The Pittsburgh area is home to hundreds of really good musicians and writers in all genres of music. Both lists below favor songwriters playing acoustically, otherwise the list would be silly. A quick click will take you a place to listen and where to catch a show. You can also go straight to the Venues list to see where many of the artists on this page tend to play, and find some new artists.
Justin Townes Earle - family pedigree notwithstanding, good roots country
Eric Hutchinson - pop/soul songwriter. Catchy stuff.
Ben Sollee - Lexington, KY cellist/songwriter. Exuberant performer. I have family roots in Lex. and nostalgia for the cello..
Willy Porter - Milwaukee-based. Outstanding guitarist, good singer and writer.
Eliza Gilkyson - consistently interesting singer-songwriter from Austin, Tx.
Julian Velard - keyboardist/songwriter, able to generate a full-band sound with just a drummer...
David Wilcox - excellent songwriter. I was compared to him once. I don't mind...
Peter Mulvey - fine guitarist/writer from Boston on Signature Records
Erin McKeown - quirky but fascinating guitarist/pianist
Calliope-sponsored. Meets monthly (1st Tuesday) at the Bloomfield Bridge Tavern and produces an annual CD. Here's the myspace page.
The open-mic night on Mondays at the Club Café from 7-11. Shows are occasionally put on elsewhere under this name.