PETER MULVEY’s Lamplighter Sessions are here from December 7th the 15th, minus Monday and Tuesday. Mulvey has been transported by music suspiciously (should we suspect foul play?) often in his life, and from the beginning, he sensed a pattern: most of these moments were impromptu, they happened offstage, and they involved people communicating something sublime in this elusive yet utterly reliable language we all share. The music-ness of moments is at its best when two or more players don’t quite know where it’s all going, and yet have enough of a common idea of the map at hand that they’re all going together. The Lamplighter Sessions is Mulvey’s dogged attempt to set up, year after year, lightning rods in a field, to coax these offstage moments into being onstage.

Who is this doggedy dog in this dog-eat-dog world?

To PETER MULVEY, there is no such thing as a straight and narrow path. At least, not one that he has any interest in taking.

A live-wire on any stage, Peter is an acoustic singer/songwriter/guitarist who, in fact, defies this categorization. His ferocious guitar playing whisks him through more tunings than he has fingers in the course of an evening, as he winds his way from full-throated rockers to deceptively plain-spoken musings. Whether solo or accompanied, Mulvey is someone who just naturally commands a stage:

“Peter Mulvey is one of the most accomplished guitarists you’re ever likely to hear… utterly original… it is nigh on impossible to explain him to the uninitiated… his intelligent and sometimes complex songs engage both hemispheres of the listener’s brain… one of the finest, most complete entertainers… stunning.” – The Irish Examiner

JOHN LOUIS is a Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter and guitarist who crafts twangy folk songs about love, loss, living and nostalgia.  “I think of my music as tonic from the chaos and swirl.  Music for the road, or the kind of songs you sing with friends around the fire,” said Louis. His songs evoke hope and longing, change and regret, love and death, lost and found, and kindness.

“Rootsy singer/songwriter John Louis [is] equal parts John Prine and Robert Earl Keen . . . .” StarTribune – Chris Riemenschneid

Hailing from the song-rich soil of Minneapolis, BRIANNA LANE  is the latest in a deluge of compelling songwriters flooding the region. Lane’s vocals are both confidant and fragile, running parallels to Mindy Smith or Americana veteran Patty Griffin. Behind Lane’s beguiling smile lies a heart that has had its share of heartache where songs like “In My Bones” and “Company” draw their inspiration. Her stories oscillate between a sense of urgency and resolve while seeking a tranquil balance.

“Poised, ambitious, a soul-singer of the first order, and an accomplished guitarist.” – Jim Walsh (Star Tribune Minneapolis, MN)

This night’s sound will be rounded out by NATE KILEN on drums.