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Event
Eric Taylor in Concert
Legendary Texas singer/songwriter Eric Taylor will bring his anecdotal songs and stories to the Georgetown Divide for an American River Folk Society sponsored concert at the Marshall Grange Hall in Garden Valley, Friday April 4 beginning at 7:30 P.M. He will be joined by local musician Wesley Allen Murphy who will open the show with his progressive bluegrass banjo.
People have been talking about Eric Taylor and his songs since the early 1970s, when he played an integral part in the burgeoning Houston music scene. Along with Lightnin' Hopkins, Townes Van Zant, Guy Charles Clark, Steve Earl and others, he set the stage for later Texas singers like Nanci Griffith, Lyle Lovett, and Robert Earl Keen. As Lovett says, "Eric was a real teacher for me. He and a few other people like Vince Bell were the keepers of that flame in terms of Townes' and Guy's songwriting ethic. I learned so much from the way he structured a song, what to put in, what to leave out. I'd try to learn his songs within days of hearing them."
Eric has been a featured artist at all the major folk festivals including Kerrville, Newport Folk Festival, Woody Guthrie Folk Festival and the Take Root Festival in Holland and he has appeared as a featured artist on Austin City Limits and NPRs Morning Edition and the David Letterman Show. His songs and albums have won praises and awards, and have been covered by several notables including Nanci Griffith, June Tabor and Lyle Lovett (you'll remember" Fat Babies" on Lyle's "I Love Everybody?").
The thing I think sets Taylor apart from other performers is his compassionate storytelling and song theater. He is much more than a folk singer; a performer who uses stories and songs to create mini-movies with sharply defined personalities that remain long after the last note or word has faded. His subjects are a colorful cast of characters making it through this world like all of us: a farmer's family gets a new tractor, "thanks to Mister Roosevelt and Henry Ford," there's a prison break, Crazy Horse is killed while trying to escape, and a hapless family from Indiana witnesses one of our century's apocalyptic moments on the streets of Dallas, Texas. Some songs are tributes to friends who have passed, some from a woman's perspective and all showcase the intricate narrative quality and unique theater aspect of Eric's writing and performance. Theatrical, dramatic, slow with space; stories that wind around and back again, repeated lines like a mantra, slow and steady like a One Man Show. He is like no other. You can sample his songs and videos at www.bluerubymusic.com.
Wesley Allen Murphy, a local Golden Sierra High School graduate, will open the show with his amalgamation of old, new, and progressive banjo playing that fits somewhere between new grass and punk folk. Influenced by the likes of Doug Dillard, Earl Scruggs, Bela Fleck, and Jerry Garcia, Murphy has recently returned from a two month cross country gig as part of the Brianna Pruett Gypsy Bell Tour.
This is a rare opportunity to hear a new emerging talent like Murphy and someone of Taylor's caliber in Garden Valley. The Grange Hall is located at 4940 Marshall Road, in Garden Valley. For further information call 530-642-8671. This is a GDRD Community Partner Event.
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LocationMarshall Grange Hall (View)
4940 Marshall Road
Garden Valley, CA 95633
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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