Songwriters in the Raw feat Brittany Ann Tranbaugh & Sadie Gustafson-Zook

Please join us at Modern Art for another fantastic edition of Songwriters in the Raw! This is an in-the-round concert series curated and hosted by Jessica Smucker, and this show’s special guests are Brittany Ann Tranbaugh and Sadie Gustafson-Zook.

>> Doors open at 6:30 PM, and the music will begin at 7:00 PM

>> This is BYOB event.

>> Tickets – $20 adv. & $25 day of show. As always, we're glad to offer an all ages show w/ discounted tickets for students.

Bios:

Brittany Ann Tranbaugh (pronounced TRAN-baw) is a Philadelphia-based songwriter whose queer Americana heartbreaker “Kiss You” won Song of the Year in the 2021 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Tranbaugh has been writing songs and playing shows as a side gig since she was a teenager, but in February 2023, at 31 years old, she finally quit her office job to pursue a full-time career in music. Her newest release is a self-titled EP produced by Grammy-winner Tyler Chester which showcases Tranbaugh in her new era: energetic, self-assured, surrounded by her beloved musical community, and more commanding as a vocalist and writer than ever before.

Sadie Gustafson-Zook
“Sadie Gustafson-Zook is a songwriter with that enviable knack of being able to take a very specific moment in her life and somehow imbue it with universality and a common thread. Listening to her songs, you find yourself thinking about your own existence as you learn about hers.” - songwriting magazine

Every time Sadie Gustafson-Zook carves a linoleum block, sews a pencil case out of scraps, or admires the way the ink in her Pilot G-2 glides over her journal, she thinks, “I should be doing this all the time.” The act of creating something tangible is the air Sadie breathes. Her songwriting is the same- weaving an internal dialogue, the stories she tells herself, warm melodies and clever chords into something real, something she can physically feel with her hands and her throat. And chances are that you’ll be able to feel them too.

Sadie’s songs have been endorsed by some of the most respected songwriting contests in the country, winning Kerrville Folk Festival’s 2022 New Folk Contest (as well as placing as a finalist in 2020), earning second place at the Rocky Mountain Folk Fest’s Songwriter Showcase, and winning first place at the NewSong + LEAF Songwriting Contest. Sadie has been featured on the Basic Folk podcast and on Folk Alley. 

On Sadie’s May 2024 album “Where I Wanna Be,” she takes the listener along on an intimate journey as Sadie decides where to call home. Recorded on an 8-track reel to reel, this stripped-down album isn’t hiding behind anything. Over the course of 10 delightful tracks the listener gains insights into Sadie’s middle school crushes on gay boys, a desire to call the weatherman to ask for some guidance, and the nerve-wracking experience of meeting your idols and feeling small.  Throughout the album Sadie’s agile vocals and intricate guitar playing shine while her thoughtful lyrics capture the immensity of potential and the complexity of history that emerge during times of life transition.

Following closely on the heels of “Where I Wanna Be” is Sadie’s fall 2024 EP entitled “What I Pushed Below,” out November 13th, 2024.

Jessica Smucker
“Jessica Smucker is an original; a real artist with a cohesive message, a drop-dead gorgeous voice that is all her own. Her background in poetry gives her lyrics a specificity and depth. Each time I listen to ‘When I Was the Weather’ I hear something new, the way I do when I listen to Joni Mitchell or Bob Dylan. She is that good.” – Nerissa Nields (The Nields) 

"An original take on the world, which is truly rare to find." – Ellis Paul

Host or Publisher West Art Community Center