Four rising country-folk singer-songwriters gave a two-hour acoustic concert last week at the Alliance for the Arts. The 16 songs they performed covered a range of universal emotions experienced from a distinctive female perspective. Their unvarnished explanations of the circumstances that gave rise to each song were as impactful as their heartfelt lyrics.
Southwest Florida favorite Claire Liparulo delivered soulful, dynamic songwriting infused with sharp wit and fearless authenticity. She sang of a friend who lost his battle with addiction. An engaging storyteller with undeniable charisma, Liparulo’s songs explore love found and lost, the absurdity of modern dating, and the journey toward self-acceptance—always with heart and honesty. She sang about the pain of being forgotten. And she tackled the estrangement from family and friends in our politically polarized and fractured society.
“I think about how we’re always looking at cell phones constantly, and everything is rage bait and everything gets more clicks and hits if there’s a controversy,” she mused. “So, nobody’s winning if everybody finds common ground, things that we all agree on. So, with all of that in mind, I started writing this song called ‘Blue in the Face.’”
April Cushman was recently recognized as a Top 10 Emerging Artist in a national contest judged by country star Lainey Wilson. A rising force in the Nashville music scene, she has shared stages with Scotty McCreery, Darius Rucker and Kip Moore.
She wrote a song that’s been optioned by Grammy-nominated country-pop singer-songwriter Kelsea Ballerini.
“How many of you have ever lost a dog?” she asked, prompting Kelly Neff to retrieve a box of tissues from backstage and pass them through the audience. As the tissue box made its way around the theater, she told the audience that she’d recently lost her own best friend, Olaf.
“About two weeks after we lost Olaf, I was in the shower and I just remember putting my hands overhead and I was, ‘God, April, get it together, he was just a dog.’ And, of course, I’m a songwriter and my brain is always going and I was like, ‘No, wait, that’s a great song title.’”
And so, she called two collaborators and together they wrote “Just a Dog,” which left nary a dry eye in the audience.
Billboard-charting recording artist Shelly Fairchild is a pioneering Janis Joplin-esque voice for the LGBTQIA+ community in Nashville, with songs recorded by Little Big Town, Tanya Tucker, and Ty Herndon. Among the four songs she performed was one addressing mental health.
“Most people know what it’s like to either need to make the call to get help, or to be the person that somebody calls for some help,” said Fairchild from the stage. “Maybe just a word of encouragement or something. Sometimes you have to stay on the phone for a really long time to talk somebody down out of a tree. So that’s what ‘End Up in Austin’ is about.”
A two-time Songwriter of the Year honoree from the Songwriters Showcase of America, Kelly Neff has opened for Melissa Etheridge, Keb’ Mo’, and The Wallflowers.
She also wrote about loss. In particular, the loss of her father, and the right we each have to experience grief in our own way and according to our own timetable.
“Sometimes we just need to have our feelings and we need to be angry, and when Sister Mary Sunshine is telling me to feel better when she still can call her dad and tell him bad jokes, like, that kind of makes me want to punch her in the face a little bit,” Neff said by way of introduction to her song, “What If I Don’t Like Lemonade?”
This “Intimate Evening of Song & Story For the Love of Music” was an ode to female empowerment and claiming the room needed to work through the emotions we all feel from time to time.
One song, in particular, encapsulated this sentiment, sung without introduction by April Cushman. It’s titled, “I Make My Own Damn Money.”
This fearless foursome is due to return with “For the Love of Music” in the fall.
MORE INFORMATION:
“For the Love of Music Vol III, An Intimate Evening of Song & Story” took place in the Foulds Theatre at the Alliance for the Arts on Thursday, March 26.
With performances spanning the Grand Ole Opry to major television placements, Shelly Fairchild’s music crosses genres while remaining deeply personal and boldly inclusive. Her fifth studio album arrives in spring 2026.
Neff’s latest album, “About Face,” reflects themes of transformation and resilience that resonate powerfully in her live performances.
About the Alliance for the Arts
The Alliance for the Arts is a nonprofit community visual and performing arts center located in the heart of Fort Myers, Florida. Since 1975, the Alliance has been committed to transforming lives and improving community through the arts.
The Alliance campus and galleries are open to the public from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. It is located at 10091 McGregor Boulevard just south of Colonial Boulevard in Fort Myers.
For more information, call 239-939-2787, visit us at www.ArtInLee.org, or follow the Alliance on Meetup, Facebook andInstagram.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
