Patio Show: Miriam’s Militia

Miriam Allen is a genre-defying songwriter who has opened for icons including Tim O’Brien, Doc Watson, and Del McCoury, performing at festivals across the western hemisphere from MerleFest in North Carolina to Salmonfest in Alaska to the Festival Río Cuale in Mexico. A finalist in both the John Hartford Songwriting Contest and the Asheville Brown Bag Competition, she builds solo shows around vocals, guitar, fiddle, and foot stomp, with setlists that range from avant-garde to honky-tonk to Latin.

Beyond the stage, Miriam is a passionate advocate and naturalist. She organized The Resilience Festival to support survivors of sexual trauma and the Pathway to Citizenship show to fund immigrant legal protections, and she works as a music therapist in group homes for people with disabilities. A backpacker of more than 1,000 miles through the Andes, Rockies, and Appalachians, she has volunteered to treat hundreds of hemlock trees across Western North Carolina and translated educational materials into Spanish for her community. She wrote a song for the award-winning film Coyote and another that was played for President Jimmy Carter in his final weeks. “Whether for a crime victim, an injured raccoon, or an aphid-infested hemlock, Miriam Allen shows up with a song and an open heart.”  Ty Gilpin – SHIFT Music Services