Do you like the music that your hear at Acoustic Brew? Please show your support by contributing to our organization during Centre Gives. As a nonprofit, we rely on support from our patrons to bring national-level artists to central Pennsylvania without being tied to the bottom line.
Visit our page at centregives.org May 8 and 9 to donate to Acoustic Brew and you may be the donor we pick at random to receive two tickets to this weekend’s Victoria Vox concert. While you’re there, please consider contributing to some of the hundreds of other organizations that are doing great work throughout Centre County. Thank you for your support. We hope to see you May 12 for Victoria Vox or at one of our shows this fall.Category Archives: Uncategorized
Victoria Vox – May 12 CWB
Evening Concert 7:30 pm $16. Center for Well Being, Lemont.
Family Concert 1:30-2:15 pm Free (Donation to the artist suggested) State College Presbyterian Church 132 W Beaver Ave
Ukelele Workshop 3:30-5:00 pm $20 Center for Well Being, Lemont Registration required. RSVP to familyconcert AT acousticbrew DOT org
Victoria Vox has taken the artful sound of the ukulele into eclectic new directions. Her music ranges from upbeat and clever to honest and moving, while incorporating her signature “mouth trumpet” and occasionally singing in French. Her delightful songwriting uses a unique palette of sounds and beats that delight audiences of all ages.
Soon after graduating from the Berklee College of Music (Songwriting 2001), a friend gave her a ukulele, and the small, four-stringed instrument proved to be the unexpected, but welcomed vehicle to showcase the upbeat, rhythmic drive that is characteristic of her music.
An undercurrent of toughness, a beautiful voice, great melodies and loads of charm make her unique folk/pop music impossible to resist.” – Vintage Guitar Magazine
Brad and Ken Kolodner Trio – Apr 14 CWB
7:30 pm $18. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.
The dynamic father-son duo Ken & Brad Kolodner weave together a captivating soundscape on hammered dulcimer, banjo and fiddles pushing the boundaries of the Old-Time tradition into uncharted territory. Regarded as one of the most influential hammered dulcimer players and Old-Time fiddlers in North America, Baltimore’s Ken Kolodner has joined forces with his son Brad Kolodner, a rising star in the clawhammer banjo world. Together, they infuse their own brand of driving, innovative, tasteful and unique interpretations of traditional and original fiddle tunes and songs. They perform tight and musical arrangements of original and traditional old-time music with a “creative curiosity that lets all listeners know that a passion for traditional music yet thrives in every generation.” Bassist Alex Lacquement rounds out the trio and locks everything together with his commanding and tasteful choices.
"This is old time music played in the purest way: at home, with family, with heart, and with a creative curiosity that lets all listeners know that a passion for traditional music yet thrives in every generation." – Dulcimer Player News April 2011
Ellis – Mar 24 CWB
7:30 pm $16. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.
One of our most dynamic, engaging performers returns! Ellis Delaney is at once funny and wise, thoughtful and uninhibited, and her captivating voice is matched by her songs with uplifting lyrics and infectious spirit and enthusiasm. If you looked up the definition of open-hearted in the dictionary, you just might find her photo there. Ellis’ performances are transformational; she leaves her audiences better than she finds them, with softened edges & opened hearts.
A winner of several awards and honors, Ellis has been recognized both for her songwriting skills as well as her engaging performances. Many folk festivals have “audience choice” awards, and Ellis has claimed those honors at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Moab Folk Festival (3 times!), and Sisters Folk Festival. She also won the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Contest, the midwest region of the Mountain Stage New Song Contest and the award for the Just Plain Folks (International) Best Female Singer Songwriter Album. She has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion 4 times in the last 3 years as well!
"Ellis has one of most engaging personalities that I’ve ever witnessed on a stage." – Ron Olesko, WDFU
"If ever there was a feel-good folk musician, this is the woman – somebody who really does send you off feeling better about the world." – John Davy, No Depression
Michael Jerling – Mar 10 CWB
7:30 pm $18. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.
Michael has been among the winners of the prestigious “New Folk” competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas, and his involvement with the seminal Fast Folk Musical Magazine in New York City has led to his song “Long Black Wall” being included on a Smithsonian Folkways CD celebrating twenty years of Fast Folk.
Borrowing from blues, rock, country and R&B, Michael displays his first-rate lyrical sense and impressive musicianship. A keen student of the good and ghastly in American life, Michael weaves themes like a novelist, evoking our shortcomings and dreams without yielding to cynicism or sentimentality. Often praised as a “songwriter’s songwriter” who composes in styles influenced by the wealth of American music, he has been characterized as an artist who performs his “extraordinary songs with the uncommon ability to deliver them to an audience with power and grace”.
"Stronger than new rope… especially recommended to fans of Gorka, Greg Brown, Dave Alvin or any other real smart people who make real good music." – Icon, Iowa City
Tyler Hughes & Sam Gleaves – Feb 10 CWB
7:30 pm $18. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.
Sam Gleaves & Tyler Hughes play old time country music and newly written songs from the Appalachian mountains. Sam and Tyler’s programs feature fiddle and banjo hoedowns, close mountain harmonies, stories of all kinds, Carter Family-inspired autoharp and guitar, country gospel songs, lonesome ballads and flatfoot dancing. Both Sam and Tyler come from southwest Virginia and as a duo they write and perform contemporary songs that tell stories from present-day Appalachia. Sam and Tyler have performed at venues and festivals throughout the United States, including the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Old Songs Festival, The State Fair of Virginia, Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion and others. They have appeared on West Virginia Public Radio’s Mountain Stage and Lexington, Kentucky’s Red Barn Radio (broadcast on Kentucky Educational Television). The duo released their first record SAM GLEAVES & TYLER HUGHES in June 2017.
"Sam Gleaves and Tyler Hughes claim their place in the deep tradition of duet singing, so much a part of their Southwest Virginia home. Tyler’s ‘When We Love’ and Ola Belle Reed’s ‘Tear Down the Fences’ are heart stopping anthems to everything that is the best in Appalachia and in each of us." – John McCutcheon
The Early Mays – Dec 9 CWB
7:30 pm $18. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.
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
Maeve Gilchrist & Keith Murphy – Nov 4 CWB
7:30 pm $18. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.
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.
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
Ramblin’ Dan Stevens – Oct 14 CWB
7:30 pm $16. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.
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
SONiA – Sep 23 CWB
7:30 pm $18. Center for Well-Being, Lemont.
SONiA disappear fear’s songs that transcend genres and languages. Her canon of 17 albums encompass folk, blues, world music, and everything in between. She’s written in Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, and German.
Her latest double CD “LIVE at MAXiMAL” was in the first round running Grammy for Folk Album of the year and received the nomination for Best Live Album by the IMA -Independent Music Awards (USA). She has shared the stage with Bruce Springsteen, Peter, Paul and Mary, Chris Thile, Sheryl Crow, Pete Seeger, and many more.
“There is an exuberance and passion shining from SONiA as she warms the audience with her humanity, charm and a touch of glamour.” – Roger Dietz, Sing Out Magazine