Modeled after Nashville's Blue Bird Café, Writers in the Round is an intimate listening event featuring 4 local singer songwriters that provide a rare opportunity to hear original songs along with stories from the writers offering an understanding of the writer’s creative process.
Most times the Writers in the Round feature writers that use primarily the guitar. In this show we featuring singer songwriters that use the keyboard as their instrument of choice. Sharing the stage together for this event are:
Lori Citro - www.reverbnation.com/loricitro
Lori is a singer/songwriter/pianist. It's been said that listening to Lori's songs are like reading her personal diary, heartfelt, at times
funny and easily accessible. Her musical style is heavily influenced by an extensive musical theater background.
She recently released her 4th solo CD "Pandora's Box", with collaborators from Norway, Canada, Austria and Australia. Her original compositions have received airplay on WSTW's Hometown Heroes, 'Nette Radio , Mike's Cafe , FameGames , Fatso, Fatso Show and on a webcast for Pacific Songwriting Contest out of Australia. In addition to her own CDs, her original songs have been featured on the first singer/songwriter CD from 4W5 called "Live at 4W5," Hometown Heroes Christmas CD, Mike's Cafe compilation CD. and "Authenticity" by Beth Kille.
In the past, Lori played with bands, Last Metro, The Stand, and was a backup vox/ keyboardist for Bang! Lori has toured the East Coast playing keyboards for "Milow the Girl",a band out of Switzerland. She has a scheduled solo tour in Norway and Europe this summer.
Lori has received five Ascap Plus awards for songwriting. She was named a Delaware Division of Arts fellow in 2007 and has received multiple grants from DDOA and MTNA. Some of her recent gigs include The 6, Ladybug Festival, Downtown Newark Festivals, Brandywine Festival of the Arts, Mojo 13 and Mojo Main, Homegrown Cafe, Coffeeworks, Dewey Beach Music Conference, Best of Delaware Party at Chase Riverfront, World Cafe Live at the Queen, Kennett Flash and Wilmington Bluerocks. She is a member of GoGirls Music, Philadelphia Area Songwriters Alliance, Baltimore Songwriters Association, and February Album Writing Month.org as well as ASCAP.
Lori teaches private piano at Sanford School during the day and piano and voice at Music & Arts in Newark where she resides with her three children Julie, Kelsey and Ethan.
Joe Trainor
As the leader of The Joe Trainor Trio, Joe has been a force on the Delaware music scene for over a decade. Voted ‘Best Live Band’ in 2013 by WSTW, The Joe Trainor Trio is a piano-based rock trio known for its engaging original material and energetic live shows. With two band albums (2009′s “Drive” and 2012′s “Twelve Stories”) and one solo CD (2010's "Branches") Joe (2013's WSTW 'Artist Of The Year') is currently working on the band's 3rd disk, while focusing on a tour this summer.
In addition to The Joe Trainor Trio, Joe is the Musical Director for Wilmington's CITY THEATER COMPANY and is the lead singer of Delaware's premier tribute band IN THE LIGHT.
Gina Degnars - http://www.littleinvisibles.com/
Raised in a musical family, Gina Degnars started taking piano lessons when she was 7 years old. She holds a bachelor's degree in piano performance and studied at Boston's Berklee College of Music.Gina currently writes, and produces with her band "Little Invisibles", which has been casting their spell on audiences across the East Coast and beyond since 2009. Their stunning debut album Closer, has five beautifully moving songs, all composed, like the rest of the group's music, by Gina. Her brother Rich Degnars, is Little Invisibles' drummer and also teaches at Accent Music. Gina became a fixture on the northern Delaware/Philadelphia/New York club circuit with her previous band, Stygian Veil, which released the acclaimed 2001 album, Poison Berries. One of Gina's outspoken fans is Grammy-winning producer Phil Nicolo (Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Sting, James Taylor). Nicolo says. "I find Gina's unique imagery a breath of fresh air."
Sheila Hershey - http://www.sheilahershey.com
Sheila is a soulful traveler, singer and multi-instrumentalist who journeys across places, times and soundscapes. Between her roots in classical piano, and branches in cello and voice, Hershey's compositions are unabashedly romantic and full of warm tonal colors. Her voice has sensitive qualities that evoke light and sincerity. Her debut EP Gotta Start was recorded in Philadelphia’s Sine Studios, and Silvertone Studios with prominent voices on the Philly local scene: Alfred James Goodrich, Matt Teacher/Mike Lawson, and Jacopo de Nicola (The Late Saints).
In addition to working with pop and rock songwriters, Hershey works as a composer and arranger on the film Beyond the Breaker and plays for theater and classical concerts throughout the Delaware Valley. With a degree in music education from Lebanon Valley College, Hershey is also an educator promoting music-making and songwriting in the Wilmington and Philadelphia region.