We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again; Great folk music is about the song, not the image. We can’t imagine a more obvious example than Meg Hutchinson. Her voice has been called soft, something of a whisper. welike to think of it as the musical equivalent of a conversation. When listening, you aren’t overwhelmed, you aren’t straining to hear and you aren’t struggling to grasp her message. You can simply relate. Hutchinson has the uncanny ability to avoid cryptic and elitist lyrics while still remaining rich and eloquent. Of course, we haven’t even mentioned her well-placed instrumental subtleties, often accompanying her focused lyrics with nothing more than the sustain of a double bass and the sparse arpeggiation of an acoustic guitar.

Beyond the music, Hutchinson has garnered a plethora of songwriting achievements and industry buzz. In addition to many regional songwriting awards, she was a Billboard Songwriting Competition finalist twice and a John Lennon Songwriting Competition finalist as well. She has shared the stage with artists like Lori McKenna and Joe Pug and has performed at both the Folk Alliance Conference and SXSW. Recently, one of her songs was featured on the iTunes Nature Walk Essentials playlist. To top it off, she recently performed at the Lilith Fair as part of Winterbloom, the OS Lilith Local Talent Search winner.

Be sure to check out her OurStage profile as well as her Web site to pick up her latest release The Living Side.