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Andrew Calhoun
Andrew Calhoun's music is innovative and rooted in tradition. In forty years as a performer he has evolved an increasingly varied repertoire including original songs, Irish and American folk songs, Scottish ballads, spirituals, hymns, historical background, comic songs, and poems and songs by writers such as Dave Carter, Mary Oliver, and Robert Frost. He is currently workingon a Robert Burns songbook, including new research on the tunes used by Scotlands bard.At age seven, Andrew memorized W. B. Yeats' "Song of Wandering Aengus," thus earning a nickel from his mother. He got his first guitar in 1967 at the age of ten, and began writing songs at twelve. By the late seventies, he was performing in the Chicago folk scene. Six months of janitorial work at the DAVEA Center in Addison, IL, funded a trip to Europe in 1977 leading him to hear Martin Carthy at the Cambridge Folk Festival in England, and Carthy along with Leonard Cohen remain guiding musical inspirations. He has since toured internationally, performing at folk clubs and festivals, pubs and house concerts. In 1992, Calhoun founded Waterbug Records, an artists' cooperative folk label which has grown to 130 titles, bringing some of the brightest singer-songwriters and folk musicians to an international audience. His own recordings have been released on Hogeye, Flying Fish, and Waterbug Records. Recent projects include a double CD,Rhymers Tower: Ballads of the Anglo-Scottish Border, and Skeins, a duo CD with his daughter Casey Calhoun.In October 2012, Andrew was given the Lantern Bearer Award for twenty-five years of service to the folk arts in the Midwest by the Folk Alliance Regional Midwest. In July 2014 he received a lifetime achievement award from the Woodstock Folk Festival.
"A wonderful songwriter and funny, warm performer."- The Daily Iowan
"Calhoun is a master at story songs, finely crafted works that swiftly and economically capture a moment or express an emotion. Like the best novelists, he is able to assume different personas and see the world through other people's eyes."- June Sawyers, Chicago Tribune
"He's blessed with a resonant baritone, crystalline fingerpicking, and a writer's ear."- The Oregonian
"His songs are majestic in their imagery and endlessly challenging in their themes."- James Tarbox, St. Paul Pioneer Press-Dispatch
"...he goes an awfully long way toward overturning the prevalent image of folksingers trying to live in a past that never was."- Renaldo Migaldi, Chicago Reader
"...unbelievably powerful imagery."- Merlin David, Performing Songwriter
"He is a creative force in the songwriter movement, a dynamite guitarist, and a traditional song interpreter of great skill. His introductions to songs can keep you doubled up with laughter, his songs run the gamut of human experience and emotion."- Phil Cooper
"Andrew Calhoun tells the truth. To my knowledge, there is no better songwriter alive."- Dave Carter
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LocationFocal Point Traditional Arts Center (View)
2720 Sutton Blvd
Saint Louis, MO 63143
United States
Categories
| Dog Friendly: Yes! |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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