On A Winter’s Night featuring Cliff Eberhardt, John Gorka, Lucy Kaplansky, Patty Larkin
Presenting the Reunion Tour of “On A Winter’s Night” from veteran singer-songwriters that remain among the brightest stars of the singer-songwriter movement for the past three decades. In 1994 Christine Lavin gathered them together, along with folk and Americana artists to showcase music of the Winter Season on the now-classic On A Winter’s Night CD, followed by several years of touring collaborations. These artists have released dozens of recordings and toured steadily through the decades, with fond memories of their touring days together. The winter season is again celebrated by these unique and popular performers, back together by popular demand.
PATTY LARKIN
She redefines the boundaries of folk-urban pop music with her inventive guitar wizardry and uncompromising lyrics and vocals. Acoustic Guitar Magazine hails her, “soundscape experiments” while Rolling Stone praises her, “evocative and sonic shading.” She has been described as, “riveting” (Chicago Tribune), “hypnotic” (Entertainment Weekly), and a “drop-dead brilliant” performer (Performing Songwriter). Recently an Artist-in-Residence at Berklee College of Music – and now on the faculty at Fine Arts Work Center – Larkin reflects, “I have been energized by the poets, writers, and artists I have met while teaching, and find myself on a journey to break down some of the predictable pathways that songs can travel.” Bird in a Cage, her 14th CD now available, puts poems from ten notable poets to song, including US Poet Laureates William Carlos Williams, Stanley Kunitz, Kay Ryan, Robert Pinsky, and Billy Collins, for a new and haunting collection that pulses with the magic of lyricism. Poems are made to be shared aloud, and with Bird, Patty takes up that tradition and sets it aglow.
CLIFF EBERHARDT
One of the most original songsmiths currently on tour, Eberhardt is a highly intelligent, articulate artist whose penetrating and profound lyrics are sometimes overshadowed by his extraordinary guitar playing. Upon close listening, the Philadelphia-born singer’s gift for the English language is abundantly clear. The words that tumble from his mouth are framed by a raspy yet deeply elegant voice. Like John Hammond and Richie Havens, Eberhardt continues to carry the torch for traditional and contemporary folk music through his strong live shows. Whether he’s out on tour solo or with a small band, Eberhardt’s guitar playing, singing, and original folk songs and blues make for a compelling, thought-filled, emotional roller coaster of a concert.
JOHN GORKA
Hailed by Rolling Stone as “the leading singer-songwriter of the New Folk movement,” John Gorka is perhaps the quintessential singer-songwriter of the 90’s folk scene. Originally from New Jersey, John served an apprenticeship at Godfrey Daniels coffeehouse in Bethlehem, PA, then the Greenwich Village Fast Folk scene. Winning the prestigious New Folk award at the Kerrville Folk Festival, in 1984, he was then signed to Red House Records on which he released his landmark first of 17 recordings, I Know. Boston Globe penned Gorka “for the sophisticated intelligence and the provocative originality of his songs.” Recent accolades include 2016’s Indie Acoustic Project’s Best Singer-Songwriter CD of the Year for Before Beginning (Red House Records). 2018 brought his latest release, and 14th of his career, True In Time (Compass Records). True In Time (Compass Records).
LUCY KAPLANSKY
“A truly gifted performer…full of enchanting songs” (New York Times). Blending country, folk and pop styles, Lucy has the unique ability to make every song sound fresh, whether singing her own sweet originals, covering country classics by June Carter Cash and Gram Parsons, or singing pop favorites by Lennon/McCartney and Nick Lowe. Lucy’s iconic voice has been featured in film and on television, including commercials like Chevrolet’s iconic “Heartbeat of America” jingle. A Billboard-charting singer and one of the top-selling artists on Red House Records, she has topped the folk and Americana radio charts and has been featured on shows throughout the world from NPR’s Weekend and Morning Editions to BBC Radio to CBS Sunday Morning. One of the most in-demand harmony singers, Lucy has sung on countless records, performing with Suzanne Vega, Bryan Ferry, Nanci Griffith, and Shawn Colvin.
California Dreams Sounds of L.A. 1965 – 1975
From the artists of The Carole King & James Taylor Story
An immersive trip through California in the late 60’s, early 70’s when a collective of musical legends changed the world. Hits by The Mamas and The Papas, Eagles, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Brown, The Byrds, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and many more. Brought to you by Dan Clews & Phoebe Katis. Dan has been seen performing The Royal Albert Hall and was championed by Sir George Martin who described Dan as “Too great a talent to ignore.” Phoebe, a UK artist now based in NYC who has collaborative credits with Grammy nominated Cory Wong, Grammy Winning Mr Talkbox, Scary Pockets, Dave Koz, Sam Greenfield and many more. Produced by award-winning group Night Owl Shows who have garnered critical acclaim with converted performances Edinburgh Fringe (Scotland), Perth Fringe (Australia), Brighton Fringe (England) Adelaide Fringe (Australia) and Bear Valley Music Festival (California) as well as numerous tours throughout the UK and US. Since its inception Night Owl shows has picked up a staggering 26 awards at aforementioned international festivals as well as selling out over 200 shows and over and over 150,000 ticket sales since 2017.
Paul Thorn
“It’s Never Too Late to Call”
Paul Thorn’s Sapphire Dream
Some years ago I happened to see Paul Thorn performing on an outdoor stage at a street festival in the heart of a small Mississippi town. Suddenly, in mid song, Thorn stopped playing and looked down at the upturned, sugar-splattered face of a fan on the front row. “I sure would like me a funnel cake,” Thorn announced. The crowd exploded with laughter. By the end of the next song, someone in the audience had responded, and soon Thorn was happily munching on the doughy confection.
And that, dear people, is one more shining example of how Paul Thorn is able to breathe in the air around him, everyday and commonplace, and exhale something original and often side-splitting funny. It’s a kind of genius, and it’s there plain to see, in his music, his art and through his performances, which not only showcase his chops as a singer-songwriter, but as a pitch-perfect improv comic.
His audiences love it. And they come back for more because no two Paul Thorn performances are alike. For further confirmation of this, check out Thorn’s YouTube videos, though I warn you. You will find yourself a long time in this rabbit hole.
We live in a world where the terms “artist” and “genius” have been rendered meaningless through overuse. To use either in describing Thorn, though, is not overreach. Pick up any of his dozen or so CDs. The evidence is plain to see. Just listen.
The scenery of Thorn’s rural South is changing. The trailer parks, gravel roads around Tupelo and high school beauty queens flicker in the rear-view mirror. Two years ago, Thorn returned to his early gospel roots with the release of “Don’t Let the Devil Ride.”
In contrast with earlier work that riffed on short-term love affairs, as well as “kissing the right one good-bye,” the writing on Thorn’s latest release, “Never Too Late To Call” features music from a man who is with the “right one” and is happy to be there.
This offering, seven years in the making, features all original material, some songs written by Thorn, others co-written with his friend and longtime manager Billy Maddox. The CD was recorded at Sam Phillips Studio in Memphis and produced and engineered by Grammy winning wunderkind Matt Ross-Spang.
In the case of what is arguably the CD’s most tender composition, “Sapphire Dream,” Thorn teamed up with his daughter Kitty Jones, who co-wrote the song and accompanies her dad on vocals.
Jeweled birds fly under crushed velvet skies
And the blue rain don’t fall on me
The sun is on our face; it’s a perfect place
And the one I love is here with me, in my sapphire dream
Particularly poignant is “Breaking Up For Good Again.” On this track, Thorn is accompanied by his wife Heather. Their harmonizing is not only lovely, but resonates with a ring of truth known to two who have driven together that rutted, bumpy road every married couple must travel.
Counselors of would-be newly-weds would do well to require their young charges to read and discuss the lyrics of this song:
Anger, tears and pride, are hard to hide, I lost my cool
I said some hurtful things, I did not mean, we both were fools
I know we need some space, I’ll call you in a couple days
We’ve come this far by now we know
We’ll never let each other go
Much has been written about Thorn’s early years performing in his father’s Pentecostal church and later coming under the tutelage of his Uncle Merle, a pimp and small-time hustler. While those early relationships were formative and offered their attractions, the admonition of Jesus to love one another seems to hold powerful sway with Thorn.
I asked him about it.
“I’ll tell you where I got that from. My father was a minister, and one of his strongest qualities was he had time for the big people and little people too. … In fact, I went and visited him yesterday, and when I got there, there was a guy standing on the porch, dirty clothes, hadn’t had a bath.
“My mom walked on the porch and she gave him a two-liter 7-Up bottle filled with water because he didn’t have water in his house. She gave him a plate of fried chicken for his supper and told him he could come back tomorrow if he didn’t have any food.
“They’re not talking about it. They’re just doing it. If I got it from somewhere, that’s where it came from.”
While that sentiment has been there all along in Thorn’s earlier CDs, it’s more prevalent in “Never Too Late to Call.”
“There’s a theme running throughout the record about people needing each other and reaching out to each other,” Thorn said.
Take for example “Holy Hottie Totty,” the CD’s raucous feel-good closer he co-wrote with Maddox:
Life goes by so fast you better not blink
You might not have as much time as you think
Let go of any grudges while you’re still around
You can’t say you’re sorry when you’re laying six feet in the ground
The best time is right now.
Holy hottie toddy
Good God Almighty
Love everybody
As is the case with all of Thorn’s songs, the CD’s title track, “It’s Never Too Late to Call,” comes with a story.
He wrote the song for his sister Deborah who died in 2018. When Thorn was on the road, he’d long to talk to someone after his shows, hours after the members of his immediate family were asleep. But his sister, a night owl, would often stay up all night.
“I could call her and she’d always be awake,” Thorn said. “I wrote that song about her.”
The song is one more example of a distinguishing characteristic of Thorn’s work — a quality his fans love — the intensely personal nature of his lyrics. Thorn’s music has always been a reflection of where he’s been or where he is in his life. On “Never Too Late to Call,” we find mellower Paul Thorn. The razor wit and the gently humorous commentary on life’s existential questions are in evidence, but here there is a peace about his life’s journey. Or, to put it in his words, “I’ve been such a lucky boy. I’m crying two tears of joy.”
Judy Collins
Judy Collins has inspired audiences with sublime vocals, boldly vulnerable songwriting, personal life triumphs, and a firm commitment to social activism. In the 1960s, she evoked both the idealism and steely determination of a generation united against social and environmental injustices. Five decades later, her luminescent presence shines brightly as new generations bask in the glow of her iconic 50-album body of work, and heed inspiration from her spiritual discipline to thrive in the music industry for half a century.
The award-winning singer-songwriter is esteemed for her imaginative interpretations of traditional and contemporary folk standards and her own poetically poignant original compositions. Her stunning rendition of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” from her landmark 1967 album, Wildflowers, has been entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Judy’s dreamy and sweetly intimate version of “Send in the Clowns,” a ballad written by Stephen Sondheim for the Broadway musical A Little Night Music,won “Song of the Year” at the 1975 Grammy Awards. She’s garnered several top-ten hits gold- and platinum-selling albums. Recently, contemporary and classic artists such as Rufus Wainwright, Shawn Colvin, Dolly Parton, Joan Baez, and Leonard Cohen honored her legacy with the album Born to the Breed: A Tribute to Judy Collins.
Judy began her impressive music career at 13 as a piano prodigy dazzling audiences performing Mozart’s “Concerto for Two Pianos,” but the hardluck tales and rugged sensitivity of folk revival music by artists such as Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger seduced her away from a life as a concert pianist. Her path pointed to a lifelong love affair with the guitar and pursuit of emotional truth in lyrics. The focus and regimented practice of classical music, however, would be a source of strength to her inner core as she navigated the highs and lows of the music business.
In 1961, she released her masterful debut, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, which featured interpretative works of social poets of the time such as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Tom Paxton. This began a wonderfully fertile thirty-five year creative relationship with Jac Holzman and Elektra Records. Around this time Judy became a tastemaker within the thriving Greenwich Village folk community, and brought other singer-songwriters to a wider audience, including poet/musician Leonard Cohen – and musicians Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman. Throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and up to the present, she has remained a vital artist, enriching her catalog with critically acclaimed albums while balancing a robust touring schedule.
Prolific as ever, Judy recorded a DVD special Judy Collins: A Love Letter To Stephen Sondheim, in her hometown of Denver, CO. Along with the Greely Philharmonic Orchestra, Judy dazzled the audience with Sondheim’s beautiful songs and her lovely, radiant voice. DVD and CD companion will be released in early 2017. Judy also released a collaborative album in June 2016, Silver Skies Blue, with writing partner, Ari Hest. Silver Skies Blue has been GRAMMY nominated for BEST FOLK ALBUM in 2017, this is the first GRAMMY nomination for Collins in over 40 years.
On September 18, 2015, Judy released Strangers Again. She invited a cast of icons and young talents to sing with her on this fresh collection, from Willie Nelson, Jackson Browne and Jeff Bridges to Glen Hansard, Ari Hest and Bhi Bhiman. Judy delicately soars over a revitalized “Send In The Clowns” and breathes new
life into “Hallelujah.” She puts her indelible touch on songs by Leonard Bernstein, Randy Newman, James Taylor and more.
In 2012, she released the CD/DVD Judy Collins Live At The Metropolitan Museum Of Art which aired on PBS. This special television program was nominated for a New York Emmy and won a Bronze Medal at the 2013 New York Festival International Television & Film Awards. Based on it’s success, in 2014 she filmed another spectacular show in Ireland at Dromoland Castle. Live In Ireland was released in 2014. This program also won a Bronze Medal at the 2014 New York Festival International Television & Film Awards and the program will broadcast on PBS in 2014 and 2015.
Judy has also authored several books, including the powerful and inspiring, Sanity & Grace and her extraordinary memoir, Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life in Music. For her most recent title to be released in 2017, Cravings, she provides a no-holds barred account of her harrowing struggle with compulsive overeating, and the journey that led her to a solution. Alternating between chapters on her life and those of the many diet gurus she has encountered along the way (Atkins, Jean Nidtech of Weight Watchers, Andrew Weil, to name a few), Cravings is the culmination of Judy’s genuine desire to share what she’s learned—so that no one has follow her heart-rending path to recovery.
In addition, she remains a social activist, representing UNICEF and numerous other causes. She is the director (along with Jill Godmillow) of an Academy Award-nominated film about Antonia Brico – PORTRAIT OF A WOMAN, the first woman to conduct major symphonies around the world–and Judy’s classical piano teacher when she was young.
Judy Collins, now 77, is as creatively vigorous as ever, writing, touring worldwide, and nurturing fresh talent. She is a modern day Renaissance woman who is also an accomplished painter, filmmaker, record label head, musical mentor, and an in-demand keynote speaker for mental health and suicide prevention. She continues to create music of hope and healing that lights up the world and speaks to the heart.
Songs and Stories with Roger McGuinn
photograph by John Chiasson