Monica Rizzio at Spire Center for the Performing Arts

SPIRE LOBBY SERIES: MONICA RIZZIO

Presented by The Antonia and Vladimir Kulaev Cultural Heritage Fund.

This series showcases local and regional musicians in a relaxed and intimate setting. The lobby is transformed into a 70-seat showcase lounge!

Singer-songwriter Monica Rizzio brings her Texas-to-Cape Cod country sound to a series of New England shows in summer 2025.

Going live has always been singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and renowned educator Monica Rizzio’s guiding principle. Over the course of two critically and fan-acclaimed full-lengths and collaborations with the likes of Tom Rush and Patty Larkin, along with her 2024 opening slots for the great Mavericks vocalist Raul Malo during his solo tour, Monica is a force of nature, Cape Cod by way of Texas. She brings her country-folk-pop sound to New England on a series of dates in summer and fall 2025, with solo outings and shows with her band, The Round-Ups. As The Provincetown Independent said about Monica’s live show in 2024: “Her strong, sure voice fills the room; the guitar in her hands sounds bigger than it is.”

With a perspective equally influenced by her Texas roots and her Cape Cod home, Americana singer-songwriter Monica Rizzio has emerged as one of the finest talents in the East Coast music scene. Monica released her debut album, aptly named Washashore Cowgirl, in 2016; where it was Monica’s solo introduction after a decade in the trio Tripping Lily, Sunshine is Free is her expansion — after time spent on the road, she realized it was time for her to start collaborating again and recorded the album in Nashville with producer Michael Rinne and a stacked lineup of guest musicians. Throughout the eleven tracks on Sunshine Is Free, Monica appreciates the little things in life and looks for silver linings where necessary. It’s clear she has a keen ability to connect; her songs are often autobiographical but delivered through a fictional approach that aids in creating a universal experience for the listener — whether it’s expressed using her trademark sense of humor or with such striking honesty that the pain in her voice is tangible.

“Sunshine Is Free is a well-written, well-crafted collection of country songs that sound good either in your headphones or rolling down a dirt road in your Jeep.”
– Americana Highways