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King Margo is Lucciana Costa and Rachel Coats, who grew up 40 minutes apart but didn't meet until many years later in the middle of a Kentucky field. Lucciana grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, discovering the slide guitar at 12 years old, which led to her playing in several local bands throughout her teens. Rachel, from Toledo, Ohio, also cut her teeth on the local gig scene with her musically inclined family. Both women spent their 20s building a steady rotation of live shows, studio work and a gun-for-hire reputation as multi-instrumentalists. Rachel was selected to join several international touring artists in the folk-pop realm on bass and vocals. Lucciana focused on songwriting and composition, spending half a decade in Los Angeles honing her craft and scoring films and commercials. Eventually Lucciana and Rachel found themselves in Nashville, both hired for the same touring band where they met for the first time. They connected instantly, both musically and personally, and the seeds for what would eventually become King Margo were planted. They are songs carefully crafted after a long year of hibernation and a new awareness of how lucky it is to be able to bring music to the world. Rob Reinhart of Acoustic Cafe praises King Margo for “great stories in beautifully crafted acoustic songs with the sweetest harmonies you’ll hear this year.” King Margo comes to Michigan with a new release, “Waters Rise,” that features intricately arranged soaring harmonies.

Named Best Group/Duo at the International Acoustic Music Awards, acoustic-duo Ryanhood got their first break more than a decade ago as street-performers at Boston’s Quincy Market. They’ve since gone on to perform more than a thousand shows in 46 U.S. states over the past decade, and have shared stages with Jason Mraz, Matt Nathanson, Train, and many more. And, their star is still on the rise. Ryanhood was recently named the “Discovery of the Year” by John Platt at WFUV in New York City, and was a featured act at Australia’s National Folk Festival in 2018.

Their latest album, “Under the Leaves,” is driven by strong acoustic guitar performances and is at turns energetic, hopeful, and quietly moving—a musical invitation to breathe, and to soak in a river of melodies and harmonic hooks. Cameron Hood, the band’s primary lyricist, has waded into those musical rivers with dream-like verses about seeds and forests, breath and wind, and the cycles and seasons that frame our lives. The offer on “Under the Leaves” is to slow down and face the one thing we have the power to change—ourselves—as the duo sings on the album’s second track, “the only revolution is the one within.”

Ryan Green and Cameron Hood currently reside in their hometown of Tucson, Arizona, where they have won more than a dozen Tucson Music Awards including “Best Folk Band” and “Best Rock Band” (you can decide for yourself which is most accurate).

Victoria Victoria is the North Carolina–based brainchild of singer-songwriter-producer Tori Elliott. The year 2016 saw the release of Victoria Victoria’s debut album, “Coastal Beast.” From there, Tori’s songs have been featured on reality TV shows such as “Love Island,” in the 2020 thriller “Getaway,” and more. Most recently, Tori teamed up with guitarist/producer Charlie Hunter, and together they wrote and released their nine-song album “To the Wayside.” Already compared to the likes of modern songwriting giants Maggie Rogers, Regina Spektor and Carole King, Tori Elliott leans into lusciously stacked harmonies and entrancing melodies. Her songs speak to the relatability and nuances of love, relationships, and growing older. Tori resides in Winston Salem, North Carolina, where she can often be found writing and recording her songs in her home studio, Strange Kid Studios.