News Release

Annapolis Maritime Museum / 723 Second St / Annapolis, MD 21403
Contact: Jeff Holland / 410-295-0104

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 10, 2010

The Sounds of Summer: Annapolis Maritime Museum’s
2010 Summertime Maritime Concert Series links music with environmental stewardship

“Any place worth singing about is a place worth preserving,” says Janie Meneely, one of a growing number of singer/songwriters who are building on the work of Tom Wisner, the “Bard of the Bay” who dedicated his life to fostering stronger stewardship of the environment through his music and the arts.

Meneely used this philosophy to produce the Annapolis Maritime Museum’s 10th annual Summertime Maritime Concert series, which features many of these Chesapeake Bay musicians as well as artist from other watersheds across the country.  All the concerts feature traditional songs or original material written by the artists. The series runs every Thursday evening from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

The concerts take place in the Cap’n Herbie Sadler Waterman’s Park on the Museum campus at 723 Second Street in the Eastport neighborhood of Annapolis, or inside the McNasby Oyster Company building in the case of inclement weather. The Museum is a 20-minute stroll or a fun and inexpensive water-taxi ride from City Dock. The eCruisers electric shuttles provide a free, fun and “green” way to visit the Museum and the many fine restaurants nearby. Call 443-481-2422 for shuttle pick-up information.  Boaters can dock for free at the Museum piers while attending the concerts.
 
“You can make a delightful evening out of visiting the Museum for these concerts,” Meneely says. “Be sure to stop by one of the neighborhood restaurants for crab cakes or other local delicacies, then enjoy the music while you watch all the boats go by.” Admission is free, thanks to the support of Museum members, the City of Annapolis, the Maryland State Arts Council and the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County.

“Bring your own lawn chair, but leave your own bottle behind,” advised Museum Director Jeff Holland. The Museum will provide beer, wine and soft drinks for a minimal donation, and take-out is available from several nearby Eastport restaurants and eateries, including Wild Country Seafood, the Leeward Café, Davis’ Pub and the Boat Yard Bar & Grill. For more information, parking and directions, visit www.amaritime.org or call 410-295-0104.

June 3 - Woods Tea Company
Woods Tea Company’s dynamic trio specializes in maritime and Americana music culled from decades of performing and entertaining audiences throughout the U.S. “The spirit of the sea will be the theme for this concert,” says Howard Wooden, the group’s leader. “And in keeping with the maritime tradition, our audience should expect to be a part of the show. We’ll share a range of familiar a capella sea shanties as well as a raft of original songs and tunes.” The group accompanies itself on as many as a dozen different instruments from banjos and bodhrans to guitar and hammered dulcimer.

Woods Tea Co.’s original material includes “Petticoat Whalers,” a song about wives of whalers who accompanied their seafaring husbands to sea in the 19th century. “The Passage” re-tells the quest for the Northwest Passage. Other songs of note include the pirate songs “Arrgh” and “Bedford Harbor.”

Performing nationally since 1983, the members of Woods Tea Co. include Howard Wooden, Tom MacKenzie, and Patti Casey. Casey has appeared live on “A Prairie Home Companion” with Garrison Keillor, has won Texas’s prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk songwriter’s competition, and was a winner of the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at the legendary Merlefest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Patti brings her skills on the guitar, pennywhistle and flute— and she’s also a French-Canadian-style clogger, which adds an interesting percussive twist to the show.

June 10 - Mack Bailey and Rachel Levy
Nationally acclaimed singer/songwriter Mack Bailey is no stranger to Annapolis audiences. Many remember his vibrant solo performances on area stages and his countless appearances with the Hard Travelers. These days he’s performing nationally with The Limeliters and with members of the original John Denver band in “A Musical Tribute to John Denver.” He’s shared the stage with the likes of Randy Travis, Barbara Mandrell, Emmylou Harris, Chet Atkins, Tom Paxton and other legends. Along the way he’s managed to produce eight solo albums. His smooth tenor voice continues to win fans whenever he sings, and his impressive range of original songs touch the hearts of his listeners and tickle their funny bone. This evening’s performance will feature Mack’s original songs mixed in with traditional favorites (sorry, no John Denver tonight!) He’ll share the stage with his wife Rachel Levy, whose winsome vocals come in as background or hold their own on solo numbers.

June 17 - Teresa Whitaker and Frank Schwartz
Teresa Whitaker and Frank Schwartz pay tribute to Tom Wisner, the “Bard of the Bay,” who passed in April after a lifetime dedicated to chronicling the rich traditions of our regional waterways. Frank Schwartz grew up in Baltimore, the oldest of three sons of deaf parents. Having been a musician for most of his life, that journey continued when he married singer, songwriter, and storyteller Teresa Whitaker.  They performed at the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival in Washington, DC as part of a special honoring of the 25th anniversary of Tom Wisner’s Chesapeake Born album, along with friend and acoustic guitarist Mac Walter. Whitaker is featured on several of Wisner’s albums; Schwartz has two recordings: Things Have A Way Of Working Out and Below The Radar.

June 24 - Lee Murdock
Lee Murdock has uncovered a boundless body of music and stories set in the Great Lakes. His songs are about hard work, hard living, ships that go down and ships that come in. The lyrics are grounded in the work song tradition and culled from the rugged days of lumberjacks and wooden sailing schooners. Lee Murdock adds his own roster of songs about contemporary commerce and revelry, where he finds drama and inspiration in the lives of sailors and fisherman, lighthouse keepers, ghosts, shipwrecks, outlaws and everyday heroes.

Noted as a fluent instrumentalist on the six- and twelve-string guitars, Murdock’s musical influences span three centuries, from 17th-century Irish harp music to Scott Joplin guitar rags to original songs. A student of traditional music and folklore for over two decades, Lee has released ten CD albums heard on radio stations in North America, Europe and Australia. Reflecting a deeper understanding of the folk process, Lee's repertoire combines historical research and contemporary insights. Making folk music for the modern era, Lee Murdock’s work is a documentary as well as an anthem to the people who live, work, learn and play along the freshwater highways of North America.

July 1 - Mike Lange
Mike Lange is a piano-playing singer-songwriter who has been playing in the mid-Atlantic and occasionally for the past two decades plus. Over the years he has performed with many of the top bands in the Baltimore/Washington area both as a bandleader, member, and as a freelance musician. His original music has been featured on numerous radio stations in the mid-Atlantic area as well as independent radio stations overseas. Best known for the group Mike Lange & Boogie Express, Mike started out in Baltimore specializing in blues piano and later branched out into boogie-woogie, swing, roots rock, and more recently Caribbean music. Since moving to Annapolis, Mike also performs frequently with some of Annapolis’ best known bands including Them Eastport Oyster Boys and the Tiki Barbarians. His latest CD, Dinghy State of Mind, features ten original maritime tunes inspired by exploring the Chesapeake Bay and the East Coast on his 26-foot cruising tugboat with his wife, Kelly.

July 8 - Calico Jack
Calico Jack is the dynamic folk duo of Janie Meneely and Paul DiBlasi, whose music celebrates the people, places and history of the Chesapeake. Singer/songwriter Janie Meneely delves deep into the well of Chesapeake lore to produce songs evocative of the waterman’s way of life, and her nautically inspired tunes have been recorded by artists throughout the country. Paul DiBlasi adds his powerful vocals, including a penchant for harmony, plus a strong hand on the guitar. “Sometimes serious, sometimes saucy, they slide easily between old and new,” says Museum Director Jeff Holland. Janie's strong regional roots have led her to develop a hefty list of Bay-inspired songs that trace the history of the oyster industry or capture the tales told round a country store liar’s bench, but her ditties are just as apt to poke fun at time-honored traditions. The duo is currently working on a third album, due out come summer.

July 15 - Geoff Kaufman
For 30 years now, Geoff Kaufman has been leading audiences to find truth, humor, and beauty in maritime folk music. Whether singing sailor songs with his quartet, Forebitter, on board the Sloop Clearwater in the Hudson River, or in solo performances at coffeehouses throughout the northeast United States and festivals in Europe, Geoff has entertained and touched audiences near and far. Songs of the sea, songs of the shore, songs of the heart and the spirit—all of these are in Geoff Kaufman's ditty bag. Ancient ballads, work songs, and songs of love; poignant songs of people in struggle, humorous glimpses of human foibles, and insights into history—all of these are likely to be woven into each one of Geoff’s concerts. And he is sure to invite the audience to sing along.

July 22 - Don Shappelle
Don Shappelle, singer/songwriter from the Susquehanna rivershed, sings songs inspired by the beauty and history of the people, boats, and places of the mighty river that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. After graduating from College Miseracordia in Pennsylvania with a degree in music, he travelled and lived in many places including Europe, New York City and the Hudson Valley, where he collaborated with folk music legend Pete Seeger and others in The Clearwater Organization, a group dedicated to cleaning the Hudson River. One of Don’s original tunes “The Tugboat Song” was featured on the album Broad Ole River released by Pete Seeger and the Hudson River Sloop Singers.

After a trip to the Chesapeake Bay many years ago Don fell in love with “the land of pleasant living,” and his music has reflected this connection ever since. He has sung at waterfront gatherings and festivals in support of cleaning the Bay and its tributaries. The influences of blues, folk and rock traditions mixed with a bit of jazz and ragtime make up the styling of Don’s songs. With his back-up group, “The Pickups,” Don released Rolling Down the Line on Black Diamond Records, an album featuring 12 original tunes. Shappelle also recorded Blues at Midnight with The West Side Blues Band, an album of original and traditional acoustic blues. He has also recorded more than 150 original songs with the legendary George Graham for the award-winning radio show Homegrown Music on the PBS station WVIA FM in Pennsylvania. Don Shappelle uses his music to try and make a difference in the world around him. Count on the Chesapeake Bay, the Susquehanna River and the lives of hard working people everywhere to be a part of his music.

July 29 - Bob Zentz
Bob Zentz, a singer, songwriter, and storyteller from Norfolk, Virginia, has five recordings of traditional and original songs. His Chesapeake Bay songs like “This Old Bay” and “The Last Skipjack” have become true classics that have been included in a number of anthologies. He was featured in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and performs concerts and educational programs throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Bob takes time to tell the stories behind the songs, and he accompanies his rich baritone voice with dozens of ‘unplugged’ folk instruments. One minute he’ll be singing an original ditty about his experiences on the Bay, the next he’ll throw in a traditional Celtic tune, a ballad or a sea chantey, and then he’ll recite poetry set to his own special brand of music.

August 5 - Them Eastport Oyster Boys
The duo of Jefferson Holland and Kevin Brooks and their band recently performed live on Maryland Public Television’s “Chesapeake Bay Week,” debuted as co-hosts of the Chesapeake travelogue series, “Seize the Bay,” and were featured on German public television’s MARETV program. When not lighting up the small screen, they’ve been delighting audiences throughout Eastport and even across the Spa Creek Bridge with their irrepressible brand of humorous “Chesapeake cruisin’ tunes” inspired by living in a neighborhood where the best things in life are a “good hat, a good dog and a good boat.” Their original songs, all inspired by the Bay, swing from island rhythms to “Country/Western Shore,” some poking fun at stinkpotters while others pay homage to the plight of the waterman.

August 12 - Mac Walter and John Cronin: “Cousins”
The fact that Mac Walter and John Cronin really are first cousins only emphasizes the incredible synergy that radiates throughout their performances. Influenced by folk luminaries like Doc Watson, Mississippi John Hurt and Dave Van Ronk, the two literally grew up honing their individual playing styles and refining their work together. Then they went their separate ways—John to an Alaska homestead, Mac to Washington, DC, where he teamed up with Deanna Bogart for an eight-year foray into jazz and blues, with a twist of boogie-woogie. John, meanwhile, put in a seven-year stint with Canadian Ian Tyson, further developing his “muscular yet sensitive” guitar style.

Family draws them back to the Chesapeake Bay, where their connections run deep—including a long association with the late Tom Wisner. They often teamed up with Tom, whose work they championed, providing back-up guitar and vocals for his live performances and, most notably, on Wisner’s last album: Follow on the Water.

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