Saturday, January 21, 7:30 pm: PETER MULVEY
“Peter Mulvey is one of the most accomplished guitarists you’re ever likely to hear … utterly original … it is nigh on impossible to explain him to the uninitiated … his intelligent and sometimes complex songs engage both hemispheres of the listener’s brain.” – The Irish Examiner
Peter Mulvey has been a songwriter, road-dog, raconteur, and almost-poet since before he can remember. Raised working-class Catholic on the Northwest side of Milwaukee, he took a semester in Ireland and immediately began cutting classes to busk on Grafton Street in Dublin and hitchhike through the country, finding whatever gigs he could. Back stateside, he spent a couple years gigging in the Midwest before lighting out for Boston, where he returned to busking (this time in the subway) and coffeehouses. Small shows led to larger shows, which eventually led to regional and then national and international touring. The wheels have not stopped since.
Nineteen records, an illustrated book, thousands of live performances, a TEDx talk, a decades-long association with the National Youth Science Camp, opening for luminaries such as Ani DiFranco, Emmylou Harris, and Chuck Prophet, appearances on NPR, an annual autumn tour by bicycle, emceeing festivals, hosting his own boutique festival (the Lamplighter Sessions, in Boston and Wisconsin)… Mulvey never stops. He has built his life’s work on collaboration and an instinct for the eclectic and the vital. He folds everything he encounters into his work: poetry, social justice, scientific literacy, & a deeply abiding humanism are all on plain display in his art.
Tickets: FRONT ROW: $25 in advance; $30 at the door; GENERAL ADMISSION: $20 in advance, $25 at the door.
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Saturday, February 25, 7:30 pm: GOODNIGHT MOONSHINE
Goodnight Moonshine pairs the intimacy and immediacy of the ’90s with the sonic explosion of the ’60s. Molly Venter (Red Molly) is a viscerally potent singer, à la Fiona Apple and Tracy Chapman, whose songwriting is redemptive and playful. Consummate musician and producer Eben Pariser (Roosevelt Dime), is a devotee of Ray Charles, Wes Montgomery, The Beatles, and The Band. Courageous unveiling and depth of experience make the collaboration between married couple Molly Venter and Eben Pariser addictively captivating.
Molly Venter’s voice bends from a sweet moan to a gritty shout and back into a playful run in the space of a few bars and “it all goes down like silk,” writes American Songwriter Magazine – “few singers turn first-time listeners into eternal fanatics as effortlessly as Molly Venter.” The potency of her voice is surrounded and supported by a lush landscape of orchestration, and improvisation created by Eben. The couple uses the creative process to explore a healthy authentic relationship. Both wholesome and irreverent, songs of grief and joy in equal measure; Molly gives smooth delivery to Eben’s energy while Eben gives form and focus to Molly’s passion.
This musical marriage encourages us to embrace opposing desires, to challenge and support each other through inspiration and dissolution- all while totally killing a live show.
Venter’s voice has caught the ear of industry giants and has been prominently featured on FOX television, Apple Computers and in Warner Brothers films. Molly and Eben’s Co-write “Willow Tree” was a #1 hit on the folk charts in 2014 and was featured in USA Today. Consummate performers, Molly and Eben have also appeared nationally and internationally, with their respective bands Red Molly and Roosevelt Dime.
Tickets: FRONT ROW: $25 in advance; $30 at the door; GENERAL ADMISSION: $20 in advance, $25 at the door.
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Saturday, March 25, 7:30 PM: KAIA KATER
“…plaintive, mesmerizing…writes and performs with the skill of a folk-circuit veteran…”
-Rolling Stone
A Montreal-born Grenadian-Canadian, Kaia Kater grew up between two worlds: her family’s deep ties to folk music and the years she spent soaking up Appalachian music in West Virginia. Her old-time banjo-picking skills, deft arrangements, and songwriting abilities have landed her in the spotlight in North America and the UK, garnering critical acclaim from outlets such as NPR, CBC Radio, Rolling Stone, BBC Music, and No Depression
Kaia started her career early, crafting her first EP Old Soul (2013) when she was just out of high school. Since then, she’s gone on to release two more albums, Sorrow Bound (2015) and Nine Pin (2016). Her second album wove between hard-hitting songs touching on social issues like the Black Lives Matter movement (“Rising Down”) and more personal narratives speaking to life and love in the digital age (“Saint Elizabeth”). Nine Pin won a Canadian Folk Music Award, a Stingray Rising Star Award, and sent Kaia on an 18-month touring journey from Ireland to Iowa, including stops at The Kennedy Center, Hillside Festival, and London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush. For her third album, Grenades (October 2018, Folkways/acronym Records), she took a decidedly different direction, choosing to lean into a wider array of sounds and styles, in order to convey a wider array of emotions and topics, most notably her paternal ancestry. Grenades was nominated for a 2019 JUNO award and long-listed for the Polaris Music Prize. Most recently, Kaia collaborated with jazz innovator Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah to record her new single “Parallels” (October 2021).
Tickets: FRONT ROW: $25 in advance; $30 at the door; GENERAL ADMISSION: $20 in advance, $25 at the door.
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Saturday, April 22, 7:30 pm: JILL SOBULE
“Jill Sobule can claim her place among the stellar New York singer-songwriters of the last decade. Topical, funny and more than a little poignant …grown-up music for an adolescent age.” – New York Times
Jill Sobule’s work is at once deeply personal and socially conscious, seriously funny, and derisively tragic. In a dozen albums spanning three decades of recording, the Denver-born songwriter/guitarist/singer has tackled such topics as the death penalty, anorexia nervosa, shoplifting, reproduction, the French Resistance, adolescent malaise, LGBTQ issues, and the Christian Right. Her hits include “I Kissed A Girl”—the first openly gay-themed song ever to crack the Billboard Top 20—and the alt-rock anthem “Supermodel” featured in the film “Clueless”. Sobule was one-half of The Jill & Julia Show, providing music while actor Julia Sweeney contributes storytelling. Jill is considered a pioneer in crowdfunding and is constantly exploring and creating new models for artists in an ever-changing music industry. Her latest record is “Nostalgia Kills”, produced by Ben Lee and released on her own Pinko Records label. Jill’s theater credits include a musical adaptation of the Broadway classic “Yentl”, “Prozak and the Platypus”, and “Times Square”. Her latest, “F*ck 7th Grade”, was postponed due to Covid, but was performed and filmed for three days at a make-shift drive-in.
Tickets: FRONT ROW: $25 in advance; $30 at the door; GENERAL ADMISSION: $20 in advance, $25 at the door.
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Saturday, May 20, 7:30 PM: JOE CROOKSTON
Songwriter, guitarist, painter, fiddler, slide player, eco-village member, and believer in all things possible. Named 2016 Folk Alliance International Artist-in-Residence, he’s played with Suzanne Vega, Dar Williams, David Francey, John McCutcheon, John Gorka, Judy Collins, and hundreds more. His songs are cinematic and are being made into award-winning films. He’ll surprise you and awaken the cynics. He’s plumbing for lyrical gold like a social archeologist. His songs are universal, his rhythm infectious and in concert, he is funny as hell one moment and transcendent the next. Come to a show. Mystical, and humorous roads, twisting through vivid cinematography. Like short 4:00 films. Visual, artful, and human. Brooklyn in July, Oklahoma towns, rattlesnake tails, turbary thieves, Galway heather, meter maids, and drunk roosters. At the end of the night, you’ll leave inspired. “The Long Note” is a phrase in Irish culture. “The Long Note” is that place of resonance and transcendence where the music, the voices, the instruments, and the community all come together and unite. Whether he’s picking his 48 Gibson, weaving through lap slide songs, or looping his fiddle, he will draw you in. It happens every time. Watch a YouTube video. It’s good, but it’s not the same. You gotta come to a show. With unwavering courage to be himself, he is literate, poignant, and funny as hell. He lives in Ithaca NY, and tours regularly in the US, Ireland, and Canada.
Tickets: FRONT ROW: $25 in advance; $30 at the door; GENERAL ADMISSION: $20 in advance, $25 at the door.
COMMON GROUND CONCERTS 
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