Zion Rodman, Rob Laurens, Sam Bayer

The concert features a set by each artist, followed by a round robin song swap. The show begins at 7:00 pm with a short open mic and the features begin at 7:30 PM. Admission is $15 at the door. The Armory Cafe is at 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, just a few blocks from the new Magoun Square Green Line T station. For more information call 617-718-2191 or visit artsatthearmory.org or www.facebook.com/SomervilleSongwriterSessions. To sign up for the open mic email SomervilleSongwriterSessions@gmail.com.

Somerville Songwriter Sessions at the Armory Cafe presents contemporary folk singer/songwriters in concert on the first Saturday of each month. The Armory Cafe features live music in an intimate setting, a menu featuring sandwiches, soups, desserts and coffees, and plenty of free parking. Our 3/2 performers:

Zion Rodman is a multi-instrumental singer-songwriter. He grew up in Cape Cod and has been performing his original work since the age of 15. After a 5-year stint in Chicago, Zion is back in the Boston music scene for good. Zion’s debut album You’re Invited (2017) was recorded and released in Boston to positive reviews, and his follow up EP Did Not Wake Up Today was highlighted by AFROPUNK prior to its release: “Rodman turns up the volume of his melodic indie pop, with his stunning voice just barely masking his anger beneath the hook.” His most recent album Whatever Happens was recorded in Chicago and released in 2020. These days, Zion is dedicating his time to playing with his band around the Boston area, organizing events with EBASS to support local musicians, securing a monthly residency at The Ford in Medford, and freelance sound engineering. He’s shared the stage with nationally touring musicians such as Ellis Paul (Club Passim) and The Ries Brothers (Taffeta). Zion currently lives in Jamaica Plain with his fiancé and two cats. More at zionrodmanmusic.com.

“Rob Laurens culls his naturalistic ballads from the fertile soil of American folk tradition, but his intimate, incisive lyrics embody the best instincts of the contemporary songwriter movement.”-Scott Alarik, Boston Globe. Rob Laurens is a songwriter’s songwriter. With a keen eye for subtle, understated detail, Rob creates songs whose lyrics resonate like the words of a writer; his songs tell stories, often expressing the kind of ideas and complexity of emotions more typically tackled in the work of a poet or novelist. Steeped in the knowledge of many kinds of American traditional music—especially Appalachian ballads—Rob paints his stories in the simple language of the best folk songs. Rob has lived and traveled throughout the United States, and has what has been described by Dave Palmater of WUMB 91.9 FM Boston as “the rare ability to write songs that seem like they’ve always been there.” Rob has won the New Folk Award for Songwriting at both the Kerrville Folk Festival (TX) and its sister festival, The Columbia River Festival (WA). He has returned to play the main stage at these and other festivals, including the Strawberry, High Sierra, and Napa Valley Festivals in California. He tours both east and west coasts, playing such clubs as The Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, California, and Club Passim in Cambridge. More at roblaurens.net.

Boston musician Sam Bayer is your literate, exuberant guide to an imaginary world where housewives win the Nobel Prize in physics, poker-playing children gamble over their bedtimes, and metaphorical elephants pirouette in the den, four and a half minutes at a time. His latest studio CD, The Great Indoors, brings 11 gems from his universe to yours. More at sambayer.com.