Valentine's Day with the Beatles

Looking for something a bit out of the ordinary to do as a couple as Valentine's Day approaches?  On Sunday afternoon, Feb. 12, the harmony trio Gathering Time will perform a program of Beatles love songs played “unplugged” on acoustic guitars and vocals, at Dix Hills Performing Arts Center. Gathering Time's Acoustic Beatles Love Celebration tickets are $20, available at the box office or DHPAC.org. 

According to trio member Stuart Markus, the acoustic presentation will offer a “stripped down” version of the songs, some well-known and some more obscure. “Playing acoustically, without the layering of sounds done in the recording studio, allows us to really show the essence of each song, which in the case of the Beatles means some absolutely beautiful melody lines and really interesting chord changes.”

The music of the Beatles is timeless, he said. “They had a gift for hooky melodies and catchy turns of phrase in their lyrics. They were particularly adept at capturing the joy and exuberance of young love, which is something everyone has experienced at some point. If they're lucky, some get to experience it well into middle age and beyond.”

Of course, a folk-harmony trio like Gathering Time, which has been described as a rocked-up Peter, Paul & Mary or a co-ed Crosby, Stills & Nash, finds it hard to resist adding an extra harmony vocal here and there. “When we started rehearsing the show, we realized that each of us had grown up singing along to the records, creating new harmony lines as we did,” Markus said. “So for each song we had to agree who got to add an extra part sometimes.”

Gathering Time, which also includes Glen Roethel and Hillary Foxsong, is based in the New York metro area but tours on the northeastern folk circuit as an originals act. Their first CD, “Songs of Hope and Freedom,” was released in 2008 and a second, “Red Apples and Gold,” is due later this year. From time to time, however, they perform tribute concerts to the music of the '60s and early '70s that influenced their sound. “Most of our tribute shows feature the music of the folk-rock greats, such as The Byrds, Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and of course Peter, Paul & Mary and CSN,” Markus adds, “but occasionally we'll branch out a bit further. We did a tribute to the artists who played Woodstock in 2009, for the 40^th anniversary of the original festival.