down-home grass-roots stories that this generation needs to hear and our generation needs to remember. Kirby infuses her music with insight, love and loss, and new promise.

John Gillespie has been writing, recording, and performing his original songs since the late 80s. While he's best known as half of the acoustic duo Nikki Meets the Hibachi, John has been a member of a diverse set of bands including the rock groups Kickball and Collapsis and the indie folk ensemble Nantahala. As a solo artist, he can be found among performing songwriters at venues like The Eno House, Yonder, Blue Note Grill, the Flat Iron, and others. John's background as a high-school English teacher explains a conspicuously literary bent to his songwriting, and in recent years his predilection for alternate guitar tunings makes his songwriting stand out among the crowd. This is John’s second appearance at Songwriters@Scup.