Songwriters@Scup #41, with Janet Buehler, Pippa Hoover, and Tony Low

Janet Buehler, the Artist Formerly Known as Mom, lives in Hillsborough, NC. She recently discovered her lifelong interest in words and music should actually go together, like peanut butter and chocolate (who knew?). For her, songwriting is a way to process the beauty and the mystery of life, in ways both heartfelt and hilarious. She does most of her writing in the woods while walking her dogs (they are very generous with co-writing attributions) or driving her youngest son around. She has a wide range of influences from traditional ballad singers in the mountains of North Carolina such as Sheila Kay Adams and Donna Ray Norton, Irish singers Cathy Jordan (Dervish) and Cathie Ryan, and contemporary singer-songwriter Dar Williams. She sings and writes with The Carrborators, an acoustic quintet that delivers a rich blend of folk, rock, and jazz influences in true Americana style, all originals written by the band members. She also collaborates with singer-songwriter Leah Kaufman in the duo The Raven and The Remedy. She is forever grateful to her oldest son who gave her a Christmas gift of three guitar lessons in 2023, as he wanted to make sure she had a plan for when her three sons left the nest. In January 2024 she won the South Florida Folk Festival Songwriting Contest. So far, so good.

Pippa Hoover is a Chapel Hill-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with sharp lyrics and soulful sound. She has been performing in North Carolina since 2014, both as a solo artist and with the band Honey Magpie. Her lyrics are introspective, off-beat, and express a deep love of the natural world. Whether she’s writing about her year working in Russia, a bad relationship, or a hummingbird with a missing wing, her descriptions transport listeners into the story, and her words create rhythm and texture. In 2018, Pippa recorded and released her first album Night Bird Singing. The album established her signature sound: a folk-classical base with nods to other genres ranging from country to 60’s girl band pop. She released her most recent project, a small collection of songs inspired by Hillsborough’s Occoneechee Mountain, on October 10, 2025.

Tony Low (born Anthony Michael Steen) grew up in Mamaroneck, NY, a town in downstate New York, not far from NYC. He started learning and performing music at an early age. Tony got a taste of fame with The Cheepskates, the renowned garage/psych/power-pop band from NYC which he formed in the early 1980’s. Since going solo in 1998, Tony has released an impressive array of albums. He has performed throughout the USA, plus Liverpool, England and western Europe. His songs capture a timeless spirit and energy, of plaintive beauty and imagery. The sound is a sonic cocktail of Neil Young and Big Star. "Not just another singer/songwriter." - The Big Takeover