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By Warren Reporter - The Centenary Stage Company is going back to the roots of American music in the next three months as it celebrates the blues with three superb shows.
Starting with the The Holmes Brothers on Saturday Feb. 6, the Hackettstown venue will then host the 1st Annual Centenary Mini-Blues Festival featuring Peter Karp, Sue Foley and Shoe Suede Blues with original Monkee Peter Tork the weekend of March 12-13, and capping things off with Ernie Hawkins on Saturday April 17.
The spine-tingling harmonies, boundless energy and telepathic musicianship of The Holmes Brothers (bassist/vocalist Sherman Holmes, guitarist/pianist/ vocalist Wendell Holmes, and drummer/vocalist Popsy Dixon) mix roadhouse blues and rock with the gospel fervor and harmonies of a Sunday church service.
The band's chilling harmonies resonate with a passion and conviction matched only by their inspired musicianship and their ability to perform sanctified gospel, low-down roadhouse blues, deep soul, Americana/country and pure pop - all in one set. The group has recorded with Van Morrison, Peter Gabriel, Odetta, Phoebe Snow, Willie Nelson, Rosanne Cash, Levon Helm and Joan Osborne, and have gigged all over the world - even performing for President Clinton.
The Mini-Blues Festival, presented by PNC Bank and with major support from The Skylands Music & Arts Alliance and elite sponsorship from Kevil Chevrolet, is a weekend filled event for the Hackettstown area, with Centenary Stage hosting music both nights, preceded by "matinee shows" at Marley's Gotham Grill in the late afternoon from 4-6 p.m. and "post-show parties" both nights at Charlie Brown's, from 10:30 p.m. to midnight. The Centenary shows begin at 6:30 each night and go to 10 p.m.
The Mini-Blues Festival, which is also being sponsored by GBW Insurance, The House of the Good Shepherd Continuing Care Community, Good Impressions, the Wyndham Garden Hotel - Mt. Olive, Warren County Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Michael Alper, Esq., features Friday night headliners Peter Karp and Sue Foley, who will play together as part of their "He Said, She Said Tour", as well as taking the lead on some of their own tunes for a 3-for-1 like performance. Peter Tork and his band, Shoe Suede Blues, will headline Saturday night. While Tork and his band usually plays a few Monkees hits, its focus in concert is on traditional blues sounds, such as those on their latest CD, "Cambria Hotel." In all, six different acts, three each night, will be performing at Centenary as part of the Mini-Blues Festival, a Centenary Stage Company and Joe Hirsh Production, in association with MoPromo.
Guitarist and singer Ernie Hawkins will grace the Centenary stage on April 17 with his unique acoustic blues, ragtime and gospel finger-picking style. Based primarily on the early 20th century east coast Piedmont and Texas steel-string finger-picking style, Ernie's virtuosic performances and workshops have captivated audiences around the world for years. Indeed, Ernie has learned his craft from a host of masters, such as Rev. Gary Davis, Mance Lipscomb, Son House, and Fred McDowell. This event is made possible with support from the Pennsylvania Perfoming Arts on Tour program (PennPAT).
Tickets are available for all performances. For ticket information and further details about these shows and other Centenary Stage Company events in 2010, go to www.centenarystageco.org or phone 908-979-0900.
Centenary Stage Company is a not-for-profit theatre dedicated to bringing the performing arts to the Warren, Sussex, Morris and Hunterdon County areas. CSC, an associate member of The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, offers theatre performances with actors that are members of the Actors Equity Association, the professional union for actors. In addition, CSC hosts a heralded jazz series, dance and other music concerts throughout the year, along with several Performing Arts Education programs for youth of the Skylands region.
Performances at Centenary Stage Co. are made possible through the generous support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the NJ State Council on the Arts, PennPAT- Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour (PennPAT), and CSC members and sponsors.
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