Upcoming Events

The ACMA is excited to co-host another concert in the Music Under the Stars Series with the Calusa Nature Center. The concert takes place INSIDE the Planetarium under the stars. Doors at 6:30, Show at 7 PM. Advance tickets highly recommended! Tickets. https://www.calusanature.org/event  Here's a bit about the three musicians who are performing in the round. Buddy Mondlock writes songs. He does it so well that some great songwriters haverecorded his songs on their own albums. Guy Clark, Nanci Griffith…

Ben Gage is a songwriter from Akron, OH. Ben Gage grew up in the rust belt of Northeast Ohio, spread out in the countryside along the great Lake Erie. His roots run deep beside the hard working blue collars that Ohio has to boast. That tenacity, love of family, and respect for a long day can be seen in his music. He doesn’t shy away from life’s ups and downs and sews human experience within all his songs, artfully, without…

ACMA Songwriters at Koreshan State Park The Friends of Koreshan State Park have partnered with the ACMA (Americana Community Music Association) to present monthly concerts featuring all-original music by talented local artists. Bring a chair or blanket and settle in for an evening under the stars. If the weather doesn’t cooperate, the show will be canceled and your tickets will be honored at next month’s performance. The ACMA, a Fort Myers–based nonprofit, is dedicated to promoting original music by local…

One of our favorite blues musicians is back! Doug McLeod to tell it, "just like this!" MacLeod is known for his superb songwriting, guitar wizardry, warm soulful vocals, wit, and unforgettable live performances. At the heart of a Doug MacLeod performance is his knack for storytelling, bringing characters from the faceless to the legendary to strikingly real life. Doug is a multiple Blues Music Award winner, including the 2024 Blues Music Award for Acoustic Album Of The Year Raw Blues…

Soaring Americana vocals along with some artistic experimentation into reggae and punk gets you, Jann Klose. Welcome back! Jann Klose is an award-winning* pop singer-songwriter, who has released seven albums and two EPs. Klose was raised in Kenya, South Africa, Germany and the United States. Singles from his most recent albums Surrender and In Tandem have accumulated over 10 million streams across all platforms and charted on Top 40 radio in both the US and South Africa. Jann served as…

Joe Crookston is a force of nature on stage. Pure magic. He’s in his power AND communes with his audience. From touring with Gordon Lightfoot, headlining major US festivals, receiving Folk Alliance International “Album of the Year,” releasing NINE BECOMES ONE (2024) to being named Folk Alliance International Artist-in- Resident, Joe is on fire. He’s played with Suzanne Vega, Dar Williams, David Francey, John McCutcheon, John Gorka, Judy Collins and 100’s more. His songs are are being made into award…

The ACMA and Calusa Nature Center are excited to announce another concert inside the Planetarium under the stars!Doors at 6:30, Music at 7 Tickets at https://www.calusanature.org $18 members/$20 General public Andy grew up in Miami, Florida where he was first exposed to classical, pop and international music. He had his first “gig” at age five with a Calypso Latin band that performed at his mother’s restaurant in Miami every weekend. Andy played the bongos while wearing a little Ricky Ricardo…

“This husband and wife team runs the gamut from engaging acoustic folk to driving bluesy tunes, with hints of twang sprinkled in.”-----Making a Scene Magazine Roy Schneider and Kim Mayfield are the core duo and songwriters of Reckless Saints. Partners in music and love since 2003, they began recording and touring five years later. “Blue Twangled Folk 'n' Roll' is the answer Roy provided to the question "What kind of music do you play?" The Fort Myers based duo decided…

Doors at 6:30.  Show at 7:00Suggested donation at the door $18/22 The ACMA is tickled pink to be able to bring these three venerable Crackers back together for a songwriting round you won’t forget! It's been 12 years since the first PMS “tour” but these songwriters have not been sitting around on their (ahem) laurels while life passed them by. Read on for a bit about each of their accomplishments. Grant Peeples: A self-described “tree-hugger that watches NASCAR,” Grant Peeples…

Acclaimed raconteur Ray Bonneville strips his bluesy Americana down to its essentials and steeps it in the humid grooves of the South, creating a compelling poetry of hard living and deep feeling. Jim Withers (Montreal Gazette) describes his sound as “folk-roots gumbo… a languid Mississippi Delta groove, seasoned with smooth, weathered vocals and a propulsive harmonica wheeze.” Whether performing solo or fronting a band, playing electric or acoustic guitar, Bonneville allows space between notes that adds potency to every chord,…

The ACMA and The Alliance Of The Arts are once again partnering to bring exceptional live music to our Area. Brian Smalley is well known throughout Florida and beyond for his exceptional guitar picking, his gift for lyrics and his unique take on well known classics. He’s always a crowd favorite and particularly an ACMA favorite. He’s been called a “triple threat” and brings not only a fantastic music experience but also leaves the audience smiling and happy through his…

Heather Pierson is a New Hampshire based singer/songwriter, pianist, song leader, and performer with a passion for cultivating joy, both onstage and off. With a toe in each of the realms of New Orleans jazz, blues, vocal chants, instrumental piano, and folk, her multi-genre songwriting places her firmly in a category all her own, one honed by decades of diligent practice and curious exploration. Whether solo, as a duo, with her trio, or in a community sing, Heather’s live performances…

The ACMA is delighted to once again host the venerable Roy Book Binder at our ACMA Alliance Concert series. Sunday Feb 8th Doors at 2:30 Show at 3:00 Tickets at www.artinlee.org $20 for ACMA members/$25 General Public. If you've not been to a Roy Book Binder show you're in for a treat...he is a true national treasure. If it's your first time, it won't be your last. As Roy says he is "on tour with no parole" Roy Book Binder…

Need plans for Valentine's Day? The ACMA listening room has you covered. Rupert Wates was born in London and studied at Oxford University. He began his full-time songwriting career in the late 1990s after signing a publishing deal with Eaton Music Limited. In London, he collaborated with top-tier performers before moving to Paris in 2001, where he formed his own quartet and began performing regularly. Since relocating to the United States in 2006, Wates has made his home between New…

The ACMA and the Calusa Nature Center are thrilled to welcome Dan Navarro and Kevin John Allen to the Music Under the Stars series. Dan is an ACMA favorite at our All Faiths Venue and we are excited to share his talents at our series in collaboration with one of our partner non-profits. Doors open at 6:30, Show at 7:00 PM Tickets will be available at calusanature.orgACMA/Nature Center members $18/general public $20. Here’s a bit about Dan Navarro! Dan Navarro’s…

A vocal harmony duo fifteen years in the making, Moors & McCumber have done more than just endear themselves to fans - they’ve built a genuine community. Bridging the gap between classic folk rock and present day Americana, they write heartfelt songs directly inspired by life’s experiences. With their latest record, released in 2023, 'Wired to the Moon,' they have created some of their most compelling work to date. The sound of Moors & McCumber is adventurous, eclectic, and endlessly…

Being diversified is Ruth Wyand’s specialty. Demonstrating guitar virtuosity with powerful fingerpicking, bottleneck slide and a warm alto voice Ruth plays a mix of Americana, jazz, blues, folk, country with a portion of Piedmont picking and bluegrass clawhammer thrown in. Her songwriting is universal, using a melting pot of styles with lyrics that are timeless, relatable, emotionally resonant, sometimes witty, sometimes serious but always human and genuine. Ruth presents a mixture of originals with poignant lyrics as well as well-crafted…

Doors at 2:30 Show at 3:00 Tickets at www.artinlee.org $20 for ACMA members/$25 General Public. The ACMA Alliance Concert series for March proudly presents Kray Van Kirk a fine finger-style guitarist with a precise baritone, Kray Van Kirk has a Ph.D. from the University of Alaska, but he set science aside to write songs, tell stories and summon heroes. "We are driven by myth and the seasons of the heart," he says, "and the stories are all true. There is…

Betty Soo is as Texan as they come. Raised outside Houston by first-generation Korean immigrant parents, educated at UT, she grew up listening to the Great American songbook and country radio. Older sisters led her to the world of singer/songwriters, and nights spent at The Cactus Café and Hole In The Wall turned her on to the legacy of Texas song. Her 2007 solo disc, Little Tiny Secrets, garnered heavy regional airplay; 2009’s Heat Sin Water Sin produced by Gurf…

Tret Fure began her career at the age of 16, singing in coffeehouses and campuses in the Midwest. At 19, she moved to LA in hopes of obtaining a record deal. Within a year she was performing as guitarist and vocalist for Spencer Davis, touring with him and penning the single for his album Mousetrap. She went on to record her own album Tret Fure in 1973, on MCA/UNI Records, with the late Lowell George of Little Feat as her…

The ACMA always is happy to have Jon Shain back, this time in a new location.....The Planetarium at Calusa Nature Center. Hailing from Durham, NC, Jon Shain is a veteran singer-songwriter who's been turning heads for years with his words, his fiery acoustic guitar work, and his evolved musical style - combining improvised piedmont blues with bluegrass, swing, and ragtime. Jon has released nine solo albums to date, along with two albums with duo partner FJ Ventre, a Jon Shain…

If you've never been part of an 8 Ball Aitken show, you will soon realize why nobody wants to be a follow up! 8 Ball Aitken has toured the world for more than a decade performing his swamp-soul and blues-rock across twenty countries to date. He’s earned a loyal fanbase from his live shows and internet videos, while paying his dues as a singer, songwriter, slide-guitarist, and producer. 8 Ball moved to Nashville, Tennessee, USA in 2012 and worked for…