Concerts at the Historic Cooper’s House is currently on hiatus due to the COVID-19 virus. We are taking things one day at a time and will return to hosting concerts when we feel it is safe to invite people to gather together once again in our home. We will continue to follow health official recommendations and will make decisions on the concerts scheduled for the remainder of 2020 as we get closer to each one. Until then, stay safe and please support your favorite musicians to whatever level you can afford.
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Friday, July 24, 2020 – 8:00 pm
An Evening with Grace Morrison & Rod Abernethy
In a world where we are urged to limit descriptions to hashtags and sound bites it is tempting to describe Grace Morrison as simply: singer-songwriter. But she is so much more. She is pop; she is folk; she is roots; she is country. Hear her music and you’ll be hooked. See her live and you’ll be left wanting more. It has been said that her storytelling “can make you cry; it can make you sing.” With a career that began as a backup singer for rock icons like Eddie Money and Joey Molland (of the band Badfinger), Grace Morrison has become a regular on the national festival and touring circuit. She has won a number of prestigious awards including the Grand Prize of the New England Songwriting Competition and the Big Break contest where her music video was played on the season finale of American Idol.
Rod Abernethy is the 2019 Grand Prize Winner of American Songwriter’s Bob Dylan Song Contest. His album “The Man I’m Supposed to Be” reached #9 on the Folk Alliance Folk DJ Chart. Rd is a unique blend of authentic southern folk troubadour, master acoustic guitarist, and award-winning computer for film, TV, and video games. Rod has been a force in the North Carolina music scene for decades having played in national touring bands like Arrogance and Glass Moon and recorded albums for major labels Warner Brothers, MCA, and Elecktra.
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Saturday, September 12, 2020 – 7:30 pm
An Evening with Madeleine Roger & Rachael Kilgour
Madeleine Roger is a singer/songwriter and producer from Winnipeg, Canada. While skillfully accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, it is her artistry as a songwriter and storyteller that can silence a room, uniting her magnetic voice with mature lyrics beyond her years. She’s been nominated as Songwriter of the Year (English) at the 2020 Canadian Folk Music Awards.
Rachael Kilgour is a songwriter and performing artist from Minnesota whose sincere, lyric driven work has been called both brave and humane. The 2015 Grand Prize winner of the esteemed international NewSong Performance & Songwriting competition and winner of the 2017 Kerrville New Folk Contest. Rachael has been featured at NYC’s Lincoln Center, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and at the Sundance Film Festival.
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Friday, October 16, 2020 – 8:00 pm
An Evening with Johnsmith & Tom Kimmel
Johnsmith is one of those artists so often under-recognized – he possesses a genius that cannot be denied, ignored, or overlooked. For the past thirty-plus years he has been sharing his music all across America and Ireland. He has become a favorite at festivals, clubs, and house concerts alike. Johnsmith has released seven solo CDs to rave reviews, leads musical tours to Ireland, teaches songwriting, and has served as a staff songwriter in Nashville. You get the sense of a man who loves his life, his family and friends, and who loves nothing more than sharing that love in song and stories all across this land.
Born in Memphis, TN, and raised in rural Alabama, Tom Kimmel graduated from the University of Alabama and relocated to Nashville in the early ’80s. Early credits as a songwriter came his way when his songs were cut by ex-Byrds Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman, as well as the Band’s Levon Helm. Tom Kimmel remains an active songwriter and performer, having seen his songs covered by artists like Joe Cocker, Johnny Cash, Stray Cats, Maura O’Connell, the Spinners, and Linda Ronstadt.