Congratulations to the 2008
Singer-Songwriter Showcase winners!

Pat Cisarano

            Brooklyn native Pat Cisarano has given her life to song and to sharing her passion for music. Her father owned a well-loved neighborhood bar and grill near Sheepshead Bay, whose phenomenal jukebox and music shaped her life. Her first recording project was Third Rail Screamin’ for Rave on Music, where she recorded two of her own songs live for the album. Cisarano’s performances of her original music and covers of old favorites span many genres, including the blues, funk, and reggae. She has been dubbed the best voice on the New York City blues scene, and has performed with such legends as Tony Bennett and Diana Ross. At the 25th year commemoration of the Woodstock Festival, Pat performed “Muddy Water Blues” with Paul Rogers (of Free, Bad Company) and Slash (of Guns N’ Roses). Pat received the Shure Microphone Best Female Vocalist award and has been prominently featured on Bob Porter’s National Public Radio show Portraits in Blue. Songs from her most recent album ah have been featured in several independent feature films and TV shows, including Fast Food Fast Women.

Annie Crane

            Annie Crane hails from Rochester, New York, where she grew up on a mixture of her mother’s Paul Simon records and Canadian/Irish folk music, her grandmother’s Italian operas, and her father’s interest in all things new and technological. At thirteen, beginning to be noticed as a girl with a voice, she was already developing a special affinity for classic ’60s folk. She received classical vocal training at Eastman School of Music, but turned her prodigious talents toward her first love of folk music while studying at the University of Toronto. She has been compared to the likes of Joan Baez, Judy Collins, Joni Mitchell, and Gillian Welch. As one enthusiastic fan put it, “She looks across the audience like she is looking deep into a distant decade.” Now based in New York City, Annie has played at the Sidewalk Cafe, Bar Matchless, Bar 4, Googie’s Lounge, Freddy’s Back Room, he 169 Bar, the Bitter End with the New York Singer Songwriter Sessions and at Laila Lounge with the Jezebel Music Songwriter Showcase.

Christine DeLeon

            Raised in northern New Jersey and currently living in Bergen County, Christine DeLeon has a deep dedication to music that began at a very young age. Her earliest memories of childhood are of the captivating sounds from the radio. With an artistic drive and ability that fostered it, an eight-year-old Christine discovered the joy of singing as a member of the children’s choir at her family’s church. Learning guitar in her early teens, Christine then began songwriting at the age of seventeen and has since spent more than twenty years exploring that creative path. Drawing from her early involvement in church music, Christine has spent over two decades building her musical skills while gladly serving at several churches. Seeking to play music with friends and to share her own songs, Christine joined The Folk Project in 2005 and has relished the many collaboration and performance opportunities within that organization. Christine sailed into the studio on her maiden recording voyage in early 2007. True to the collage of a diverse journey, her album January Hiding offers reflections of a wide range of subjects from fond childhood memories to the perplexing tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001.

Thomas Earl

            Thomas Earl’s musical journey began in a small town in Michigan outside of Ann Arbor in the late 1960s, playing in local clubs with then unknown and aspiring musicians such as Joni Mitchell, John Hammond, Jim Kweskin and Maria Muldaur. He continued performing and writing, working both as a solo artist and with various jug bands, folk and bluegrass groups. Thomas’ career has spanned nearly four decades. His music has been described as “The real thing!”: a classic acoustic folk music in the spirit of James Taylor and Gordon Lightfoot with great vocals and his own unique finger picking guitar style. Earl’s live performances include original music, some classic covers and stories from his surviving the 1960s. Thomas now makes his home in the Hudson Valley in upstate New York.

Dan Gonzales

            Boston singer-songwriter Dan Gonzalez released his album Public Square in June 2006. Gonzalez’s second full-length album features his newest songs in their purest form. Public Square has received wide acclaim, including recognition on Rob Reinhart’s nationally syndicated Acoustic Cafe program. The album was
also chosen as a Top 12 “Do It Yourself ” album by Performing Songwriter magazine. Dan has been called the “future of the singer-songwriter” and a “masterful solo performer” by reviewers on cdbaby.com. Since winning the top songwriting scholarship at the Berklee College of Music in 2003, Dan has played venues such as Club Passim, the Berklee Performance Center, and the Bitter End. His music has received radio play on radio stations across the country, including Mix 98.5 Boston and WUMB 91.9 Folk Radio Boston, and he has been featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered.

Alex Kim

            Alex Kim was introduced to music in grade school and has been playing and singing ever since. His musical genres have changed over time, from techno and hip-hop to rock and jazz. Currently his influences are folk-rock and acoustic music. His songs tell stories about his life: the euphoric, good times, the painful, bad times, and everything in between. As a songwriter and singer, his goal is to spark an interest through the melodies and rhythm while touching the audience’s heart at a deeper level through the lyrics. Alex’s music tries to offer different perspectives on various facets in life.

Michael Patrick Phelan

            Born and raised in Brockville, Ontario, Canada, Michael Patrick Phelan began playing the piano at five years old and studied it classically for twenty years. An avid singer, his vocal training has ranged from school choirs and theatrical productions to studies and performances with renowned opera singers. A graduate of the bachelor of fine arts acting program at the University of Windsor in Canada, he found himself musically moving away from his classically-based training and embracing a more stripped-down style that borrowed from the worlds of pop and folk with tinges of jazz. Moving to Binghamton, New York,
he made the risky decision to focus on what had been a side gig for many years: his own music. While his vocal style has drawn comparisons to jazz greats, Michael’s songs and the themes they explore share more common ground with folk-pop icons James Taylor and Joni Mitchell. He has found inspiration in recent
years from fellow singer/songwriter/pianists Bruce Hornsby, Marc Cohn, and Sarah McLachlan, among others. Michael has received several awards, and was selected to showcase at the 2007 Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Michael has recently completed recording his debut album In the Meantime.

Dave Tutin

            Dave Tutin was born in Nottingham, England, and his earliest musical influences were English folk musicians. But it was not necessarily the music they played that excited him, it was the stories that the songs told. When this same emphasis on lyrics became the early ‘60s singer-songwriter era, Dave began writing his own songs. Rather than rely on a specific classification, Dave instead focuses on his role as a storyteller, hanging onto the power of the words. As one reviewer put it, “These are the kind of songs that really sneak up on you. At first you’re impressed by the craftsmanship of the songwriting and the poetry of the thoughtful, sometimes poignant lyrics. But before you know it, you’re hooked. The melodies stick in your head and you find you’re singing them to yourself all day long.” Dave currently resides in New York where his current album Raised in Vain was produced and recorded.