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Category: News

Live Music – Frances Luke Accord – Folk and Americana

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Performing Saturday, April 21 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Frances Luke Accord are an independent Chicago-based duo hailing originally from South Bend, Indiana. Both dedicated multi-instrumentalists and meticulous songwriters, Nicholas Gunty and Brian Powers distinguish their music with genre fluidity, buttery harmonies and acoustic ensembles.

TICKETS are only $15.

Although prevailingly a modern folk band, FLA sip copious inspiration from Americana, jazz, soul, and rock.

Since forming during their senior year at the University of Notre Dame, Frances Luke Accord’s approach to music has marked a boundless evolution.

In December of 2012 the duo released their first record, Kandote, a not-for-profit, intercultural collaboration with the Barefoot Truth Children’s Choir of Kkindu, Uganda — an endeavor that continues to support the primary education and musical aspirations of the choir.

Bringing their world/folk sound to Chicago in the summer of 2013, the duo quickly garnered local and regional attention for their captivating live performances and stunning self-produced releases, including the Queen for Me EP (April 2014), Live @ Strobe (April 2015), and, most notably, their debut full-length album, Fluke (May 2016).

“Frances Luke Accord are the definition of lean-in music.” – Joni Deutsch, NPR’s Mountain Stage

“Frances Luke Accord are some of our very favorite musicians, songwriters, and people. We couldn’t recommend their debut LP, Fluke, highly enough.”- Darlingside

“While Simon & Garfunkel may be no longer touring, Powers and Gunty are more than talented enough to take their place.” –Quinn Delaney, PlaylistHQ

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Live Music – Chuck McDermott – Americana

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An intimate evening with Massachusetts Country Music Hall of Fame singer and acclaimed songwriter Chuck McDermott. Paste Magazine says “his music is simply pure art”.

Chuck McDermott is best-known nationally for his touring, recording, and collaborations with former Kingston Trio guitarist and vocalist John Stewart, the writer of “Daydream Believer,” “Gold,” and “Armstrong.”

McDermott is also fondly remembered for the popular (and pioneering) successful 70’s Americana band Wheatstraw. His songwriting has won high praise from the Boston Globe, the Village Voice, and No Depression.

He will be performing as a solo artist as part of the LilFest Concert Series in the Uptown Theater at 7:30 pm on Saturday, April 14. Doors open at 7:15.

McDermott is performing select dates again across the USA after taking decades off to raise his family. His most recent album, “Gin & Rosewater,” was released in 2017, and has received praise from Stephen Stills and Rosanne Cash.

The LilFest Concert Series regularly presents folk and international concerts in intimate settings in Iowa. Past performers include Ellis Paul, Gina Forsyth, Jim Post, Dave Moore, and The Sweet Potatoes among others.

Cost:  General admission tickets are available for $15 through Brown Paper Tickets: http://chuckmcdermottiowa.bpt.me .

For more information about Chuck McDermott, visit his website: http://www.chuckmcdermott.com/

To see some videos from the new album:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVG0N53U8DrNNk9VwCpjBdw

And for additional audio:
https://soundcloud.com/chuck-mcdermott-563523792

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Hometown Teams – More Than Just a Game: African American Athletes in Iowa

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The African American Museum of Iowa will be presenting “More Than Just a Game: African American Athletes in Iowa” Saturday, March 24th at 10:30 – 11:30 am in the Uptown Theatre as a part of a series of Hometown Teams events.

The Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street traveling exhibit “Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America” will be in Mount Vernon, Iowa from March 18 to April 28, 2018.  It is one of ten related events that is scheduled while the exhibit is in Mount Vernon.

From the African American Museum of Iowa:

Since the late nineteenth century, African Americans have participated in a variety of sports and contributed in profound ways to Iowa’s sporting culture. African Americans experienced severe discrimination in sports as in other activities, but fought long and hard to overcome racism. In Iowa, they frequently used achievement in sports as a way to come together as a community. These countless narratives both on and off the court, field, and ring, remind us of the broader struggle for civil rights in America.

This presentation coincides with the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street “Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America” exhibit, on view at the First Street Community Center March 18 to April 29, 2018. “How Sports Shaped America” is a Smithsonian traveling exhibit that allows visitors to put sports in the context of American culture and gain a better understanding of the role that sport plays in its interactions with families, schools, government, business, and other social institutions. The African American Museum of Iowa will feature local sports figures Art Pennington and Jack Trice.

RSVP on Facebook.

  • This event is presented by the African American Museum of Iowa.
  • Attendance is free and open to the public.

Complete Schedule of Hometown Teams Events:

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Live Music – Chuck Mitchell – 2018 LilFest Concert Series

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The First Street Community Center’s Uptown Theatre is happy to be hosting Chuck Mitchell as a part of the Spring/Summer 2018 LilFest Concert Series.

photo of Chuck Mitchell
Noel Brown – photo credit

Chuck Mitchell can fill a stadium with his voice, his songs and the songs of many others!  Indeed he’s been doing just that since the heyday of folk music when he shared his last name with Roberta Joan Anderson Mitchell (better known as Joni).

When:  Saturday, March 24th, from 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm

Tickets are available at the door:

– General admission: $15
– VIP Seating: $50
– Student tickets are only available with a valid student ID at the door: $5

If you have concert questions or would like to become a VIP sponsor of one or more of our events please call (518) 576-9513.

Doors open at 7:15 pm.  BYOB -You can bring your own adult (or non-adult) beverages with the purchase of a First Street Community Center Uptown Theatre cup.

Click here to learn more about Chuck Mitchell, or you can check out his Facebook page.

MORE INFO:

Chuck Mitchell started singing in Detroit folk clubs and saloons in 1962. In Toronto, on his first out of town gig, he met a boney blonde songwriter named Joni Anderson, from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. They married, and as a duo Chuck and Joni Mitchell played the coffeehouse circuit and gin rummy, until she was 115,463 points ahead. They got divorced in 1968.

The folk clubs faded, and Mitchell moved on to college and arts council residencies. He lived in Coconut Grove, Santa Monica, and Greeley. In the eighties, he wandered back to the Heartland, and settled in a tall brick Keokuk house overlooking the Mississippi, built by a riverboat captain in 1879.

Mitchell’s credits include A Prairie Home Companion and repertory theater in the US and the UK. He has played Harold Hill in The Music Man, Woody in Woody Guthrie’s American Song, and Stephen Foster in Mr. Foster & Mr. Twain. Oh, and Carl Sandburg.

His one man cabaret folk show combines his skills as an actor, singer and guitarist. He sings songs by Guy Clark, Fred Eaglesmith, B. J. Shaver, Michael Peter Smith, and Cheryl Wheeler, and cabaret songs by Brecht and Weil — “Mack the Knife” and “Bilbao” — and whimsical songs by Flanders & Swann — “The Gnu” and “The Hippopotamus”. He roves the room singing “Freeborn Man” by Ewan McColl. He weaves poetry by Carl Sandburg, T.S. Eliot and others into his shows.

Mr. Mitchell will be available for media interviews in advance of the show by calling or texting Nancy Emrich Freeman at 847-256-0000.   Further information about Chuck Mitchell and high-resolution photos are also available by contacting Nancy Emrich Freeman.  On YouTube, enter “Chuck Mitchell Sings”.

Photo of LilFest - Bear LogoLilFest Concert Series 2018

The LilFest Series regularly presents folk and international concerts in intimate settings in the Eastern Iowa region. Past performers include Jim Post, James Lee Stanley, Eric Taylor, The Sweet Potatoes, Claudia Nygaard, and Nathan Bell.

LilFest was originally developed in the Chicago area by Nancy Emrich Freeman, the now-resident of Mount Vernon continues a grand tradition of bringing the finest musicians to play in the places that are best for both the person onstage and the fan in the nearby seat.

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