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rachel sumner & traveling light✨

@rachelsumnermusic

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Femericana stringband from Boston with a bookish bite.
🏆 2025 Telluride Bluegrass Band Winner
See us on tour! 👇

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come feel it for yourself at a show 💚 #radiumgirls #curieeleison by @rachelsumnermusic

Telluride Band Contest winner @rtsumner performing her original song "Thank God You Had a Daughter" for the Telluride Bluegrass Solstice Sessions ☀️

Watch the full video on our YT channel at the link in bio!

#telluridebluegrass #solsticesessions by @rachelsumnermusic

Spots are filling up for 2027’s summer retreat! You don’t want to miss out on the dreamiest songwriting adventure in the southwest✨🌵

Hot tip: payment plans are available!! Learn more at the link in our bio! by @rachelsumnermusic

Announcing: 𝓛𝓪𝓭𝓭𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓸 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓜𝓸𝓸𝓷𝓭𝓪𝔂 𝓢𝓸𝓷𝓰 𝓢𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓮
✨A free monthly gathering for songwriters of all levels✨

Join us online on the second Monday of each month to share new songs, connect with fellow songwriters, and keep one another creatively accountable. We’ll provide an optional songwriting prompt each month to help spark inspiration.

These gatherings are leading up to Ladder to the Moon, our summertime destination songwriting retreat in New Mexico – but you don’t need to be registered for the retreat to participate.

Everyone is welcome. All levels. And it’s free!

Sign up once to receive our monthly invitations, prompts, and Zoom link. 🔗 in our bio! by @rachelsumnermusic

@catherinegraffam recreated the #gustavklimt painting that inspired our new song “The Book of Judith” completely in #kidpix! we sped it up for instagram, but you can watch the full thing unfold and listen to our ballad of #judith at the link in our bio✨🗡️ by @rachelsumnermusic

BIG NEWS: In addition to double bass, Mike will soon be playing double BASSINET—he and his wife have a second kid on the way! 🐣

We’re so happy for them and excited for this next chapter. ❤️

With that exciting announcement, we have some bittersweet news to share: Mike will be stepping away from Traveling Light. Being on the road comes with its challenges, but especially for folks with little ones, and we’re so excited for Mike as he focuses on his growing family and puts down deeper roots in his musical community at home. We love him so, so much and are endlessly grateful for the spirit, musicality, and sense of adventure he’s brought to the band for all these years and miles!

“Traveling Light has been the experience of a lifetime. I’m so grateful for the amazing times we’ve had over the last five-plus years, and for everyone we’ve had the chance to play for and with along the way. While I won’t be able to join for this next chapter, I’m so glad to have our best work yet captured on this upcoming album, and I’m very excited to see where the band goes from here! On the homefront: Looking forward to picking, gigging and hanging with Northeast pals more than ever!” - Mike

The name Traveling Light has always felt right for us because light shifts and changes. That’s also the way this band was made: to shift, change, and become whatever it needs to be. As we say goodbye to Mike’s time as a full-time member, we’re sending him off with so much love and gratitude. Please join us in celebrating him and wishing him and his family all the best!

As we roll out our new record, Noise & Fantastics, you’ll hear Mike playing all over it! Our first single, “Book of Judith,” is already out, and we’re so glad this music will be part of the legacy we’ve made together.

Over the last two years, you may have seen some sub bassists playing with us while Mike welcomed his first baby. Traveling Light will remain a trio, with the flexibility to call on our wonderful network of bassists. We’re grateful to everyone who’s joined us along the way, and we hope you’ll be energized for what’s ahead as we look forward to the next chapter of Traveling Light! by @rachelsumnermusic

closing out this beautiful fall tour with a show in Northampton, MA tonight at @parlorroommusic ! @popsiclepuddle opens✨ by @rachelsumnermusic

one week of “The Book of Judith” in the world and so many of you have listened, already! thank you, thank you!🗡️🩸❤️✨

artwork by @catherinegraffam
procuded by @samkassirer by @rachelsumnermusic

we’re having fun on tour singing about cowboys & solidarity in 3-part harmony✨

this one was from our sold out show in Lansing! by @rachelsumnermusic

Fresh off their 2025 Telluride Bluegrass Band Contest win, Rachel Sumner & Traveling Light are bringing their unique blend of folk tradition, rich harmonies, and powerful storytelling to Banning Hall! 🎻

Join us October 24 at 7:30 PM for an evening of incredible live music. Get your tickets and find your center!

🎥 Video credit: Sean Trischka

#FindYourCenter #StissingCenter #RachelSumner #LiveMusic #HudsonValleyEvents FolkMusic by @rachelsumnermusic

we had a full house last night at @therobintheatre in Lansing!!! our very first Michigan show was one for the books📚 thank y’all for filling up the room on a Tuesday and listening and hootin’ and hollerin’! you made the night so special with your energy!! 💛 thanks to the Robin Theater and to @tenpoundfiddle for having us!!

tonight is your last chance to see us in Michigan this year! we’re at @20frontstreet tonight and there are plenty of tickets available - tell your friends and book clubs that we wanna share our songs with you!!

then rollin on to @buffalofriendsoffolkmusic tomorrow night, @stissingcenter on Saturday, and @parlorroommusic on Sunday! by @rachelsumnermusic

our last shows of the year - we play Michigan for the first time tonight!! tell your pals and get your tickets early and often🗡️✨

and listen to our new single “The Book of Judith” now!

📸: @amesable by @rachelsumnermusic