Living Along the River: A Concert of River Songs
2:00PM, November 7, 2010, in Northampton, MA
The concert was a rousing success - we couldn't tell whether the audience or the musicians enjoyed themselves more. The mix of country and bluegrass, acoustic string bands, banjos, a capella, barbershop and flat-out rock featured a collection of songs about living along the Connecticut River – from log drives and floods to growing up in the Valley – and brought together some of the finest musicians and songwriters in the region.
“We’re very lucky to be receiving the time and talent of so many gifted musicians,” says Valley musician Pat LaMountain, who, along with her husband and musical partner Tex, wove together a wide array of talent. Among the artists showcased were John Sheldon, a professional guitarist who played with Van Morrison in the 60s, and an accomplished studio musician and songwriter in his own right. Sheldon’s songs “September Grass” and “Bittersweet” were featured on James Taylor’s albums “October Road” and “The Best of James Taylor,” both of which went platinum. Also featured was Rani Arbo, described by The Boston Globe as “a force to be reckoned with” along with members of her band, daisy mayhem: Anand Nayak, Scott Kessler, and Andrew Kinsey. The band’s recently-released album “Ranky Tanky” received a 2010 Parent’s Choice Gold Award.
The concert exclusively featured songs from the 2008 and 2009 “Living along the River” songwriting contests. Among the featured songwriters joining John Sheldon and Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem on stage to perform their original songs were:
Sparkie Allison
Katie Clarke
Charlie Conant
John Currie
Claire Dacey
John-Michael Field "Broken Muddy Town"
Drew Hickum "1872"
Roland Lapierre
Tony Lechner "Riverside"
Sheila Moschen
Russ Thomas
Zachary Wissman
As videos of the concert become available - song by song - we will provide links above.
This project was supported in part by a grant from the Northampton Arts Council.
Special thanks to the Academy of Music.
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Photo credits (above):Alan Morgan
Image Credits at Right - Illustrations: Bill Singleton; Photos: Elisabeth Cianciola, David Deen, ©Chris Hardie, ©Al Braden www.albradenphoto.com, River Music drawn by Tom Dudley - Greenfield Recorder, CRWC Staff.
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