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What exactly is Indieggrl? What it’s not, is a typographical error. Indieggrl is a non-profit forum for information, networking, and conversation about independent music from a female perspective. It started with about ten women talking about what it was like to be a woman in the industry. It continued on that way for about six months, gaining a few people here, and a few there and now there are over 1500 members internationally. The showcase at the me&thee coffeehouse features four of the members, Kate Chadbourne, Patti DeRosa, Tara Greenblatt, and Angela Masciale, who will perform their unique indie music.

Marblehead’s own Angela Masciale organized this particular Indiegrrl grouping. Music fans in the area are well aware of Angela’s formidable musical presence on the North Shore. She and her husband, Dan Zampino, run the monthly Open Mike at the Marblehead Arts Association. Angela has a hauntingly beautiful voice, folk-classical in sound, with a three octave range. Her soulful original songs are composed of exquisite melodies, woven with mellifluous, poetic and stirring lyrics. Angela plays both classical and acoustic guitar, delivering harmonious, often complex finger-picking guitar accompaniment to her singing. Her most recent CD, “Ancient Voices,” presents the theme of communing with nature and how it is offset by the hard reality of modern existence.

Kate Chadbourne has built her life’s house at the crossroads of song, scholarship, poetry, story, and music. She holds a Ph.D. in Celtic languages and literatures from Harvard, where she teaches courses in Irish language, folklore, literature, and storytelling. The stories she tells are mainly Irish folktales and medieval legends. Kate’s performances often set a traditional Irish tale alongside an original song, or a newly-minted poem next to a set of reels. Listeners encounter a blend of the ancient, the modern, and the quirkily idiosyncratic. Whether she is singing, telling stories, teaching, or sharing a poem, she aims to leave her audiences moved, enlivened, and eager for their own adventures.

Patti DeRosa is a folk alchemist conjuring up an eclectic mix of musical magic. Her performances include a mix of soft finger-picking ballads and a jazzy groove, an island rhythm and an edgy rocker, a political commentary and a humorous rhyme. Audiences never know what they’re going to get and DeRosa likes it that way. She revels in diversity, both personally and musically (when she’s not making music, she’s the President of ChangeWorks Consulting, which focuses on workplace and community diversity. Motif magazine proclaims: “A must-see artist with a unique talent that is becoming increasing rare: she has something to say and a powerful way to say it.”

Tara Greenblatt hails from Boston’s vibrant folk scene and has been performing all over New England for over seven years. Matt Smith of Club Passim has called her an ‘innovator.’ With a single djembe drum Tara pounds out foot tapping, rhythmic landscapes to back her effortless, melodic, and soulful voice. In a storyteller style, she draws you into life’s light and dark currents. She has opened for and sometimes accompanied known artists such as Erin McKeown, Melissa Ferrick, and Edie Carey. Her most recent CD, “River Belly,” and her debut CD, “Caught Between the Woods and the Road,” have received rave reviews. The renown Boston based guitarist Peter Parcek says: “Tara Greenblatt is modern vintage. . . she sings and writes with the wisdom of an old soul in a young form with a fresh perspective on our world.”

All four of these Indiegrrls will share the me&thee stage!

 
Angela Masciale

Kate Chadbourne

Patti DeRosa

Tara Greenblatt