Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light w/ Carolyn Kendrick

Fresh off a first place win at the 2023 Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival band competition, Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light have been captivating audiences throughout the northeast. With songs as sweet and biting as the nectar and venom in her voice, Sumner’s lyric-forward writing and penchant for snaking chord progressions demand something far beyond folk conventions, highlighting the acrobatic range of her brilliant bandmates Kat Wallace (fiddle) and Mike Siegel (upright bass).

Sumner is no stranger to the stage. She spent her early career on the bluegrass circuit, singing and writing with the genre-bending roots group Twisted Pine. Since setting out on her own, Sumner’s songs have been critically acclaimed: winning the 2021 John Lennon Award in the folk category for her song “Radium Girls (Curie Eleison);” earning a spot in the Kerrville New Folk Competition; and being chosen four consecutive years as one of the top Massachusetts entries in NPR’s Tiny Desk Competition. Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light released their debut LP in the summer of 2022 to critical acclaim.

Carolyn Kendrick is a Los Angeles-based songwriter, fiddler, guitarist, and producer. Heralded as “hauntingly lovely” (Paste Magazine), you won’t want to miss a Carolyn Kendrick live performance. After graduating from Berklee College of Music, Kendrick crisscrossed the country with her former duo project The Page Turners. She has shared the stage with beloved artists such as Aoife O’Donovan, Ed Helms, Kaia Kater, Darol Anger, Bruce Molsky, Hannah Read, Margo Price, The Clements Brothers, and Jacksonport. She has played festivals such as Newport Folk Festival, Greyfox Bluegrass Festival, Savannah Music Festival, and won awards such as the Freshgrass ‘Best Duo’ Award, the Fletcher Bright Award, and was the Fall 2023 Composer In Residence at the University of the Pacific. In addition to her songwriting career, Kendrick is active in the Classic Country, Bluegrass, and Old-Time fiddle scenes as a side musician.

Her forthcoming album, Each Machine, is a collection of traditional and original political folk songs inspired by The Satanic Panic and other historical regressive moral panics, including the ones we’re currently living through. The full album, as well as an accompanying zine of behind-the-scenes photography and essays, will be released 12.6.24 on High Occulture Records.

“Carolyn Kendrick’s upcoming album Each Machine is nothing short of spellbinding… With a delicate balance of vulnerability and strength, Kendrick creates a soundscape rooted in folk tradition yet forward-thinking in its lyrical empowerment.” – Music + Gear Mag

www.carolynkendrick.com      YOUTUBE