WESTERLY — Songwriter Riley Cotton will debut her latest record “Falling of the Fervor” at Perks & Corks next week during the return of Wednesday Night Songwriters Series.
The series will kick off on Jan. 8, from 8-10 p.m., when Cotton plans to deliver “a deep, soul-stirring performance,” according to Keith Cowley, Perks’ marketing and entertainment manager.
Relatively new to the Connecticut folk scene, Cotton’s “lyrics reflect lessons far beyond her years while embraced intentionally in musical nods to her Texan roots, wrapped up tight in ‘Falling of the Fervor’,” Cowley said in an email.
“Her transcendence is coming on fast and her light shines irreversibly into those dark corners,” he added.
A New England Music Award nominated folk singer-songwriter based in Hartford, Cotton has been described as “… an old-school type of songwriter whose songs and performance are able to cross space and time to touch that part of your brain where love, loss, happiness, and longing all co-exist,” according to Chip McCabe of the Dad Metal Blog, Cowley said.
“While growing up in Texas, much of her musical taste was shaped by the voices of the women of country music who so boldly embraced the power of their belt and divine femininity in the face of an industry that did not embrace them,” he added. “When writing her own music, Riley aspires to share her lived experiences, take a stance on the issues that compel her, and utilize the masterful story telling mechanisms so prevalent in the music she grew up on.”
Cotton’s show kicks off the Perks Wednesday Night Songwriters series, Cowley said, and will be followed up by “the remarkable Lucas Neil” on Jan. 15.
Neil is “one third of the mindful and melodic folk powerhouse that is Undercover Cameo,” Cowley said.
Cowley said Perks will also host the return of “Songwriters’ Open Mic” every Monday night beginning at 8 p.m., with acoustic originals only, and PA provided.
