New England Music Hall of Fame Invades Mystic for a Good Cause

New England Music Hall of Fame will Honor Rhode Island Legends For Good Cause

On November 27, 2021 the New England Music Hall of Fame (NEMHOF) www.nemhof.com will be hosting the event “The United Gathering”. The objective for the event is to support Native American Heritage month by uniting people harmoniously through music, and will also have a food drive to help those in need.

The concert and induction will be at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 15 Pearl Street, Mystic, Ct https://stmarksmystic.org/ Ceremony starts at 7 Pm at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 15 Pearl St Mystic, CT 06355.

The New England Music Hall of Fame was founded by Christopher Annino , Angel Orsini, and Kadrolsha Ona Carole in 2019 Their mission is to “Preserve , Promoter, Educate and Unite, New England’s music and the people who represent it.”

Emmy Award winning Connecticut composer Brian Keane https://briankeanemusic.com/ , Grammy Nominated Native American Artist Joseph Firecrow www.josephfirecrow.com , Engineer Ken Dutton (WYE Records), and Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame inductee Ken Lyon http://rhodeislandmusichalloff... will be inducted that evening.

They will be joining Muddy Waters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq6BXDhg0CI , James Cotton, Grammy Nominated Paula Cole, RI Legends James Montgomery https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75P5Tsxr6a4&t=49s , & Co-Founder of Roomful of Blues Grammy Nominated Duke Robillard in this year’s New England Music Hall of Fame Class. The New England Music Hall of Fame was founded in 2019 by Christopher Annino, Angel Orsini, and Kadrolsha Ona Carole, its mission is to “educate, unite, promote, and preserve the integrity of the New England music scene.”

The master of ceremonies that evening will be Co-Founder, Westerly native, and International award winning Filmmaker Christopher Annino. Co-hosts for that evening will be Co-Founder/ ECW original Angel Orsini, and NPC Physique Champion Nikki Moccia owner of Empowered Fitness https://www.teamempoweredfitness.com/

Special guest appearances will be by Watch Hill native and Fitness Model Joy Nash, US Navy Veteran/ Actress Andrea Abella Marie https://www.imdb.com/name/nm12220575/ , and hall of fame drummer Bobby Torello of the Johnny Winter Band.

St. Marks is a historical building and begun as a mission in 1859, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Mystic was organized as a parish in 1865. That same year, the parish acquired land at what is now 15 Pearl Street for a church. The cornerstone was laid in 1866 and the first service was held on Christmas Morning, 1867. Once the church was free from its large construction debt of $9,000, the building was dedicated on St. Mark’s Day, April 25, 1873. Rev Adam Thomas is the current pastor. Pastor Adam began his ministry with the people of St. Mark’s in February of 2014, after having served two previous parishes in Massachusetts and West Virginia.

The organ is one of the oldest organs in New England and it has a great music director David Tubbs. David has been with St. Mark’s since 1985. “I love music that is performed from the heart,” says David.

Co-Founder Christopher Annino went to St. Marks Church when he was younger. During his teen years he sang in David Tubbs choir. "I learned the importance of music at St. Marks. Singing in that choir gave me a sense of worth and purpose. I met wonderful people like Jean Smith, Gail Taylor, Cassie Bushong, Rilla Holmes and her husband Akil Rangwalla. I wouldn't be the person I am now without my experience at St. Marks. I am glad I get to come back home" Annino later added "The New England Music Hall wants Mystic as its home. Wonderful business such as Mystic Disc http://mysticdisclp.com/?fbcli... preserves music. It is a music town and we are very happy that we are doing this event here."

Christopher Annino would later graduate Phi Theta Kappa, and was inducted into the national leadership society at Mitchell College while playing NCAA Lacrosse. He later would become a international award winning filmmaker https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0030399/ and would set a world record to raise money for breast cancer research https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7_AumTlQAU&t=17s

Winsted, Ct resident was a world renowned Cheyenne flutist who was loved by many. Joseph was influential in Native American music and won multiple NAMMY’s Native American Music Awards www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com His album Cheyenne Nation was nominated for a Grammy in 2001. Fire Crow appeared many times as a guest musician on recordings by other musicians in the industry. Some of Fire Crow's music was used on Ken Burns Documentary on Lewis and Clark. Thomasina Levy https://thomasinalevy.com/ won the NAMMY for song of the year for “Walk in Beauty” with Joseph Firecrow in 2019 several years after his passing. Levy will be performing that evening.

Fellow inductee and Westport native Brian Keane https://briankeanemusic.com/ was both friends with Firecrow and worked on several projects with him. Keane is a multiple Emmy award winning composer, Grammy award winning producer, and noted guitarist Brian Keane has scored literally hundreds of films and television shows. His music has been hailed critically as "indelible and breathtaking" by the Los Angeles Times, "piercingly beautiful" by The New York Times and "masterful" by Newsweek, and he has been called a "musician's musician" by Downbeat, a "composer's composer" by The Hollywood Reporter, and “one of the most impressive musicians of the decade” by the editor of Billboard magazine. Keane won a Grammy Award for his 1998 soundtrack Long Journey Home: The Irish in America with the Chieftains, Van Morrison, and Elvis Costello, among others. Brian produced more than 150 records in his career, 37 of which were Billboard Top Ten charting.

Engineer for legendary WYE Records Kenny Dutton will be posthumously inducted into the pioneer category. Wye Records, run by former Sun Records artist Winston Cogswell (a/k/a Wayne Powers), Rhode Island songwriter/pianist Ray Peterson and engineer Ken Dutton, has the distinction of being the only Rhode Island-based record company to score a national hit. This was accomplished with the label’s very first single, the instrumental “Night Theme” by The Mark II. Accepting on his behalf will be his son Bill.

Singer, Songwriter, Musician, and Pioneer Ken Lyon’s career spans five decades. A Newport native and a lifelong Rhode Island resident, Ken Lyon’s career spans five decades beginning with his days as a folk-blues singer on the Greenwich Village scene of the early 1960s. The “folk” phase of his career was capped by the nationally-released Decca Records album “Ken Lyon In Concert” in 1970. Beginning in the late ’60s, Ken experimented with various electric/acoustic combinations culminating in the Columbia Records album “Ken Lyon & Tombstone” in 1973.

Along the way, he achieved legendary status in southern New England as a “godfather” of the blues. His selfless approach as a band leader provided the launching pad for dozens of other R.I.-based musicians including tenor sax legend Scott Hamilton, blues & swing guitarist Duke Robillard, Brenda Mosher of Prince’s Vanity Six and Apollonia Six, and many others.

That evening is the world debut of a sample of the New England Music Hall of Fame (NEMHOF) All Star band led by endorsed drummer Kathy Steahle http://steahle.com/ Steahle was a star softball player at Guilford High School in Guilford, Connecticut. She was given offers to play in the NCAA however she chose her passion which is drums. Kathy Steahle has had over 30 years of international experience.

She played at Vatican in Italy for Pope John Paul with Ed Perez and Our Lady of Assumption. She has opened up for such National Acts as: Joan Jett, NRBQ, The Ramones, Taylor Dayne, Crystal Waters, Bethany Yarrow, B52s, Foreigner and UH HUH HER. Kathy even has had the pleasure to sit in with Sophie B. Hawkins. She currently plays with the groundbreaking All-Female Group Sister Funk and national country artist Steve Daggett. She is endorsed by Zorian Percussion, Creative Percussion, Creative drum, Bucks County Drums, and Trexist cymbals. She is also a drum instructor.

The original formation of the NEMHOF All Star Band star band included Bobby T, Scott Spray, and Jimi Bell during their induction ceremony

The New England Music Hall of Fame All Star Band consists of New England’s best such as multiple hall of fame inductee Paul Gabriel https://www.paulgabriel.net/, groundbreaking all female band Sister Funk http://www.sisterfunk.com/ , Nammy Award Winning Michael Long Rider and Thomasina Levy https://thomasinalevy.com/ , and original lead singer of the legendary “Scratch Band” Bob Orsi, and singer song writer Mary O’hare.

Also longtime radio legend Ron Carson will be honored with the first ever NEMHOF Broadcasters Award. He is now on WSBS out of great Barrington, Massachusetts will be getting the first ever New England Music Hall of Fame Broadcasters Award, and Heather Somers will be honored with the first ever New England Music Hall of Fame Person Of The Year. Kevin Mocker a well-respected photographer has been officially selected as the NEMHOF photographer of that night.

Bring a nonperishable item or canned good. Business such as The Mariner https://themarinermystic.com/ have been generous enough to contribute for the drawing they will have later that evening.

New England Music Hall of Fame Induction, Food Drive, and Concert

November 27, 2021 at 7 PM

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church 15 Pearl St Mystic, CT 06355

CLICK the official FB Invite https://fb.me/e/13p8jgVd0