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Sunset Concert Series

Sunset Concert Series
JOE CROOKSTON • July 9th

Joe Crookston is a force of nature on stage. He is in his power, communing with his audience and welcoming them into the magic. From touring with Gordon Lightfoot, headlining major US festivals, receiving Folk Alliance International “Album of the Year,” releasing NINE BECOMES ONE (2023) to being named Folk Alliance International Artist-in- Resident, Joe is on fire. He’s played with Suzanne Vega, Dar Williams, David Francey, John McCutcheon, John Gorka, Judy Collins and 100’s more. His rhythm is infectious. In concert, he is funny one moment and transcendent the next. “The Long Note” is a phrase in Irish culture…it’s that place of resonance and transcendence where the music, the voices, the instruments, and the community converge and unite. There is a long note and Joe is reaching for it. Whether he’s weaving through lap slide songs or fiddling an American Southern tune, he draws you in. Videos hardly do him justice, you’ve got to see him live to experience it. Joe lives in Ithaca NY, and tours regularly in the US, Ireland and Canada.

THE KLEZMATICS • July 16th
The Klezmatics are world-renowned and Grammy-winning superstars of the Klezmer world. They erupted out of New York City’s East Village in 1986 and since their emergence more than 30 years ago, the Klezmatics have raised the bar for Eastern European Jewish music, made aesthetically, politically and musically interesting recordings, inspired future generations, created a large body of work that is enduring, and helped to change the face of contemporary Yiddish culture. Often called a “Jewish roots band,” the Klezmatics have led a popular revival of this ages-old, nearly forgotten art form. The Klezmatics have performed in more than 20 countries and released 11 albums to date. On their Grammy-winning 2006 album Wonder Wheel, the Klezmatics set a dozen previously unsung Woody Guthrie lyrics to music, widening their stylistic base by largely diverging from klezmer. They have also recently served as the subject of a feature-length documentary film, The Klezmatics: On Holy Ground. During their third-of-a-century existence the Klezmatics have collaborated with such brilliant artists as violinist Itzhak Perlman, Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner and Israeli vocal icon Chava Alberstein, plus many other prominent artists working within multiple genres.

Time Out New York raves: “The Klezmatics aren’t just the best band in the klezmer vanguard; on a good night, the can rank among the greatest bands on the planet”.

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RUTHIE FOSTER • July 23rd
Ruthie Foster is an award-winning singer-songwriter from Austin, Texas known for mixing a wide palette of American Roots music from blues to gospel, jazz, folk and soul. Her awards include five Grammy nominations, multiple wins at the Blues Music Awards including three for Best Female Vocalist, and the crown for Best Female Vocalist at the 2013 Austin Music Awards. In 2016, she was nominated for two Living Blues Awards and won the Koko Taylor Award for Best Traditional Female Blues Artist. Her list of honors also includes a nomination from the Living Blues Awards for Best Live Performer…and the list goes on. This past year she was the 2023 Blues Music Award Winner for Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year. She has toured and collaborated with fellow luminaries Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, The Allman Brothers Band, Willie Nelson, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Bonnie Raitt, and Paul Simon. In 2022 she released her 9th studio album Healing Time, the latest jewel in her accomplished career. Ruthie will be performing for us solo this evening.
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MILTON will be opening for Ruthie Foster. A songwriter’s songwriter, known for his lyric craft, distinctive voice and soulful songs steeped in classic rhythm & blues, pop, jazz, folk and country, Milton will be performing as a duo with bassist Jeff Eyrich.

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Sing Sing Sing

Celebrating Two Decades of Tribes Hill

Sing Sing Sing

We're gathered here tonight
to do a sacred thing
sing sing sing, sing sing sing
sing sing sing, sing

It says in the Bible somewhere
that singing is praying times two
and whenever angels show up
it always seems that's what they do

We're gathered here tonight
to do a sacred thing
sing sing sing, sing sing sing

millions of pilgrims every day
visit Mecca and I've heard it said
when you hear their song
millions singing all at once
it's a sound you'll never forget

We're gathered here tonight
to do a sacred thing
sing sing sing, sing sing sing

the Navajo and Cherokee
Lakota and Cheyenne
Shawnee, Pawnee, Crow and Cree
all had one common thread
beside the one Great Spirit and the one Mother Earth
they all raise their voices for all that they are worth

We're gathered here tonight
to do a sacred thing
sing sing sing, sing sing sing

Words and music by Fred Gillen Jr.

I told Fred recently that I have always considered Sing Sing Sing an anthem for Tribes Hill. I asked if I could use it for a special music video celebrating over two decades of our music community of kindred folk. I am currently going through our archives and will be posting the video soon. I also asked Fred if he could share with us how the song came about. Here is what he had to say:
"Memory is unreliable and I wrote Sing Sing Sing in 2007 or so. What I do remember is at the time I’d just spent a bunch of time with Pete Seeger. One night Steve Kirkman drove Pete to and from a concert with a kids choir that Turk had organized. After we dropped Pete off Steve and I were talking about how easy Pete made it look to teach 400 people how to sing his very complicated song “Take it From Doctor King.” I was thinking that no amount of practice would ever help me pull off something like that but that I’d like to write a song of my own which was easy to teach to a room full of people. Usually it’s hard to write from an intention, but in this case I wrote ABOUT singing, and it worked! Since then the song has been sung by many people with and without me (including Pete, with Sue Wright and her Sargent Elementary students.) From being in the songbook at a church in Toledo to me teaching the audience at Patan Durbar World Heritage site in Nepal to Solar Punch playing it in Haiti, I think the song really is a connection between the Hudson Valley (and the spirit of Pete) and the world."

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