BRT Presents: Kerri Powers

Drenched in the emotions of blues, soul, folk and country music, roots singer-songwriter Kerri Powers uses her dramatically dark voice to mine the depths of romantic heartbreak and broken dreams in the edgy narratives of her songs.

A native of rural Massachusetts, Powers sings the blues with such authentic, down-home grit that you might well think she’s from Mississippi. With “Love is Why,” Powers’ first self-penned full-length album since 2018, the New England-based artist explores the universal emotion of love and its huge influence on our decisions. In particular, she examines love in the context of holding on or letting go through human loss and grieving. The album’s original songs were written during the pandemic and after Powers lost her father, whom she calls “my best friend.” “I wrote the songs from a place of loss and grieving and went from there,” she says. “Writing the songs was hard but a necessary part of healing. At the end of the day, all the songs were written from a place of love for humanity and the need to spread the message that love is essential.”

The CD was produced by drummer Marco Giovino (Robert Plant, Tom Jones, Norah Jones) who will join Kerri for tonight’s concert.

Says John Apice, of No Depression, “I don’t know where this young lady came from but it’s got to be a secret place. This is not the kind of singing and performing that can be easily taught. It has to be in your spirit, in your blood and the fact that she is from the Northeast is going to confound the artists down South, in the Delta, in Memphis, Clarksdale, Austin, and Nashville.”

When you catch Kerri on stage, you will immediately feel the realness and rawness of her artistry. She delivers art at its purest, a musical canvas painted with all the soulful colors and emotion that will pull you into her songs and message of love.