Connor Garvey & Ben Cosgrove — Together in Concert

About This Event

DAY OF SHOW: $25 (+ fees) Two distinctive New England musicians, two very different musical voices, and a shared love of great songs, stories, and the spaces between them. Award-winning Portland, Maine singer-songwriter Connor Garvey and acclaimed pianist/composer Ben Cosgrove have been making music together for years, bringing an unusually dynamic combination of Garvey’s rhythmic, soulful songwriting and Cosgrove’s richly textured, landscape-inspired piano work to stages throughout New England and beyond. Their collaboration has included concerts in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Colorado, and beyond, with notable appearances together at venues including One Longfellow Square in Portland, The Word Barn in Exeter, and Stone Cottage Studios in Boulder. They have also shared the stage at festivals and special events, including Connor’s Great Northeast Folk Festival in Portland. Their musical partnership has grown from individual appearances into a genuine creative collaboration, with Cosgrove performing and recording with Garvey and becoming part of the larger musical world surrounding Garvey’s albums and live shows. In concert, the pairing offers something more than two artists taking turns onstage. Garvey’s intimate, humorous, deeply human songs provide the narrative center, while Cosgrove’s inventive piano playing adds color, movement, atmosphere, and surprise. The result is a show that can move effortlessly from quiet reflection to rhythmic energy, with plenty of conversation, spontaneity, and musical interplay along the way. Connor Garvey & Ben Cosgrove bring years of friendship, collaboration, and shared stages to every performance—a meeting of songwriter and composer that feels both carefully crafted and completely in the moment Connor Garvey: Connor Garvey is an award-winning singer-songwriter from Portland, Maine, whose music lives at the intersection of thoughtful folk, rhythmic acoustic rock, and deeply human storytelling. With a career spanning more than two decades, Garvey has built a reputation as an engaging performer, accomplished guitarist, and songwriter unafraid to explore life’s heavier questions without losing his sense of humor, hope, or wonder. A winner of the Kerrville New Folk, Rocky Mountain Folks Fest, SolarFest, Wildflower Arts & Music Festival, and Maine Songwriters Association competitions, Garvey was also voted the Most Wanted Artist at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival and named one of SiriusXM’s top new singer-songwriters. His performances have taken him to major folk festivals and listening rooms across the country, sharing stages with artists including John Gorka, Ellis Paul, David Wilcox, Catie Curtis, Brett Dennen, Storyhill, and The Ballroom Thieves. Garvey’s eighth album, Another End of a Year, marked a particularly mature chapter in his songwriting. The Portland Press Herald praised its “first-rate songwriting with equally solid vocals and a tapestry of keen musicianship,” while Glide Magazine called it “his most powerful record yet,” highlighting Garvey’s ability to write lyrics that reach “the core of some of our most vulnerable feelings.” The Maine Edge described the album as “simply top-tier material” and “another example of a Maine artist deserving of a global profile.” Americana UK summed it up more simply: “This is quality song-craft from a richly experienced, acclaimed musician.” That depth is balanced by a performer’s natural ability to connect. The Portland Press Herald’s Aimsel Ponti captured something central to Garvey’s appeal, writing that he “proves you can be optimistic and self-aware without being boring.” The Portland Phoenix’s Sam Pfiefle urged listeners to “STOP AND LISTEN,” describing Garvey as something like “a cross between Paul Simon and Rufus Wainwright,” while No Depression praised the creative spark that makes his live performances continually surprising. Garvey’s songs are ultimately about connection: the stories we tell ourselves, the moments that change us, the people who help us through, and the possibility of finding meaning—and even joy—in the middle of it all. Whether performing solo or with the musicians who have formed the backbone of his recordings for years, he brings audiences into that shared space between the last note and the applause, where a good song becomes something more than entertainment. Based in Portland, Maine, Connor Garvey continues to write, record, perform, and lead songwriting workshops, carrying forward a simple belief that has animated his career from the beginning: a song can make us pay closer attention—to ourselves, to one another, and to the world around us.

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