Today, folksinger/songwriter Jordan Sellergren will perform at Lion Bridge Brewing Co., 59 16th Ave. S.W., Cedar Rapids, under her stage name, Milk & Eggs.
“I wanted a moniker to play under, and then I’m a mother, and it’s kind of a shout-out to the female reproductive system,” Sellergren said.
This is the first of three concerts that will be part of the Lion Bridge Summer Concert Series. Other performers scheduled to perform include Drew Hurn on Aug. 10 and Paul Carey on Sept. 14.Folk music, as a genre, is known to focus on telling a narrative for audiences to listen to. Most folk music relies on talking about hardships, with some exceptions, and Sellergren’s music tells its version of heartbreak.
“I would say most of [my music] is just heartbreaking love songs, which is not necessarily what I want it to remain,” Sellergren said. “It’s just that when I started writing, that’s where I was, and that’s kind of where I stayed.”
Sellergren is a Mississippi native who has since moved to Iowa City. She began seriously pursuing folk music in 2009, writing songs that used heartbreak as a narrative. She taught herself guitar and has progressed to electric guitar, writing less but still pursuing folk.
“It was listening to bluegrass in passing that inspired me to write,” Sellergren said. “I thought the songs were so powerful and beautiful narratively and heartwrenching.”
In 2011, Sellergren released her first full-length album, eponymously named Milk & Eggs. Later that year, she released more songs, one of which is called “Birdhouses,” which was featured on Daytrotter’s best songs of 2011.
“I saw you perform tonight, you freaking rock my socks off (I was the guy who happened to perform ‘His Eye Is on the Sparrow,’ if you happened to stick around that long to hear it),” wrote Joseph Smith on the Milk & Eggs on Facebook page. “It was an honor to listen to you.”
If everything goes well, Lion Bridge would like to turn this first Summer Concert into a recurring concert series, with Sellergren being the first in a long line of musicians.
“I came up with the lineup of musicians, and I’ve been working with them, doing all the planning for the event,” said Jennifer Trembath, the Lion Bridge event coordinator. “They decided they wanted to have music on the patio and to just showcase our beer garden, because we are the only patio in the city that actually has the natural tree still in it.”
Some of the events it has put on include a recurring Make Your Own Stein class, new beer showcases such as the upcoming Raspberry Rhubarb Pie Wheat, and other live music events that use the brewery’s beer garden.
“We really like supporting local musicians,” Trembath said. “We wanted to have a nice, relaxing evening for people, with some music outside, and to just take in the beer garden, and see the nice views of the city. It’s a really relaxing place to have some beer, and hang out, and have some food afterward.”
Milk & Eggs
When: 6 p.m. Today
Where: Lion Bridge Brewing Co., 59 16th Ave. S.W., Cedar Rapids