March 25, 2026
Ben Bedford, Devon Cahill, Celia, and Truman Kennedy.
The March 25 Songbird Concert carried a quiet intensity. It was one of those evenings where the room stayed locked in, not from spectacle, but from substance.
Devon Cahill set the tone with a natural warmth and versatility, blending Americana, indie, and folk into a set that felt both polished and personal, with moments of ease that drew the audience closer. Truman Kennedy followed with raw expression that cut through cleanly. His mandolin work and blues-rooted storytelling felt elemental; unfiltered, haunting, and grounded in something older than the room itself.
Celia brought a welcome lift to the night, infusing her set with charm, humor, and a sense of connection that made the room feel shared rather than observed. Ben Bedford closed out the round with unmistakable craftsmanship. His songs unfolded with precision and depth, each lyric carefully placed, each melody carrying weight.
What made the night resonate was its balance. Craftsmanship, raw expression, thought, and humor all had their place, creating an experience that felt complete without ever feeling overworked.
📸: Auset Sarno
ABOUT THE MUSICIANS
Ben Bedford
Devon Cahill
Celia
Truman Kennedy
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Ben Bedford is a singer-songwriter, composer, and visual artist.
In July of 2010, Bedford was named one of the “50 most significant Folk singer-songwriters of the past 50 years” by Rich Warren of WFMT-Chicago. The list also included Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, Anais Mitchell, Joni Mitchell, and Danny Schmidt. In May of 2018, Bedford was named one of the six Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk winners at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas. He has toured extensively over the past 15 years in North America and western Europe. In January of 2023, he released his sixth studio album, Valley Of Stars, engineered and mixed by David Sinko (Yo-Yo Ma, Punch Brothers, Edgar Meyer) and featuring Ethan Jodziewicz (Aoife O’Donovan, Maya de Vitry, Milk Carton Kids) on bass, Chas Williams (Nanci Griffith) on second guitar, and Kari Floyd on harmony vocals. With his visual art, Ben works in pen and ink and watercolor. Bedford is a member of Perspectives Art Gallery in Petersburg, Illinois.
“The Illinois songwriter is a masterful storyteller who can turn what seem like obscure historical references into engaging tales rife with vivid, stark imagery.”
–Erik Ernst, The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -
Practically born singing, Devon made her professional debut at age 6 in a three-month run of "The Sound of Music". In 2012 she shifted gears from musical theatre and formed the indie folk band Letter to Memphis, which quickly became a local favorite, playing at venues and major cultural events all over town and winning Best Folk Band from the Riverfront Times two years in a row. In 2017, she ventured out as a solo artist, and debuted her first solo EP, entitled “When I Wake” in October 2018. Her rootsy songwriting style is a hybrid of Americana, indie and folk music.
When not performing solo, Devon leads a band with David Newmann, Simon Chervitz, and special guests. They have opened for touring artists such as Erika Wennerstrom (Heartless Bastards), Amythyst Kiah, two time Tony Award winner Norbert Leo Butz, and The Local Honeys. Some highlights of Devon’s career have been playing at the gorgeous Sheldon Concert Hall, singing the national anthem for 60,000 people at America’s Center, and collaborating with TedX St. Louis. The full Devon Cahill band has a couple of new singles out now and their debut album is currently in the works!
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Born & raised a Kansan, Celia moved to St. Louis in 2001 to make friends through music. With live performances for adults & children in a variety of bands & acts—like Celia’s Yuletide Express, FIRE DOG, & Circus Flora’s Clowns on Call—Celia gets to do just that.
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Kennedy’s sound is as varied as the geography of the Ozark and Delta regions, which he calls home. Like an icy whistle of the winter winds blowing through the thin walls of a rough-hewn pine-slab, mountaintop cabin to the stifling hot and humid Delta swamp, Kennedy’s tube-driven mandolin reverberates like an echo down a deep, dark hollow, and snarls and howls like an encroaching pack of coyotes in the night.
Kennedy’s songwriting harkens back to the soul of the country blues – desperate people in desperate situations, doomed by circumstance and tragedy. There is no nostalgia for the past, only sorrowful memories of hard lessons learned the hard way, sung through the bottom of an empty bottle of bourbon. It’s a cosmic country blast of that high, lonesome sound, transcending the walls of time.