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Our 2010-2011 Season Concerts
Chris Smither
Saturday, October 23, 8:00pm
Peterborough Players Theater
Back in the old days, muses resilient troubadour Chris Smither, writing new songs and making new albums were just chores. "My priority was, and still is, performing live. I guess I still write the songs and make the records so that I can go out and play except that now I actually look forward to it. I've learned how to do it, and I'm very eager to get stuff recorded once I've written it."
Smither taps his foot to keep the rhythm, much like the late blues legend John Lee Hooker. His finger-picked guitar lines are sleek, unhurried and insistent. And then there's the voice-equal parts gravel and molasses. Smither's singing sounds like a distillation of the folk and blues heroes he grew up listening to in New Orleans. Bathed in the flickering glow of passing headlights and neon bar signs, Smither's roots are as blue as they come. There is plenty of misty Louisiana and Lightnin' Hopkins in Smither's weathered singing and unhurried picking.
The masterful combination of pure folk songwriting and intricate guitar blues are tangible signs of the singer-songwriter's vigorous genius. A megawatt solo performer.
Chris Smither on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8t-i606WA8
Tickets: $18 advance/ $22 day of the show
Buy Tickets The Folk Fun Package includes lodging, dinner, concert and more!
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For other ticket purchase options, click here.
Gandalf Murphy & the Slambovian Circus of Dreams
Saturday, November 13, 8:00pm
Peterborough Players Theater
Formed in Sleepy Hollow, New York in the late 90's, Gandalf Murphy & the Slambovian Circus of Dreams is one of the best known and loved bands in the New England area, singled out as Hudson Valley Magazine's "Band of the Year" for the past 3 years. On stage they create an enchanting atmosphere, using traditional folk instruments, tasty electric guitar and the distinctive singing and songwriting of Joziah Longo. Citing influences as diverse as Hank Williams, Dylan, Bowie, Incredible String Band and early Pink Floyd, Longo describes the band's music as "punk-classical-hillbilly-Floyd", a mental rollercoaster of whimsical, thought-provoking songs. The Circus' live shows are where the real magic comes down, earning them critical acclaim as well as a fiercly loyal following.
Imagine a band that has mixed 25 years of rock and roll with a dash of folk and a pinch of Americana into an enormous caldron over a blazing fire. Stir it all with creativity and season with talent. The result is the sound of a yesterday long forgotten, and a refreshing revival of what made you listen to music in the first place.
Gandalf Murphy & the Slambovian Circus of Dreams on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKTJpEujVHo
Tickets: $20 advance/ $23 day of the show
The Folk Fun Package includes lodging, dinner, concert and more!
Click here to book your reservation.
For other ticket purchase options, click here.
Susan Werner & Vance Gilbert
in a co-bill
Friday January 14, 8:00pm
Peterborough Players Theater
Over the course of her colorful career, singer songwriter Susan Werner has cultivated a reputation as a daring and innovative songwriter with a killer live show. She boldly endeavors to weave old with new to create altogether new genres of music when existing ones do not suit her muse, and she regularly keeps audiences guessing and laughing simultaneously. Most of her work infuses traditional music styles and methods with her unmistakable contemporary worldview, constantly challenging listeners to experience music from a fresh and unexpected perspective.
Vance Gilbert burst onto the singer/songwriter scene in the early 90's when buzz started spreading in the folk clubs of Boston about an ex-multicultural arts teacher who was knocking 'em dead at open mics. Once word got to New York about this Philadelphia-area born and raised performer, Shawn Colvin invited Gilbert to be a special guest on her Fat City tour. Gilbert took audiences across the country by storm. "With the voice of an angel, the wit of a devil, and the guitar playing of a god, it was enough to earn him that rarity: an encore for an opener.
Gilbert unflinchingly renders blame and absolution, trapped hearts and free-riders, class and station, uncertainty and resolution, the spiritual and the visceral, the forever and the now, all side by side in song. His is a presentation steeped in deep humanism and bravery, stunning artistry and soul, and unbridled joy. No great surprise to the learned acoustic listener.
This is Vance Gilbert, after all.
Susan and Vance on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3O6vU1_bvA
Tickets: $20 advance/ $23 day of the show
The Folk Fun Package includes lodging, dinner, concert and more!
Click here to book your reservation.
For other ticket purchase options, click here.
Lori Mckenna
with special guest Mark Erelli
Saturday, February 19, 8:00pm
Peterborough Players Theater
Lori McKenna is an acclaimed singer-songwriter who was thrust into the limelight when superstar Faith Hill included three of her songs on her Firefly album. "I don't remember ever being impacted by a songwriter the way I was with her", Hill says. "Her writing is masterful, with a pureness that is completely unaffected. The songs are such a great combination of depth and realness…there's just this indescribable collision of innocence and honesty in her writing and singing."
Lori Mckenna on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L3GYAaqbGA
Mark Erelli embodies many of the best qualities of the folk-populist lineage that began with Woody Guthrie, and is carried today by Bruce Springsteen and others. His songs are unwaveringly and powerfully sincere, carrying the force of his experiences and passions, and applying them to emotions that are universal to us all. His voice, a beautiful combination of wine and whiskey, is as intimately conversational as a fireside chat. And, by exploring some of the big themes of American life--family, redemption, war and love, among others—and by describing how those themes affect a single life, he makes topical songs personal.
Mark Erelli on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2I0WM7aczs
Tickets: $18 advance/ $21 day of the show
The Folk Fun Package includes lodging, dinner, concert and more!
Click here to book your reservation.
For other ticket purchase options, click here.
Johathan Edwards Quartet
Saturday Mardh 12, 8:00pm
Peterborough Players Theater
Warm as summer sunshine, real as the truth, intimate as a long overdue visit between old friends…such is a Jonathan Edwards concert. Four decades into a stellar career of uncompromising musical integrity, the man simply delivers, night after night—songs of passion, songs of insight, songs of humor, all rendered in that pure and powerful tenor which, like fine wine, has only grown sweeter with age.
This is one veteran performer who is neither grizzled nor nostalgic. These days Jonathan Edwards, a vital and relevant artist in today's folk and Americana scenes, is much more likely to be found looking forward rather than back…on the road with his longtime accompanist Stuart Schulman on bass, piano, fiddle, and vocals and Taylor Armerding, formerly of Northern Lights, on mandolin and high-tenor vocals. "I've been…doing what I do best, which is playing live in front of people. I've been concentrating on that and loving it," he says. This March at the Players Theater he will also be joined by multi-instrumentalist Charlie Rose playing banjo, bass, and mandolin forming a quartet for the audience to enjoy.
As this barefoot troubadour prepares for the next stage of his journey, you are more than welcome to join him for an evening in Peterborough on March 12, as he continues to make good on that promise he made all the way back in 1971: "Sunshine, come on back another day…I promise you I'll still be singing."
Johathan Edwards on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyTJqn7GT5s
Tickets: $23 advance/ $26 day of the show
The Folk Fun Package includes lodging, dinner, concert and more!
Click here to book your reservation.
For other ticket purchase options, click here.
Le Vent du Nord
Saturday, April 16, 8:00pm
Peterborough Players Theater
Le Vent du Nord has crowds dancing to the sound of fiddle and hurdy-gurdy, using an original repertoire. Their music is both fresh and bound to tradition. One of the group's strength's is their stage presence: energetic, dynamic, generous and in touch with the audience. Le Vent du Nord consists of four singers/multi-instrumentalists: Nicolas Boulerice, Simon Beaudry, Olivier Demers and Réjean Brunet, who joined the group in 2007. They sing originals and songs taken from the traditional repertoire, in their native French, to the delight of their audience- for whom it is more often than not a foreign language. Le Vent du Nord's energy amazes their audiences, and whether they perform at a festival or a concert, people keep asking for more.
Since its inception in August 2002, Le Vent du Nord have been enjoying rocketing success. They have received several prestigious awards, including a Juno. In 2005 in addition to being chosen album of the year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. it was also the year that saw the group being rewarded as North American traditional artist of the year in Austin, Texas. Their show was nominated for an OPUS award and was named Show of the year by the American radio-concert series Bound for Glory.
Le Vent du Nord on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSElN_wAAFI
Tickets: $18 advance/ $21 day of the show
The Folk Fun Package includes lodging, dinner, concert and more!
Click here to book your reservation.
For other ticket purchase options, click here.
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