Hard Luck Café: Rorie Kelly, Nico Padden, and Christine Sweeney

Long Island singer-songwriters Rorie Kelly, Nico Padden, and Christine Sweeney will share the stage at the monthly Hard Luck Café concert co-presented by the Folk Music Society of Huntington and the Cinema Arts Centre (423 Park Avenue, Huntington,  NY) in the Cinema’s Sky Room on Wednesday, December 17, from 7pm-10pm.  The 8pm concert will be preceded by a 7pm open mic for which sign-up begins at 6:30pm.  Tickets are $25 ($20 for Cinema Arts Centre/FMSH members) and can be purchased online at cinemaartscentre.org or at the box office now through the evening of the event.

L-R:  Rorie Kelly, Nico Padden, and Christine Sweeney

Rorie Kelly is an award-winning singer/songwriter/ladybeast from Long Island. Her mission in life is to spread healing through art, and to remind you to love yourself with the fierceness of a kitten that doesn’t know it is tiny. Her music has been featured in film and TV shows, received radio airplay around the world, and led her to perform at the Obama White House in 2016.

Her most recent album, Shadow Work, is about shining a light in the darkness and healing wounds. The production is big and dark, and performed largely by just two people – Rorie herself, and her father/production partner, Kevin Kelly. “It was exciting to us to see just how much power we could pack into these songs as two humans in a studio with a vision,” says Rorie. The songwriting looks deeply into topics like self-worth, growth and letting go, and how our culture treats people who don’t fit the mainstream “default.” The opening song, “Full Moon Charm Bracelet,” was featured in the 2021 film Hearts and Vines, which won a Telly Award for Use of Music. 

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Nico Padden is a NYC-based, one-woman folk-rock riot. Ben Folds said she has “a big voice, gorgeous voice,” and that her song “Pirate Queen” is “original and classic at the same time.” Her 2022 album of the same title received positive reviews from Americana Highways, Glide Magazine, and Guitar Girl magazine, and the album frequently made the NACC Top 30.

The work is a mix of Americana, pop/rock, and folk that celebrates the strength of the fierce, brave women in her life. “Pirate Queen” is about taking back the crown that is rightfully yours, even if by slightly unorthodox means. Pirate Queen is the nickname given to Padden by her friends and fans, and it represents who she is—musical leader, woman who defies gender norms, outspoken feminist, and lover/protector of those around her. Her music is both tender and fierce, laden with harmonies, powerful choruses, and catchy hooks.

Padden’s musical roots run deep — she comes from a music teacher family and earned a degree in opera performance before focusing on her career as a singer/songwriter. Her musical activities vary widely: her choral arrangement of her original song “White Flag” went viral in 2018 and as a result, has been performed by choirs across the United States and Canada. She is the author of Ukulele Rockstars, a method book for teaching ukulele, and she is the composer of “Romeo & Juliet, the Rock musical.” She is a dog lover and an outspoken advocate for people with Celiac disease.

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How did stop-you-in-your-tracks vocalist and songwriter Christine Sweeney go from singing along with R&B radio and tapes by Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Destiny’s Child as a kid; to choice slots at the Connecticut Folk Fest and Falcon Ridge Folk Fest, WFUV DJ John Platt’s tastemaker On Your Radar concert series, and bills with Graham Parker and Jill Sobule?

She sets the scene: “I had some cassettes and would also tape songs from the radio. I would play them over and over again, focusing in on singing to a small part of the song. Rewind, play, repeat.”  Sweeney would go on to refine her voice as well as study music theory and songwriting at SUNY New Paltz.  To her, the R&B vocal influence isn’t unnatural in the folk setting. The result of this influence reminds her fans of Susan Tedeschi, Brandi Carlile, Sheryl Crow, KT Tunstall, or Grace Potter, with music that grooves and rocks but also tells her story.

Sweeney’s new album, Heart In a Hurry, is a culmination of this pairing of folk and soul, with generous dashes of blues, pop, Americana, and yes, R&B, in sharp, open-hearted new songs, some drawn from life lessons learned the hard way and shared with her listeners.  Sweeney’s songs can exist in a big, full-band milieu or played solo at a hushed listening room, with equal impact—and the songs were road-tested on both types of stages before taking them into the studio. The folk scene has embraced Sweeney’s music, with showcases at NERFA and Folk Alliance International Conference.

Whether rocking a festival stage with her full band or a hushed, candle-lit folk club, Christine Sweeney will give you goosebumps with her voice and then hit you with the depth of her storytelling. While she got her start singing to songs taped from the radio, now she can be heard on the airwaves herself.