Saturday, August 19, 2017 – 7:30 pm
An Evening with Tony Denikos & David Russell
Annual Pot Luck Dinner/BBQ starts at 6 pm
Tony Denikos has an early memory of riding along the country roads of central Maryland, singing songs along with his Dad and sisters while his mom smiled at the landscape gliding by… A seed had been planted. After years of playing pubs and bars in various configurations Tony decided it was time to record a collection of songs he’d written and released Naked & Smiling (1999). A tradition of recording songs about real-life, mixed with humor, heart ache and wit was born. Since then he’s released several other CDs of original songs and now you can find Tony performing from South Carolina to Texas to upstate New York and winning nationally acclaimed songwriting awards.
David Russell has weathered the changing tides of Americana and acoustic string music. From his schooling in classical guitar at age 6 and his first professional performance at 13, the award-winning performer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist followed his musical compass, influencing and shaping a new/old music sorely needed in an increasingly rootless world, all the while keeping his roots firmly planted in tradition. His performances of timeless traditional songs and classics mixed with his own writing and those of respected contemporary writers and friends, taking an audience on a musical variety tour of styles, with an energy and sensitivity that captivates the audience.
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Sunday, September 24, 2017 – 6:00 pm
An Evening with Joe Jencks
with special guest Letitia VanSant
Joe Jencks is an international touring performer, songwriter, entertainer, and educator who has spent the last 18 years touring full time both solo and as the co-founder and member of the dynamic trio Brother Sun. He has just released a new recording titled “Poets, Philosophers, Workers, & Wanderers”. He is noted for his unique merging of musical beauty, social consciousness, and spiritual exploration in his songs and performances. “Joe Jencks is the type of musician that will cause you to drop that morning newspaper or pull your car to the side of the road when you hear his songs. He is the type of artist that will turn heads in his direction when walks onto a stage. His voice will instantly draw you into his passionate songs. He is the type of musician whose music will become a part of you” – Ron Olesko, WFDU-FM Teaneck, NJ
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Saturday, October 21, 2017 – 7:30 pm
An Evening with Moors & McCumber
Moors & McCumber discovered that their music is more than the sum of the parts. Embracing a bigger sound than most duos, they switch up instruments on almost every song (playing guitar, mandolin, fiddle, tenor banjo, Irish bouzouki, piano, harmonica, cello, weissenborn, ukulele, and more!), creating catchy melodies that are big, bright and electrifying to watch live! Their music weaves fine storytelling with an infectious, melodic mix that reflects many influences; a little blues, some bluegrass, a little smokey hills, and a skosh of celtic.
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Saturday, November 18, 2017 – 7:30 pm
An Evening with Bernice Lewis & Rob Lytle
With almost four decades of performing along with a half dozen acclaimed CDs, Bernice Lewis has built a solid national fan base. She’s been a featured performer on NPR’s Mountain Stage as well as at the Kennedy Center. She has been an Artist in Residence with the National Park Service and a finalist in the prestigious New Folk Songwriting Contest at the Kerrville Folk Festival where she continues to be a main stage favorite. She has a forty-year old daily yoga practice, loves good coffee, and her religion is the Grand Canyon. The first thing you will notice about Rob Lytle is a voice that is effortlessly powerful and immediately intimate, and honest. Robs voice has been compared favorably to artists such as Jackson Browne, Jonathan Edwards, and James Taylor for its unique clarity and, seemingly effortless, ability to navigate interesting melodies. When combined with songs that move from humor, to wry observation, and to satisfying moments of recognition, Rob has been described as “an irresistible artist, the kind whose vocal tenderness and lyrical honesty compel you to listen to him.” After a nearly 14 year break from performing, the past five years have been a whirlwind musical rebirth with a busy touring schedule (including an appearance at the 2015 Kerrville Folk Festival) and the global release of two critically acclaimed CDs (You. Must Stop (2011) and a hypocrite of heart and hope (2015).
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Thursday, December 21, 2017 – 7:30 pm
An Evening with The Stray Birds
All originally from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, The Stray Birds started as a duo of acoustic buskers in early 2010 when Maya de Vitry and Oliver Craven met with their instruments, their voices, and their songs. It didn’t take much convincing to get bassist Charlie Muench on board, and with the addition of a third unique and powerful voice, the group began to define its captivating sound. Seven years, three original records, and some six hundred performances later, the band is best known today for its songwriting, its tight and forthcoming vocal harmony blend and its commitment to an impassioned delivery of original material, both on stage and in the studio. They’ve been seen from LA to London, sung songs from Dallas to Denmark, and played tunes from New York to New Orleans. With time, their sound has evolved to a palate broader than what it first was on the street corners and in the markets, but this much remains true: The Stray Birds is a band of musicians as subtle and nuanced as they are energetic, a band of writers as blatant and bold as they are coy, and perhaps most importantly, a band of people as friendly and compassionate as they are talented. It’s safe to imagine that most who hear their music come back for another listen, time and again.
$25 Suggested Donation
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Friday, March 23, 2018 – 8:00 pm
An Evening with Ellis
Ellis is an engaging and wholehearted writer, singer and performer who is full of light and spirit. There’s just something about Ellis. She is at once funny and wise, thoughtful and uninhibited, and her captivating voice is matched by her uplifting lyrics. If you looked up the definition of open-hearted in the dictionary, you just might find her photo there. Her performances are transformational; she leaves her audiences better than she finds them, with softened edges & opened hearts. A winner of numerous awards and honors, Ellis has been recognized both for her songwriting skills as well as her engaging performances. She has won the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Contest and has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion 4 times in the last 3 years as well!
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Saturday, April 14, 2018 – 7:30 pm
An Evening with Rj Cowdery & Louise Mosrie
Rj Cowdery is a Columbus, Ohio based artist who has solidified her place as a standout in the world of performing singer-songwriters.
Rj confesses to being a late bloomer; while she’s been writing songs for three decades, she only made the life-altering decision to focus on music full-time within the past few years. She’s quickly made up for lost time, garnering songwriting awards at some of the most prestigious festivals in the U.S., including wins at the Mountain Stage NewSong, Kerrville New Folk, Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist, and Sisters Folk Festival/Dave Carter Memorial Songwriting Contest. Her lyrics are unpretentious and warm with wry humor punctuated by some seriously sassy guitar work. She writes about some of the most difficult of emotions in a way that allows listeners to lean in hard against her honeyed voice, and then come out the other side changed. Rj is a much sought after performer and guitar player. 2015 was highlighted with performances at The Kerrville Folk Festival, Wildflower Music and Arts Festival, and The Rocky Mountain Folks Festival. She added instructor to her repertoire at The Song School at Rocky Mountain Folks Festival and at Columbus Songwriter Workshop. 2016 marks her first Canadian festival performance at The Vancouver Island Music Festival. Louise Mosrie grew up in the small town just outside of Nashville, TN on a farm with British parents and several siblings – riding horses, writing poetry and singing with the radio. Fast forward a few years, a move back to Nashville and some deep soul searching, Louise began writing songs about the South – what she knew and where she grew up. In 2008, she began working on a new album eventually to be called “Home” because she’d come full circle in her “voice” as a writer. She was once introduced as “…William Faulkner with a guitar”. With those songs, she entered some song contests connected to festivals and ended up winning top awards at Kerrville Folk Festival, Wildflower! Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival and Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. Buoyed by a couple thousand earnest fans, she began touring all over the Eastern seaboard, the South and Texas. In 2012, her 15-year marriage ended and her mother was diagnosed with brain cancer and died 6 months later. Out of those dark days came some new songs that would eventually be recorded on her newest release “Lay It Down”: 10 songs of love, loss and surrender.
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Sunday, May 13, 2018 – 7:00 pm
An Evening with Martyn Joseph
Martyn Joseph is a powerful singer and songwriter gifted with the rare ability to speak to the soul with his expressive and poignant lyrics. With a career spanning 30 years, 32 albums, over a half a million record sales and thousands of live performances, the versatility of his music touches genres of folk, rock, soul, folk funk and Americana, yet somehow all these labels cannot define the spirit of his music. Compared to Bruce Springsteen, John Mayer, Bruce Cockburn and Dave Matthews, he has created his own style and reputation as a mesmerizing live performer and stands in his own right, built on a reputation for giving what thousands have described as the best live music experience of their lives. He’s a jaw dropping guitar player who has developed a unique percussive style, teamed up with a powerful show stopping voice, and has been called “The Welsh Springsteen”. He has won the love of audiences from USA and Canada to Europe through an impressive number of live dates, and has previously toured with the likes of Art Garfunkel, Jools Holland, Ani DiFranco, Suzanne Vega, Mike and The Mechanics, Joan Armatrading, Celine Dion and Shirley Bassey. 2016 was one of Martyn’s busiest, and this was acknowledged by him being nominated in the “Hardest Working Artist” category at the UK Independent Music Awards, being the only folk artist to receive any nomination. Martyn Joseph. A unique talent driven by passion and love for his trade, continues to write, sing and play from the heart. It’s a road he’s been travelling for most of his life and, as he often tells his audience, ‘you keep turning up and so will I.’
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Friday, November 16, 2018 – 8:00 pm
An Evening with Scott Cook
A roots balladeer with a rare personal warmth, Canada’s Scott Cook has managed to distill the stories collected over a decade of near-incessant touring across Canada, the USA, the UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, and elsewhere into straight-talking, keenly observant verse. He brings humor, a disarming honesty, years of roads, and a deep love of humanity to his songcraft and storytelling. He is equally at home alone on stage, accompanying himself with fingerstyle guitar and clawhammer banjo, or backed by his acoustic trio the Second Chances. Cook’s songs are true stories set to music, drawing on influences from folk, roots, country, soul, and blues. He has made his living playing music full-time since 2007, and despite all the hard miles, he still believes that songs can change your life, and your life can change the world.
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