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music@sorchastudio.com
www.sorchastudio.com

bio

extended bio

Maine songwriter Sorcha Cribben-Merrill draws you into bluesy grooves, haunting ballads, and intricate indie-folk vignettes with her lush vocal jazz charm and powerful presence. A multi-instrumentalist, she keeps her acoustic and electric guitars, banjo, ukulele, and fiddle close at hand.

Raised on the ocean in rural Maine, Sorcha is equally at home performing in folk festivals, rock clubs, intimate listening rooms, and on sailboats. Sorcha has opened for Grammy-nominated mandolinist Matt Flinner, folk music icon Tom Rush, and for celebrated cellist/multi-instrumentalist Leyla McCalla, formerly of the Carolina Chocolate Drops with collaborators Jo Sorrell (cello/vocals) and Kafari (rhythm bones).

Performance highlights include Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (Emerging Artist), historic Club Passim in Cambridge, MA and Caffé Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY, Stone Mountain Arts Center in Brownfield, ME, and The State Theatre in Portland, ME, where she sang two original songs with The Fogcutters, Maine’s contemporary nineteen piece big band.

Sorcha’s original songs from her third studio album, Quiet (2016, Beehive Productions), are featured as the soundtrack for the award-winning documentary LIGHT: a Documentary Film by Caroline Treadway (2021).

short bios

PARAGRAPH

Maine performing songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sorcha Cribben-Merrill draws you into bluesy grooves, haunting ballads, and intricate indie-folk vignettes with her lush vocal jazz charm and powerful presence. Her songs speak the truth, spark the imagination, and breathe with you.

SENTENCE

Maine songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sorcha Cribben-Merrill draws you into bluesy grooves, haunting ballads, and intricate vignettes with her lush vocal jazz charm and powerful presence.

12 WORDS

Sorcha Cribben-Merrill writes stirring indie-folk songs featuring powerful jazz vocals.

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HEARING IS BELIEVING: SORCHA CRIBBEN-MERRILL SHARES THE HEALING POWER OF MUSIC WITH YOUNG AND OLD

BY RAY ROUTHIER | STAFF WRITER — Excerpt: “During the hour that she played, Cribben-Merrill got about a dozen residents of the memory care unit moving and dancing, including several in wheelchairs who were spun and twirled by nurses. . . ‘It’s very unusual for most of them to be so engaged, but Sorcha makes eye contact with them and she makes them feel safe,’ said Susan Stadnicki, one of the nurses on duty while Cribben-Merrill played. ‘As a nurse, I love to see the way they react to her. I wish she was here more.’” — Ray Routhier, Portland Press Herald

QUIET | SORCHA CRIBBEN-MERRILL

BY BRIAN KEVIN | EDITOR — “One compliment you can pay the 12 tracks on Quiet, Sorcha Cribben-Merrill’s new solo release, is to say they all sound like maybe you’ve heard them before. That warm familiarity might come from lyrical repetition — her choruses are often echoed, over and over, like an incantation — or from the fact that Cribben-Merrill’s style is a recognizable pastiche of folk, blues, and acoustic pop balladeering (imagine Iron & Wine’s Sam Beam had a baby with Sarah McLachlan and then Tracy Chapman raised it).” — Brain Kevin, Downeast Magazine

BY KRISTER ROLLINS — Sorcha Cribben-Merrill is a talented singer and songwriter who dedicates a lot of her time toward giving back to the community. . . She's helped write lullabies for teen, homeless an incarcerated parents to help them bond with their children. She helped develop a music and literacy program at the children's museum and theatre of Maine. And she's worked with kids who have seen incredibly difficult times to tell their stories through music. Sorcha is releasing Quiet on Friday, September 30th with a show at the Portland House of Music.

THE ACORN EP | RAMBLIN’ RED

AIMSEL PONTI | MUSIC WRITER — “Four women, four bright originals and a Dolly cover leave us hopeful . . . ’Wide Open’ . . . tells tales of old-fashioned heartache and forgiveness: “When you came to me like an unfinished symphony waiting for me to finish the score, you’re like an open-wide open seashore.” Merrill’s voice soars, and the harmonies are spot-on fantastic.” — Aimsel Ponti, Portland Press Herald

"Walk The Line: Sorcha travels far on her full-length debut"

SAM PFEIFLE | PORTLAND PHOENIX — An album with ADD, Sorcha’s Walk It Once just can’t sit still. Like Jack Kerouac in the 1950s, the whole disc has the itch. Sorcha travels down a “Long Country Road,” spends time “Chasing a Moving Train,” rides a “Helium Balloon,” and returns via a “Road of Second Chances.” Along the way, she travels all over the musical spectrum and unveils a suite of musical styles that shows a wide-ranging songwriting ability delivered with an enjoyable and consistent aesthetic.