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A Catskill Mountain Folk Festival – A Benefit Concert
October 21, 2023 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
$18.00October 21 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Featuring John Sebastian, Molly Mason & Jay Ungar and Happy Traum
Admission: $18 in advance.
When online orders are sold out, tickets at the door will still be available (scroll to the bottom, to book tickets)
At the door, $20
On Saturday, October 21, 2023, at 7 p.m. the Historical Society of Woodstock will present a Catskill Mountain Folk Concert featuring a stellar lineup of musicians donating their time to a benefit concert for the HSW. Headliners include Molly Mason and Jay Ungar, Happy Traum, Tim Kapeluck, Steve Charney, Jeff Keithline, and Pat Lamanna. The concert is a tie-in to the Woodstock’s Farming Story exhibit, which runs through November 12. The set list will include songs about farming, bluestone quarrying, ice harvesting and shipping on the Hudson River, and a mix of old favorites like “Ashokan Farewell.” The concert will take place at the First Church of Christ, Scientist, 85 Tinker Street, Woodstock NY 12498. Admission is $20 at the door or $18 in advance (scroll to the bottom, to book tickets).
Featured Performers
Jay Ungar and Molly Mason met in the late 1970s at the Town Crier. They hit it off and began gigging together. In the 1980s, they co-founded the Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Club. When Ken Burns selected Jay’s tune “Ashokan Farewell” as the theme song for his series The Civil War, the soundtrack went on to garner a Grammy. Jay and Molly have appeared on CBS Good Morning, the Rosie O’Donnell Show, and All Things Considered.
Folk singer, writer, teacher, recording artist and first-rate fingerstyle guitarist Happy Traum began playing guitar and 5-string banjo as a teenager, and was an important participant in the legendary Greenwich Village folk scene of the 1950s and ‘60s. He was a student of blues guitar legend Brownie McGhee, a major influence on his picking style. He and his family moved to Woodstock in 1967. Happy has played in concerts, clubs and festivals throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, and Japan, both solo and with his late brother, Artie Traum. Happy has appeared and/or recorded with Bob Dylan, Levon Helm, John Sebastian, Larry Campbell, Eric Andersen, Allen Ginsberg, Jim Kweskin, Maria Muldaur and many other major figures in the folk/acoustic music world.
Tim Kapeluck is a singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His music is steeped in the traditions of bluegrass and Appalachian folk music. He has performed for years with banjo greats Bill Keith and Eric Weissberg in the Saturday Night Bluegrass Band.
Steve Charney is a magician, ventriloquist, author, songwriter, and radio personality. He’s written dozens of songs for Disney and Jim Henson and has published over 15 books with Scholastic and Barnes and Noble. His radio show Knock on Wood was aired around the country for decades. He was a commentator on All Things Considered and was profiled in The New Yorker magazine. His stage act of magic, music, and ventriloquism has taken him from Africa to California. He’s lived in Woodstock since 1977.
Jeff Keithline’s 50-plus-year career as bassist, composer, sideman, and featured artist covers many genres from pop and rock to string band and gypsy jazz, from folk and blues to free improvisation and electronica.
Pat Lamanna is a folk singer/songwriter living in Hyde Park, N.Y. As a child, she attended Camp Woodland in Phoenicia, where she first met Pete Seeger and began her lifelong love of folk music.