Gretchen Witt & Jo Williamson

Gretchen Witt grew up aahwl-sweet-n-peachy in the nice countryside of Ohio before moving at age 18 to the barbarous streets of New York City where she soon thereafter developed culture shock. It’s been a great shock. She graduated from N.Y.U.’s Tisch School of the Arts, an education during which she scribbled lots of rhymes (where she should’ve scribbled exam notes) on the corners of her classroom notebooks. She has studied classical piano & voice for years, has recently taken up the guitar, and has sung under her breath (to the annoyance of nearby others) all of her life. No one has yet, since this joyous departure into song-writing, been able to pull her away from the strings, the keys, or lyric-inspiring pencil set. The lyrics of each song have been widely agreed upon as the cornerstone of her work. Her vocal style is frequently compared to that of Alison Krauss, Neko Case, Patty Griffin, Norah Jones and Natalie Merchant, however the music remains firmly unique. Gretchen was spotlighted in the recent film Idolette, a documentary profiling the lives of female singer/songwriters. Her music has also been featured on a variety of radio stations. Her live shows occur regularly in New York City at venues such as The Living Room, Makor, Pianos, The Bitter End, The Knitting Factory, and The Cutting Room. She also has played well-known national festivals such as the NEMO Festival in Boston, MA (her showcase was held at Club Passim) and The Dewey Beach Americana Festival in Dewey Beach, Delaware. Recently, she was selected as a New Folk Finalist in The Kerrville Folk Festival (Kerrville, TX) as well as a Troubadour in the 2006 Telluride Bluegrass Festival’s Troubadour Competition (Telluride, CO). Gretchen is the recipient of two Honorable Mentions (for songs "Consequence" and "Soft Spot") from the 2006 MidAtlantic Song Contest. Reviewers have offered glowing feedback, including quips such as the following from Discovering Artists; "Whatever she does, she should keep on doing it. This is acoustic rock magic...is there anything this woman can’t do musically? I doubt it." Another reviewer cites; "Witt’s voice is her own and her style distinctly unique...neither formulaic nor contrived. It’s worth catching her play at one of her favorite spots: this woman deserves a following," (Red is All the Rage).

Singer/Songwriter Jo Williamson uses threads of folk, classical music, and the avant-garde to create vocal driven songs that work well with her simple acoustic arrangements. Born an army brat, Jo spent her childhood moving all over the United States and Europe living on different military bases with her family. She fell in love with performance at an early age and moved to New York to formally study theater and music. It was here she started playing guitar and writing songs. Upon graduating NYU, Jo threw herself into classical vocal studies and began the long process of songcrafting, all the while experimenting with different forms of artistic expression to include acting, sound design and performance art. In 2008 Jo Williamson released her well received EP 'Wake on the Hudson' which she wrote while living on a 66 foot boat docked on the Jersey side of the Hudson. She often plays in New York city regionally in Long Island and in Connecticut. Recently, she debuted "By Associations" a radio show that features live music, guests and portraits of interesting persons up at WPKN 89.5 Bridgeport, CT. Currently she is working on her second recording.
Her live shows have been described as 'haunting, mesmerizing and moving'.