Greg Artzner
Dan Berggren
Betsy Fry
Steve Fry
Reggie Harris
Terry Leonino
John Roberts
Bill Spence
Toby Stover
Susan Trump
George Wilson
About Four Seasons Four Years
Four Seasons, Four Years is a new and exclusive production featuring eleven singers and musicians performing a selection of songs extant in America between 1850 and 1865. These include both popular songs of the period as well as songs composed in response to the Civil War itself and events leading up to it. The songs are interspersed with historical narrative specific to New York State and the New York Volunteer Regiments.
The cast of singers and musicians include Greg Artzner, Dan Berggren, Betsy Fry, Steve Fry, Reggie Harris, Terry Leonino, John Roberts, Bill Spence, Toby Stover, Susan Trump and George Wilson. All known in their own right as fine working musicians, they have joined forces to present this unique show in observance of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
The songs of this period include Negro spirituals, shape-note hymns, marching songs, sentimental songs and songs and parodies written by 19th century writers such as Stephen Foster, George F. Root, the Hutchinson Family and Henry C. Work. The cast performs in individual and ensemble performances bringing these songs alive with great gusto, emotional impact and exceptional musicianship.
The production has been produced, compiled and directed by Old Songs, Inc. Executive Director Andy Spence in collaboration with the musicians.
The
Cast:
Greg Artzner is an outstanding guitarist whose fingerstyle approach owes a lot to his heroes, guitar legends such as Reverend Gary Davis, nBig Bill Broonzy, Nick Lucas, Phil Ochs, and Rolly Brown. His high baritone voice has equal range and his captivating interpretation gives power and beauty to the full spectrum, from growling blues, to a Chilean lament, to a sweet croon. He and Terry Leonino have performed together as "Magpie" since their meeting at Kent, Ohio in 1973
Terry Leonino's voice is a truly impressive instrument, not only because of its natural power, but also because of her versatility. She is a gifted singer of jazz and blues in the tradition of Connie Boswell and Billie Holiday, but is equally comfortable with the subtle beauty of traditional folk and contemporary songs. Terry is also an excellent player of the harmonica, mandolin, fretted dulcimer, and rhythm guitar.
Dan Berggren has been collecting, writing
and singing folk music of the Adirondacks for the past
30 years. He grew up in the mountains on the land farmed
by his mother’s family and worked in the woods
on a forest ranger’s crew and a survey crew.
Hearing stories and songs from local friends and neighbors,
Dan has developed a style that captures the spirit
of the mountains.
Betsy Fry was singing at an early age and in school, church and college choirs and in her 20s with Elaine Brown's Singing City Choir and Chorale, which performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Eugene Ormandy. More recently she has performed as a member of Annie and the Hedonists (20 years, on bass) and on clarinet with the Albany Area Senior Orchestra and Swing Shift swing band. Favorite quote: " You're only as good as the last note you played!".
Steve Fry is a musician's musician. Beginning with formal piano studies at age 5, he also played violin, trumpet and french horn as a child, ending up as a music performance major early in college. Over the years he has played in symphony, pops, opera and light opera orchestras, various concert and marching bands, a rock band, a jug band, various contradance bands, an English country dance band, bluegrass and folk ensembles, and performed for 20 years with "Annie & the Hedonists".
Reggie Harris is a superb guitarist, a wonderful singer, and an eloquent, and engaging storyteller with a scholarly depth of knowledge of his material. Reggie and his wife and partner Kim Harris have performed widely and to great acclaim for over 3 decades. Creative curiosity, years of road and stage experience and interactions with performers such as Pete Seeger, Ysaye Barnwell, Jay Leno, Tom Paxton, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Harry Belafonte and others, has led them to produce music that entertains and inspires.
John
Robertshas been singing English folk songs since the early 1960s, when he joined a local folk club in his native Worcestershire. Coming to the U.S. as a graduate student in 1968, he soon joined with Tony Barrand to form a duo which has lasted ever since. Singing in unaccompanied harmony, or with concertina or banjo, their entertaining style has delighted audiences at major festivals and venues such as Fox Hollow, Mariposa Folk Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Old Songs, and the Mystic Sea Music Festival.
Bill Spence has been a musician for over 50 years, playing banjo, guitar, autoharp and the instrument he is best known for today, the hammered dulcimer. In 1970 he formed a string band named Fennig’s All-Star String Band with musicians living in the Albany, New York area and in 1973 the group released its classic LP, The Hammered Dulcimer. Since 1976 the band has featured Bill along with George Wilson and Toby Stover.
Toby Stover is a long time veteran of the music and theatre
arts, having worked extensively with a wide range of groups and programs. She is an acknowledged master of New England-style rhythm accompaniment on the piano. Toby began studies in West African rhythms in 1985 and has trained on the djembe and dun dun drums intensively since 1998 when she began performing with the folkloric group Fakoli Dance & Drum. She continues to perform regularly with The Vanaver Caravan, Fakoli and Fennig's All Stars.
Susan Trump has been winning fans for years with her singing, her songwriting prowess, her outstanding skills on mountain dulcimer, guitar and banjo, and her clear, relaxed teaching style. Her love of Anglo-American music has taken her from the mountains of Southern Appalachia and the Adirondacks to the British Isles, where she has collected and performed traditional music. Her music links the pastoral, tranquil images of rural America to our contemporary life, touching the heart, recalling the past, and inspiring the times ahead.
A talented, multi-instrumentalist and singer, George Wilson's repertoire samples a wide variety of traditional and folk styles. As a fiddler, he has over 500 tunes for dancing and listening — tunes from New England, Quebec, Cape Breton, Scotland, Ireland and Shetland. His dynamic fiddling, strongly influenced by Cape Breton and French Canadian styles, has been popular with contra dancers and concert-goers since the late 1970s. Also accomplished on guitar and 5-string banjo, George is especially known for his spot-on renditions of songs by musical personality's of the past like Uncle Dave Macon and Huddie Ledbetter.
Andy
Spence, Director.
Entrepreneur and producer for over thirty years in the
field of folk and traditional music. A founding member
of the Pick'n and Sing'n Gather'n and Old Songs, Inc. Andy's
producing credits include Woody Guthrie's California
To The New York Island (1969), A Tribute to
Malvina Reynolds (1972), An Evening
At the English Music Hall (1974), The
Old Songs Festival of Traditional Music and Dance (since
1981) and The American Conscience: Folk Songs of the
1960s (2004), The Visitors (2007). Dedicated to presenting
folk, traditional, Celtic and World music and dance in the
Capital District, she continues
to carry on the tradition.
Schedule/Tickets
Upcoming Performances and Community Engagement events:
Earlville Opera HouseEarlville, NY - website PERFORMANCE: Friday, June 8, 2012, 7:30 pm
Community Engagement with artists: Sat., May 19, 2012
Madison Hall, Morrisville, NY, 7:30 pm
"John Brown's Ghost"
- discussion and songs with Magpie
Old Songs Festival PERFORMANCE: Friday, June 22, 2012, 3:00 pm visit www.oldsongs.org/festival for further information, tickets, etc.
Community Engagement with historian and artists: Sun., June 24, 2012
Old Songs Festival @ Altamont Fairgrounds, 12:00 - 1:00 pm "Billy Yank: The Common Soldier of the Union Army"
- presentation by historian Robert Mulligan with artists Dan Berggren and Magpie
Caffè Lena, Inc. @ Universal Preservation Hall
25 Washington St., Saratoga Springs, NY - Caffe Lena website PERFORMANCE: Saturday, September 22, 2012, 7:30 pm
Community Engagement with artists: Sat., Sept. 22, 2012
Congress Park, Saratoga Springs, NY, afternoon (time TBA) "Around the Campfire"
- Civil War songs with various performers
View3273 State Route 28, Old Forge, NY - website PERFORMANCE: Saturday, September 29, 2012, 7:30 pm
Community Engagement with artists: date and time TBA
@ View, Old Forge, NY
"Yankee John Galusha of the North Country"
- discussion and songs by Dan Berggren
West Kortright CenterEast Meredith, NY - website PERFORMANCE: Sunday, September 30, 2012, 3:00 pm
Community Engagement with artists: Thurs., Sept. 27, 2012 (time TBA)
@ West Kortright Center "The Civil War and Civil Rights"
- discussion and songs by Reggie Harris
Sand Lake Center for the ArtsAverill Park, NY - website PERFORMANCE: Saturday, April 20, 2013, 8:00 pm
Community Engagement with artists: March 14, 2013
@ Sand Lake Center; St. Patrick's Dinner, 6:00 pm "The Irish Soldier in the Civil War"
- discussion and songs by George
Wilson, Bill
Spence, John Roberts and Steve & Betsy Fry
Program
PDF of 12-page Concert Program
Includes song list, narrative citations,
bibliography.
Click on image
Contact
us
For further information about this program
and to inquire about booking, contact:
Andy Spence
Old Songs, Inc.
PO Box 466
Voorheesville, NY 12186
(518) 765-2815
The American Civil War was a brutal, bloody struggle, pitting North against South and brother against brother. It literally tore the country in two. But the set list was great.
Old Songs’ presentation of “Four Seasons, Four Years – The Civil War: A Musical Journey” brings the songs and sounds of the Civil War back to life without stinting on the truth, the tragedy and the horror.
Ken Burns famously fused folk music with history in his PBS “The Civil War” series, but “Four Seasons, Four Years” creator Andy Spence (whose great-grandfather fought for the Union) has truly brought the war home by focusing on New York State sources.
Selections from letters, historical papers and soldier’s diaries are read between the musical passages, creating a seamless flow of narration and song. In fact, at the program’s debut weekend in November, sold-out audiences at Old Songs’ Voorheesville homebase were asked to hold applause until the end of each half, in order to allow an uninterrupted telling of the tale.
What telling! What a tale! And what applause when patrons were finally able to express their appreciation.
Spence – who is also Artistic Director of Old Songs – has assembled an unbelievable cast for “Four Seasons, Four Years,” made up of musicians who have long associations with the organization.
Adirondack legend Dan Berggren serves as chief narrator, and his preacher’s voice fits perfectly with the material. Reggie Harris reworks traditional Spirituals as though they were Philly pop songs. And John Roberts adds an Englishman’s perspective to the battle.
But they are only three of eleven, rounded out by Greg Artzner, Terry Leonino, Steve and Besty Fry, Toby Stover, Susan Trump, Bill Spence and George Wilson.
All of the above offered solos as well as joining in with others for specific tunes. And while Berggren served as a sort of emcee, the narration passed through many lips as well.
With Old Songs, the audience is as much the star as anyone on stage and in November, many sang along, with a single voice rising up into the rafters.
“Go Down Moses,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” “Give Us A Flag,” “Oh Freedom,” “Home Sweet Home.” These were just of the few of the songs shared.
As noted, the Civil War – despite its darkness – offered a previously undreamt of musical richness, not least because it marked the real advent of American songwriting. Composers like Stephen Foster, George F. Root and Dan Emmett were relentlessly fusing parlor songs, minstrel music and classical themes into new forms. And the oral traditions of the Spirituals were in flux, as slaves buried coded messages into their hymns, signifying, for example, a route out of the South with “Follow the Drinking Gourd.”
Spence’s text, gathered from such potent sources, puts the music in its original context, and given the local origins of that text, it sometimes made the program almost emotionally overwhelming.
“Four Seasons, Four Years” is an amazing effort perfectly timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. Someone needs to get PBS on the phone and get this program to the wider audience it deserves.
Review by Michael Eck
Links
Old Songs, Inc. • www.oldsongs.org-
dedicated to preserving traditional music and dance. Concert
Series, Instrument Classes, Contra Dances, Summer Camps and
the annual Old Songs Festival
L to R in photo:
Back row: Toby Stover, Reggie Harris, Dan Berggren, Terry Leonino, John Roberts, Susan Trump, Betsy Fry, Bill Spence, George Wilson.
Seated: Greg Artzner, Steve Fry.
Funding
This
program is made possible by the New York
State Council on the Arts,
with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Old Songs, Inc.
PO Box 466 • Voorheesville,
NY 12186-0466
(518) 765-2815 • Fax: (518) 765-4248 • Email:
