"The Bolshoi of Barn Dancing" Provides Grand Finale for Riverfront Concert Series July 19

The Footworks dancers kick it up at the 2011 Shrewsbury Folk Festival.

CHESTERTOWN, MD—The internationally acclaimed Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, which The Washington Post called “the Bolshoi of Barn Dancing,” is coming to Chestertown July 19 for the final evening of the popular Washington College Riverfront Concert Series.

As was the case in the first two performances of the 2012 series, this one will include a special birthday tribute to American folk icon Woody Guthrie, who was born 100 years ago on July 14, 1912.

Based in Annapolis and inspired by the old-time buck dancers and flatfooters of North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee, Footworks has been delighting audiences since 1979 with its explosive performances, “kicking out a dazzling array of hard shoe clogging routines from around the world,” according to The Scotsman, Scotland’s national newspaper.

Known for their innovative choreography and commitment to Southern Appalachian music and dance, they have explored the roots of the genre, collaborating with and enlisting the masters of traditional percussive dance from Irish and Scottish to African American traditions. They performed as guest artists in the London run of Riverdance and were one of eight groups chosen to represent American culture in Japan on a tour with the Smithsonian Institution. They have performed at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center and the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

The free public performance, hosted by the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, begins at 6:30 p.m. behind the Custom House, corner of High and Water streets in downtown Chestertown. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own blankets, lawn chairs and picnic dinners. Lemonade and cookies will be provided free of charge. In case of inclement weather, the event will take place in The Egg, a performance space in Hodson Hall Commons on the main Washington College campus.

Launched by the Starr Center in 2010, the Riverfront Concert Series builds on the Center’s longstanding interest in the musical traditions of the Chesapeake Bay and its rich heritage of storytelling. The series host is the Starr Center’s program manager, Michael Buckley, whose weekly radio program on Annapolis-based WRNR, 103.1 FM (Sundays, 7 to 10 a.m.) includes the acclaimed interview series “Voices of the Chesapeake Bay.” Special assistance for the Concert Series is provided by Yerkes Construction and Washington College’s Dance Program and Student Events Board (SEB), with additional support from the Maryland State Arts Council.

For more information about Footworks, visit their Web site at http://www.footworks.org/. For information about the concert series and other Starr Center programs, visit starrcenter.washcoll.edu or call 410-810-7161.

           

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Founded in 1782 under the patronage of George Washington, Washington College is a private, independent college of liberal arts and sciences located in colonial Chestertown on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The college’s C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience is dedicated to fostering innovative approaches to the American past and present. Through educational programs, scholarship and public outreach, and a special focus on written history, the Starr Center seeks to bridge the divide between the academic world and the public at large.

Washington College Riverfront Concert Series Features the Pam Ortiz Band and Sombarkin' July 5

Singer and songwriter Pam Ortiz and her band perform July 5.

CHESTERTOWN, MD – The Pam Ortiz Band and the à cappella vocal trio Sombarkin' will present a powerful evening of folk, gospel and other quintessentially American music on the Chester River waterfront July 5, the second performance in this summer’s popular Washington College Riverfront Concert Series.

Each of this year's events will include a special birthday tribute to American folk icon Woody Guthrie, who was born 100 years ago, on July 14, 1912.

A singer-songwriter who performed for a decade in packed Baltimore and Washington coffeehouses and recorded three albums with the group Terra Nova, Pam Cardullo Ortiz has most recently joined forces with her husband, Bob Ortiz (musician, actor and Chestertown furniture maker par excellence) on percussion, Ford Schumann on guitar and Nevin Dawson on fiddle. With an album of all-new songs in the works, Ortiz describes her compositions as "songs that speak of who we are, what we’ve won and lost, how we love and live."

Based in Worton, Md., Sombarkin' is known for its vocal instrumentation and beautiful harmonies. Together, Karen Somerville, Lester Barrett, Jr., and Jerome McKinney deliver an explosive performance of black spirituals, folk, gospel, jazz and contemporary selections, whose uplifting and haunting melodies tell powerful stories of sorrow, hope, freedom and joy.

Hosted by the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, the free concerts all begin at 6:30 p.m. on the lawn of the Custom House at High and Water streets. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own blankets, lawn chairs and picnic dinners. Lemonade and cookies will be provided free of charge. In case of inclement weather, the concerts will take place in The Egg, a performance space in Hodson Hall Commons on the main Washington College campus.

Sombarkin’s trio: Lester Barrett, Jr., Karen Somerville, Jerome McKinney. 

The series will end July 19 with a performance by the internationally acclaimed Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, which has its roots in traditional American dance and music (from Southern Appalachian clogging to the African-American body percussion art of hamboning).

Launched by the Starr Center in 2010, the Riverfront Concert Series builds on the Center's longstanding interest in the musical traditions of the Chesapeake Bay and its rich heritage of storytelling. The series host is the Starr Center’s program manager, Michael Buckley, whose weekly radio program on Annapolis-based WRNR, 103.1 FM (Sundays, 7 to 10 a.m.) includes the acclaimed interview series "Voices of the Chesapeake Bay." Special assistance for the Concert Series is provided by Yerkes Construction and Washington College’s Dance Program and Student Events Board (SEB), with additional support from the Maryland State Arts Council.

For more information about the Pam Ortiz Band, visit her web site at pamortizmusic.com.  For information about the concert series and other Starr Center programs, visit starrcenter.washcoll.edu or call 410-810-7161.

           

Chester River Runoff Kicks off 3rd Annual Washington College Riverfront Concerts June 21

The musicians of Chester River Runoff: from left, Marc Dykeman M’07,
 Ben Armiger, Sam Guthridge ’04 and Nate Grower. Photo courtesy of Loblolly Productions.

CHESTERTOWN, MD— The popular Washington College Riverfront Concert Series, hosted by the C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience, returns for a third year of free Thursday evening performances on the Custom House lawn. This year’s lineup includes three beloved local ensembles — Chester River Runoff on June 21 and the Pam Ortiz Band along with the vocal trio Sombarkin on July 5.

Then, to cap off the series, the internationally acclaimed Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, with its roots in traditional American dance and music (from Southern Appalachian clogging to the African-American body percussion art of hamboning), will perform on July 19.

Each event will include a special happy birthday salute to American folk icon Woody Guthrie, who was born 100 years ago, on July 14, 1912.

“People have told me that this is their favorite Starr Center program and that they’ve begun to look forward to it every summer,” says Adam Goodheart, Hodson Trust-Griswold Director of the Starr Center. “So much of the ‘American experience’ resonates through our country’s great musical traditions. And there’s nothing like enjoying a great band and a picnic by the banks of the Chester River on a beautiful summer evening.”

Launched by the Starr Center in 2010, the Riverfront Concert Series builds on the Center’s longstanding interest in the musical traditions of the Chesapeake Bay and its rich heritage of storytelling. The series host is the Starr Center’s program manager, Michael Buckley, whose weekly radio program on Annapolis-based WRNR, 103.1 FM (Sundays, 7 to 10 a.m.) includes the acclaimed interview series “Voices of the Chesapeake Bay.” Special assistance for the Concert Series is provided by Yerkes Construction and Washington College’s Dance Program and Student Events Board (SEB), with additional support from the Maryland State Arts Council.

The opening concert on June 21 will feature the Eastern Shore’s own Chester River Runoff. Since 2004, the band has been wowing crowds at festivals and in clubs from Maine to Nashville with its honest, unaffected sound. Rooted in traditional bluegrass, their music is sometimes described as “newgrass,” or “a combination of bluegrass, alt-country and acoustic Hillbilly jazz.”

“For harmonies, runaway instrumentals and sheer delight, no one does bluegrass like Chester River Runoff,” the Chesapeake Maritime News says of the band, which features Ben Armiger (guitar, vocals), Marc Dykeman M’07 (bass, vocals), Nate Grower (fiddle, vocals) and Sam Guthridge ’04 (banjo, vocals). “Their repertoire goes well beyond the bluegrass standards to embrace homegrown material that reflects their Eastern Shore roots: call it eelgrass, call it bluecrabgrass, call it an incredible mix of fiddle, banjo, guitar, bass and vocals.”

           

The free public concerts all begin at 6:30 p.m. behind the Custom House, corner of High and Water streets in downtown Chestertown. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own blankets, lawn chairs and picnic dinners. Lemonade and cookies will be provided free of charge. In case of inclement weather, the concerts will take place in The Egg, a performance space in Hodson Hall Commons on the main Washington College campus.

For more information about Chester River Runoff, visit their web site at chesterriverrunoff.com. For information about the concert series and other Starr Center programs, visit starrcenter.washcoll.edu or call 410-810-7161.

           

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Founded in 1782 under the patronage of George Washington, Washington College is a private, independent college of liberal arts and sciences located in colonial Chestertown on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The college’s C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience is dedicated to fostering innovative approaches to the American past and present. Through educational programs, scholarship and public outreach, and a special focus on written history, the Starr Center seeks to bridge the divide between the academic world and the public at large.