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| Judith Avers |
Judith Avers, the singer/ songwriter who is originally from the west, has been writing songs since she was 6 years old. Music comes naturally to her, as does her optimistic attitude for life. It’s easy to see why people are drawn to her. Her gorgeous lilting voice and the soft rhythms of her guitar draw you into her songs and lyrics. The stories she tells through her music are written with a keen observation and with an openness towards life and people. She gives voice to the human condition in its most authentic, and tender forms, provoking music that shares both strength and vulnerability. Through her willingness to tell the story like it is, in all its shades of gray: love, loss, triumph and failings; we feel the great spirit of humanity in her songs. And with it comes a larger sense of redemption and forgiveness that lies within each of us. It’s this unfailing honesty coupled with her compassionate voice that makes her music so moving and strong.
Judith has collaborated with many artists along the way as well as performing solo. These days she is in a band called The Early Mays with fellow musicians, Ellen Gozion and Emily Pinkerton. They’ve released one CD with another in the works and will be performing March 8, 12:00 pm at Cup & Chaucer, Ground Floor of the Hillman Library on Forbes and Schenley Dr. (Oakland) and March 9 at Club Cafe opening for Brooke Annibale's EP release show.
Besides performing with The Early Mays, you can catch Judith on YouTube for a year long weekly series called Real Women Real Songs. Each week Judith posts a new song written from the prompt she received the week before. 14 women are participating in this project. Some examples of the prompts are: patience, apologetic, distasteful and lovestruck. Judith has this to say about Real Women Real Songs: "I think it is good for me to let go of the idea of making sure things are 'perfect' and just let the lyrics and melody chips fall where they may. Some of the songs are messy and incomplete, but they are more real and free than most songs I whittle away at."
Judith shares these gifts with all of us and also with
the hundreds of teenagers she has mentored through programs like
SongSchools 101 which is run through High Rocks, a leadership and empowerment
program in West Virginia. Mentoring is an important part of what Judith does as a musician. She says: "I see songwriting and music mentoring as a kind-of similar thing to my
musician friends who have children and 'pass the songs' down from
generation to generation. I think it is very important to teach young
people skills and trades. Music making and art making are skills and if I
can have one tiny part of that teaching, that is a success in my opinion. "
To experience Judith’s music and stories visit:
To experience Judith’s music and stories visit:
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