2018 Dinnerfest RED Party + Auction

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Marc Broussard w/ Grant Stinnett Page
June 15, 16 & 17
at City Winery Boston

Tickets: http://bit.ly/MarcBroussardBos2018

Marc Broussard is an artist with a unique gift of channeling the spirits of classic R&B, rock and soul into contemporary terms. This gift has been a matter of common knowledge since 2002, when Broussard released his debut album, Momentary Setback, which he recorded and released independently at age 20. It was no secret before then, going back to those lucky witnesses who heard him belt "Johnny B. Goode" onstage at age 5 while sitting in with his father's band. Throughout his life, Broussard has been tapped as a talent to watch.

Marc?s song ?Home? was successful at radio and catapulted him onto the national touring stage. His music has been placed in many TV shows and movies. The timeless, soulful nature of Marc?s vocal lends well to Film and TV, and will continue to do so for years to come.

Most recently, Marc released an independent Christmas Album titled, ?Magnolias & Mistletoe?. The original song, ?Almost Christmas? received radio play word wide. Marc?s next project is a charitable rhythm and blues covers record to be released summer 2016. He will be donating fifty percent of the proceeds to City of Refuge.

Grant Stinnett

Grant Stinnett is a contemporary singer-songwriter with a passion for creating a powerful full-band sound with a single acoustic guitar. Grant?s deeply passionate lyricism is combined with a customized guitar featuring 3 separate signal outputs to capture individual bass and percussion parts from the guitar, as well as an on stage looper and vocal harmonizer for presenting a foot tapping, heart grabbing one of a kind performance.

Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue
July 9
6pm Doors, 8pm Show
at City Winery Boston

Tickets: http://www.citywinery.com/boston/mikefarris070918.html

Mike Farris is a musical renaissance man. He?s toured as lead singer for the Southern Rock Band Screaming Cheetah Wheelies, and following the demise of blues & rock legend Stevie Ray Vaughn, as the lead singer for the incomparable blues band, Double Trouble. In his solo career he began to rediscover and reinterpret traditional black spiritual music by adding his own mix of vintage southern soul. For his efforts, Farris won the prestigious Americana Music Award for Best New & Emerging Artist, a Dove Award for Best Traditional Gospel Album of the Year and a 2015 GRAMMY® award for Best Roots Gospel Album.

He has appeared at multiple festivals including Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Merlefest, Telluride & Bonnaroo electrifying audiences with the impact of his live performance. He has contributed vocals to Patty Griffin?s GRAMMY®-winning Downtown Church project, as well as Rodney Crowell?s latest album, Tarpaper Sky. Additionally, Farris was invited to be a featured performer in 2011 at The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?s 16th Annual American Masters concert honoring Aretha Franklin along side such acts as Lauryn Hill, Chaka Khan, Cissy Houston, and Ronald Isley. Most recently he performed on Austin City Limits for their inaugural ?Hall of Fame Show? into which Willie Nelson and Double Trouble were inducted.

More Info: mikefarrismusic.com

Suitcase Stories
June 20
6pm Doors, 7pm Show
at City Winery Boston

Tickets: https://citywinery.com/boston/suitcase-stories-live-storytelling-2018-world-refugee-day-celebration-6-20-18.html

Suitcase Stories® is a live performance series that features foreign and U.S.-born residents sharing refugee and immigrant stories.Produced in conjunction with local sponsors and MassMouth, an organization that promotes the timeless art of storytelling, proceeds from the shows support the International Institute of New England, a non-profit organization dedicated to refugee resettlement and immigrant support services.

In 2017, nearly 2,000 people saw a live performance of Suitcase Stories® and thousands more watched one broadcast on PBS television. The Suitcase Stories® series provides a way to dig beneath the headlines, exposes audiences to the complexity of immigration issues, and directly impacts life-changing refugee services.


About the International Institute of New England and Massmouth
The mission of the International Institute of New England is to create opportunities for refugees and immigrants to succeed through resettlement, education, career advancement and pathways to citizenship. Each year IINE serves nearly 2,000 refugees and immigrants across three sites in Boston and Lowell, Massachusetts and Manchester, New Hampshire. MassMouth promotes the timeless art of storytelling through competitive slams, unique showcases and customized events. Massmouth provides new and seasoned teller with opportunities to share their stories with others and produces a nationally-televised PBS series called Stories from the Stage in partnership with WGBH and the World Channel.

More Info: https://iine.org/suitcase

MassMouth Presents: Riff Story Slam - Party All Night Long
June 25
6pm Doors, 7pm Show
at City Winery Boston

Tickets: https://citywinery.com/boston/massmouth-presents-riff-story-slam-party-all-night-long.html

City Winery loves music and Massmouth loves stories. Together, we bring you a new storytelling series Riff: Song-Inspired Stories. Hosted at City Winery in downtown Boston, tellers spin totally true six-minute stories on a new song-inspired theme each month. For June, our theme is PARTY ALL NIGHT LONG. Got a great party story to share? Join us as four pre-picked tellers and four tellers drawn randomly at the event compete for audience favorite and a $50 City Winery gift card.

About Massmouth
Massmouth is a Boston-based non-profit organization that promotes the timeless art of storytelling. Since our founding in 2009, Massmouth has changed the way Greater Boston and the surrounding communities tell and listen to stories. Massmouth organizes storytelling events including competitive slams, monthly special features, and custom events. The organization also provides coaching and storytelling workshops for businesses, non-profit organizations, and individuals. To learn more, visit www.massmouth.org.

Hot Club of Cowtown
June 14
6pm Doors, 8pm Show
at City Winery Boston

Tickets: https://citywinery.com/boston/hot-club-of-cowtown-6-14-18.html

Since 1998, the Western swing-gypsy jazz trio Hot Club of Cowtown has traveled the world bringing their own brand of magical musical chemistry to audiences far and wide. Along with Elana James, guitarist Whit Smith and bassist Jake Erwin are equal partners in this original marriage of gypsy-jazz-inspired by the music of Django Reinhardt ? which accounts for the ?Hot Club? portion of their name ? with the hoedowns, traditional tunes, and Western swing-inspired music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, represented in the ?Cowtown? of their name. They have created a legacy of the preservation of musical traditions that have often been overlooked by the mainstream and alternative music worlds. Even Americana and roots enthusiasts have only scratched surface of the multitude of musicians, past and present, who continue to inspire the Hot Club of Cowtown.


?This music may be more prevalent now than fifteen years ago,? says James. ?I don?t think as much of this was going on when we first got together?the seamless blending of Western swing tunes and hot jazz standards a la Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli.? While the merging of gypsy jazz with Western swing sounds natural when listening to Hot Club of Cowtown, in the beginning the fusion of the two styles seemed more unorthodox than it does now. ?We just have always listened to old recordings and get inspired by that endless trove of astonishing performances. Mixing these genres together has always just been such a natural fit. Over the years other ?hot club? bands come and go but I guess generally we may be the most visible touring Western swing power trio out there.?

The band has a long list of accomplishments since their first album, Swingin? Stampede, first appeared in 1998 on HighTone records. Most notably, they are marking their 20th anniversary during the 2017-2018 touring season. They have released nine studio albums and they are among the youngest members ever to have been inducted inot the Texas Western Swing Hall of Fame. A considerable accomplishment for a band that have migrated their way from New England and the Midwest by way of New York City. They have most recently been named Western Swing Group of the year in 2015 at the Ameripolitan Music Awards (a new genre created by Dale Watson to recognize roots-influenced bands). In 2015 James won for Western Swing Female as well. The band has also represented the U.S. State Department as Musical Ambassadors over the past several years to places as diverse as Azerbaijan, Algeria, Armenia, the Republic of Georgia, and the Sultanate of Oman. Their festival appearances have been as diverse as they?ve been numerous including jazz, bluegrass and country festivals throughout the UK, Europe, Japan, Australia and North America.

In 2004 the Hot Club of Cowtown gained a special fan in Bob Dylan when they were invited to open a month-long tour of minor leaue ballparks with Dylan and Willie Nelson. James sat in with Dylan?s band often on that tour and the following year James was hired to play briefly in Dylan?s touring band ? the first dedicated female instrumentalist to join his road band since Scarlet Rivera some 30 years before.

Hot Club has maintained an on-again, off-again relationship over the years, which appears to be more about career choices than personal differences. When asked about the brief times the band has not been touring or recording, James says, ?It?s like Brokeback Mountain ? ?I just can?t quit you!?? she laughs. ?Some bands are maybe more studio bands, or other bands are really more about songwriting. We came together as instrumentalists who love to jam and play, and we really are at our very best as a live band. To me it?s as almost as though the instruments have gathered us together to sing and play their music. Like the songs conjure us and we gather together and deliver them.?


Indeed, when seeing the trio perform, hearing them on studio or live records, there is a sense of something beyond them individually?and beyond their years?taking over through this music that has lasted through the years. ?At the end of the day, it?s fun to get up on stage when you?re with your A game,? James says. ?If you don?t have a great show, great people up on stage together who you believe in, it?s hard to get up on stage. To do this thing we are truly thrilled by, as a band together, this is what makes us go. That there is a demand for us, for this little Western swing trio, to continue to tour, play, record, travel, it truly is a great gift. We?ve been together a long time and continue to share something unique and mysterious that continues to develop. As the saying goes, the harder you work, the luckier you get. For me it?s like this magical tree that we nurture and feed and in return it gives us shade, fruit and joy over the years.?

More Info: http://www.hotclubofcowtown.com

Ben Caplan
June 20
6pm Doors, 7:30pm Show
in the Haymarket Lounge at City Winery Boston

Tickets: https://citywinery.com/boston/ben-caplan-in-the-haymarket-lounge-6-20.html

Inspired in part by Eastern European and Jewish folk traditions, Ben Caplan mixes older musical sensibilities with his own soul, straight from his hairy heart. Lyrically, you?ve not heard the like before. Often edgy and dark, Caplan holds a mirror up to show us our nasty bits, singing about the ugliness and showing us that this darkness is the root of the sublime.

His latest album release, Birds with Broken Wings, explodes with sounds both ancient and modern, with more than 30 musicians and even more instruments, combining acoustic sounds from around the world. It was listed on CBC Radio?s 50 Best Canadian Albums of 2015, reached #1 on Earshot?s National Folk/Roots/Blues chart, and was accepted into the Baker & Taylor NPR Discover Songs library. It?s all smoothly blended by the hottest international production team around. It?s uncharted territory, and Caplan?s leading the way.

More Info: http://www.bencaplan.ca

Laura Love w/ Opener Liz Stringer
July 5
6pm Doors, 7:30pm Show
in the Haymarket Lounge at City Winery Boston

Tickets: http://www.citywinery.com/boston/lauralove070518.html

Laura Love

After taking nearly a decade off the festival/touring circuit, to live off grid, grow her own food, and raise her daughter, Laura is again returning to the stage to continue where she left off. She felt ?compelled to get back on the road, reach out to other human beings, spread kindness and try to heal,? from what she has described as a ?savage couple of years? which left her battling to recover from a brutal assault, followed by the sudden suicide of her beloved sister, Lisa. To that end, she exploded back onto the festival scene in 2017, taking the Kate Wolf, Strawberry, Valhalla and Philadelphia Folk Music Festivals by storm. With these powerful performances she and her stellar guitarist, Terry Hunt, showcased a whole new batch of songs that left audiences leaping to their feet, mid-set and some concert-goers telling her ?she was even better than she?d been years ago.? She has expanded her story-rich, socially conscious repertoire to include Field Hollers, Civil Rights Era Songs and Gospel music into her deep catalogue of original songs. Laura is currently recording a new CD of original songs which will be released Late Winter/early Spring of 2018.

Liz Stringer

In 2016 Melbourne-based musician Liz Stringer unveiled her fifth studio album, ?All The Bridges?. Recorded in 2015 at Type Foundry Studio in Portland, Oregon USA with respected engineer/producer Adam Selzer (Jolie Holland, M Ward, The Decemberists), the album was released in Australia (Vitamin Records) and North America (Toronto label Roaring Girl Records) on July 1st, 2016. "Anyone" recalls a Chrissie Hynde-like balance of unsettling lyrical directness and pop composure.? -Rolling Stone Canadian magazine Exclaim! premiered the exclusive early stream of the album, giving it four stars and offering, ?All The Bridges blows in like a gust of fresh antipodean air, revealing a vibrant and assured talent.? ?All The Bridges? has continued the solidification of Stringer?s reputation for the highest quality musicianship, creative autonomy and blistering live shows, after she completed a 20 date National Tour in 2016, playing sold out venues and major festivals with a touring band in all bar one state and territory of Australia. ?All the Bridges? ?...gives us the most imposing distillation of Stringer yet... transcending the influences of individual producers, musicians and genres? ?Martin Jones, Rhythms Magazine Not content with conquering the local scene, Liz has recently toured in Canada, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands, and has attended several international showcase conferences, including the Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City and the Americana Conference in Nashville.

Stringer?s 2017 kicked with an east coast Canadian tour in February with Roaring Girl Records label mate Tim Moxam
and a Toronto based rhythm section, appearances at the Gum Ball in the Hunter Valley, NSW and the production of a ground-breaking new interview series in Melbourne over the month of June, in which Stringer hosted four of Australia?s most loved and well-known songwriters infront of a live audience. July saw
her return to Canada for a Summer of shows and the release of brand new single, ?Leave It Behind?, a duet with Tim Moxam, which gained extensive CBC airplay in support of their accompanying eastern Canadian dates together.

Early Elton ft. Jeff Kazee, John Conte and Rich Pagano
June 29
6pm Doors, 8pm Show
at City Winery Boston

Tickets: https://citywinery.com/boston/early-elton-featuring-jeff-kazee-john-conte-and-rich-pagano-6-29.html

Early Elton is a Tribute to the Elton John, Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson trio tours of 1970 - 1972 featuring Jeff Kazee of Southside Johnny And The Asbury Jukes (piano, vocals), Rich Pagano of The Fab Faux (drums and vocals) and John Conte of Southside Johnny And The Asbury Jukes (bass and vocals). With only two years since its inception, the Early Elton show is playing to capacity audiences in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut tri-state area.

As the story goes, Elton's label didn't have the funds to send him out to tour the US with a full band, yet Elton need to promote his imminent releases. Having decided on Dee and Nigel, Elton then rearranged the songs and vocals to fit within the limitations of his new lineup. Suddenly, a new sound emerged that was both raw and poignant.

While Jeff, John and Rich have painstakingly scoured the net for rare video, bootleg recordings and even Elton's own home demos in shaping their collective vision of Elton's Trio Period, they blur the line slightly between replication and innovation -- while still capturing and utilizing the spirit, mood and energy from those early tours.

The Gospel/Funk of "Take Me To The Pilot", the soulful storytelling of "Levon" and "Amoreena", the epic-sounding "Burn Down The Mission", the countrified "Country Comfort" and the grand scale of "Madman Across The Water" are just a few of the fantastic chapters that make up the Early Elton songbook.

Early Elton is dedicated to continuing the spirit of this period?arguably, his finest in terms of material, production and performance.

More Info: http://www.earlyeltontrio.com