Songwriters in the Raw feat Meghan Cary and Spencer LaJoye!

Please join us for Songwriters in the Raw w/Jessica Smucker, featuring Meghan Cary and Spencer LaJoye!

Doors – 6:30 PM
Showtime – 7:00 PM
Tickets – $20 adv./$25 day of show

Songwriters in the Raw is an in-the-round concert series curated and hosted by Jessica Smucker. This show’s special guests are Meghan Cary and Spencer LaJoye.

ARTIST BIOS:

Spencer LaJoye makes queer indie folk music for everyone. With a coy smile, a wink to the back row, and carefree expertise, they spin their crystalline vocals through a loop pedal while strumming the weathered acoustic guitar they acquired for leading worship in high school. “I don’t believe in much anymore,” they announce to teary-eyed audiences, “except a little bit of everything. And you. And me. And that art can change the world simply by making us feel something.”

LaJoye is a coast-to-coast singer/songwriter with Midwest roots, a classically-trained violinist with a proclivity for Broadway vocals, and a student of Americana music with a theology degree hanging in their studio. They’ve been writing and touring their own autobiographical folk/pop music for over a decade, but the virality of their 2021 anthem “Plowshare Prayer” secured them a permanent place in hearts and households across the world, as well as a peculiar career as a veracious songsmith with an unshakeable pastoral presence. Charming and banter-heavy, Spencer’s live performances at theaters, listening rooms, church sanctuaries, backyards, folk festivals, spiritual conferences, and queer clubs keep diverse audiences laughing one moment and weeping the next.

Spencer has a lengthy catalog of recorded music documenting their journey from Christianity through disillusionment, the earliest EP of which won the 2014 WYCE Jammie Award for Listener’s Choice in Grand Rapids, MI. However, after coming out as gender nonbinary and finding peace as a post-Christian, Spencer changed their name and released , a 4-song EP featuring the Denver String Machine with arrangements by China Kent. The collection includes two songs that won Spencer a place among the winners of the 2021 Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Competition.

After appearing as an official showcase artist at Folk Alliance International 2023, Spencer released , a solo EP of vocally theatrical piano ballads about decay, change, and beauty. As LaJoye’s first effort following the highly-anticipated and mammoth studio recording of “Plowshare Prayer,” this stark piano EP was an invitation for eager listeners to get up close and personal with Spencer and the craft of one song by one voice.

In February 2024, Spencer released Shadow Puppets, their first full-length album under their new name. The album was produced by Chris DuPont in Ypsilanti, MI, and is a clever synth-guided and lyric-driven departure from some of LaJoye’s more universally anthemic offerings. In 2024, Spencer was the winner of the Songwriter Serenade competition in Schulenburg, TX.

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Meghan Cary

“Can the world stand one more storytelling troubadour? If the artist in question is Cary, the answer is a resounding yes.” -- Billboard Magazine

“If you can get to a Meghan Cary show, run, don't walk.” -- Jeffrey Newman, Time Out Magazine
Meghan Cary creates a live music experience that has been hailed as healing, inspiring and outrageously joyful. Her smoky voice, masterful storytelling, and award-winning songs garner favorable comparisons to Melissa Etheridge, Brandi Carlisle, and even Bruce Springsteen. A frequent performer at Philadelphia Folk Festival as well as Falcon Ridge, Black Bear Americana, Woodstock, and other venerable fests, Cary’s message of unity and the power of raising our voices together infuses every show, and her song, “Sing Louder”, has become an anthem for the music-loving community.

Cary didn’t mean to be a musician, but when her fiancé unexpectedly died, she picked up his guitar, figured out how to play it, and wrote her debut record, earning her Billboard Magazine’s esteemed Critic’s Choice Award. “I wrote my grief into song and sang my way out of the abyss. I keep making music to help others connect with their own stories and find their joy.”

Cary continues to share the healing power of music with
the community that has rallied around her message of hope and being heard, and her recent album, SING LOUDER, debuted in the top 10 on the US/International Folk DJ Chart. John Platt of WFUV extols, "These times require songs of compassion and commitment, and Meghan has several which inspire us to reach our higher selves. She sings them with such infectious joy you can’t resist joining in." Cary has shared the stage with folk luminaries Christine Lavin, Sloan Wainwright, among others. She has supported artists including Joan Osborne, Lucinda Williams, Chris Smither, and Little Feat.

A professional actor with a successful career in theatre, television and radio, Cary has written and performs a one-woman show, On the Way to the Waterfall, and is currently collaborating on a Broadway-bound musical. As a musician/actor/writer/coach and the mother of two school age children, Meghan speaks to the subject of life balance with grace and a healthy dose of humor. “As soon as I think I have my story written, someone comes along and changes the setting...or the characters...or the plot. Usually all three. My mantra: 'If you don't know the words...Sing Louder!'”
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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

Jessica Smucker believes that the best way to change the world is to channel our pain into connection. Her songs have a way of reaching deeply into people’s souls and inviting the kind of reflection that feels both reassuring and unsettling. Wrapped in catchy melodies, her lyrics appear simple and relatable on the surface, but each listen will uncover more hidden pockets of nuance. She’s the kind of writer and performer who can lull a noisy room into a hush with a single line.
Based in Lancaster, PA, Jessica was raised in the Mennonite faith tradition by a family full of storytellers, activists, adventurers, and pranksters. She has toured nationwide and performs regularly throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S. Her discography spans from 2008-the present and includes two EPs, three full-length albums, and a collection of singles released between 2021-2024 that she plans to release as a compilation album in 2025.
Jessica has won or placed in several national songwriting contests including SolarFest’s Singer/Songwriter Showcase Competition, the Connecticut Folk Festival Song Competition, and the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest. In her life beyond music, Jessica is a published poet and essayist, a social justice warrior, a freakishly good Scrabble player, and mother to two of the smartest people she’s ever met in real life!

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

West Art, 816 Buchanan Avenue, Lancaster, United States