SUNDANCE PART TWO: Nashville Songwriters Colter Wall and Barry Zito, Puerto Rico’s Lizbeth Román and LA’s Jamie Drake and The Bird and The Bee Thrill Audiences at the Sundance ASCAP Music Café
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The Sundance ASCAP Music Café headed into its first full week of the Sundance Film Festival with a wide array of performers representing many different musical flavors. Nashville writers included Joe Robinson, originally from Australia who is a guitar wizard and accomplished sideman for such artists as Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell and many more. Colter Wall, originally from Canada served up some authentic country and western songs made resonant by his deep baritone voice. And Barry Zito, a former major league baseball player who has found a new career as a singer-songwriter in Music City, played songs that have been placed with other artists and which have been featured in film and television.
LA’s The Bird and the Bee brought their effervescent indie-pop to the stage and performed songs from their recent tribute to Van Halen, among originals that spanned their 15-year career. Alex Lilly, who part of the collective, also performed a set of her own electronic pop. One of LA’s best kept musical secrets, Jamie Drake, delivered a stunning set of folk songs, that evoked some of her influences, including Joni Mitchell, Judy Collins and Harry Nilsson. Lizbeth Román, who flew all the way from Puerto Rico, played songs sung in English and Spanish, and delighted the audience with her charm and infectious Latin rhythms. Stephen Kellogg, a folk-rock troubadour who has released over 17 albums and has played over 2,000 concerts in over 21 countries, played a powerful set of his poetic songs. And Ryan Miller of the band Guster, who as a composer has also scored several Sundance films, including Safety Not Guaranteed, The Fundamentals of Caring and Mr. Roosevelt, played an eclectic set, including songs he wrote for films as well as Guster songs.
With two full days of music yet to go, the 2020 installment of the Sundance ASCAP Music Café had already delivered on its promise to present some of today’s greatest music creators to festival audiences.
To view a complete schedule of performances and hear the music of Café artists, visit ascap.com/sundance2020.
PHOTOS BY: Fred Hayes
