Irene Webster is on a social mission. About three years ago, the singer-songwriter, who uses her middle name, Kerubo, professionally, went into a coma following a ruptured aneurysm.

"When I woke up, I was not able to speak. I wasn't able to walk," recalled the Winooski-based artist. Her road to recovery was difficult, she said. But it made her realize that she wanted to resume her singing career and write songs with social messages.

"It has to be meaningful singing," said Kerubo, 49. "It has [to have] messages that help people who have gone through life-or-death experiences, or [are] trapped in situations and they don't have a voice."