Erik Koskinen + Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light at Rare Bird Farm

Erik Koskinen + Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light

Fresh off a first place win at the 2025 Telluride Bluegrass Band contest, Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light have been captivating audiences throughout the northeast and beyond. With songs as sweet and biting as the nectar and venom in her voice, Sumner’s lyric-forward writing and penchant for snaking chord progressions demand something far beyond folk conventions, highlighting the acrobatic range of her brilliant bandmates Kat Wallace (fiddle) and Mike Siegel (upright bass).

Erik Koskinen is an American singer-songwriter,  multi-instrumentalist and producer, whose music is not categorized by sub-genres.  Stylistically he is on his own while heavily influenced by American roots music. The rhythmic integrity and musical tone is as important as the lyrical content and the artistic intent.  Koskinen has reverently entered the anthology of uniquely crafted wry songs with the likes of Woody Guthrie and Ry Cooder while speaking as plainly as your neighbor. The Minneapolis Star Tribune calls Koskinen “the real deal” and “The best country songwriter in Minnesota”