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As it has for more than a decade, Somerville Songwriter Sessions presents the finest acoustic singer-songwriters each month in an intimate, welcoming setting. Each concert features three songwriters each doing a solo set, and then trading songs in the round, allowing for stories, impromptu harmonies, jamming, and spontaneous inspiration. Each show, one of our five hosts – Rachel Marie, Terry Kitchen, Sam Bayer, Beth DeSombre, Jack Byrne – are joined by some of the best local and touring singer-songwriters on the scene.October 11: Terry Kitchen hosts Jack Byrne & Jim Infantino
Called "one of New England's best songwriters" by The Boston Globe, Terry Kitchen has been performing on folk stages across the country since the 1990s, releasing a dozen albums filled with literate musical storytelling, supple guitar playing and distinctive, intimate vocals. His 2025 album We All Dream (with its title song reaching the top ten of the national Folk-DJ chart) offers a hard-won glimmer of hope just when we need it most. His songs have won the Mid-Atlantic and USA Song Contests and been runner-up in the John Lennon Song Contest, and have appeared in numerous films. In the 1980s he was the leader of the groundbreaking Boston band Loose Ties, whose experiences he recounts in his novel Next Big Thing, called "a great debut novel" by The San Francisco Book Review. "Terry Kitchen begins where Tom Waits and Elvis Costello merge and leave off."-Vance Gilbert
Jack Byrne's unique brand of indie-folk is influenced by the fingerstyle guitar playing of Iron & Wine, the introspective lyrics of Fleet Foxes, and the expressive vocals of Paul Simon. He has been playing music professionally in the Boston area for the last decade, appearing at venues such as Club Passim, The Burren, and The Jungle. His latest album Dreams in a Jar was released in April of 2026.
Jim Infantino has been writing and singing his own brand of off-kilter folk music in the New York / New England area since the early '80s when he was a underage performer heading into Dave Van Ronk's open mic at The Speakeasy on Macdougal Street. His songs have been described as satirical, witty, sardonic, urbane, funny, heartbreaking, catchy, philosophical and razor sharp. He writes from a shifting perspective of human beings confronted by a rapidly changing whir of technology, work, love, death, money, facts and belief. Sometimes political, sometimes personal, sometimes abstract, his songs weave in the hint of humor when you expect sadness and tragedy when you expect levity. Since 1996 he has been performing mostly with his band: Jim's Big Ego, who describe themselves as "the greatest band in the history of recorded music" and compare themselves to "the great wall of China, Antarctica, and other things you can see from space." With the band he has released 7 full-length CDs adding to his 4 solo releases including his latest, 2025's Assemble Yourself. He is also
a novelist, with his debut book The Wakeful Wanderer's Guide to New New England and Beyond winning the 2017 Wattys Newcomer's Award, and its sequel, The Wakeful Wanderer's Guide to Disillusionment, appearing in 2021.
November 8: Rachel Marie
Rachel Marie (she/they) follows in a tradition of unapologetically forthright femme folksingers, with songs that hearken to "overstuffed lines of Tori Amos, philosophical turn of Indigo Girls, and lilting vocals like Joni Mitchell" (Victoria Farmer, The Christian Humanist Podcast). The social awareness of folk meets the introspection and healing of the singer-songwriter tradition, featuring the emotional catharsis and dynamic vocals of a Broadway show. With a songwriting approach as raw and honest as it's always been, Rachel Marie is making a return to live performance after an unintentional hibernation hiatus, ready to reconnect with a real live audience.
December 13: Beth DeSombre
Beth DeSombre writes songs that are "smart and uplifting...focusing on the quiet meaning to be found in ordinary life" (Sing Out! Magazine), exploring issues from the personal to the political. Her music touches both mind and heart, with insights wrapped in melody and harmony that stay with you after the echoes of the last chorus have faded away. Her newest CD Holding the Threads (2024) is her most personal album to date, telling stories about family and crisis and trying to find hope in dark times. Her previous EP The Sea Beside Us (2023), tells stories of ships and the ocean. Her 2017 EP Resistance, which was written in response to the political situation after the 2016 election, is a fundraiser for the ACLU. An award-winning writer in many formats, she has published 8 books.
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McCarthy's Toad, 1920 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02140-2101, United States
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