Summer is over, the leaves are turning, and Britt Festival concert goers are thinking back over good times and great concerts presented this summer on the Britt hill in Jacksonville, while contemplating enduring a long, dreary winter before again getting an opportunity to enjoy some good music at the Britt Pavilion. But wait! There are still TWO opportunities left to catch some great musical performances at the Britt Festivals before it goes dark for the winter, and the long wait till next season’s concert series begins.
On Wednesday, October 15 at 8 pm, the Britt is presenting an intimate indoor performance on the Britt stage, by the folk duo, The Quiet American. The audience will be seated on the Britt Stage, the stage doors will be closed, and the backstage area will be turned into a lobby/lounge. The Quiet American is husband and wife duo, Aaron and Nicole Keim. A home-grown modern folk revival, their music incorporates traditional ballads, banjo breakdowns, raggy choruses, gospel duets and other dusty Americana gems, all delivered on a wide variety of acoustic instruments, including the Ukulele. They present a concert experience that pays tribute to old time folk music traditions and demonstrates why home made, hand crafted, American folk music will never fade away. Here’s a sample (“Carroll County Blues”):
And for the final concert in Jacksonville for 2014, the Britt is presenting an intimate indoor performance on the Britt stage by Lucy Wainwright Roche on Friday, Oct. 17 at 8 pm. Again, the audience will be seated on the Britt Stage, the stage doors will be closed, and the backstage area will be turned into a lobby/lounge. Lucy Wainwright Roche is the daughter of singer-songwriters Loudon Wainwright III and Suzzy Roche, and the sister of singers Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright. She has won multiple awards at folk festivals and in 2009, she won the Independent Music Award for Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Song for “Snare Drum.” Here she is performing (“Starting Square”) in a similar intimate setting:
Tickets and more information for both concerts are available through the Britt Festivals website: http://www.brittfest.org/performances/quiet2014 for The Quiet American concert and http://www.brittfest.org/performances/lucywainwrightroche for the Lucy Wainwright Roche concert. Or call the Britt box office at 1-800-882-7488.
Lee Greene was born & raised in a NJ family where the only religion worshipped was classical music, Leonard Bernstein was God, and the radio was constantly on and tuned to classical station WQXR (which is now always on in his Jacksonville home thanks to the miracle of the Internet). Growing up in the New York City metropolitan area and later while residing and practicing law in NYC, Lee attended oodles of Broadway and off-Broadway theater productions, as well as concerts and opera at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and other NYC venues. Lee is now a retired attorney, runs a computer support business, and has served on the boards of Rogue Opera & Siskiyou Violins. Lee also writes Performing Arts reviews published on the website,