The Kennedys

The Kennedys and Rod MacDonald + a tribute to Bob Dylan Thursday, May 30, 2019, 7:30 pm. Saint Mark Presbyterian Church, 10701 Old Georgetown Rd, Rockville, MD, 20852 Tickets: $17 advance, $22 door. Students (with ID) & Children: $12 advance, $17 door. $2 per ticket box office fee added to all purchases. Advance ticketing ends at 1pm day-of show. All tickets are general admission. After a decade of frequent trio collaborations up and down the East Coast The Kennedys and Rod MacDonald join forces in the DC area for the first time. These veteran contemporary folk songwriters present a three-part evening featuring the two acts performing sets of their own material, followed by a trio tribute set to the bard who defined contemporary folk, Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan. This show is much-loved by New York area audiences, and Pete, Maura and Rod are looking forward to bringing it to the Institute of Musical Traditions. In addition to the songs, Pete Kennedy will be reading from his newly-published memoir, "Tone, Twang and Taste", recounting stories from his days as a freelance guitarist at the Kennedy Center and other venues in the DC area (back when he was employed at the House of Musical Traditions!). This will be a night of musical variety and creative camaraderie. A bit about the Kennedys : At well over a million miles of roadwork, including two stints as members of Nanci Griffith’s Blue Moon Orchestra, Pete and Maura Kennedy show no signs of slowing down either on tour or in the creative realm. Originally based in Austin, Texas, they spent a few years in the Washington DC area before moving to the East Village in New York City, where they have been based for most of the last two decades. The Kennedys are known nationwide as the hosts of the late lamented Dharma Café program on Sirius Satellite Radio, and on Broadway, they are regular cast members of Theatre Within's annual tribute to John Lennon — working in that capacity with Patti Smith, Debbie Harry, Jackson Browne, Cyndi Lauper and a host of others. Life on the road and time spent in the creative ecosystem of the Village have informed their songwriting over the course of 14 duo albums and half a dozen side projects, and Safe Until Tomorrow is true to that tradition. What sets the album apart is the inclusion of several anthemic, rocking songs of social consciousness that convey a strong message best summed up in one of the song titles: “Be Silent No More.” The Kennedys' music has been described as uplifting, empowering and encouraging. In these turbulent times, they rise to the occasion with Safe Until Tomorrow. Rod MacDonald (born August 17, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, novelist, and educator. He was a "big part of the 1980s folk revival in Greenwich Village clubs",] performing at the Speakeasy, The Bottom Line, Folk City, and the "Songwriter's Exchange" at the Cornelia Street Cafe. He co-founded the Greenwich Village Folk Festival. He is perhaps best known for his songs "American Jerusalem", about the "contrast between the rich and the poor in Manhattan" (Sing Out!), "A Sailor's Prayer", "Coming of the Snow", "Every Living Thing", and "My Neighbors in Delray", a description of the September 11 hijackers' last days in Delray Beach, Florida, where MacDonald has lived since 1995. His songs have been covered by Dave Van Ronk, Shawn Colvin, Four Bitchin' Babes, Jonathan Edwards, Garnet Rogers, Joe Jencks, and others. His 1985 recording "White Buffalo" is dedicated to Lakota Sioux ceremonial chief and healer Frank Fools Crow, whom he visited in 1981 and 1985, and who appears with MacDonald in the cover photograph. Since 1995 MacDonald has lived in south Florida, where his cd, "Later that Night" was named "Best Local Cd of 2014" by The Palm Beach Post and reached the top ten in national roots music charts. His first novel, The Open Mike, about a young man in the open mike scene of Greenwich Village, was published on December 5, 2014, by Archway Publishing. On May 1, 2018, MacDonald released his 12th solo recording, "Beginning Again," on Blue Flute Music. Visit The Kennedys' website at kennedysmusic.com. https://www.imtfolk.org/html/index.php?show=2019_0530_1930_00