Press Release:
Utah Phillips Benefit Concert
Saturday, December 15th - 6 PM
Eagle's Club - 2507 E. 25th St.
The "Golden Voice of the Great Southwest" has a bum ticker:
U. Utah Phillips, a former NPR host who was blacklisted in the state of Utah after an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 1968 on the Peace and Freedom party ticket can be described as a raconteur extraordinaire, a radical historian well-versed in the sorrowful details of the bloodiest social justice struggles of the last century, a hobo, and one hell of a musician whose songs can break your heart and bring your blood to a boil.
Sadly, Utah Phillips has recently been forced to quit performing because of Cheyne-Stokes - a respiratory condition that causes severe disturbances in breathing and debilitating heart irregularities, leaving him with no means of support.
So on Saturday, December 15th, come join friends, admirers, and kindred misfits at the Eagle's Club (2507 E. 25th St) at 6 PM for a benefit concert featuring:
- Duluth's own favorite son, Charlie Parr (6 PM sharp)
- alt-country rocker Bernie King
- the sad folkie from North East, Gabe Barnett
- fiddle player Mary Dushane
- the mustachioed man who can tell you a story whilst entangling you in a lasso, Pop Wagner (& friends)
- the Joan Baez of the Twin Cities, Maureen McElderry
- a couple who actually hung out with Bob Dylan and aren't just making it up to sound cool, Judy Larson & Bill Hinckley
- classically-trained guitarist gone folkster, Phil Heywood
- the "pit bull of folk," Paul Metsa
- who's-your-daddy-Papa John Kolstad
- the mysterious bearded man who plays so well that it requires a different Hawaiian shirt each time, Dakota Dave Hull
- and Peter Lang whose talent needs no corny byline in a press release.
So come on down to the Eagle's and give a little back to a man whose part in the struggle for justice and whose gifts as a story teller and musician have kept the oral and musical traditions of resistance alive and kickin'!
This event is sponsored by the Twin Cities General Membership Branch of the Industrial Workers of the World
1 comments:
UTAH PHILLIPS BENEFIT. STAND UP CHICAGO.
We are having a benefit for Utah Phillips on Saturday June 14th at the Heartland Café 9:00 - 1:00 pm. Suggested donation $15
A fellow named Sparrow who is one of my My Space friends said it best, "Utah was there for us, let's be there for him now".
For the last several decades Utah has traveled the country with a guitar, a story and a desire to leave our lives a little bit better for knowing him. Fred Holstein got me hooked on the song "Larimer Street". He said that Utah had written the song, It took me a little while to find a vinyl copy of "El Capitan" . I played it every day before I went to work and every night when I got home. It took a bit before I finally saw the man in person at Holsteins. We talked after the show and as those of you who are lucky enough to have spoke a word or two with him know, he is always more interested in what you have to say rather than in feeding a performer's ego. He has an inspiring curiosity about darn near everything. He became the closest thing to a mentor that I've ever had. I've been learning from him for thirty years.
Now a bum ticker had left him home bound. I hear tell that he is writing his memoirs but that isn't paying the bills yet. He can't show up on our doorstep so we can't pay to be entertained for an evening. We can still buy the CD's and Utah wishes you would. It is tough transforming yourself at this stage of the game. As with any other friend, it is time for us to step up and help him make it through.
I'm not an impresario of any sort. I just see a need and when no one steps up, I do. I've bugged most performers that I know and a lot of people who know other people to put together a show. HEARTLAND CAFÉ and MICHAEL JAMES were there from the start.
They turned over a Saturday night to us. I'm only too happy to inflict my MIKE FELTEN caterwauling on you for a bit, but I wanted this to be a collective effort in the spirit of what Utah preaches, so I've assembled a varied ensemble of those who have been touched by Utah through the years. We are still working on some promises and maybes and hope some will bear fruit.
So far we have LARRY PENN, OTIS GIBBS,LARRY O.DEAN KATHY GREENHOLDT with the EDSELS and we have some incarnation of M.O.T.O. confirmed. Brandy over at TONY MARGHERITA MANAGEMENT got JEFF TWEEDYand the boys from WILCO to donate several autographed photos and posters to raffle off. We have received some promises from ANI DIFRANCO, JOHN PRINE and artist MYKE ADAMS to donate some other items for a silent auction. Talked to some of the folks at the I.W.W. and they are behind it. MIKE MATEJKA from the Laborers Union is behind this effort too.
Anything you can do to help would be appreciated. Show up, buy a CD or bid on some swag. Anything that you can do for Utah he'd appreciate. It is time to STAND UP CHICAGO.
Post a Comment