“Women Songwriters in-the-round: Lynn Deeves, Trina Hamlin and Colleen Sexton”

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26th at 2pm

Three award-winning, singer-songwriters will be on tour in Maine during October, 2025 spreading their good vibes and great harmonies. 

Maine singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lynn Deeves honed her stage and vocal skills on the New England high energy, rock club circuit of the 1980’s and 90’s. Her soulful vocals and easeful presence on stage have long-captivated audiences around the Northeast and beyond. Deeves has released 4 independent solo CD’s and collaborated on a 5th CD with Maine songwriting trio “under the song tree,” along with notable Maine performers Anni Clark and Dan Merrill. Lynn has shared stages with Cheryl Wheeler, Ellis Paul, Ferron, America and many others. She was selected to contribute a track to the “Maine Pink Album” celebrating the 26 top women recording artists in Maine, a benefit compilation for the Maine Breast Cancer Center. 

Trina Hamlin has a rich, powerful voice and seamlessly moves from guitar to piano to self-accompaniment on harmonica. She has toured throughout the U.S. and Europe, with her trademark driving, rhythmic, blues and rock-infused songs/grooves. Hamlin earned a degree in professional music from Berklee College in Boston and has since written and co-produced 5 solo albums. She has performed at the Newport Folk Festival in the company of Ani Difranco, Dar Williams and the Indigo Girls. Hamlin has been a guest on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien and her music has been featured on popular television shows on the WB, Lifetime, CBS, ABC and MTV. She has shared stages with Taj Mahal, Charlie Musslewhite, John Hiatt and Rickie Lee Jones, to name a few.

Equal parts sincerity and strength, Colleen Sexton combines the sweet sounds of the front porch in summer with the soul of a vintage Harlem night. Critics have described her performance as "smoldering, sincere, and captivating": and her songs as "intelligent" and "passionate." Her CD Greatest Find features guest appearances by Martin Sexton, Cliff Eberhardt, and Janis Ian. Colleen independently released Colleen Sexton LIVE (Crescent Records). Colleen's debut CD, Step Outside, garnered two Boston Music Award nominations (1999), putting her among the elite of Boston songwriters. Her song 'Dear Arlene' appears on the Respond compilation CD, which Billboard Magazine's editor named the number one album of 1999.   

IMPROV FOR SHY PEOPLE

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14th, 2pm-6pm

SHY? Well, on September 14th from 2pm-6pm, Footlights Theatre is hosting the lovely and talented Tara McDonough and Jen Whitley are teaching a class in improv just for you! If you've ever been curious about improv, but found the idea of a traditional improv class way too scary, this is your chance. There will be snacks (probably not bamboo), heaps of encouragement, and plenty of laughs. And maybe also pandas, who knows!

Contact improvtara@gmail.com to sign up and for more information.

SONG OF THE SACO

An Evening with Award-Winning Author, poet, songwriter and balladeer, JOHN PERRAULT
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4th, 7:30pm
Author, poet, songwriter and balladeer, former Portsmouth Poet Laureate John Perrault brings his guitar to Footlights Theatre to sing poems and songs—Wordsworth to Whitman, Dickinson to Dylan—plus originals (e.g.,“Saco River Song,” “Beyond the River,” “Walk by the River”) dedicated to the precious rivers and landscapes—material and spiritual—that water our lives
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John Perrault is author of Jefferson’s Dream (Hobblebush Books), Here Comes the Old Man Now (Oyster River Press), Ballad of Louis Wagner (Peter Randall Publisher), and most recently a chapbook, Season of Shagginess, from Finishing Line Press. A Pushcart Nominee, John has published in The Café Review, Christian Science Monitor, Commonweal, Comstock Review, Constellations, Mobius, The Journal of Social Change, Poet Lore and elsewhere. He has also recorded nine albums of original songs and ballads. John is a former Portsmouth, NH poet laureate. http://www.johnperrault.com