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Peter Tork, one of the originals from the TV hit "The Monkees", Peter Karp, Sue Foley, Plainfield Slim & The Groundhawgs, and Anne Mironchik, will help launch what is expected to be the first of many Centenary Mini-Blues Festivals.
Joe Hirsh Productions and the Centenary Stage Company, in association with MoPromo, are proud to announce the 1st Annual Centenary Mini-Blues Festival Friday and Saturday, March 12-13, 2010, at Centenary College.
The Mini-Blues Festival, presented by PNC Bank, is a weekend filled event for the Hackettstown area, with Centenary College 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.
Headlining Friday night are 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 their own tunes - in a way, three shows in one. Peter Tork and his band, Shoe Suede Blues, will headline the Saturday night show.
"He Said - She Said" is an inspired collaboration of original songs by the Canadian Juno award winner Foley and the critically acclaimed U.S. singer / songwriter and Blind Pig artist Karp. The songs are adapted from letters and e-mail correspondence between the two over a 2-year period. They tell the story of two artists in development, in a meeting of hearts and minds. The Centenary show will be one of their first in the wake of the February release of their new CD, "The Letters," on Blind Pig Records.
Karp notes that "what started as a casual exchange became a revealing account of the personal struggles and dramatic changes that were happening in our lives. Our shared thoughts became intimate. Then, we turned those letters into songs and made a CD together. It's by far the best thing either of us have created simply because it comes from the honesty of real life."
It also has lots of humor and overall is a very engaging show as these two songwriters bring a wealth of performance history to this collaboration.
"He Said - She Said" premiered in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta Canada at the 2,000 seat Jack Springer Hall Epcor Center and The Winspear Center respectively, to sold out audiences.
Both of them have impressive resumes of their own.
A gifted songwriter and American troubadour, Karp is a master songsmith with an art for spinning true-to-life emotions, humor, and candor. With an upbringing that was equal parts southern Alabama and the swamps of New Jersey, Karp's music is fueled by the Yankee-Rebel juxtaposition. He is a critically acclaimed songwriter and an accomplished guitarist/pianist who repeatedly trans?xes audiences. Critics compare his song writing to John Hiatt and John Prine, with impressive guitar and slide licks infused by his love of Freddy King and Elmore James. Karp personi?es the amorphous Americana sound, seamlessly blending blues and roots music with a high sense of entertainment. He's released 3 CD's, the last one "Shadows and Cracks" on Blind Pig Records charted in the Top 10 on the Billboard Blues Chart, and the Roots Blues Chart.
Foley is considered to be one of the finest blues/roots artists working today. Born to a working class family, she spent her early childhood moving from Canadian town to town with her mother. At 16 she embarked on her professional career. By 21 she was living in Austin, TX and recording for legendary blues label Antone's Records. Her ?rst CD "Young Girl Blues" quickly established her unique talents as a blues guitarist and songwriter. Throughout the 90's she took to the road with her paisley Telecaster and honed her craft working/sharing the stage with such artists as BB King, Buddy Guy, Lucinda Williams and Tom Petty. After moving back to Canada, Foley won the prestigious Juno award for her critically acclaimed CD "Love Coming Down." She has released 11 CD's, the past 3 on Ruf Records. Since 1999 she has received a record-setting 18 Maple Blues Awards, and three Trophée de blues in France. Sue also received a nomination for the prestigious W.C. Handy Award for Best Contemporary Female Artist in 2002.
Joining Karp and Foley on stage will be Karp's regular band, including Hackettstown's Niles Terrat on bass.
The Mike Lawlor Band will open up the Centenary show on Friday night at 6:30 p.m. followed by Lori V with Can't Stop Now. Karp and Foley are expected to go on stage around 8:15.
While Peter Tork and his Shoe Suede Blues 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." But it wasn't always blues for Tork.
Long before he became a legendary part of the prefab phenomenon known as the "The Monkees," Tork was a well-respected musician/artist in the burgeoning New York folk and blues scene. Tork's gift for playing a plethora of instruments (bass, guitar, keyboard, banjo and french horn) generated high demand for his services as a sideman/back-up artist. Peter knocked around for several hungry years in the mid-60's, hanging and performing with the likes of John Phillips, Steven Stills, Dave Van Ronk, Van Dyke Parks and Arthur Lee, among others.
In June of 1965 Tork auditioned for what was to become a TV show called The Monkees - a band that was styled after the Beatles. Tork was selected and thus joined up what was to become a ground breaking multimedia TV project never before seen on TV centering around a zany, young, rock/pop band, four members in all.
Throughout the years since The Monkees, Tork has continued to perform as a solo act, with bands and then found a love affair with the blues in the 1990s, which turned into his current band, Shoe Suede Blues.
Following Tork's Centenary performance, he'll be on hand at the post show party at Charlie Brown's.
Also appearing at Centenary on Saturday night are Plainfield Slim & The Groundhawgs and Hunterdon County native and now longtime New Yorker Anne Mironchik with her swinging blues trio.
Plainfield Slim & The Groundhawgs are a very raw, hypnotic, Mississippi type juke joint blues band. Band members include singer-songwriter Gar Francis on guitar, Lee Fink on slide guitar, Myke Scavone on harp, and Mike Caruso on bass, and Myke's little brother Rocco Scavone on drums. Plainfield Slim & The Groundhawgs recently released their second CD "When The Devil Hits Home" after much success from "Another Mule In The Barn", the first Plainfield Slim album.
Mironchik, meanwhile, has been described as "Carole King, with some extra swing!" Anne's music is reminiscent of your favorite R&B hits of the 70s & 80s. She is a vocalist, pianist, composer and lyricist with a conservatory degree in jazz and roots in rock, blues, R&B and country. Weaving in lyrics that are sensible, without being sentimental, she never misses a toe-tappin' beat as she explores the struggles, loves, fears and joys of everyday heroes.
General admission tickets for each night are just $20 each, which includes a discount to the post show party. Two day tickets are only $35, which includes free admission to both of the post show parties. To purchase tickets online and further details about the festival, including the full lineup and schedule at Centenary, go to www.centenarystageco.org, or phone 908-979-0900. You can also find out about the festival by going to www.joehirshproductions.com. Tickets can also be purchased at PNC Bank, Route 57, Mansfield Township, at Greene Bean's Café, High Street, Hackettstown, or by contacting Joe Hirsh Productions, joehirsh@msn.com. If you would like to be added to the Centenary Stage Company email list you can do so on their website. Follow Joe Hirsh on Twitter, www.twitter.com/joehirsh.
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