In late 2024, Laurie MacAllister embarked on an exciting new chapter, launching a solo career with a sold-out performance at the legendary Club Passim.

Two decades earlier, she co-founded the beloved Americana trio Red Molly, which released seven acclaimed albums and toured both the U.S. and internationally, including appearances at MerleFest, Cayamo, and Boston Symphony Hall.

Along the way, ad executives heard Laurie’s voice on the Red Molly album “Never Been to Vegas” and invited her to sing the iconic Folgers Coffee jingle for a national TV commercial.

Her 2018 self-produced solo album “The Lies the Poets Tell” is a heartfelt tribute to the contemporary folk music scene, celebrating a handful of its best songs and songwriters. It features duets with six male artists, including the late Americana master Jimmy LaFave. SiriusXM praised the album as “Defining. A curated collection packed with emotional vibrancy.”

ABOUT FRED

Sometimes the best things are right here under our noses, but we don’t know it. The talented Westchester singer-songwriter Fred Gillen is one to know. He puts on a fine show and is perhaps the region’s best kept musical secret. To see him in this intimate setting of a small venue vegetarian restaurant makes for a relatively inexpensive, healthy night out, coupled with excellent and memorable music. Gillen is an old-fashioned, real-deal folk singer with a social conscience, from the Woody Guthrie school of thinking. Expect intelligent, well-crafted songs delivered passionately by a local musician who is so much more. Hear him once and you will wonder why the big-time has so far eluded him and you will surely—look forward to seeing him again (and again). Frank Matheis, Westchester Arts Magazine