Friday May 3, 2024

Rod Abernethy is a unique blend of an authentic southern folk troubadour, master acoustic guitarist, and award winning songwriter and composer and the Overall Grand Prize Winner of the 2021 International Acoustic Music Awards. In 2019 he was the Grand Prize winner of American Songwriter’s Bob Dylan Song Contest. His last album Normal Isn’t Normal Anymore, produced by Grammy nominated producer Neilson Hubbard received rave reviews from No Depression, American Highways and The Wall Street Journal. Rod’s talents go beyond being a dynamic performer, vocalist, instrumentalist, and storyteller. He’s a prolific photographer, a sculpture artist of whimsical steampunk found-object robots and a seasoned teacher and adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston Salem, NC, where he teaches how to score video games. As composer, Rod has scored and produced music for countless television shows, commercials and over 80 video games. Annette Wasilik‘s performances are marked by her compelling alto and moving songs that “touch you to the bone”. In the tradition of the poet songwriter, with rich tones reminiscent of Linda Thompson or Natalie Merchant, she weaves a spell both startling in its intimacy and expansive in its vision. Her songwriting is both down to earth and deeply atmospheric, Annette’s songs are explorations into longing, love, loss, God, home, homesickness and hope. She’s becoming known in the DC area and nationally as a powerful songwriter and performer. Her January 2020 release, Love & Fire landed at #6 on FAI Folk DJ chart and #1 on the NACC chart and ended up #40 for the year. (That’s ahead of Bob Dylan Woot!) In 2019, Annette created a new concert series, Local Cream, to showcase the best local and regional songwriters in the DMV area.