Affable. Maybe it’s not the first word that a musician and songwriter would prefer as a descriptor to their life’s work, but such is Margo Cilker. To watch her perform is to experience a look of joy and contentment while she presents songs as travelogues, monologues or biographies of the slightly crazed. This music has deep roots. It is Americana, figuratively and literally, nestled in the space between classic country and The Band.

Margo is a rustic storyteller with deep narratives. Formerly a nomad, moving throughout the US and around the world, playing covers of Neil Young, CCR and Lucinda Williams (including a tribute band for her in the Basque country of Spain). Cilker now lives on a sheep ranch in southern Washington state. While settled in the Pacific Northwest, she has released two full-length records, 2021’s Pohorylle and 2023’s Valley of Heart’s Delight, both of which landed on a slew of top albums of the year lists. As she states in a song: “What do I do with the middle between the coffee and the wine?” Presumably, find a spare piece of grass in front of an afternoon stage and enjoy.

— Jay Nelson