Events
Story of the Song Performance and Workshop Series
Funded in part by a grant from the Lee Cultural Council, a Lee town council supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, The Sandy McKnight Songwriters Fund presents programs with stories and performances by local, established songwriters. The featured songwriter of each event will perform their original songs and deconstruct the craft behind them, providing audiences a unique experience in learning how a song comes to life – through lyrics, harmonics, melody, and muse. An audience Q&A will follow.
Additionally, there will be a program where participants are taught to write their own songs by experienced musicians and songwriters.
Featured Songwriter:
Liv Cummins
Friday September 25th, 4:00-5:30pm
Lee Library, 100 Main Street, Lee, MA
A Minnesota native, Liv Cummins is a singer, comedy performer, musical theater dramatist, and educator who received her undergraduate degree from Skidmore College. She teamed up with songwriter/musician Sandy McKnight on her first solo album, Some Days, produced by McKnight. The album received critical acclaim and airplay on stations across the country as McKnight and Cummins toured the U.S. and played in legendary venues, from Margaritaville in New Orleans to The Bitter End in NYC.
Her musicals are produced across the country and internationally, with a focus on historical women’s lives of struggle, passion, and achievement, such as her current work, Ladies, How Dare You! (co-written with Rob Hartmann), exploring American suffragists in 1913.
Cummins’ latest project, co-created with McKnight, is The Sirens, a band featuring tight, 3-part harmonies on her own and McKnight’s pop/rock/folk-influenced songs alongside two wondrous women, Wanda Houston and Elizabeth Berliner.
Songwriter Series
The Fund’s first program, a monthly Songwriter Series, launched December 2024 at Lee’s Appetito restaurant on Main Street. Since then, the Series has partnered with new venues and continues to expand its audience across the Berkshires. With events every third Friday each month, in March the Series plays at The Common pub in Housatonic, continuing to welcome all writers to share their original tunes during the open mic portion of each event. This inclusive approach greatly reflects McKnight's commitment to nurturing new voices and building community while featuring experienced songwriters.