Salt aIR SONGWRITER RESIDENCY

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ANDY WALDECK

CRAIG HONEYCUTT

Craig Honeycutt Singer/Songwriter Craig Honeycutt is an American singer,songwriter,and music creative based on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, known for his soulful songwriting, eclectic musical blend,and decades-long musical journey. Originally from the Washington, D.C. area, Craig first gained attention as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band Everything, which scored a mainstream hit with the single “Hooch” in the late 1990s. This ear-worm is still played in 110 countries around the world and will be re-released as a cover by Dale and the Z-Dubs in 2026. Over the years, his artistic path has taken many forms—from touring the U.S. and creatively performing on stages nationwide, to studio work and solo projects, where he explores a fusion of roots instrumentation, ambient textures, rhythm, and globally-influenced pop. He also speaks with collaborator, Mark House, on music, neuroscience and leadership, focusing on how music affects us and brings us together. Craig also documented an ambitious creative challenge by recording and releasing one song everyday for a year via his Community Service YouTube project, reflecting his belief in music as a healing force and creative discipline. In addition to his songwriting and performance, Craig hosts a podcast where he discusses music, life, and the creative process with fellow artists and friends 

REES SHAD

Crafting Landscapes of Song

Over the course of a prolific 40+ year career, 32 releases and 17 solo albums, Rees Shad has crafted music that is both poignant and profound. He creates stories shared from his heart that resonate with universal appeal.

Shad’s latest album, Porcelain Angel (is no exception. Following on the heels of his critically acclaimed album The Galahad Blues, his latest work opens new doors to tales that are both personal and provocative. 

From the bluesy designs of “Coda Blues” and “Thumbing the Scales,” to the pensive approach of “Ain’t That the Way,” the easy celebratory ramble of “Great Big World,” the cool, confident and soulful “A Man Like Me,” the tender if unsettling narrative “Magic Lantern Presentation,” and the expressive piano ballad “Isn’t It A Lovely Day,” Porcelain Angel unfolds as a series of striking soundscapes and vignettes that catch the listener’s ear from the outset. 

The album features an expansive array of gifted contributors accompanying Shad’s vocal, guitar and keyboard work. Along with his band The Conversations (saxophonist Marcus Benoit, bassist Jeff Link, and drummer Bobby Kay), vocalists Eleanor Dubinsky, Kemp Harris, Wanda Houston, and Natalia Zukerman (also on lap steel), guitar virtuosos Rick Ruskin& Dario Acosta Teich, and harmonica wizard R.B. Stone all bring a refined filigree to the stories woven here. The comradery and joy in the performances comes through song after song culminating in a solid collection that make this one of Shad’s most intriguing albums to date. Here he returns to what many will recognize as his essential Americana roots. Shad demurs on this point, however, “I don’t really see it as returning to a form. I compose music to convey story. I’m not committed to a genre; I’m committed to building the appropriate landscape for the tale.”

Born and raised in New York City, Shad’s interest in music was encouraged by parents who exposed him to Broadway musicals, concerts of Jazz and Classical music, and who encouraged him to wander Greenwich village playing open mic nights as a teenager. He became immersed in New York’s iconic music scene, from Gerde’s Folk City to CBGB and was soon adopted by older artists as a sideman for shows and recording sessions. Eventually Shad settled in upstate New York in an area of old farms and post-industrial towns, where he built a professional recording studio and began to compose music in earnest.
 

“This gave me the ability to focus on the studio as creative instrument” says Shad. “But since it was a business, I had to be economical with when and how I worked. I developed a work ethic in my craft that has continued to be important to how I work.” The result has been a large and ever-growing catalog of material (500+ copyrights!). Three decades later Making a Scene noted Shad continues to be “one of the most prolific artists on the scene.”

That work ethic and the resulting knowledge base has allowed Shad to constantly expand his range. He has consistently maintained a reputation as a passionate and profound singer/songwriter while also delving into the realms of electronic music with his alter ego, Fester Spunk. Spunk released four albums, composed and recorded scores for several plays and independent film shorts, as well as for the classic silent film ‘The Golem.’ In addition, Shad composed and recorded an operetta about a serial killer 

on the Underground Railroad.

At heart, Shad is an aspiring polymath. He holds three master’s degrees — in Educational Policy, Technical Communication and Design & Technology — and spent two decades developing media design curriculum for colleges and universities. He created the first Game Design program at CUNY, was CASE New York Professor of the Year in 2013, authored a game design textbook, and created several educational board games. He has had gallery shows of his installation art involving non-linear narratives and is 

an avid woodworker and luthier.

“Ultimately, It’s all about an evolving communication for me,” Shad says. “Whatever I create, the audience needs to understand my intention in order to connect viscerally. What keeps it all interesting for me is that the audience continues to evolve. So, I get to evolve as well.”

Porcelain Angel is evidence of this artist’s impressive evolution. 

Stream the album here.

 

For additional information, please visit  www.ReesShadMusic.com.

TERRY KLEIN

Terry Klein writes songs and sings them for people and makes records and drives around in his 2015 Toyota Venza and plays a lot of shows. The Austin American-Statesman calls him “one of Austin's top 

singer-songwriters in recent years.”

Terry’s first two albums, Great Northern (2017) and Tex (2019), were produced by Texas folk hero Walt Wilkins and garnered praise from Mary Gauthier and Rodney Crowell and press and radio outlets across the United States and Europe. For his third album, Terry went to Nashville and worked with producer and multi-instrumentalist Thomm Jutz. Recorded over a few breakneck days in October 2021 and released in February 2022, No Depression said Good Luck, Take Care "has a knack for telling poetic stories in songs about the sad, funny, ironic, and devastating ups and downs of our lives" and American Songwriter said the album "conveys honesty and 

emotion that gives the listener a clear connection."

Terry’s fourth album, Leave the Light On, was also recorded and produced by Thomm Jutz in Nashville and was one of the most critically acclaimed singer-songwriter albums released in 2023. It made American Songwriter’s Top 17 Albums of 2023. Saving Country Music said “the 10 songs of Leave The Light On are like 10 little universes that you’re eager to unearth and unravel, hanging on every word, and re-racking them to catch what you might have missed the first time.” In Glide, Jim Hynes wrote “With such a legacy of great Texas songwriters, in this millennium, after just four albums 

Klein stands among the best.”

Terry’s newest record, Hill Country Folk Music, is out now. Thomm Jutz recorded and produced the album at his Nashville studio over four days in August 2025. Jubilant, defiant, desperate, and contemplative, it refuses to be pigeonholed. Kind of like the Texas Hill Country,

 like folk music, like Terry himself.

Terry has played in some of the most hallowed rooms in the singer-songwriter business: Club Passim, The Bluebird, The Saxon Pub, The Blue Door, and Godfrey Daniels, to name a few. He’s played sets and won over crowds at the Moccasin Creek Festival, the Blanco River Songwriters Festival, the Corpus Christi Songwriters Festival, the Hotel Turkey Songwriters Festival, and the Montrose Music Festival. Before all that, a couple of lifetimes ago, he played in a heavy metal band in Los Angeles, thrashing around on grimy, storied stages like the Troubadour and the Whiskey A Go Go. Somewhere in the middle, Terry worked in politics and then as a trial lawyer. 

He lives with his family in Austin, Texas.

Director and organizer of the Residency, and managing 

partner of the Pioneer Theater,

Michael Basnight has expressed his expectation that this will further the awareness of Manteo and it’s surrounding communities to inspire an even greater creative music scene on the Outer Banks. His hope is to bring the writers back for a follow up visit to form a 2027 writing retreat

to encourage up-and-coming songwriters in their work.

For more information about the residency, please reach out to

Michael

619.889.1431

michael@thepioneertheater.com