SHORT BIO:
Award-winning singer-songwriter and storyteller Becca Kidwell has been described by critic Stephen Mosher as “a storyteller, in every way that a person can be a storyteller.” A BroadwayWorld Cabaret Award winner and two-time MAC Award nominee, she has created eight solo shows since 2017, including the award-winning My Maybe World: The Music of Mary Chapin Carpenter.
In May 2026, Kidwell released her debut album, What You Don’t See, a collection of original songs exploring reinvention, resilience, humor, and midlife. Her songwriting has been praised as “timeless and personal” by Zillions Magazine and “a timeless, modern soundtrack for life’s turning points” by Foxfire Magazine.
She celebrated the album release and her 50th birthday with the sold-out premiere of Fifty Ways to Leave Your Forties, which Lavender After Dark called “fresh, fun, flamboyant, and fabulous” and “her best show yet.”
Kidwell is a member of the New York Songwriters Collective, BACA, and ASCAP.
LONG BIO:
Becca Kidwell is an award-winning singer-songwriter, storyteller, and performer whose work combines original music, humor, theatricality, and deeply personal storytelling. A BroadwayWorld Cabaret Award winner and two-time MAC Award nominee, Kidwell has been described by critic Stephen Mosher as “a storyteller, in every way that a person can be a storyteller.” Her musical influences range from Mary Chapin Carpenter, Carole King, Taylor Swift, Barry Manilow, and Alicia Keys to musical theatre and the Great American Songbook.
Kidwell holds a bachelor’s degree in Drama from the University of Georgia, where she focused on directing, and never imagined that she would eventually become a performer herself. That changed when she celebrated her fortieth birthday with a one-night performance created as a thank-you to the friends and family who had supported her. Surprised by how much she loved singing and telling stories from the stage, she began developing her first solo show, A Song and Its Girl, with award-winning cabaret artists Tracy Stark and Gretchen Reinhagen. The show earned Kidwell her first MAC Award nomination for Best New York Debut – Female.
Since 2017, Kidwell has created eight solo shows: A Song and Its Girl, Fangirl, Show of Dares Volume 1, My Maybe World: The Music of Mary Chapin Carpenter, Together Inside, Show of Dares Volume 2, If You Hadn’t But You Did: Songs of Love, Sex, and Murder, and Love Songs. My Maybe World received the 2021 BroadwayWorld Cabaret Award for Best Tribute Show, while If You Hadn’t But You Did earned Kidwell her second MAC Award nomination, for Best Musical Comedy Performer.
Along the way, Kidwell increasingly began telling her own stories through her own songs. Her original composition “Together Inside” was followed by “Cause It’s Christmastime” and a growing body of original material that ultimately became her debut album, What You Don’t See, released in May 2026. Exploring reinvention, resilience, relationships, humor, and the realities of entering a new stage of life, the album marked Kidwell’s emergence as a recording singer-songwriter. Zillions Magazine praised her songwriting as “timeless and personal,” while Foxfire Magazine described her music as “a timeless, modern soundtrack for life’s turning points.”
Kidwell celebrated both the album release and her fiftieth birthday with the sold-out premiere of Fifty Ways to Leave Your Forties in May 2026. Combining her original songs with storytelling, humor, and music by other writers, the show looks at midlife not as an ending but as an opportunity for reinvention. Lavender After Dark called the show “fresh, fun, flamboyant, and fabulous,” praising Kidwell’s humor, storytelling, and “smooth, flawless delivery” and declaring it “her best show yet.” NiteLife Exchange praised the thought, creativity, and depth of her songwriting and musical curation.
Kidwell has worked with numerous cabaret, jazz, and theatre artists, including Meg Flather, Jeff Harnar, Matt Baker, Tanya Moberly, Jon Weber, Nicole Zuraitis, Kristine Zbornik, Tracy Stark, and Gretchen Reinhagen. She also appeared in the award-winning group show Meg Flather Songs: A Cabaret Sisterhood and was featured on the demo recording of The Church of the Alien Love Child Presents: The Passion of Rev. Yolanda.
Beyond her solo music and theatrical work, Kidwell has performed in storytelling, improv, and community musical theatre. She is a member of the New York Songwriters Collective, the Boston Association of Cabaret Artists (BACA), and the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP).
Kidwell also holds a Master of Arts in Teaching English Education from Boston University. Having lived in New Jersey, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, and New York, she brings a wide range of experiences—and an enduring fascination with the stories people tell about themselves—to her writing and performance.
She is an advocate for essential tremor awareness, domestic violence prevention, mental health, and women’s rights, and has produced benefit performances supporting causes important to her.
Bluefire Ash Records was born from the belief that it’s never too late to step into your voice. Founded by Becca Kidwell, the label champions fearless storytelling, emotional truth, and the transformative power of music created on one’s own terms.