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 White Plains, NY - On Saturday, May 2nd, a concert of the acclaimed Tribes Hill musician’s collective, featuring Tribes Hill members Anthony daCosta, Fred Gillen Jr., Matt Turk, Kathleen Pemble, KJ Denhert, and Steve Kirkman will be held in downtown White Plains.
The May 2nd concert has been timed to coincide with two major events at Tribes Hill; the celebration of the 90th Birthday of distinguished Tribes Hill member Pete Seeger, as well as the announcement of the forthcoming publication of the Tribes Hill Songbook.
The featured musicians from “Tribes Hill” on May 2nd are not only heirs to Seeger’s musical legacy, but many of the musicians have long-time associations with this elder statesman of American Folk Music, having performed and collaborated with Seeger at concerts, festivals, and on various social justice projects.
While the featured artists at the May 2nd “Arts at the X” concert include young up-and comers and well-known folk veterans, the concert will be a showcase of rising stars in contemporary American folk-music. Despite being only 18, for example, Anthony da Costa, is a Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Winner. All About Jazz has hailed K.J. Denhert’s (Umbria Jazz Festival regular), music as a “soulful infusion of jazz, R&B, rock and folk….genre-transcending music.” And in-keeping with Pete Seeger’s career of using music as a powerful instrument in the social justice movement, music critic C.J. Trent has lauded the duo of Fred Gillen Jr. and Matt Turk as “poets and political commentators, (whose) statements are framed by top-notch playing and original instrumentation.” Rounding out the praise, WFUV host John Platt has described Kathleen Pemble’s songs as “superbly crafted compositions.”
The Tribes Hill musician’s collective has approximately 100 active musician members throughout the Hudson Valley. On the first Monday of every month, a group of the musicians gather at Hammond House in Valhalla, the home of Tribes Hill Founder and Executive Director Frederick “Rick” Rock, to share a potluck dinner…as well as each other’s latest songs. “What unites us is that we all believe in the immediacy, purity, and first hand experience of acoustic music ...,” explains Rick.
Tribes Hill grew intuitively over the years following Gandalf Murphy's first full performance held at the historic Hammond House in the fall of 1999. House concerts continued the next year and a collective of musicians known as "The Tribe" slowly evolved at the historic meeting place where George Washington was nearly captured during the American Revolution.
Another interesting facet of the May 2nd “Arts at the X” concert, is that the members of Tribes Hill will be covering each other’s songs, instead of playing their own. Performing the songs of fellow musicians has long been part of the American Folk Music Tradition…going all the way back to the 1940’s when Tribes Hill’s Pete Seeger was a member of the folk group The Almanacs, with Woody Guthrie. “It’s a great feeling to hear one of your fellow musicians playing a song you wrote,” says Rock. “You can’t help but feel honored.”
Another way Tribes Hill plans to foster an appreciation for, and sharing of song , is by creating its first ever Tribes Hill Song Book. The project will include a printed compilation of the songs of Tribes Hill Members, and will hopefully include one or more by Seeger, as well as multi-media components on the Tribes Hill web-site.
“We think that seeing your song in print as part of a book is another way of validating the musicians,” adds Rock. “The tradition of Pete Seeger and American Folk Music is also so much about sharing music, and this book will help to carry that on, providing future generations of folk musicians with the talents, styles and sensibility of artists working in that medium now.”
While the Tribes Hill Song Book will be released in the near future, the May 2nd concert at the Arts Exchange will offer a preview, featuring two eclectic sets of music intended for possible future inclusion in the book.
One aspect of the book that has already been confirmed is the book’s first page. “We’ve decided to dedicate the book to Pete Seeger, says Rock. The May 2nd concert at The Arts Exchange is viewed as a warm-up for Seeger’s 90th Birthday extravaganza, the following day May 3rd at Madison Square Garden. “Some of our members are already writing the dedication, adds Rock. “With so many songwriters, combined with the inspiration that Pete has given us, I am sure it will be a great start to the book.”
A preview of the Tribes Hill Songbook will be available on the nonprofit organization’s web site (www.tribeshill.com) in the near future.
The concert, part of ArtsWestchester’s “Arts at the X” performance series, will begin at 8 pm and will be held at The Arts Exchange, 31 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains. For tickets or more information, call (914) 428-4220 x 223 or visit www.artswestchester.org.
Between December 2008 and the end of June 2009, the ArtsWestchester is presenting 23 dynamic performances featuring a wonderful array of music, dance, theater and spoken word offerings, all the Westchester Arts Council’s headquarters at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue in the heart of downtown White Plains. The May 2 “Arts at the X” Tribes Hill Concert is co-sponsored by Jacqueline and Arthur Walker and the Jacob Burns Foundation, with additional support from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).
Tribes Hill is a nonprofit organization uniting musician of the lower Hudson Valley region and their patrons in support of a music community that aspires to common goals and beliefs. It is a conceptual gathering place for people of all races, politics, and faiths coming together to explore and celebrate the human experience through song.
The group believes that music is an affirmation of the spirit and is capable of transcending the human condition. Members also share the belief that we must learn to coexist on this planet and that music, as a profound language, has the ability to unite people in a common experience, as well as help us better understand our differences. Tribes Hill is a unique channel for music and its appreciation.
ArtsWestchester is your connection to the arts. Founded in 1965, it is the largest, private, not-for-profit arts council in New York State; its mission is to provide leadership, vision, and support, to ensure the availability, accessibility, and diversity of the arts. ArtsWestchester provides programs and services that enrich Westchester: our grants help fund concerts, exhibitions and plays; we bring artists into schools and community centers; we advocate for the arts and build audiences through our marketing initiatives. In 1998, ArtsWestchester purchased the nine-story neo-classical bank building at 31 Mamaroneck Avenue which has since been transformed into the Arts Exchange, a multi-use resource for artists, cultural organizations, and the community.
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