South Austin Song Circle: David Pulkingham, Suzanna Choffel, Kate Howard and Emma Dean

Name: South Austin Song Circle: David Pulkingham, Suzanna Choffel, Kate Howard and Emma Dean
Start: 2026-04-30T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2026-04-30T22:30:00-05:00
Location: 04 Center

Schedule

Thu Apr 30 2026 at 07:00 pm to 10:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

04 Center | Austin, TX

This South Austin Song Circle will mark the 04 Center debut of both Kate Howard and Emma Dean. They are delighted to be joined by such luminaries as David Pulkingham and Suzanna Choffel. Matt Giles will accompany Ms. Howard on guitar. Please join this funny, fearless foursome for a memorable night of songs and stories.
About Kate Howard
“So Sharp. Sweet. Slightly surreal. And absolutely unforgettable.” (Odyssey) Kate Howard has competed in the O. Henry Pun-Off ten times; written three plays; and was a tech writer for 20 years before stumbling into songwriting at age 50. She’s since written over 400 songs. She released her debut album, “The Best Medicine”, in 2021. Her folllow-up EP, “I’m Not Here to Help You”, came out in spring 2025. “There's a genuine humanity here that recalls the best of Vonnegut's fiction, where profound sadness and absurdist humor coexist.” (Indie Dock) Kate participated in the inaugural Texas Women Songwriters Festival. She is currently working on her third release with Seela Misra producing.
About Suzanna Choffel
Known for her distinct voice and reggae-inspired guitar technique, Austin native Suzanna Choffel's music has been described as "a unique sound equal parts Beat poetry, smoky soul grooves and indie-pop eccentricity." (Jim Derogatis). Having made appearances at ACL Music Fest, SXSW, Voodoo Fest, as well as on screen in movies like "Catfish" and NBC's The Voice (earning singular praise from Rolling Stone as "the only artist you'd want to listen to a complete album from"), Choffel feels equally at home singing in a dimly lit club as she does front and center in front of (literally) millions. She has opened for a diverse array of artists including Buena Vista Social Club, Suzanne Vega, Davíd Garza and many others. As a songwriter she has won multiple awards in both the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and the International Songwriting Contest. She has toured throughout the US and in Europe and Texas Music Magazine named her most recent album Hello Goodbye (2017) as one of the top 10 albums of the year. Since 2017 Choffel has trickled out a handful of singles & is currently working on a new album produced by Davíd Garza was released in the fall of 2023.
About Emma Dean
Emma Dean is a Louisiana-born singer-songwriter rooted in Americana but prone to wander. Her sound moves between country, bluegrass, and southern soul, usually circling back to her first love, finger-style guitar. Think somewhere between Tyler Childers and Evan Felker if they had a baby, but Jerry Reed was the godfather… It’s a Girl! Honest, sharp-eyed storytelling carried by a guitar that does more than just keep time.
About David Pulkingham
David Pulkingham is a guitarist, songwriter, producer and teacher. Based in Austin TX he has been a mainstay of the thriving music scene for the last twenty-five years.
David has released two instrumental albums entitled David Pulkingham Plays Guitar volumes 1 and 3, and in 2015 he released his first singer/songwriter album entitled Little Pearl. His other recording projects include the instrumental duo Pulkingham Layne (with longtime friend and guitarist extraordinaire DarinLayne). That duo has three albums under its belt: PoisonFlower (2017), Stringology (20190 and D Shack (2021). Most recently David has teamed up with Canadian keyboardist and songwriter, Jay Stiles, to form the band SuperTonic. This project will release their first album, Time To Repair, in 2021.
David currently tours with Patty Griffin and has played with her for the past 8 years. He co-wrote two songs on her recent Grammy winning eponymous album.
His mastery of numerous styles has lead him to share the stage and record with many artists around the world. Famed David Bowie producer, Tony Visconti calls David " the complete guitarist, one of the best I have ever worked with."
In addition to his extensive touring work with Alejandro Escovedo, Carrie Rodriguez, Sara Watkins and Patty Griffin, David has performed with both the Lampedusa and Lantern tours to benefit refugee services. On these performances he served as an accompanist for the likes of Robert Plant, EmmyLou Harris, Steve Earle, Joan Baez, Jackson Browne, Buddy Miller, Lucinda Williams and Lila Downs.