EARP'S SONGWRITER'S CIRCLE! Hosted by Brent Funkhouser

EARP'S SONGWRITERS CIRCLE, Featuring Julia Kasdorf, Jillian Matundan, Annette Wasilik and hosted by Brent Funkhouser

Brent Funkhouser began writing songs to quell his adolescent boredom, and quickly fell head-first into a life-long obsession. Growing up in a small town on the edge of Appalachia meant entertainment options were limited, and music provided a creative remedy. Not quite fitting the mold of country despite his Shenandoah drawl, Brent half-jokingly describes his music as y’alternative (or as a friend once said, “not redneck, but redneck adjacent”).

Julia Kasdorf has been performing live music most of her life, from punk in SF to alt-country in DC. When she moved from the west coast to the east, she co-led the award-winning alt-country band One Horse Town in northern Virginia. Julia's songwriting skills come to the fore on the band's album, Dawn Will Deliver, described by Mike Joyce of the Washington Post as "wickedy catchy songs...glorious harmonies...a gem." Now Julia is focused on her solo career as a performing songwriter in the DC region. Her 2018 album, Motel, was produced with the help of Les “Nitty Gritty Dirt Band” Thompson and Dustin Delage, the record includes 8 original and 3 “deep-catalog” covers, all of which bear Julia’s signature commitment to her vision. "This album", she says, "is a crystallization of everything I love about music - driving rhythm, great grooves, stories, and evocative, visual lyrics." "Motel", which also features Jon “Mary Chapin Carpenter” Carroll and Mike Ault, demo man for PRS guitars, is a driving stomp through roots music from Bristol TN to Motor City.

Annette Wasilik has been writing songs ever since she found a Sears Silvertone abandoned in a tin wardrobe in the basement when she was 14. "Songwriting," Annette says, "is like diving for pearls. I sink down and let my emotions lead into melody which leads to phrasing and lyrics. Later the editing comes in." She began performing locally but when her daughter was small, Annette stopped, turning her focus to building a massage practice and caring for her family. Later when she was able to turn her full attention to her music, she dug in. Her debut album, Songs from the Talking House won Contemporary Folk Recording of the Year from The Washington Area Music Association in 2016. Her 2020 recording, Love & Fire released at #6 on the FolkDJ chart and #1 on the NACC chart and landed #40 on Folk DJ chart for the year.

Jillian Matundan is an award-winning, multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter living in Northern Virginia. After a fifteen year hiatus from music, she ventured to local open mics in 2019 and has been on a tear ever since, winning multiple songwriting awards, playing numerous shows, and collaborating with musicians on stage and in the studio. She continues to win audiences with her deft and percussive guitar style, soothing vocals, and a warm, funny, unassuming stage presence. She released her debut EP, “Hangin' On”, in 2020 and released her first full-length, fully crowd-funded album, “Singing to the Moon”, in March 2024.