|
UPCOMING EVENTS
|
3 upcoming shows with Jim Kweskin, Samoa Wilson, and Suzy Thompson -- Suzy opens with a set of songs from her new "Suzy Sings Siebel" CD. Advance tickets are available now!
Thurs. Jan. 23 at 7:30
Hillside Club, Berkeley
2286 Cedar St, Berkeley
HILLSIDE CLUB TICKETS
The Hillside Club, on the north side of Berkeley, is a gorgeous arts-and-crafts historic building that was designed as a performance space. They've been doing more and more folk music concerts, it is a lovely place to hear acoustic music.
Fri. Jan. 24 at 7:30
Mercury Theater, Petaluma
3333 Petaluma Boulevard North, Petaluma
MERCURY THEATER TICKETS
The Mercury Theater in Petaluma is a long-time venue for plays and musical theater, it’s perfect for a musical concert.
Sat. Jan. 25 at 7:00
The Welcome Grange, Napa
3275 Hagen Road Napa
WELCOME GRANGE TICKETS
The Welcome Grange in Napa is a charming rural old-timey grange hall, the real deal! I've played there with Ann Savoy and loved the whole vibe. Bratwurst on brioche buns with all the fixin's will be back by popular demand, as well as beverages and cookies available for purchase.
Jim Kweskin has been a folk music icon for at least 60 years now, revered for his choice of material and his guitar playing, but mostly for the way he delivers a song. In the 60s, as the leader of the Kweskin Jug Band, he toured widely, appeared on national television, and recorded big-selling albums for Vanguard Records. If you’ve seen the new Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown”, you’ll hear his name mentioned in the scene where the booking for the 1965 Newport Folk Festival is taking place — the fact that his band is one of the first to be booked for that momentous gathering is testament to his importance in the folk scene. Jim played a weeklong stint with Bob Dylan and Peter Stampfel in the early early days before any of them had become famous. Maybe he’ll tell that story at one of these concerts!!
Samoa Wilson is a beautiful singer - beautiful to look at but also to listen to. She grew up in Jim Kweskin’s circle and sings everything from jazz standards to blues to old folk songs, in her pure, sweet voice.
For these shows, Jim and Samoa will be joined by Suzy Thompson on fiddle and Matt Berliner on bass.
ABOUT SUZY’S NEW CD (official release date is April 1st - more info about ordering will soon become available)
“Suzy Sings Siebel” is a collection of ten songs by the great 1970s singer and songwriter Paul Siebel. His best-known song is “Louise”, famously recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt and countless others, but he wrote many more, most of which are “portrait” songs. He released two albums on Elektra but never liked the life of a traveling musician; he suffered from debilitating stage fright, and his songwriting dried up. He retired from music in the 1980s and disappeared from view.
I first learned his songs in the mid-1970s, introduced to them by pianist Hoyle Osborne. At the time, Hoyle, Eric, bassist Molly Mason and I were playing in a band together, the Blue Flame Syncopators. In that band, I sang old blues songs mixed in with the contemporary songs of Paul Siebel and fiddle rags. This was the soundtrack of my early twenties, and of Eric’s and my courtship. By 1980, I had gone deep down the traditional music rabbit hole, and stopped performing more modern music, but I never forgot those songs. Forty years later, during the pandemic, I found myself returning to them and did a couple of online shows featuring Paul Siebel songs, including one in which I sang his entire first album, “Woodsmoke and Oranges”.
When the pandemic began, Paul Siebel was in his 80s, in very poor health, and living in rural Maryland. Somehow, friends of his heard about my online concert and arranged for him to watch it (Paul didn’t have a computer or cell phone). The next day, the friends sent me an email: “Paul loved your concert. He laughed, he cried, he sang along. He wants to call you, please send your phone number”. Needless to say, I was completely floored. Paul and I had four very long, intense phone conversations before he died on April 5, 2022.
To be able to form a friendship with Paul Siebel, and to know that he loved my renditions of his songs, was a dream come true for me. I had long wanted to do an album of his songs and now I finally have, with musical help from some of my most admired musicians including Cindy Cashdollar, John Sebastian, Molly Mason, Jody Stecher (who also produced), Kate Brislin, Bill Evans, Mark Schatz, Michaelle Goerlitz and of course Eric.
Thurs. Jan. 23 at 7:30
Hillside Club, Berkeley
2286 Cedar St, Berkeley
HILLSIDE CLUB TICKETS
The Hillside Club, on the north side of Berkeley, is a gorgeous arts-and-crafts historic building that was designed as a performance space. They've been doing more and more folk music concerts, it is a lovely place to hear acoustic music.
Fri. Jan. 24 at 7:30
Mercury Theater, Petaluma
3333 Petaluma Boulevard North, Petaluma
MERCURY THEATER TICKETS
The Mercury Theater in Petaluma is a long-time venue for plays and musical theater, it’s perfect for a musical concert.
Sat. Jan. 25 at 7:00
The Welcome Grange, Napa
3275 Hagen Road Napa
WELCOME GRANGE TICKETS
The Welcome Grange in Napa is a charming rural old-timey grange hall, the real deal! I've played there with Ann Savoy and loved the whole vibe. Bratwurst on brioche buns with all the fixin's will be back by popular demand, as well as beverages and cookies available for purchase.
Jim Kweskin has been a folk music icon for at least 60 years now, revered for his choice of material and his guitar playing, but mostly for the way he delivers a song. In the 60s, as the leader of the Kweskin Jug Band, he toured widely, appeared on national television, and recorded big-selling albums for Vanguard Records. If you’ve seen the new Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown”, you’ll hear his name mentioned in the scene where the booking for the 1965 Newport Folk Festival is taking place — the fact that his band is one of the first to be booked for that momentous gathering is testament to his importance in the folk scene. Jim played a weeklong stint with Bob Dylan and Peter Stampfel in the early early days before any of them had become famous. Maybe he’ll tell that story at one of these concerts!!
Samoa Wilson is a beautiful singer - beautiful to look at but also to listen to. She grew up in Jim Kweskin’s circle and sings everything from jazz standards to blues to old folk songs, in her pure, sweet voice.
For these shows, Jim and Samoa will be joined by Suzy Thompson on fiddle and Matt Berliner on bass.
ABOUT SUZY’S NEW CD (official release date is April 1st - more info about ordering will soon become available)
“Suzy Sings Siebel” is a collection of ten songs by the great 1970s singer and songwriter Paul Siebel. His best-known song is “Louise”, famously recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt and countless others, but he wrote many more, most of which are “portrait” songs. He released two albums on Elektra but never liked the life of a traveling musician; he suffered from debilitating stage fright, and his songwriting dried up. He retired from music in the 1980s and disappeared from view.
I first learned his songs in the mid-1970s, introduced to them by pianist Hoyle Osborne. At the time, Hoyle, Eric, bassist Molly Mason and I were playing in a band together, the Blue Flame Syncopators. In that band, I sang old blues songs mixed in with the contemporary songs of Paul Siebel and fiddle rags. This was the soundtrack of my early twenties, and of Eric’s and my courtship. By 1980, I had gone deep down the traditional music rabbit hole, and stopped performing more modern music, but I never forgot those songs. Forty years later, during the pandemic, I found myself returning to them and did a couple of online shows featuring Paul Siebel songs, including one in which I sang his entire first album, “Woodsmoke and Oranges”.
When the pandemic began, Paul Siebel was in his 80s, in very poor health, and living in rural Maryland. Somehow, friends of his heard about my online concert and arranged for him to watch it (Paul didn’t have a computer or cell phone). The next day, the friends sent me an email: “Paul loved your concert. He laughed, he cried, he sang along. He wants to call you, please send your phone number”. Needless to say, I was completely floored. Paul and I had four very long, intense phone conversations before he died on April 5, 2022.
To be able to form a friendship with Paul Siebel, and to know that he loved my renditions of his songs, was a dream come true for me. I had long wanted to do an album of his songs and now I finally have, with musical help from some of my most admired musicians including Cindy Cashdollar, John Sebastian, Molly Mason, Jody Stecher (who also produced), Kate Brislin, Bill Evans, Mark Schatz, Michaelle Goerlitz and of course Eric.