Songwriters Spotlight

Hosted by Joe Grushecky and Rick Witkowski

Featured Guests: Tom Breiding, Heather Kropf and Anthony Rankin
Presented by the New Hazlett Theater

September 25, 2010

Saturday, September 25, 2010 - 8:00 pm

Featured Guests:

Tom Breiding

Heather Kropf

Anthony Rankin

Something special happens when you gather extraordinarily talented musicians on stage performing together for the first time. Sitting in the audience you realize that something magical is happening in your presence. This secret language develops between them creating music that could never be repeated outside of this group, on this stage and at this time.

On September 25, 2010 hosts Joe Grushecky and Rick Witkowski will pull together the talents of Tom Brieding, Heather Kropf and Anthony Rankin. These three completely different singer/ songwriters contribute collectively the creative gifts of pop culture music, folk music and soul-driven rock and roll.

The night of music will feature:

All five songwriters performing some of their original music as well as a song that they wish they had penned.

The story behind how their songs were born.

Spontaneous group collaborations

More about Tom Breiding

Tom Breiding is an artist, songwriter and producer residing near Pittsburgh, not far from his hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia. His AmeriSon Recording Studio is the home of AmeriSon Records and AmeriSon Productions. He is a Pennsylvania Commonwealth Speaker for the PA Humanities Council, a teaching artist at Pittsburgh's Gateway to the Arts and the founder/host of The AmeriSon Ballroom Folk Series. Since his last album release, Tom has performed in venues from Times Square to Ventura Blvd, throughout Northern Italy, and in hundreds of schools in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

More about Heather Kropf

Heather is a singer/songwriter/producer living in Pittsburgh. A native of Portland, Oregon, and trained in classical piano and fine art, she has produced three albums and appeared as a vocalist on numerous other projects.

Her sound is a blend of poetry and pop, and dips into the classic sounds of 70s folk and singer/songwriters, to contemporary AAA and neo-soul. Her pristine and mellifluous voice, named "an esoteric slice of blue-eyed soul" lives somewhere between Jill Sobule, Tracy Thorn, and Aimee Mann.

She has performed live all over the region, including the Three Rivers Arts Festival, First Night, WYEP and WQED Studios, the Philadelphia Music Conference, and has opened for national acts such as Mason Jennings, The Weepies, Betty LaVette and Ben Arnold.

More about Anthony Rankin

Anthony Rankin has quietly stormed the music world in recent years with a fiery brand of soul-driven rock and roll, built mightily upon his mature songwriting chops, mind-bending musicianship, and that unmistakable voice.

With three independent albums and a handful of downloadable offerings under his belt, the Duquesne University music school grad is poised to break with latest effort Blow This House Down, an intoxicating elixir of sweaty funk, effervescent pop, edgy hard rock, and vintage soul.

Pittsburgh rock radio stalwart and no. 1-rated WDVE regularly features Rankin on their award-winning Morning Show and has played host to his performances at many station events. In 2009, alt-rock sister station The X gave wings to single "Quicksand," while the title track from the new album has enjoyed recent airplay on WDVE.

More about Joe Grushecky

Grushecky is a musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, music arranger, recording artist and teacher.

His discography is impressive. MCA released Grushecky's first album "Love's So Tough" in 1979 to tremendous critical acclaim. He and his band were then known as the Iron City Houserockers, and the collection was crowned the "debut record of the year" by Rolling Stone.

For 30 years now, he has continued to pruduce albums with the band and as a solo artist that encompass the singer's many influences, including blues, roots rock, hard rock, pop, and a hint of country. A song he co-wrote with Springsteen won a Grammy for best solo rock vocal performance ("Code of Silence"). He met Springsteen in New York City in 1980, they are still close friends, and they still collaborate.

Grushecky recruited Springsteen for "Flood Aid," a benefit concert that helped Western Pennsylvanians who suffered huge losses to the worst inland flooding in 100 years after Hurricane Ivan. He has been called the "patron saint of causes" by Larry Kuzmanko, director of special events for Pennsylvania's Allegheny County parks department.

Armed with a special-education degree and many postgraduate credits, Grushecky has also been teaching developmentally disabled, physically disabled and emotionally disturbed kids for more than 25 years.

More about Rick Witkowski

Witkowski has been in the music industry as musician, writer, producer, engineer for over 30 years. He has composed and produced themes for Nickelodeon's KIDS' CHOICE AWARDS, GUTS, ACTION LEAGUE NOW, FIGURE IT OUT, FAMILY DOUBLE DARE 2000, as well as VH-1's DIVAS. Along with his wife, Deborah, he has successfully recorded book-to-tape projects for Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., NYC, and Scholastic Publishing Co., NYC, that were featured in school systems internationally.

A member of the 70's progressive rock band, Crack The Sky, local favorite, B.E. Taylor and kid-friendly/parent-favorite group, Kelsey Friday and the Rest of the Week. He has performed, recorded and produced other artists including Kathy Troccoli, Donnie Iris, Joe Grushecky w/Bruce Springsteen, Scott Blasey and The Clarks. He continues a variety of recording projects at his own recording facility, Studio L, Weirton, WV.

In keeping with their mission to cultivate the arts in Pittsburgh, the New Hazlett Theater is committed to supporting and promoting local musicians. This ongoing event presents an opportunity to showcase some of the best Pittsburgh has to offer in a family-friendly environment, in a venue noted for excelling in technical sound and recording expertise.

Thank you to our media sponsor 91.3 WYEP!