On Friday, December 17, 2010, four renowned songwriters and guitarists come together for one important cause. Join JORMA KAUKONEN, PATTY LARKIN, CHRIS SMITHER and LUCY KAPLANSKY at the Regent Theatre, 7 Medford Street, Arlington, Massachusetts as they perform a benefit concert for the Half the Sky Foundation, an organization supporting orphaned children in China. Doors for the 8:00 PM concert will open at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $35 General Admission, $50 Premier Seating, and $75 Gold Premier (Premier Seating & After Party at Flora Restaurant, Arlington) and are now on sale at the Regent Box Office, by phone 781-646-4849, and online at Regent Theatre.
The common thread that runs through all of these artists is not only their unique musicianship and place in the contemporary acoustic music world, but they each are parents of a child adopted from China. In bringing these four musical forces together, the artists wanted to highlight the good work of the Half the Sky organization, which works with orphanages in China to provide family-like nurturing care to orphaned children. The one way to do that was to have a benefit concert where funds could be raised so that Half the Sky could continue to do their work as well as to try to bring media attention to the foundation's good work.
The Half the Sky Foundation is dedicated to ensuring that every one of China's orphans has a caring adult in her life. In cooperation with the Chinese government, Half the Sky provides individual nurture and stimulation for babies, innovative preschools that encourage an early love of learning, personalized learning opportunities for older children, and loving and most important, permanent foster homes for children whose special needs will keep them from being adopted.
About the artists:
In a career that has already spanned a half-century, Jorma Kaukonen has been the leading practitioner and teacher of fingerstyle guitar, one of the most highly respected interpreters of American roots music, blues, and Americana, and at the forefront of popular rock-and-roll. He was a founding member of two legendary bands, The Jefferson Airplane and the still-touring Hot Tuna, a Grammy nominee, a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Chris Smither is an acclaimed singer-songwriter, whose career spans 40 years, 12 albums, and three DVDs. His recent CD, TIME STANDS STILL, was released last fall. He tours world-wide, performing at clubs, concert halls, and festivals in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia. His songs have appeared in various films and TV shows and have been covered by Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris and Diana Krall, among others. In 2006, Smither contributed an essay entitled "Become A Parent" to the book, Sixty Things To Do When You Turn Sixty.
For 25 years now, Patty Larkin has been redefining the boundaries of folk-urban pop music with her inventive guitar wizardry and uncompromising vocals and lyrics. She has been described as "riveting" (Chicago Tribune), "hypnotic" (Entertainment Weekly) and a "drop-dead brilliant" performer (Performing Songwriter). On her new CD, "25," to mark her anniversary, Patty reworked 25 love songs with 25 friends, including Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega, Bruce Cockburn, Erin McKeown, Chris Smither, and Lucy Kaplansky, to name a few.
Having started out singing in Chicago bars, Lucy Kaplansky took off for New York City where she found a fertile community of songwriters and performers including Bill Morrissey, Suzanne Vega, John Gorka, and others. She paired up with Shawn Colvin and continued to get great media praise. After a long break to pursue work in psychology, Lucy returned to her music. Fast forward to 2010, now with seven solo albums to her credit, this summer Lucy joined voices with John Gorka and Eliza Gilkyson on a new collaboration, Red Horse.
