Overit Home Grown Series: Girl Love with opener Dustin Lowman

Girl Love is the solo folk project of poet and songwriter Laura Beth Johnson, an award-winning artist based in Upstate New York. Known for her dark blend of story and soul, Laura creates music that affirms queer holiness through haunting melodies, brash vocals, and deeply personal storytelling.

Winner of The Folk Project’s New Jersey Songwriter’s Contest, Laura has been recognized with songwriting and poetry scholarships from Image Magazine, Hudson Valley Writers Guild, and Music Masters Collective. Her spoken word piece “Crazy and Special” earned the Lucy Monroe Brooker Poetry Prize in 2017, and in 2024 she was selected as one of ten Capital Region songwriters for the INK Songwriter’s Retreat by SongCity of Troy.

Her debut indie-folk album The Sorrow Estate introduced her as a fearless new voice, and her 2023 sophomore release Girl Love was celebrated with a sold-out show right here at Caffè Lena. Along the way, she shared the stage with Mary Gauthier, Laurie MacAllister of Red Molly, and Sawyer Fredericks.

SAMPLE SONG

Opening for Girl Love is Brooklyn-based songwriter Dustin Lowman crafts lyric-driven songs that deconstruct the nonsense of everyday life. His self-taught blend of voice, guitar, and harmonica draws inspiration from troubadours like Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Aimee Mann, and Adrianne Lenker, offering music that’s equal parts poignant and playfully absurd.

Dustin has shared stages with Marcellus Hall, Will Dailey, and Ira Wolf, and hosts His Back Pages, a Bob Dylan deep-cut series at Café Wha? in NYC’s West Village. With songs that straddle comedy and tragedy—like the darkly hopeful “Bankrupt & Crucified”—he’s been praised by Livingston Taylor as “the next real thing.”

SAMPLE SONG

Expect a night of music that’s raw, poetic, and unflinchingly authentic—songs that don’t just entertain, but also invite us into deeper reflection and connection.

Overit Home Grown Sessions is made possible by a generous gift from – a full-service marketing and creative agency based in Upstate New York.

Stream this show live at . Enjoy two weeks of access with your live stream ticket.



Note: Caffe Lena does not permit ticket reselling above face value. Tickets purchased for the purpose of resale may be canceled without notice, and refunds for such purchases will not be granted.

American Roots, Singer Songwriter

Host or Publisher Caffe Lena