The Peoples' Voice Cafe
An alternative coffeehouse offering live entertainment in New York City,
from folk music and protest songs to rap and jazz, and poetry, storytelling, and dance.
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~ Spring 2023 Season ~
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Saturday, January 7, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Such As Us
Such As Us is a socially conscious alternative rock group from New York. They have a sound reminiscent of The Mamas & The Papas
but with a modern twist. They address important issues - justice, peace, love, the environment - and are unapologetic activists
in New York Friends of Clearwater. Male and female voices harmonize about the present and future with a retro vibe.
reverbnation.com/maureenprussackshames
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Filthy Rotten System
Filthy Rotten System is an activist protest/rock band. Our repertoire ranges from The Band and Bruce Springsteen to Woody Guthrie
and Pete Seeger. We also do some powerful original songs of social comment, e.g., "Let My People Stay". We came out of the
Catholic Worker, where some of us live and we gather for rehearsals. Our most common venues are vigils, marches, and rallies in
support of undocumented immigrants, against war, and promoting human rights.
facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064307103024
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Saturday, January 14, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Worldwide Songs of Freedom
An evening of songs in celebration of Martin Luther King Day, featuring Lindsey Wilson, Judy Gorman, Jendog Lonewolf,
Pharaoh-King, Carolann Solebello, Chris "Oledude" Owens, and Barry Kornhauser.
lindseywilsonmusicnow.com
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Saturday, January 21, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Professor Louie
Professor Louie has played more benefits, rallies, fund-raisers, block parties and street fairs than he or anyone else can
remember. He has been spouting poetries about class warfare and systemic racism since he learned to speak. His mother, Rose, said,
"That boy never stops."
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Jody Kolodzey
This is a rare live performance by poet Jody Kolodzey, whose fan base includes the late Studs Terkel. She currently resides in the
land of mice and snow, where she writes with a fountain pen.
Jody was ill and was replaced at the last minute by Steve Suffett.
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Saturday, January 28, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Ben Grosscup
Ben Grosscup is executive director of The People's Music Network for Songs of Freedom and
Struggle,
a diverse community of singers, artists, and activists that cultivates music and cultural work as catalysts for a just and peaceful
world. PMN hosts regular online song swaps and hybrid musical collaborations, involving artists world-wide.
Ben sings about the ideas and values of the revolutionary social movements he's part of. Drawing upon activist folk singing
traditions, he brings new songs to the rallies, strikes, picket lines, and virtual events where they're most relevant.
He leads purposeful group singing that raises political consciousness.
youtube.com/c/BenGrosscup
"No More Sacrifice Zones"
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hot glue & the gun
hot glue & the gun craft intimate, interactive theater-rock. Founding members Carrie Klein & joEL McGlynn explore the gluey
intersections of artistry & community. Art is not a spectator sport. Come #betheglue with us.
hotglueandthegun.com/
"The Bored"
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Saturday, February 4, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Black History Month Celebration
Join us for a celebration of Black History, with storytelling, poetry, singing, and music, featuring storyteller Thelma Ruffin
Thomas and special guests.
Thelma is the artistic director of Pearls of Wisdom, a touring ensemble of elder storytellers. She has brought her lively,
spirited, authentic presentations to Tanzania, Brazil, Ghana, Costa Rica, The Gambia, South Africa, Russia, Australia, Kenya,
Cameroon, and India, continuing the tradition of elder folk art stories. Guests include:
Atiba Wilson - flautist and drummer
Owusu Slater - drummer and storyteller
Akil Dasan - guitarist, singer and poet
JinJi Nicole - storyteller
Lynnette Braxton - storyteller
Joyce Parr - storyteller
Devon Cormack - singer
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Saturday, February 11, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Heather Wood
Heather Wood has been singing mainly traditional songs from the British Isles since the Sixties, when Girls Did Not Lead Sea
Shanties, and is happy to note this has now changed. She believes traditional music should be enjoyed, not enshrined. As one third
of the Young Tradition (with Peter Bellamy and Royston Wood), she toured extensively in the UK, US, and Canada, and has performed
solo and in various duos and trios since. Heather occasionally writes songs, some of which others have recorded.
aheatherwood.com
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The Ranzo Boys
The Ranzo Boys are Lafayette Matthews (he/him) and Jules Peiperl (they/them). They have been singing together since
2013. They are dedicated to honoring the tradition of the songs they sing while making the folk community a more inclusive and
welcoming space for all people. Their repertoire includes buzzy English harmonies, Appalachian ballads, sea chanteys, and any trad
song that can be remotely construed as queer.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100073359734051
"The Mariner's Hymn"
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Saturday, February 18, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Rod MacDonald
Rod MacDonald was born in Connecticut and began singing professionally in New York City, where he became a
leading headliner in Greenwich Village clubs in the 1980s. He recorded 21 songs for Fast Folk magazine
(now in the Smithsonian Folkways collection), including "American Jerusalem," "A Sailors Prayer," "Every Living
Thing," and "White Buffalo," also recorded by numerous other artists. He has 13 solo CDs and three CDs with the
Palm Beach County band
Big Brass Bed, which New Times named "Best Folk Band" in 2016. Now living in south Florida, Rod has
been named to the "Ten Greatest South Florida Folksingers Of All Time" list by New Times, and one of
"Ten Magnificent Musicians of Palm Beach County" by The Palm Beach Post. He is also Music Americana
instructor with Osher Lifelong Learning at Florida Atlantic University, and was named Distinguished Faculty
Member in 2012. His second novel, The American Guerillas, was published in 2021.
rodmacdonald.com
facebook.com/rodmacdonaldmusic
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Joe Jencks
Joe Jencks is a 22-year veteran of the international Folk circuit, an award-winning songwriter and a celebrated
vocalist based in the Chicago area. He is known for his performances of musical beauty, social consciousness and
spiritual exploration. Joe delivers engaged musical narratives filled with heart, soul, groove, and grit.
Blending well-crafted instrumentals and vivid songwriting, Jencks serves it all up with a lyric baritone voice
that has the edgy richness of a good sea-salt caramel. Co-founder of the harmony trio Brother Sun, Jencks has
penned several Number One folksongs including the ever-relevant "Lady of The Harbor." From Carnegie Hall to
Lincoln Center to festivals across the US and Canada, Jencks has become a fan favorite throughout North America
and beyond. Joe is also a dual US-Irish citizen and has served as a Cultural Ambassador with the US State
Department.
joejencks.com
"Martin"
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Saturday, February 25, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Twa Corbies
Twa Corbies is a duo of Alison Kelley (of the Johnson Girls, New York Packet, Ida Red, and NexTradition) and Anayis "AJ" Wright
(Mystic Seaport, Norumbega Harmony). They embrace musical traditions spanning from the 12th century up to Gilbert and Sullivan.
You'll find grim stories, resilient women, hysterical happenings, and darkly comic tales. They frequently sing a capella, sometimes
accompanied by Anayis on concertina or Alison on the banjo. Dulcimers, guitars, banjoleles, dumbeks, vielle, and cello have been
known to pop up as well. When not performing, they spend their time serenading an assortment of dogs and garden vegetables.
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Geoff Kaufman
Geoff is best known for his time at Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut, but he has maintained a wide
ranging repertoire from 60s favorites to songs collected in the Catskill Mountains where he grew up, and from his time as a
Sloopsinger with the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and Pete Seeger. Songs of the sea, songs of the earth, songs of the heart and the spirit -
all of these are in Geoff Kaufman's ditty bag. Ancient ballads, work songs, love songs, poignant songs of people in struggle,
humorous glimpses of human foibles, and insights into history - all of these are likely to be woven into one of Geoff's concerts.
geoffkaufman.com
facebook.com/geoff.kaufman.3
"Fair Stood the Wind" & "America, It's You"
Tonight's show is co-sponsored by The Folk Music Society of New York.
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Saturday, March 4, 2023, at 8pm:
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International Women's Day Celebration
In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Lydia Adams Davis
Lydia Adams Davis is a recording artist hailing from the early days of family concerts with Pete Seeger and the Hudson River
Sloop Singers. She was welcomed to join the Peoples' Voice Cafe roster of performers by the legendary Ray Korona. As a witty
storyteller and activist singer she has inspired children and uplifted groups by delivering outstanding improvised songs and
"Herstorical" ballads. Her song "Our Homes Along the River" is currently in radio distribution. Truly, "A woman's hands will get
things done!"
lydiaadamsdavis.com
facebook.com/lydiaadamsdavis
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Judy Kass
Judy Kass draws in her audience with soulful vocals, no-nonsense lyrical storytelling and genre-bending exploration of guitar and
piano. Her 2014 debut album, Better Things, and her 2016 CD, Beyond the Ash and Steel, both received notable airplay,
appearing on the Folk DJ List of Top Albums for those years. An award winning songwriter, Judy can also be heard performing
with Amy Soucy and Glen Roethel in their harmony driven trio Us! Their co-write,
"Too Much Crying," won the Gold Award in the Open Category of the 36th Mid-Atlantic Song Contest. Judy is completing a new album
to be released this year.
https://www.judykass.com
"Look At Us Marching Now"
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Saturday, March 11, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Brooklyn Stoop Singers
A Brooklyn Stoop Singers performance features lively choruses, vibrant harmonies and strong voices wrapped around guitar, banjo
and mandolin accompaniment. Individually and in other bands, the group's members have been delighting East Coast audiences for
decades with their eclectic, traditionally rooted repertoire, including songs from the British Isles and Appalachian Mountains,
singalongs, gospel numbers, sea chanteys and contemporary pieces. An ensemble since 2022, the group unites Deirdre Bialo-Padin,
Katie Browning, Chris Carpenter, Elizabeth Hershon, and Chris Seymour.
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Heather Lev
Heather Lev is an award-winning folksinger, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter known for her political songs,
lightning-fast fingerstyle guitar playing, and quirky but singable lyrics. For the last ten years, Heather has been known by most
as her alter ego, Heather Krasna, PhD, public health expert and author, and tonight marks her return to the stage.
She'll be doing a set called "Songs Before Public Health," including her original songs, and songs from the 14th to 20th Century
about life before birth control, vaccines, antibiotics, and human rights. She will play
guitar, ukulele, banjolele, lyre, lap dulcimer, banjo and wooden flute, and will be
joined by percussionist Michael Lengyel.
heatherlev.org
youtube.com/@Heatherlev
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Saturday, March 18, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Hudson Valley Sally
Hudson Valley Sally (Laurie Siegel, Terry Colliton, and David Tarlo) is a folk trio in the tradition of
Pete Seeger, loving audience participation. They are known for their tight harmonies and joyful sound. Their music is designed
to make you think and inspire hope.
"Hudson Valley Sally sings with a freshness and innocence that reminds us why we fell in love with folk music in the first
place." --Si Kahn
facebook.com/HudsonValleySally
"We Need Each Other Now"
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Generations: Mike & Aleksi Glick
In another lifetime, singer/songwriter/satirist Mike Glick swapped first LPs with Lucinda Williams, and
had Pete Seeger call him "one of the best songwriters going." Mike Glick has won numerous awards for his songwriting and has performed
throughout the US, in Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia. His son Aleksi Glick is a world-class jazz and blues guitarist, singer, and
composer who has played jazz duos with such masters as Peter Bernstein, Vic Juris, Ed Cherry and Paul Bollenback. He has
recorded with Roberta Flack and many others. He leads his own R&B group, Snack Cat.
generations-music.com
facebook.com/generations.music.nyc
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Saturday, March 25, 2023, at 8pm:
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Young Women Singer Songwriters Night
In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Radio Dog
Radio Dog is Charley Baker's folk-inspired solo project. She began writing under the alias Radio Dog in 2020, cultivating a
whimsical and lyric-forward sound. Three years later, Radio Dog has become something much more earnest and personal. Drawing
from her experience as a queer Black woman, Radio Dog confronts difficult feelings head-on.
instagram.com/chucklebug66/
radiodog.bandcamp.com/
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Emma Graves
Emma Graves is proud to return to PVC, bringing her melodious folk songs,
whimsical storytelling, and profound messages over some fancy fingerpicking on guitar, baritone uke, or banjo. These days,
when she isn't sharing her music or leading singalongs, she has her hands full as an herbalist and mother to two young sons.
folksongsingalong.com
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Saturday, April 1, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Pete & Woody: An Unlikely Friendship
with Pat Lamanna, Steve Suffet, and Richard Mattocks
A PVC Benefit
Created by folksingers Pat Lamanna and Steve Suffet, Pete & Woody: an Unlikely Friendship is a multimedia
presentation that
explores the relationship between Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. Comprising 14 songs performed live by Pat and Steve, 18
historic slides, and a 3,500 word narration read by Richard Mattocks, Pete & Woody starts with this premise:
When they first met
in 1940, Woody Guthrie became Pete Seeger's mentor, inspiration, and guide who set him on a journey that continued to
the day Pete died in 2014. Over time, however, their relationship changed, and after about ten or twelve years Pete Seeger
became Woody Guthrie's champion, helping to promote Woody's songs and story even as Woody's mental and physical health began to
deteriorate. Pete continued to play the role of Woody's champion after Woody passed away in 1967 at the age of 55, and much of
Woody's worldwide popularity today is a result of Pete's efforts. This presentation will be
followed by a Q&A and discussion.
patlamanna.com
stevesuffet.com
Tonight's show is co-sponsored by The Folk Music Society of New York.
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Saturday, April 8, 2022:
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Closed for Holidays
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Saturday, April 15th, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Ray Korona Song Night #5
Written with passion, humor and love, Ray's songs help us confront life's challenges and come out on top! Ray told powerful
personal stories, including "Joe Homeless," who "got sick for a while, lost his pay." On a global level, Ray's nuclear warning in
"Free Harbors" is crucial now: "Beware of the ships that would melt down the sea, with bombs that can make all life cease."
Ray also wrote songs about the environment, war and peace, Social Security, jobs, health care, water, prisons, women's rights, and
much more. Perhaps Ray's greatest gift was his ability to inspire people to fight back. Tonight's program includes Ray's favorite,
"The People Are In Charge!"
Please join us for our fifth celebration of Ray Korona songs since he passed away, as we continue to keep his music alive. This year
the Ray Korona Band - Ivice, Barry Kornhauser, Ellen Davidson, Gina Tlamsa and Sharon Abreu - will be augmented by
Laura Liben and Chris "Oledude" Owens, with guest performances
by Emma Graves, Jenny Amanda Hurwitz / Talbot Katz / SamiRose Katz, Joel Landy, Adele Rolider, Ben Silver, Dave Tarlo,
Mercy Van Vlack and Lindsey Wilson.
We are excited to present a special environmental guest set by Irthlingz (Sharon Abreu and Michael Hurwicz)!
raykorona.com
Flyer (with more info and photos)
"Rotten to the Root"
Donna Stein on Ray, Eco-Logic 12/31/22
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Saturday, April 22, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Mario Cancel-Bigay
Bev Grant and Carolann Solebello
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Save the Peoples' Voice Cafe
Fundraising Concert
Last September, online thieves stole $24,000 from the Peoples' Voice Cafe's bank account. We have launched a GoFundMe campaign
which has raised over $8,000. We've also received more than $3,000 in gifts and grants outside the GoFundMe campaign.
With this help, we are no longer
in immediate danger of closing, but we are still out $13,000, which makes our long term survival uncertain. This special
fundraising concert will feature five longtime friends of PVC:
Mario Cancel-Bigay
Bev Grant
Charlie King
Carolann Solebello
Lindsey Wilson
All of them are accomplished artists in their own right, and they are
generously donating their time and their talent. Please join them in helping to save this precious venue that presents artists
who have something important to say and the voice with which to say it.
GoFundMe
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Charlie King
Lindsey Wilson
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Saturday, April 29, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Steff Reed
Steff Reed is a a singer, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, educator, and activist. By sharing his story, Reed shows
others that they are not alone. He inspires audiences with his spiritual, uplifting energy, blending folk rock, alternative,
and pop to culminate in humanitarian messages of resilience, healing, and self-betterment. Reed has gained national acclaim
as a producer and songwriter, working with Trey Songz, Jhene Aiko, Eric Roberson, Swizz Beatz, Kenny Lattimore and Gordon Chambers
on songs that made it to the Billboard Charts. In 2013, he was nominated for the GRAMMY Music Educator Award. Reed is currently
building a Brooklyn-based non-profit, Power of Love, in partnership with Judson Memorial Church.
iamsteffreed.com
soundcloud.com/IAmSteffReed
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Marie Mularczyk O'Connell & the Mountain Maidens
Three dynamic voices blended in splendid ancient and modern harmonies that will lift your spirit, excite your senses and warm your
heart. They sing ballads, folk songs, Medieval, Irish Traditional music, love songs, country and gospel songs including themes of
social justice. Marie plays guitar, banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, Irish Bouzouki, dumbec,
bones and spoons, and sings British and American folksongs and Jewish music. Candice (Candy) Baranello is a member of the
Long Island group Wild Ginger. She plays dulcimer, washboard, and bodhran and sings traditional, Old Timey, classical and gospel.
Lorraine Berger is a member of the Huntington Choral Society, plays guitar and flamenco castanets, and sings in a beautiful
alto. Check out their CD Mountain Maidens.
facebook.com/groups/738007577599212
Tonight's concert is co-sponsored by The Folk Music Society of New York.
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Saturday, May 6, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Ben Silver
Whether in singer/songwriter mode or doing McFerrinesque vocal improvisations, Ben Silver's music slides through folk, R&B, funk,
jazz, and back again. A passionate singer, arranger and teacher of Vocal Improv, (spoiler alert!) getting audiences singing is one
of Ben's favorite things. With songs published in Carry It On, Sing Out Magazine, The Washington Post, and the book
Hearing Everyone's Voice, Ben's songwriting is both topical and personal, but always with social justice at heart.
10% of Ben's proceeds from this performance will be donated to the ACLU in honor of Gene Glickman.
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Brie Kelly
Brie Kelly is an enormously talented unaccompanied singer whose vast repertoire includes both traditional and contemporary
folk songs. You might just find her at the Exceedingly Good Song Night, the Sunnyside Folk Club, or one of the other singers'
sessions in and around New York City.
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Saturday, May 13, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Sam Gleaves
Sam Gleaves played for four years with the Berea College Bluegrass Ensemble. After graduating, Sam performed and taught in a variety
of settings, including festivals, colleges, universities, and public schools. With five studio recordings to his credit, Sam has
shared music in the U.S., Canada, Italy, Ireland, England, and Japan. Appalachian author Lee Smith called Sam, "courageous as hell
and country to the bone--the best young songwriter around." Sam currently serves as
Bluegrass Ensemble Director and Appalachian Instruments Instructor at Berea College in Berea, Kentucky.
samgleaves.com
samgleaves.bandcamp.com
"Ain't We Brothers"
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Carrie & Michael Kline
Michael and Carrie Kline perform country harmony duets from coal mining songs to gospel, family songs and front porch music.
Listeners may find themselves dancing a waltz to "Fiddler Jones," the song that celebrates the role of music and old-time fiddlers
in our lives and our communities, those who play for family and friends or local dances, or those who play for no one at all.
Carrie and Michael's voices carry the songs with truth and authenticity, and their guitars and haunting harmonies
get you where you live, evoking the times that really matter, time with family and friends, wrapped in a patchwork quilt of
vivid imagery. Kitchen songs. You can smell the biscuits baking.
folktalk.org
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Saturday, May 20, 2023, at 8pm:
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In Person Tickets
Livestream Tickets
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Kent State & Jackson State Memorial
Featuring Magpie
Terry Leonino & Greg Artzner met and began singing together in Kent, Ohio in 1973. In the intervening 50 years
Terry & Greg have entertained, uplifted and inspired audiences around the world with their amazing versatility,
powerful voices in harmony, and provocative, captivating songs, many of their own composition, on guitars, harmonica, mandolin, and
dulcimer.
Terry was a witness and survivor of the May 4, 1970 shootings at Kent State University, and that tragic event had a major impact
on her and her soon-to-be life partner. Motivated to resist any attempt at repression of dissent and free speech, Greg & Terry
became even more committed to activism in numerous struggles including peace, liberation, freedom of speech, the environment, and
worker's rights. In commemoration of the 53rd anniversary of May 4th, this special program will feature songs from the movement
to end the war in
Vietnam, setting the context for the many demonstrations that took place in the spring of 1970 including Kent State,
weaving those songs together with essays by Kent State survivors and others closely associated with the Movement and KSU.
magpiemusic.com
facebook.com/MagpieGregArtznerTerryLeonino/
"I Stand Before the Morning Sun"
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Saturday, June 17, 2023:
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Porch Stomp 2023!
An all-day event on Governors Island
porchstomp.com
facebook.com/PorchStomp
11:00 AM - 12:00 noon
Half-hour open stage for any PVC performer
The Brooklyn Stoop Singers
12:00 noon - 1:00 PM
Lindsey Wilson
Cleo Carol Knopf
Daniel Sofaer
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Mario Cancel-Bigay
Sharleen Leahey
Steve Suffet
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Judy Gorman
Gary Allard
Pat Lamanna
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Joel Landy
Lydia Adams Davis
Mike Glick
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Marie Mularczyk O'Connell and the Mountain Maidens
Hudson Valley Sally
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Past Seasons at PVC
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