Songwriter Series: Mutlu + Jeff Petescia

A Philadelphia musician who proudly carries a torch for the city’s soul legacy, Mutlu (pronounced moot’-lu) makes a connection with every audience. Coming up in the Philly scene, he played around town and in area clubs before landing his first tour opening for Joe Jackson. Since then he’s toured across the U.S. and Europe with his musical brother, Amos Lee, who discovered Mutlu’s music just as both of their careers were taking off. In addition he’s found an advocate with Daryl Hall & John Oates, who invited Mutlu to support a national theater tour. Mutlu is a first-generation American whose parents moved from Turkey to the United States in the 1970s. He discovered the strength of his voice in high school while singing in a Broadway revue. He liked being on stage but didn’t anticipate pursuing it as a career. However, while earning a marketing degree from Drexel University, he spent innumerable hours practicing guitar, writing songs, and playing open mic nights. Now roughly fifteen years into a career as a professional musician, he believes that his Turkish heritage informs his perspective as an artist. Jeff Petescia is a singer songwriter and one third of the indie alternative cinematic folk band Cold Weather Company. His sound pairs a percussive, rhythm driven guitar style with intimate vocals, rooted in the spirit of jam bands and indie folk of the 90s and early 2000s.