Labyrinth Cafe 2012-13 Season
Saturday, August 13, 2012 - 7:30 p.m. $5
Sing-along/Fundraiser for UUCFL
Help us kick off our 2011-2012 season with this fun, lively and interactive event! Local performers will host, emcee and lead the evening's festivities, refreshments are available for sale and plenty of free parking is provided. “There is no pressure to sing out really loudly, or to sing incredibly well. The only common bond is that everyone in the group loves to sing. That's it. Sharing songs and creating magical sound is really way too much fun.”
We will be singing from the “Rise Up Singing” songbook (a wonderful guide compiled by SingOut Magazine with lyrics to over 1200 classic songs) as well as from our own memory – selections will include a great mix of folk, gospel, bluegrass, jazz, contemporary, rounds, old-time. If you have a copy of “Rise Up Singing", please bring it. We will also have copies for sale for at the event.
Everyone is welcome. Without you, there is no sound!
Saturday, September 8, 2012 - 7:30 p.m.
Amy Carol Webb "Welcome Home" CD Release Party
…with musicians comin' from all around, including Mindy Simmons, Lis & Lon Williamson (Gatorbone) and Ron & Bari Litschauer (Roadside Revue)! Music to the roof, giveaways and more!! "Amy Carol Webb" defined, is "beloved song weaver." She is passionate, powerful, and poignant. She's the girl next door and no ordinary woman. Born and reared in Oklahoma, Amy traces her heritage back to Native Americans through her Great-Grandmothers who settled Oklahoma when it was still a Territory. Amy's music reflects the same pioneering spirit, tenacity, integrity and never-quit grit. She is "beauty and vulnerability, genuine, sympathetic and electrifying." (Gables Gazette) 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."
Saturday, October 13, 2012 - 7:30 p.m.
Rod MacDonald
A pivotal force in the 80’s Greenwich Village folk revival, New York’s Village Voice wrote of Rod MacDonald, “politics, passion and a sense of humor…” which accurately describes Rod’s passion for music, and his personal commitment to communicating events that have effected and shaped our world’s societies. Rod seamlessly weaves romantic ballads in between his trademark tongue-in-cheek socio-political commentaries. With lyrics and music that are infectious and inspiring, often humorous, sometimes reckless, frequently evocative, usually thought provoking – and – always compelling, Rod’s songs will stay in your heart and mind long after the music has ended. “…an extraordinarily gifted songwriter who does the topical, humorous and touching folk songs equally well – think Phil Ochs, Loudon Wainwright and Bob Dylan all wrapped in one.” (Dans Distractions).
Saturday, November 10, 2012 - 7:30 p.m.
The Steel Wheels
The Steel Wheels are truly an Americana band, rooted in musical styles that explore the territories between blues and bluegrass, old-time sing-alongs and foot-stompin’ fiddle tunes. They are subtle innovators who respect the past but whistle their own tunes, layering in rich textures and decidedly modern energy to forge a new sound. The four-piece band is based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, where lead singer and primary songwriter Trent Wagler has been a scene staple for nearly a decade. Multi-instrumentalist Jay Lapp was touring with several successful Midwest bands when he and Wagler crossed paths in Harrisonburg, Virginia and a musical partnership began. The two are joined by upright bassist Brian Dickel and fiddler Eric Brubaker. “Imagine a blend of the passion of the Avett Brothers, the instrumentals of Old Crow Medicine Show, and then sprinkle in the backwoods feel of The Legendary Shack Shakers. In truth, attempting to compare [The Steel Wheels] to anyone is an injustice, since after one listen you can hear that they stand very well on their own perch.” - John Walker, Americana Roots
Saturday, December 8, 2012 - 7:30 p.m
Ellis
www.ellis-music.com
A native of Texas, Ellis moved to Minneapolis at the age of 16, where she quickly built a local following that blossomed into a nationwide presence, with extensive touring and seven albums released in the last sixteen years. If you haven’t yet caught her engaging and disarming live show, take a chance on Ellis and you’ll become a lifelong fan. Her fans describe her as not only a talented folk musician, but also as a supportive friend who offers encouraging words and humor alongside her compelling songs. She leaves audiences better than she finds them, with softened edges & opened hearts. With wholehearted songs that capture deep wisdom as well as a childlike joy, Ellis’ music is being spread across the globe by fans who are so moved that they have to share it others.
Saturday, January 12, 2013 - 7:30 p.m.
Four Shillings Short
Born in Cork, Ireland, Aodh Óg (pronounced, ayog) Ó Tuama studied Medieval and Renaissance music in college. He received a music fellowship to study at Stanford University in 1984. Played in a group called Drivelling Druids before forming the group Four Shillings Short. (vocals, tin whistles, doumbek, spoons, gemshorn, bowed psaltery, recorders, crumhorn, many others). A multi-instrumentalist (hammered dulcimer, mandolin, mandola and bouzouki, banjo, North Indian Sitar, guitar, charango, bowed psaltery and bodhran) and vocalist, Christy Martin was born into a musical family. She played the sitar for 10 years, starting at the age of 16. Took up folk music in the '80's. Has been playings hammered dulcimer since 1993. She was formerly in a band called Your Mother Should Know.
Saturday, February 9, 2013 - 7:30 p.m.
John Gorka
John Gorka, lauded by Rolling Stone as "the preeminent male singer-songwriter of the new folk movement," was born and raised in New Jersey, where he received a guitar as a Christmas present at age 10. His older brother swiped it, so Gorka took up the banjo instead. He first began writing songs with a church group, before eventually moving away from home to attend Moravian College, where he was exposed to the folk-music scene. After encouragement from Nanci Griffith, he won the Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk Competition, and released his debut disc in 1987. A mainstay of the folk scene since the mid-1980s, Gorka balances his rich baritone and introspective songwriting with his trademark dry wit and humor. John Gorka's music demonstrates an easy melodic sensibility: Nothing is contrived or overproduced. His work is built around little more than his unmistakable voice and the simple, clean sounds of his guitar.
Saturday, March 9, 2013 - 7:30 p.m.
Richard Shindell
An expatriate New Yorker now living in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Richard Shindell is a meticulous craftsman of song whose eight studio albums and 2 live recordings have been revered by critics and fans alike. Innovative, original and occasionally spiritual, Shindell's songs weave tales that interchangeably champion the downtrodden, exalt the disaffected or wax empathetic to those lost to society's fringes. His songs are often slowly and painstakingly crafted until honed to perfection. Conversely, he is also capable of writing tunes that are simply clever and amusing. Shindell's songwriting is truly eclectic, ranging from lighthearted ballads and adulterous love songs, to dirges and diatribes that skillfully skewer politics, prejudice, war and religion. He has a unique ability to morph into the soul of the many and varied personalities he casts as narrators in certain songs--songs that are veritable novellas framed in haunting acoustic melodies, sometimes including cryptic, revelations through the eyes of a woman.
Saturday, April 13, 2013 - 7:30 p.m.
Jennings & Keller/Nick Annis
Jennings & Keller is Laurie Jennings Oudin and Dana Keller, an acoustic duo based out of Miami, Florida. They bring a wealth of experience to their collaboration, from the Broadway musicals of New York to the honky tonks of West Texas. Their music is called "Fusion Folk Americana' - a blend of many different elements that comes from their vast and wide-ranging musical backgrounds Laurie Jennings Oudin is well-known as the former proprietress of The Main Street Cafe, which was viewed across the country as the premier acoustic music venue in Florida. A former Shakespearean actress, Laurie has been a singer and songwriter for many years. Since the cafe's close in June 2006, she has been devoting her time to her musical career with Dana Keller, a veteran pedal steel, dobro, and guitar player who has spent 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. The synergy created from these two diverse talents is not easy to define, but will leave a lasting impression on all who listen.
Drilling for oil in the Midwest. Selling ice cream from a truck. Running a bakery. Starting points for just a few stories Nick Annis deftly weaves between and through song and performance banter. One man medicine show? Itinerant philosopher? 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 to hear him deliver spoken word pieces in the style of brilliant songwriter/storytellers like Gamble Rogers, John McCutcheon and Dave Carter. Drawing on his diverse background and Greek roots, Nick crafts “true” stories and timeless accounts of humanity.
Saturday, May 11, 2013 - 7:30 p.m.
David Roth
(We received an e-mail from Terri Hendrix last month, cancelling her 5/11/13 Labyrinth Cafe show... and we of course completely understand that her health is a priority. In the meantime, we are grateful to David Roth for a synchronistic win-win fill-in. Terri requested that we share a portion of her e-mail, and we ask that you keep her in your thoughts, prayers and purple candle intentions: "I'm very disappointed to tell you that I'm not going to be able to honor my concert date with you. If you need to give an explanation for this…feel free to tell people the truth. I have Epilepsy and am staying off the road so as to get the seizures under control. There's a genuine lack of education about seizure disorders, and when things improve, I do hope to help folks learn about a condition that affects 200 thousand people a year.")
Chicago native David Roth cemented his connection to the folk music community on the streets of Greenwich Village in the 1980's at the open mics at Folk City, the Speakeasy, Jack Hardy's weekly songwriting groups, and anywhere else he could find an open door and an open ear. Now in his 26th year of full-time music-making, David's songs have found their way to Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, several Chicken Soup for the Soul books, the Kennedy Center, the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul, & Mary concerts, NASA's Goddard Space Center (his song, "Rocket Science" went up on the space shuttle Atlantis in 2009), the "Rise Up Singing" Songbook, countless coffeehouses, conferences, concert halls, festivals, and 12 CDs on the Wind River and Stockfisch (Germany) labels. Featured on many of Christine Lavin's seminal Rounder Records compilations, the former artist-in-residence at New York's Omega Institute is also Coordinator for the Swannanoa Gathering's Contemporary Folk Week each summer in Asheville, NC. David is thrilled to join us from his home on Cape Cod where for the past 7 years he's hosted the Full Moon Open Mic, providing a forum for local musicians to connect and be heard while at the same time collecting donations for local non-profits. Get ready for a roller coaster ride of song and story. Think James Taylor meets Jon Stewart, and a whole lot more.
Click on the link to print a copy of our Labyrinth Cafe schedule to put on your refrigerator (this will print full size)... or help spread the word about our great concerts by printing off a few copies to hand out to friends or post on bulletin boards. Thanks for supporting live, original music!
