2007 - 2008 Calendar:

Saturday, August 11, 2007: Open Mic/Sing-Along/Raffles Prizes/Fundraiser for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Fort Lauderdale (sign-up at 7:30, performance at 8 p.m., two songs per artist, $5/performer, $10/non-performer)

Saturday, September 8, 2007: Jennings & Keller and Stacey Earle/Mark Stuart.
(co-presented with Boumel House Concerts).

Visit www.jenningsandkeller.com and www.staceyandmark.com

Laurie Jennings spent her early years in New York City as a Shakespearean actress before taking up the guitar and exploring the world of folk singing and songwriting. Laurie is best known as the former proprietress of The Main Street Café, which, during its 8 ½ years in business, was considered the premier Acoustic music club in Florida. Dana Keller is a veteran pedal steel, dobro, and guitar player who has spent the past 25 years performing on stage or in the studio with such luminaries as Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, Stevie Wonder, Larry Graham, Marvin Gaye, Dave Mason, Johnny Rodriguez and The Allen Brothers, to name a few. As a Fusion Folk Americana duo, Laurie and Dana are quickly gaining recognition around the state for their songwriting, singing and musicianship.

Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart met for the first time 1991 at a songwriters' night in Nashville. They knew that night it was one of them things that are just meant to be. They were married in 1992 while raising 2 children from Stacey's first marriage, Stacey and Mark tour just about year round standing on stages of all sizes from festivals, main stage, workshops, theaters, clubs, coffeeshops, churches, barns, house concerts, live radio, in-stores and more. They found themselves inseparable from the beginning. It is playing music day in and out together that locked in the sound and love they could not unlock if they tried. Their songs are the diaries of their life good times and bad, completing the love they have.

Saturday, October 13, 2007: Three Jacks and a Jill.

Visit www.thethreejacks.com

The Three Jacks was formed by accident when Henk Milne, Jack Shawde and Jack Stamates volunteered to cover a last-minute cancellation by a national touring folk artist at legendary folk venue The MainStreet Café in Homestead, Florida. They later added Diane Ward (a/k/a "Jill") to the regular line-up. In their stage show, they take Celtic inheritance into a new century. To a base mix of much-loved Celtic traditionals, they fold in their mistreatments of the Celtic classics, whip in brand new (soon to be) Celtic classics from their "catalog of 18th century folk-songs we wrote last week" and then leaven the whole heady brew with rip-out, stomping, fiddle break-downs. Kids get on stage and dance and the crowd sings and laughs along with the band... and everyone goes home happy.

Saturday, November 10, 2007: Coyote Run.

Visit www.coyoterun.com

In the American Southwest, there comes a time of day when the coyotes run amok. They appear in twos, threes, or more, to yip and race and play. This display of energy and playfulness, incredible in the desert heat, is called the "Coyote Run." Filled with mischief, this animal guide leads us through his own foolishness or sometimes by helping us laugh at our own foolishness. Coyote Run's music is undeniably Celtic in influence, yet hops boundaries and stylistic borders with the ease and carefree nature of the trickster.

Saturday, December 8, 2007: Christine Kane.

Visit www.christinekane.com

Christine Kane is a singer-songwriter, performer, teacher and writer. Her career in music and the arts has been dynamic and multi-faceted. She regularly headlines at celebrated festivals and popular venues and, in 2006 and 2007, Christine went on the road with the North Carolina Dance Theatre in support of a ballet they choreographed to her music. Christine’s songs have been recorded by several popular artists, including country diva Kathy Mattea and "Nashville Star" finalist Casey Simpson. Borders Books & Music chose Christine’s CD, Rain & Mud & Wild & Green as one of the Best of 2003. "Christine's music is wildly deluxe, tenderly intimate, and heart-zoomingly intelligent." Best-selling Author, SARK.

Saturday, January 12, 2008: Grant Livingston and Zoe Lewis.

Visit www.grantlivingston.com and www.zoelewis.com

Einstein and Gypsy Rose on a road trip, a guy who is way serious about eating pie, a French-speaking cat in a graveyard, armadillos, barnacles, an unleashed dog - you'll meet them all (and more) in the songs of Coconut Grove singer/songwriter Grant Livingston. An offbeat sense of humor comes through the stories told in Livingston's songs. As a guitarist Livingston employs a style which is a unique mix of ragtime, country blues, and early swing. Raised in Miami, many of Grant's songs reflect his love for South Florida's land and waters, creatures and people.

Zoe Lewis is a band in a body! She plays jazz, jump jive, Latin grooves, swing, international folk, funk originals on anything from the piano to the spoons! Troubadour/vaudevillian/storyteller/singer-songwriter/piece of work! Originally from England, she now resides in Provincetown, MA, U.S.A. where she performs every summer to the Cape Cod tourists. Her music's upbeat, amusing and perfect for young and old alike. She's traveled all over the globe picking up world beat grooves and stories on the way; jumping box cars, riding on freight boats and has even played music with an elephant orchestra in Thailand. While at once setting listeners off balance with her quirky spin on things she sneaks in simple, potent messages, leaving audiences worn out and inspired.

Saturday, February 9, 2008: Inner Voice.

Visit www.innervoice.com

Inner Voice is a unique musical experience of five guys based out of Miami, Florida. Their music is an uplifting vocal combination of vocal harmonies, ethnic percussion, magical guitars, Rumi-esque poems, self-realization, and a sprinkling of the entire spectrum of human emotions. "Inner Voice is a dream project for us all. We are thrilled to give this gift to the planet. Every song that comes through is inspired by our love for every living being, our compassion for every experience and our commitment for being a clear voice of the universal heart."

Saturday, March 15, 2008: Nick Annis and Jonathan Byrd.

Visit www.nickannis.com and www.jonathanbyrd.com

Nick Annis is an award-winning songwriter, but he is also admired by folk fans for the storytelling talent that makes his performances so memorable. Audiences return time after time to hear him deliver spoken word pieces in the style of brilliant songwriter/storytellers like Gamble Rogers, John McCutcheon, and Dave Carter. Nick's insights are drawn from widely varied careers (including selling ice cream from a truck, running a small bakery, and drilling for oil in the Midwest), but also from his upbringing in a large Greek family. Drawing on this diverse background, Nick crafts "true" stories and timeless accounts of humanity.

"Jonathan Byrd's delightful, substantive songs are rich with imagery and textures of influences from Appalachian, country, early American balladry, modern atmospheric Mideastern, urban and old timey folk music. A stalwart of modern folk music, Jonathan is constantly evolving in new musical directions and each incarnation has proven to be masterful. Like a gourmet chef, Jonathan does not create the same dish twice, so we're not sure what he will bring to the table tonight. But if music were a meal, Jonathan would prepare us a banquet. Catch this Kerrville New Folk winner as often as you can; you'll never get 'full', your appetite will only grow." ~ Uncle Calvin's Coffeehouse, Dallas, TX.

Saturday, April 12, 2008: Amy Carol Webb and Tret Fure:

Visit www.amycarolwebb.com and www.tretfure.com

With four popular and critically acclaimed independent CDs of original music, and the fifth in production, Amy Carol Webb is frequently on the road from celebrated concert halls and festival stages to spiritual gatherings and intimate house concerts, sharing stages with many whose work inspires her own. Her joy is infectious, her courage inspiring, her songs gifts of literate, humorous, often profound poems of one woman's remarkable journey from precious child to woman to mother... to "Songweaver."

One of the most prolific artists in the contemporary singer-songwriter arena, Tret Fure is extraordinarily talented. This writer, producer, engineer, vocalist and gifted instrumentalist has navigated her career with integrity and determination. After releasing her premier album on MCA records in 1973, titled Tret Fure, and becoming one of the first women sound engineers in the US, she left the mainstream music industry. Armed with a fierce desire to retain full artistic control, Fure began exploring the independent side of the industry and soon discovered the blossoming genre known as Women’s Music. She has been a major player in that field ever since.

Saturday, May 10, 2008: Rod MacDonald and Dan Pelletier:

Visit www.rodmacdonald.net and www.hudsonvalleyrecords.com/dp/

Throughout a 30-year performing career, Rod MacDonald has been entertaining audiences worldwide with his timeless ballads, modern folk songs, and his musical versatility. Possessing the heart of a troubadour, the soul of a poet and the voice of a virtuoso, he is as distinctive an entertainer as he is a songwriter. Known for his passionate interest in the events that shape our world's societies, Rod is a prolific and poignant communicator who is regarded as "one of the most politically and socially aware lyricists of our time." (All Music Guide)

Dan Pelletier, piano-playing singer/songwriter, writes some of the cleverest, most insightful music on the folk scene. He will show you himself, yourself, your lover, your family and friends and quite a few characters you may not know, but will instantly recognize. They jump out of his songs full of beauty and blemishes, brilliance and foolishness, insanity, humor, intensity and tenderness. Dan's soulful voice can at turns be powerful and gritty, or tender and emotive. It has been said that if Tom Lehrer, Shel Silverstein, Sting, Joe Cocker and James Taylor all had a kid together, it would be Dan.

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Suggested donation $15 plus non-perishable item for our local Cooperative Feeding Program

Advance reservations $12 with check received at the UU Church office (address below) no later than Wednesday before Saturday show. We also offer a special season pass for $100, which includes all nine shows ($10 each) plus a Labyrinth Cafe T-shirt. It's a wonderful way to support the UU church, our performers and the continuation of live, original music!

Reservations: Myra at Myrafly@yahoo.com or Susan at OzWoman321@aol.com or 954-478-8637 Info day of concert: (954) 478-8637

Unitarian Universalist Church of Ft Lauderdale 3970 NW 21st Ave., Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309 See Map. 

I-95 to Oakland Park Blvd, west exit. Go to light at NW 21 Ave & turn right. Just past the first light, church will be on the right.