($10-$15 tickets | 6pm doors / 7pm show) ($10-$15 | 6pm doors \\\\ 7pm show) Tucson Folk Fest presents a monthly Songwriter Roundtable hosted by Eric Schaffer. This month Eric’s guests are Sophie Rankin and Mark Insley.

**Sophia Rankin**

Sophia Rankin is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter with a diverse repertoire that spans the musical genres of folk, pop, rock, and Americana. Her two first solo CDs, released while attending the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music, were positively received by press and promoters alike. She landed First-place awards at both the 2017 Tucson Desert Song Festival and the 2018 Stefan George Songwriting competition. She now leads her own band, Sophia Rankin & The Sound, with members Connor Rankin (drums), Ben Arthur (bass), and Noah Weig-Pickering (lead guitar). Her latest album, Too Close to the Riptide was released last August, With songs venturing deeper into classic elements of rock, pop, and folk music alike, Too Close to the Riptide encourages Rankin’s creative wanderlust while staying true to her roots as a songwriter. Her expansion from a solo artist to a band leader pushes her to explore new sounds without straying far from her folk upbringing. Rankin’s music can be found on popular streaming and purchasing services. More information, as well as Sophia’s upcoming events can be found at www.sophiarankin.com

**Mark Insley**

Born and raised in the Great Plains, Mark Insley was influenced by everything from “ Hank to Hendrix”. After spending a few years living in a teepee in Northern New Mexico, Insley moved to California and cut his teeth in the grueling L.A. club scene. His first release Good Country Junk featured Grammy award winning producer Pete Anderson, and multi instrumentalist wizard Greg Leisz. His second release Tucson, explored a grittier and darker sound, and featured Tony Gilkyson, and Rick Shea. Produced and recorded by Paul Dugre, the album spent ten weeks in the top ten on the Americana music chart at a time the majors were muscling in. Insleys third release Supermodel, continued the same tone, and featured many of the same stellar group of musicians. After relocating to Tucson, he began his exploration of the “ Sound of the desert”, and became immersed in the southern Arizona music community. His latest release, Ten Cent Redemption, was recorded hastily in March of 2020. Recorded directly to two track tape, the entire album was cut live in 5 hours. Insley sings from experience and it shows. The songs are stories, told by someone who has lived them

**Eric Schaffer**

Raised in the swamps of New Jersey, Eric Schaffer has been recognized as one of Southern Arizona’s favorite singer/songwriters. He has been a finalist in the Great American Song Contest, the Passport To Nashville songwriting contest, a four-time Tucson Folk Festival songwriting competition finalist, and the winner of the 2022 Tumbleweed Music Festival songwriting contest.

His songs are sometimes sweet, sometimes melancholy, sometimes funny, but always well crafted. Eric has performed throughout the US and has opened shows for Clint Black, Blackberry Smoke, Marc Cohn and Lonestar.

He performs regularly in Southern Arizona with his band The Other Troublemakers.

This is an 21+ event

Presented by the Century Room

Hotel Congress

Tucson Folk Fest Presents: Songwriter Roundtable

About

Lineup

Venue

The Century Room

Download the DICE app