A friend sent me a link to Spencer LaJoye's song "Plowshare Prayer" and told me to listen. I did. I cried. Then I sat with it for a while. Then I contacted Spencer and offered to host a concert for them here at MCC.

I have never done that before.

Spencer is a singer-songwriter from Grand Rapids, Michigan — classically trained violinist, theology degree on the wall, loop pedal on the floor — making what they call "queer indie folk music for everyone." That last part is important. Spencer's music has a way of finding you wherever you are and making you feel less alone in it. "Plowshare Prayer," their 2021 anthem, went quietly viral for good reason: it's a song that takes prayer back from the people who've used it as a weapon and turns it into something that actually feels like grace.

Ok, so what's the Texas connection? Spencer won the 2021 Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Competition — one of the most coveted honors in American roots music — and returned in 2024 to win the Songwriter Serenade. If you've been to a house concert at MCC before, you know what that means. If you haven't, just trust us.

Spencer's live shows are described as "banter-heavy" — audiences go from laughing to weeping and back again, sometimes in the same song. This will be Spencer's first appearance at MCC, and we are pretty excited about it. Come find out why.

We couldn't wish for a better start to our 12th season than the 4th MCC appearance for award winning Canadian blues artist, our friend, Suzie Vinnick.

If you don't know Suzie's music, here's the thumbnail: Canada's blues community has been handing her awards for more than twenty years and shows no sign of stopping. Suzie has won 12 Maple Blues Awards — Canada's national blues honors — including Female Vocalist of the Year seven times, plus Songwriter of the Year, Acoustic Act of the Year, and, just to prove she can do it all, Bassist of the Year. Add two Canadian Folk Music Awards for Contemporary Singer of the Year, a 2024 East Coast Music Award, two International Songwriting Competition wins in the blues category, and Juno nominations for both roots and blues albums. That's a lot of hardware for one living room.

Suzie headlines outdoor festivals and ~1000-seat concert halls. So getting to be part of an intimate house concert performance is pretty special. You won't want to miss this one.