8pm • No cover, but a suggested donation of $10-$20 is appreciated!

DC Bluegrass Union Songwriter Showcase

Host: Shannon Leigh Reynolds

Come join DCBU for the our songwriter's rounds series at Hank Dietle's Tavern.

This month features: Randy Barrett • Kate Powderly • Letitia Vansant

Folks - we've got a great line up for October's Songwriter Showcase. Make room in your calendar for this one!

Randy Barrett is a singer, songwriter, banjoist, fiddler, teacher and luthier. He’s spent the last 40+ years playing music that makes people feel good. That includes bluegrass, country, old time, rockabilly and related stylings. Randy has won seven Washington Area Music Awards and performs regularly around the greater DC region and beyond. He is a member of the group Big Howdy and has released three albums: Shake, Rattle & Roar on the Patuxent Music label, Lights of Home and Each & Every Day. As well, Randy is co-author, with Ben Eldridge, of the celebrated book On Banjo – Recollections, Licks and Solos and is the president of Bluegrass Country radio, America’s oldest bluegrass, old time and Americana station (formerly operated by WAMU FM).

Katie Powderly is an award-winning musician and songwriter whose live performances have been featured on PBS and NPR stations. She has toured from New York to Colorado, Texas to Tennessee, and has shared bills with legends like Tony Rice, Del McCoury Band, Yonder Mountain String Band, Lake Street Dive, and many more. Her harmonies have drawn comparisons to Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Aiofe O’Donovan, and even Gram Parsons. Voted “Best Country/Bluegrass Performer” in Madison, WI, she recently released her sophomore album Live by the Song, Die by the Song. When not performing solo, she fronts her electric Americana band, The Unconditional Lovers, whose debut album is due out in 2026.

Letitia VanSant

“…her gentle singsong may strike you as sweet, but listen a little closer, and you’ll realize she is spitting fire.”

-Paste Magazine

What are the unseen currents shaping our world? Letitia VanSant's lyrics trace this question to its roots in the human soul. Her distinctly intimate vocal style is fortified by arrangements ranging from sparse indie folk to soaring Americana anthems.

Paste Magazine named her among 10 Artists to Watch, and BBC Radio says she is “a force to be reckoned with,” but she is most proud of her moniker as "the Joan Baez of Baltimore" (Baltimore Magazine). A winner of the Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Competition, the Baker Artist Award, and Best Vocal Performance on 89.7 WTMD, she has earned the favor of audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. Her new single "Home of the Brave" dropped on September 19th, 2025