Rosanne Cash (photo Clay Patrick McBride)
ROSANNE CASH to SING of AMERICAN SOUTH at MAHAIWE
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – Rosanne Cash brings her “The River & the Thread” tour to the Mahaiwe on Sunday, May 17 at 7pm. Accompanied by longtime collaborator, producer, guitarist, and husband John Leventhal and musical partner Zev Katz, Cash will take the audience on a journey through song to the people, places, and musical traditions of the American South that have fed her music and that of her parents. Smithsonian Magazine feature writer and national music critic Geoffrey Himes will give an in-depth, pre-concert talk about Cash’s Grammy Award-winning album, “The River & the Thread,’ at 6pm.
AUTHOR KATE BOLICK to READ FROM MEMOIR, ‘SPINSTER,’ at THE MOUNT
(LENOX, Mass.) – Journalist and cultural critic Kate Bolick will read from and sign copies of her brand-new memoir, “Spinster: Making a Life of One’s Own,” at The Mount on Friday, May 15, at 5pm. In “Spinster,” Bolick uses her personal experiences as a starting point, taking readers through her intellectual and sexual coming of age to explore why she, and more than 100 million American women, remain unmarried. Bolick also introduces a cast of pioneering women from the last century who led lives of deliciously shocking modernity and whose genius, tenacity, and flair for drama have emboldened her to fashion a life on her own terms. Bolick calls these women her “Awakeners,” and they include journalist Neith Boyce, essayist Maeve Brennan, social visionary Charlotte Perkins Gilman, poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, and novelist Edith Wharton.
Session Americana
BOSTON FOLK-ROCK COLLECTIVE KICKS OFF BARRINGTON STAGE CABARET
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Boston-based folk-rock collective Session Americana kicks off the 2015 Mr. Finn’s Cabaret season at Barrington Stage Company (BSC) on Sunday, May 17, and Monday, May 18, at 8pm. A kind of all-star supergroup of Boston-based roots-music talent, the core of the band includes singer-songwriter Ry Cavanaugh, drummer Billy Beard (Patty Griffin), multi-instrumentalist Dinty Child, and Jim Fitting, who played mouth harp for The The. The group is known for its freewheeling shows that mostly feature songs by Boston’s rich and fertile group of songwriters.
Rhett Miller
RHETT MILLER BRINGS MELODIC POP-ROCK to HELSINKI HUDSON
(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Rhett Miller brings his rootsy, melodic brand of original rock to Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, May 15, at 9 pm, just days after the release of his brand new album, “The Traveler.” While perhaps best known as lead singer and songwriter of seminal alt-country band the Old 97’s, Rhett Miller has enjoyed an equally successful solo career, emphasizing his brilliance as a songwriting craftsman drawing on a wider, pop-rock palette, and delivering hooks around every corner – not unlike his friend Tommy Stinson’s group, the Replacements. North Texas-based singer-songwriter Salim Nourallah, who has produced albums for Miller and the Old 97’s, warms up the crowd for Miller.
Avalon String Quartet
AVALON QUARTET to PLAY DEBUSSY & SCHUBERT at MAHAIWE
(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – The Avalon String Quartet performs works by Schubert and Debussy at the Mahaiwe on Saturday, May 16, at 6pm, as part of the Close Encounters With Music chamber series. After performing Debussy’s String Quartet, a seminal work of musical Impressionism, the quartet will be joined by CEWM artistic director Yehuda Hanani on cello to perform Schubert’s String Quintet in C Major. The concert marks Avalon’s fourth in the Close Encounters series.
El Anatsui,Stressed World
EL ANATSUI GETS FIVE DECADE RETROSPECTIVE at THE SCHOOL
(KINDERHOOK, N.Y.) – Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui will be the subject of a comprehensive survey spanning the last fifty years of his celebrated career, at Jack Shainman Gallery: The School, opening on Sunday, May 17, with a reception from 1 to 4pm. The works will remain on view through September 26, 2015. The exhibition, “Five Decades,” includes compositions in painting, wood, and clay, and metal works. The show, which marks the first anniversary of the opening of The School, comes on the heels of El Anatsui being awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale.
Writers Omi resident Daniele Bernardi reading at Omi in fall 2014
OMI HOSTS READING of WORKS by WRITERS-IN-RESIDENCE & BARBECUE
(GHENT, N.Y.) – The spring writers-in-residence program at Omi concludes with a public reading by nine Writers Omi residents followed by a barbecue celebration at the Visitors Center at Omi International Arts Center on Saturday, May 16, at 5pm. The reading is free and open to the community at large; donations are appreciated for the barbecue to follow. At this reading, according to DW Gibson, Director of Writers Omi, attendees can expect a diversity of literary talents ranging from genres of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and theater.
‘The Kingston Trio’
‘THE KINGSTON TRIO’ to PLAY THE COLONIAL
(Pittsfield, Mass.) – The three musicians currently performing as the Kingston Trio take the stage at the Colonial Theatre on Friday, May 15, at 7pm. Placing value on entertainment more than on folk authenticity or politics, the original Kingston Trio helped to popularize and commercial folk music during the original folk revival of the late 1950s with such hit songs as “Tom Dooley.” It’s not an exaggeration to say that the original Kingston Trio were the Beatles of the folk boom. The singer-musicians who will be performing at the Colonial are Bill Zorn, George Grove, and Rick Dougherty.
Joel A. Martin
RAMBLEWILD KICKS OFF SEASON WITH FREE PIANO CONCERT, OPEN HOUSE
(LANESBOROUGH, Mass.) – The summer season opens at Ramblewild with an open house and forest concert featuring jazz-classical pianist Joel A. Martin on Saturday, May 16. Doors to the aerial adventure park open at 11am; Martin inaugurates the Music in the Trees concert series at 2pm. The park stays open until 6pm.