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Robinson to kick off music festival
The Putnam County Community Foundation, represented its president, Ken Eitel, will present a check from the Foundation’s endowment for the Greencastle Summer Music Festival to founding artistic director Eric Edberg and the festival’s executive director Chris Flegal as the festival kicks off its 2018 season Wednesday evening. A free concert performance by local blues singer Tad Robinson and his band will start the season.
Wednesday’s 7:30 p.m. performance in Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church kicks off the 14th season of free, midweek concerts bringing the community together with relaxed, informal evenings of “friends making music for friends.”
The concerts are funded solely by donations from individuals and businesses, including the Inn at DePauw, as well as the endowment at the Foundation, which was begun by Joanne Kissinger and her family, and expanded through the added efforts of festival enthusiast Stu Fabe.
“I’m constantly amazed by the support the community shows for what has truly become ‘our’ series of Wednesday night musical gatherings,” Edberg said, “and I cannot overstate the gratitude I feel for the leadership of both Joanne and Stu.”
The amount of this year’s contribution from the endowment will be announced by Eitel at Wednesday’s concert.
“I couldn’t be happier than to have Tad and his full band, including Kevin Anker on piano and Paul Holdman on guitar and vocals, opening the festival this summer,” Edberg added.
“We celebrate community and friendship as much as we do music itself. Tad is a longtime Greencastle resident and friend to so many of us in Putnam County. This is such a great opportunity to hear him and his longtime collaborators in a comfortable, air-conditioned concert setting. Live group music making exemplifies the human values of connection and cooperation that are so important in our live-in-our-smartphones modern culture. And it’s fantastic music.”
Robinson and his band will be performing selections from his new album “Back To Chicago,” released in April on Delmark Records.
From his Manhattan roots and his Indiana and Chicago musical upbringing, Robinson has caught the attention of the music world with his eight Blues Music Award nominations (the Grammys of blues music) and his many recordings. He’s a veteran of countless national and international tours, having played in more than 20 countries, performing at many of the most important international blues festivals.
With harmonica chops schooled by Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Junior Wells and James Cotton, among many, and vocals that compare to Otis Redding, Syl Johnson, Al Green and Teddy Pendergrass, Robinson, according to Downbeat Magazine, “places near the top of the list of the finest living singers of soul blues.”
The festival will continue next week with a June 6 performance by Brady Lanier (viola da gamba) and Daniel Inamorato (piano), who will present a fascinating combination of Baroque, Romantic and post-Romantic music, including gamba music by Schenk, Telemann and Sainte-Colombe, and piano works by Scarlatti, Chopin and Bartok. The entire summer’s lineup is at www.greencastlesummermusic.org.