All posts by Paul Rito

Summer 2021

The Early Mays August 29 BMA

7:00pm-8:30pm $20/$5. Boal Museum Amphitheatre Tickets are $15, $5.00 for Children 12 & Under

The Early Mays Website
Click on the pic to visit The Early Mays website.

The Early Mays create Appalachian-inspired songs built on deep country sensibilities, masterful singing and a sweet old-time sound. There is an unsurpassed magic that springs from entwined and entrancing vocal harmonies. The Early Mays love the camaraderie of the studio, the road, and rehearsals, and you can feel the gratitude radiate from whatever stage they are on. You’ll never leave a show without carrying a little bit of that warmth away with you.

…They sang harmonies that made my own heart sing. Close, perfect, high and sweet — intricate parts worked out that seemed as natural as breathing. We were swept away. – Susanna Robinson Kenga LBSpy, Lewisburg, WV

More about this concert at the Boal Museum Amphitheater

Come early to enjoy the afternoon! Bring a chair! Bring a picnic basket! Bring a friend!

1:00-5:00 Tour the Boal Museum and Columbus Chapel. $10 per person. Schedule your visit by calling 814-876-0129. There is a limit of 10 people per tour, so reserve early.

5:30-6:30 Singing Jam Session! Bring your voice and an instrument if you play, or come to listen. Please bring a chair and meet on the front porch of the Boal Mansion.

5:30-6:30 Hike! Join a Brew Volunteer for a hike on the Boal grounds, or feel free to explore on your own. For the group hike, meet at the southwest corner of the parking lot.

6:30 Amphitheatre seating area opens. Bring a chair and find a comfy place to enjoy the concert!

7:00 Concert with The Early Mays

There is plenty of space at the Boal, so stick around afterwards to visit with your friends.
Fall 2018

The Kennedys – Nov 17 CWB

7:30 pm $18. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.  Buy tickets now

The Kennedys
Click on the pic to visit The Kennedy’s website.

Prior to Pete and Maura’s first meeting at a song swap in Austin, Pete was well established as an award-winning singer-songwriter in his hometown, Washington, D.C., and Maura was a top hand on the Austin scene. Over the course of a dozen duo CDs, they have graciously folded their talent and inspiration into the confluent sound and vision of the Kennedys duo. The Kennedys’ music has been described as uplifting, empowering and encouraging.

“…I wasn’t expecting them to be such fun, so effervescent and so enthusiastic. Their songs are as upbeat as they are in real life. They have a shared love for certain great artists from the 50s and the 60s and these artists inhabit their music, inspiring their work and encouraging their creativity.” – Spencer Leigh, Country Music People 2014
Fall 2018

The Loretta Hagen Trio – Nov 3 CWB

7:30 pm $18. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.  Buy tickets now

The Loretta Hagen Trio
Click on the pic to visit Loretta’s website.

Loretta Hagen is a New Jersey-based singer-songwriter, whose musical career spans two decades. Weaving folk, country, rock and blues, she writes songs with strong, catchy melodies and passionate poignant lyrics, and delivers them with her rich alto voice. Loretta will be joined by husband/guitarist Gary Hagen and djembe player Linda Lambiase.

“Loretta has spent some time in Nashville, and it shows in her polished songwriting and smooth vocals. Add some tasty guitar licks from her husband Gary, and you have the recipe for musical magic.” – Kevin Coughlin, Morristowngreen.com
Fall 2018

Friction Farm – Oct 20 CWB

7:30 pm $18. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.  Buy tickets now

Friction Farm
Click on the pic to visit Friction Farm’s website.

Modern-folk duo Friction Farm is a husband and wife team of traveling troubadours. Aidan Quinn and Christine Stay combine storytelling, social commentary and humor to create songs of everyday life, local heroes, and quirky observations. From ballads to anthems each song is filled with harmony and hope.

“Aidan and Christine command any stage they’re on. Their appreciable force is gently delivered with keen lyrics and beautiful melodies, with a hint of humor to mitigate the seriousness of some of their material.” – David Engels, Emerald Concerts
Fall 2018

Low Lily – Oct 6 CWB

7:30 pm $18. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.  Buy tickets now

Low Lily
Click on the pic to visit Low Lily’s website.
See below for workshops & family concert info.

The string and vocal trio Low Lily explores the roots and branches of American folk music with traditional influences and modern inspiration that weaves together a unique brand of acoustic music. Liz Simmons (vocals and guitar) Flynn Cohen (vocals, guitar, and mandolin) and Lissa Schneckenburger (vocals and fiddle) are masterful players with deep relationships to traditional music styles ranging from bluegrass, to Irish, Scottish, New England, and Old Time Appalachian sounds. When you combine this with stellar composition skills and inventive arrangements you get music that is rooted yet contemporary.

“Exuberant yet sensitive… exceptional and refreshing” – No Depression

Low Lily will also offer a fiddle/strings tunes workshop for $20 from 1:30 to 3 PM, followed by a Family Concert (donation suggested) from 3:45 to 4:30, both at the Center for Well Being. Send an email to familyconcerts@acousticbrew.org to register.

Fall 2018

Simple Gifts CD Release – Sep 15 CWB

7:30 pm $18. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.  Buy tickets now

Simple Gifts
Click on the pic to visit Simple Gift’s .

Simple Gifts and The Acoustic Brew welcome you to the release of Simple Gifts’ 7th and newest CD, Journeys: Music of Many Lands. Combining tradition with innovation, Simple Gifts creates some of the finest arrangements in folk music today: swing fiddle creeps into a Romanian dance, spoons show up in an Irish reel, and a blues lick introduces a Klezmer melody. Drawing on an impressive variety of ethnic folk styles, this award-winning duo plays everything from lively Irish jigs and down-home American reels to hard-driving Klezmer frailachs and haunting Gypsy melodies, spicing the mix with the distinctive rhythms of Balkan dance music, the lush sounds of Scandinavian twin fiddling, and original compositions written in a traditional style.

“Few musicians can match the warmly personal stage presence Simple Gifts possesses. Their performances are noted for the infectious enthusiasm and sprinkling of good humor that come through.” —Jennifer O’Callaghan, Celtic Classic Festival, Bethlehem PA.
Fall 2017, Uncategorized

The Early Mays – Dec 9 CWB

7:30 pm $18. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.  Buy tickets now

The Early Mays
Click on the pic to visit The Early Mays’ website.

If you like harmony, this show is for you! The Early Mays (Emily Pinkerton, Ellen Gozion, and Rachel Eddy) are known for their flawless three-part harmonies that come to life when performing songs in an old-time style.

They burst on to the scene with a #2 debut on the National Folk-DJ charts: an eponymous album where fiddle, banjo and guitar are the backdrop to heart-melting three part vocal harmonies. Most recently, they took home the blue ribbon in the Neo-Traditional Band Competition at Clifftop 2016 (The Appalachian String Band Music Festival).

There is an unsurpassed magic that springs from entwined and entrancing vocal harmonies.  The Early Mays love the camaraderie of the studio, the road, and rehearsals, and you can feel the gratitude radiate from whatever stage they are on.  You’ll never leave a show without carrying a little bit of that warmth away with you.

“As local folk music goes, The Early Mays are a bit of a supergroup… Together, they literally make beautiful music — a play on the Appalachian folk all three are steeped in, with close vocal harmonies, and guitar, banjo and fiddle work.” – Andy Mulkerin, Pittsburgh City Paper
Fall 2017, Uncategorized

Maeve Gilchrist & Keith Murphy – Nov 4 CWB

7:30 pm $18. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.  Buy tickets now

Click on the pic to visit Maeve’s website.

Maeve Gilchrist is bringing a harp to Acoustic Brew  — and we don’t mean a harmonica. Gilchrist has taken the Celtic harp to new levels and She’s performed with internationally renowned orchestras traditional Irish folk groups, and contemporary settings.

Click on the pic to visit Keith’s website

You may remember Keith Murphy as part of a trio with Hanneke Cassel and Mike Block that performed on our stage in fall 2015, with Nightingale (spring 1998) or Assembly (spring 2003) . His direct and intimate style of traditional singing in English and French infuses old ballads and songs with a powerful immediacy while his rhythmic and percussive finger style of guitar playing brings new shape and color to his songs.

Together, the duo will be playing lots of tightly knotted tunes and singing a lot of harmonies, hopefully breathing some new life into old, substantial material.

“If there’s a soundtrack to a fine summer, this is it. If there’s a musician who can bask in tradition yet immerse herself musically in the multicoloured experience of life, it’s Gilchrist.” – Siobhan Long, Irish Times
Fall 2017, Uncategorized

Ramblin’ Dan Stevens – Oct 14 CWB

7:30 pm $16. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.  Buy tickets now

Click on the pic to visit Ramblin’ Dan’s website

Ramblin’ Dan Stevens was born and raised right here in central Pennsylvania. Although he’s logged more than 100,000 miles as a traveling bluesman, he’s never forgotten where his musical journey began.

Stevens’s music and his life are inspired by Mississippi John Hurt, and Woody Guthrie, and Dave Van Ronk just to name a few. He’s been a full-time musician since 1991 and surrounds himself with vintage and custom instruments acquired in his many travels. Usually packing three guitars, any given performance may find him choosing to play a 1950’s Sears Silvertone, a 1931 National Steel, a retro lime green Resophonic, and more.

His original songs remain true to the traditional forces which powerfully shaped his early musical development and prompt listeners to praise the authenticity of his approach. In live shows, Dan often pauses between songs, offering historical trivia or relating incidents from his personal experience.

“This troubadour of acoustic blues has the knack for capturing the essence of the blues.  Dan Stevens will no doubt join the ranks of Paul Rishell and Keb’ Mo with strong cuts that convey authenticity.” – Blues Rag, Baltimore Blues Society
Uncategorized

The Hillbilly Gypsies – Apr 15 WPSU

7:30 pm $16. WPSU Studios in Innovation Park. Buy tickets now

Click on the pic to visit the Gypsies’ website.

Hailing from the beautiful Mountain State of West Virginia, The Hillbilly Gypsies have been making and performing their own brand of old time bluegrass and original mountain music for well over a decade! Formed in 2001 from a chance meeting at the now infamous Wednesday night old time jam in Morgantown, WV; The Hillbilly Gypsies have been pickin’ n’ grinnin’ and entertaining their loyal fans ever since.

The band is best known for their high-energy live performances and have become a crowd favorite at major festivals, fairs and concert venues all across the mid-Atlantic region and abroad. They perform in the old fashioned style, playing around a single vintage ribbon microphone. This “Old Timey” approach adds an authentic high-energy barn party atmosphere to their show. Watching the whole band work around the mic is like taking a trip back in time. It’ll sure make you want to get up and dance!

…and don’t let the flash of their lively stage performance and choreography fool ya, these folks are all highly skilled musicians and seasoned entertainers! Their lightning fast award-winning picking skills and musical arrangements mixed with natural comedic wit and high lonesome mountain vocal harmonies are sure to catch your ear right away. Combine that with a knack for original songwriting and a strong passion for old time and traditional music and this makes for an all-around authentic and exciting musical experience that you won’t soon forget. One listen and you’ll know that you are getting the real deal! The Gypsies are more than a band; they are a tight knit family, mindful of tradition but bold explorers of new and authentic styles of acoustic music and entertainment!

“If you ever get the chance, see the Hillbilly Gypsies live. You’ll want to hear them, too, of course, but you’ll be in for a real treat when you watch them. They are masters of the single microphone style, with the awards to prove it. It’s mountain ballet at its finest.” – David Morris, Bluegrass Today