full bio
Maine performing 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. Her songs speak the truth and spark the imagination.
Raised on the ocean in rural Maine, Sorcha is equally at home performing in folk festivals, rock clubs, intimate listening rooms, and on sailboats. A multi-instrumentalist living seaside in Portland, Maine, her acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo, and ukulele all shape her compositions and performances.
Sorcha has opened for Grammy-nominated mandolinist Matt Flinner, folk music icon Tom Rush, and celebrated cellist/multi-instrumentalist Leyla McCalla, formerly of the Carolina Chocolate Drops — with collaborators Jo Sorrell on cello/vocals, and pianist/electronic musician Kafari on 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.
As an arts in health advocate, the transformative power of music and songwriting underscores her work. Sorcha shares music with older adults and memory care audiences and she partners with The Lullaby Project — a Carnegie Hall program that pairs new parents and caregivers with professional musicians to write and sing lullabies for their babies. Sorcha has also facilitated songwriting programs in schools, and the Center For Grieving Children, where she served as a peer-group facilitator for teens for five years. Sorcha is currently completing the Community Health Musician certificate program through Berklee’s Music & Health Institute in Boston, MA.
Sorcha’s original music is featured in two independent films: award-winning documentary LIGHT: a Documentary Film by Caroline Treadway (2021), and Merrymeeting Bay: The Rising Tide of Stewardship by Mark Ireland (2018). Her third studio album, Quiet, was co-produced with Jeff Oehler of Beehive Productions and released in September 2016. New music is forthcoming.
short bios
PARAGRAPH
Maine 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.
photo by johanna sorrell photography
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.
RECOMMENDED IF YOU LIKE
Feist, Anaïs Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, Brandi Carlile,
Nora Jones, Neko Case, Lucinda Williams
press quotes
“Sorcha displays some serious bravado . . . impressive range . . . 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 . . . witty verses and smart rhymes.”
— Portland Phoenix | Sam Pfeifle
“'Quiet' is a lovely record for a long, meditative drive . . . with her various duo and trio projects, Cribben-Merrill skews soulful, funky, and twangy, so it's refreshing to hear a record devoted to her tranquil side - it only underscores the crazy range of one of Maine's most versatile troubadours. And there's nothing quiet about that.”
— Downeast Magazine | Brian Kevin
“This hard-touring solo (sometimes duo) artist . . . with brilliant virtuosity . . . already slayed at the State Theatre last year, and now she’ll conquer our hearts again on a smaller stage that will surely highlight this musician’s dedication and unexpected vocal power.”
— Portland Press Herald | Aimsel Ponti
“That warm familiarity . . . like an incantation . . . 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).”
— Downeast Magazine | Brian Kevin