Iowa City Songwriters Festival – Nathan Graham and Todd Partridge

When you think of a singer-songwriter, who comes to mind? Nathan Graham says it probably isn’t somebody who looks like he does. And he wants to change that. Raised in Chicago on Prince and Earth, Wind & Fire, Graham bridges South Side Blues with Nashville Americana to deliver a bittersweet and soulful sound. Starting out backing blues singers at famous haunts like Buddy Guy’s Legends and Kingston Mines, he spent a decade building his career as a guitar-for-hire before forming bands to perform his own music and lyrics.

Todd Partridge has been a fixture on the Midwest music scene for over 25 years, performing a gritty blend of American roots music steeped in blues, folk, country, classic rock, and Americana. Raised among the barns and cornfields of the Midwest prairie, his songwriting carries the raw honesty and weathered soul of Iowa itself. Todd has performed and recorded with bands including Black Light Syndrome, Salamagundi, and the critically acclaimed King of the Tramps, where he spent a decade touring across the U.S. and Europe and released five albums of self-described “Whiskey Gospel” music.