Sweet Petunia: a benefit to support Random Harvest

On Saturday, July 25, Americana/Alt Folk duo Sweet Petunia will perform at Random Harvest in Craryville, a worker-owned market, café and community space that supports farmers and brings people together through locally sourced food. The concert comes just months after the fatal two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Route 23 and County Route 7 that devastated the hamlet, disrupted local businesses and left a lasting emotional impact on the community.

After the crash, Random Harvest remained open and committed to connecting people through food and community. Simpson said the duo looks forward to contributing to a healing experience through their music.

“We are honored to be there and to share our music,” Simpson said. “We’re happy to be part of a celebration and hopefully raise some funds and just have a good time.”

Sweet Petunia is made up of Mairead Guy and Maddy Simpson, who met while studying at Berklee College of Music. Throughout their college years, Guy and Simpson’s voices blended so beautifully that classmates often mistook them for siblings. After discovering their collaborative sound, they formed Sweet Petunia and began performing at music festivals while writing their debut album, “Foggy Mountain Mental Breakdown,” released earlier this year on Ani DiFranco’s label, Righteous Babe Records. The record explores themes rooted in Appalachian traditions while drawing inspiration from Boston’s DIY punk scene.

Sweet Petunia’s music combines deep, thought-provoking lyrics with intricate banjo playing to tell stories of self-discovery and life’s many complexities. The banjo seems to be having a resurgence in mainstream music, a trend the duo believes is driven by younger audiences seeking an escape from modern life and a return to something more tangible.

“I think kids are basically just so fed up with the internet and want to go back,” Simpson said. “So it would make sense to me that they would be interested in more traditional music.”

Through the years they have spent collaborating, both musicians have continued to grow, learning new instruments that have expanded their sound. Along with the evolution of their music, their onstage chemistry has also developed.

“We’ve gotten really good at banter,” Guy said. “People tell us that we’re really funny a lot, which is really meaningful.”

Simpson noted that when they first started playing together, neither of them knew how to play the instrument they are now best known for.

“Neither of us played the banjo, so that was something we learned and developed,” Simpson said. “We both literally learned how to play an entirely new instrument and how to write songs on it and how to incorporate that into the music that we make.”

Random Harvest is located at 1785 Route 23 in Craryville. The performance begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at events.humanitix.com/sweet-
petunia-concert.