Presented by: The Acorn

Three Acorn Singer-Songwriter Competition alumni come together for an intimate songwriter showcase. Sadie Gustafson-Zook (2024 Winner), Kylee Phillips (2025 Winner), and Emily Barnes (2024 Finalist) will take turns performing their original songs and sharing the stories behind them.

About the Artists:

SADIE GUSTAFSON-ZOOK

“Sadie Gustafson-Zook is a songwriter with that enviable knack of being able to take a very specific moment in her life and somehow imbue it with universality and a common thread. Listening to her songs, you find yourself thinking about your own existence as you learn about hers.” – songwriting magazine

Every time Sadie Gustafson-Zook carves a linoleum block, sews a pencil case out of scraps, or admires the way the ink in her Pilot G-2 glides over her journal, she thinks, “I should be doing this all the time.” The act of creating something tangible is the air Sadie breathes. Her songwriting is the same- weaving an internal dialogue, the stories she tells herself, warm melodies and clever chords into something real, something she can physically feel with her hands and her throat. And chances are that you’ll be able to feel them too.

Sadie’s songs have been endorsed by some of the most respected songwriting contests in the country, winning Kerrville Folk Festival’s 2022 New Folk Contest (as well as placing as a finalist in 2020), earning second place at the Rocky Mountain Folk Fest’s Songwriter Showcase, and winning first place at the NewSong + LEAF Songwriting Contest. Sadie has been featured on the Basic Folk podcast and on Folk Alley.

On Sadie’s May 2024 album “Where I Wanna Be,” she takes the listener along on an intimate journey as Sadie decides where to call home. Recorded on an 8-track reel to reel, this stripped-down album isn’t hiding behind anything. Over the course of 10 delightful tracks the listener gains insights into Sadie’s middle school crushes on gay boys, a desire to call the weatherman to ask for some guidance, and the nerve-wracking experience of meeting your idols and feeling small. Throughout the album Sadie’s agile vocals and intricate guitar playing shine while her thoughtful lyrics capture the immensity of potential and the complexity of history that emerge during times of life transition.

Following closely on the heels of “Where I Wanna Be” is Sadie’s fall 2024 EP entitled What I Pushed Below, out November 13th, 2024.

KYLEE PHILLIPS

Kylee Phillips is a Michigan-native vocalist, pianist, and songwriter of deeply self-exposing pop music. Armed with an arresting, emotive, laser-focused voice, and an unrivaled ear for hooks and melodic contour, Phillips has garnered cult-like acclaim in the midwest and beyond since her explosive debut EP Long Time Coming.

The title is strangely apt, as Phillips was a beloved hidden gem in the Detroit scene for over a decade before materializing as a fresh face and urgent new presence in the indie/pop world. The EP satisfies broadly while leaving us wanting more, especially after we ride through the guitar-saturated erotic agitation of Home To You, the pyrotechnic regret of Where You Found Me, and the unwelcome epiphany of the haunting title track. The songs are brought into technicolor clarity by rising star producer Evan Eliason. After the overwhelming response to this 2023 debut, Eliason came on board again for Phillips’ forthcoming 2024 release The Good Parts, which sees Phillips continue to sharpen her lyrical adeptness and autobiographical insight.

Kylee’s anthemic, sonically dense songs alchemize the sincerity of a midwest heart with the prowess and unabashed indulgence usually reserved for coastal voices. Here listeners find the body-cleansing catharsis of femme-pop luminaries like Muna and Maggie Rogers, intertwined with the heartstring-pulling, hands-raised surrender of a worship conference. Every track makes equal space for the tears and the pulse-pounding we didn’t realize we needed so badly.

Whether she’s singing about a failed relationship, a distant yearning, or an existential inquiry into the human experience, the integral throughline through Kylee’s songs is the unwavering voice of a woman who refuses to fear her own intelligence, agency, anger, and desires. In a world with no shortage of self-help sad-babe media, Phillips weaves together a sensual, articulate, and unpretentiously therapeutic soundtrack for the lives we live but can’t always verbalize. She lends us an experiential wisdom that could only come from a massive heart that’s seen a lot of garbage and emerged transformed and immovable.

EMILY BARNES

Emily Barnes is a contemporary folk singer/songwriter whose music breathes life into the characters and stories of everyday people. With a voice that cuts to the bone and lyrics that linger long after the last note, she crafts songs that feel both intimately personal and universally human.

Born and raised in Johnsonburg, New Jersey (a town so small it doesn’t appear on most maps) Barnes began writing songs on the stone steps of her 200 year old house. From those quiet beginnings, she’s built a grassroots following the old-fashioned way: one room, one story, and one listener at a time.

Armed with her acoustic guitar and a raw, haunting voice, Barnes has performed in cities and small towns across the county, captivating audiences and building a grassroots following. Her latest album, Mint Condition, took her on a sold out tour throughout the Northeast and marked her most accomplished work to date.

A recognized talent in the songwriting community, Emily has been a finalist in several major festivals, including the Kerrville Folk Festival, Red Lodge Songwriters Festival, Blast on the Bay, Hey Nonny, and The Acorn Singer-Songwriter Competition.

With four albums under her belt and a growing reputation as a storyteller of uncommon depth, Emily Barnes continues to carve out a space that is wholly her own in the modern folk landscape.

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Please note Week of Show price increases by $5 per ticket.

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The Acorn is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.