Loretta Hagen

The title song fromLoretta Hagen's upcoming CD , "Sundown Till Dawn", is her most personal recording to date.  After her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease five years ago, Loretta and her family became her caregivers, taking turns staying in their mom's home round the clock and dealing with the changes and challenges that come with such a terrible disease. It has been an emotional roller coaster for her family and Loretta's song paints a clear picture of how her mom has suffered, describing a typical day in her life.

The song, Sundown Till Dawn, will be included on a soundtrack in a film by Backlight Productions due to be released in Spring of 2009 called "Ten Mountains, Ten Years", about a group of mountain climbers called The Regulars who are climbing ten mountains in ten years to raise awareness for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard are contributing songs to the soundtrack as well. Loretta's hopes are that her song will help raise awareness and funds for research so that someday, there will no longer be a disease that robs loved ones of their dignity and personality.

Since the early nineties, Loretta Hagen has been writing and performing music that has earned rave reviews for her rich vocals and poignant songwriting. With a style that mixes country, rock and folk music, you could find her performing solo or with her band Down To The Wire, consisiting of Gary Hagen, Debby Maggiulli, Teri Avella, Dave Barry and Sara Gallmann, playing to packed night clubs, dance halls, and concert venues throughout the tri state area.

In the days of the country music boom in the Northeast, DJs from big radio markets to small were playing Loretta's music and mentioning her shows on air, helping her create a loyal fan base that continues to follow her today. Jim Kerr (SERIUS) who joined WYNY-FM after his days on WPLJ-FM, featured Loretta's music on his radio show.  Rob Deschera of WFDU-FM invited her to perform on his Friday Morning Coffee House show with a live interview and performance and DJ Lisa Taylor (WYNY, Z100) would see Loretta and the band performing at WYNY events in venues such as The Yellow Rose, The Whiskey Cafe, El Paso Saloon, then shower them with glowing reviews on her radio show.

The next step for Loretta was a move to Nashville, where she honed her writing and recording skills, co producing her CD "Something More" with Pat McInernery (Nanci Griffith) (reviews below), and performing in venues such as the famous Bluebird Cafe, Douglas Corner, The Broken Spoke, The Exit/In, to name a few. After six years in Nashville, Hagen was approached by blues guitar legend Johnny Winter's management company who asked her to relocate to CT. to work with them near their offices. Loretta opened concerts for J.W. and also went along to shows to help sell merchandise. It was an exciting experience for Loretta that helped her gain a new audience outside of the country and folk genres.

From there, Loretta moved back to her home state of NJ to be close to her mom and continues to perform, playing in venues such as Music At The Mission, Outpost In The Burbs, Mainstage, Minstrel Coffee House, Stanhope House, Black Potatoe Music Festival, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival,  and many more clubs and concert halls opening for artist such as Steve Forbert, John Gorka, Ellis Paul, Richie Havens, Ollabell, as well as headlining her own shows.

Sundown Till Dawn will be released on September 20 at Music At The Mission during her performance.