Three talented musicians sing their songs on the Pioneer stage

By Kip Tabb | Outer Banks Voice on August 8, 2026

Three gifted singer-songwriters at the Pioneer Theater. (Left to Right) Ruth Wyand, Maddie Lenhart, Bonnie Stewart. (Photos by Kip Tabb)

Bonnie Stewart on the Pioneer Theater stage. (Photos by Kip Tabb)

Maddie Lenhart in performance on the Pioneer Theater stage. (Photos by Kip Tabb)

Ruth Wyand performing “Wandering Man Rag.” (Photos by Kip Tabb)

 

By Kip Tabb | Outer Banks Voice

One of the best things about music is how many ways there are to tell a story, to express thoughts and emotions. And yet, there is something that brings it all together and makes it feel universal.

That concept was on full display on Friday, Aug. 7 at the Pioneer Theater in Manteo as singer-songwriters Bonnie Stewart, Maddie Lenhart and Ruth Wyand took the stage for a composers’ night—three musicians with their guitars singing their songs.

Stewart and Lenhart live in Nashville, although they are, as they noted, almost always on the road. Both are getting a lot of notice for their albums and EPs and a number of the songs they performed last night were co-written by them.

Wyand, approaching 40 years in the music industry, lives on the Outer Banks and is hard to categorize. Her songs encompass jazz, rock, country and other influences. And she has won awards for her guitar playing.

Stewart and Leonard, when it comes to love and relationships, tended to be introspective.

Stewart’s song “I Don’t Believe in Divorce,” puts the legal wrangling of a divorce into perspective with the catch phrase, “I may be goin’ to hell, but I ain’t goin’ to court.”

That may have inspired Wyand to bring out her song about the choices she’s made. Beginning as a slow blues song played on her resonator guitar, she muses that “There’s only one thing. I would do different. There’s only one thing. I would change.” Suddenly the music changes to a raucous rock beat as she belts out, “I’m gonna’ marry for the money next time.”

Lenhart’s song “Newton’s Law,” name for Isaac Newton’s law that a body in motion will continue in motion, examines how we cope with heartbreak and disappointments. “If I let myself feel, I’d feel myself break…If I slow down, I won’t get up again,” she sang.  In her song “State of Mind” Lenhart points out that using our upbringing and background as a reason for success or failure is a state of mind that ultimately means very little.

Stewart looked at some of the unexpected humor that we encounter. “Mama made me promise I would never do drugs, but that was before I knew her husband does,” she sang in “Stash,” going on to tell us “that’s why Daddy takes 20 minutes to take out the trash.”

Because Stewart and Lenhart co-wrote some to the songs they performed, their voices blended seamlessly and beautifully.

Wyand is widely known for her finger-picking style and she broke out her song “Wandering Man Rag,” for which she earned a finger-picking prize. “It was $200.” she told the audience as Stewart and Lenhart nodded in agreement that there is often a lot of work for little money.

Originally composed without lyrics, “Wandering Rag Man” is a rag style blues tune, with Wynand adding lyrics about her wandering man who shows up from time to time.

The evening ended with a great encore performance by the three musicians—first singing John Denver’s “Country Roads” and then “When You Say Nothing at All.” Written by Paul Overstreet and Don Schlitz, the best-known version of that song is performed by Alison Krauss.

The Pioneer Theater is an ideal venue for an evening of music featuring composers and their music without the orchestration that often comes with the songs. The acoustics are excellent, and there is an intimate feel to the theater.