Chris Smither tickets on NOW! Two concerts on Nov. 13: 7 and 9:15 PM
$20 in advance; $22 at the door!

Carrie Newcomer
Tickets on sale now!
See below!

The Focal Point

Traditional & Original Music Concert Series & Arts Center
2720 Sutton - Maplewood, MO 63143
314-781-4200

Concerts 2010

September/October 2010 Calendar

September      October      November      December

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     Ticket Info.

Did you know you can rent the Focal Point for your own event? Details

Tommy Halloran & Friends

Tommy Halloran performs old-timey music anyone would appreciate, but as is often the case, his savvy draws many unusual folks. Tommy, on a first-name basis with practically anyone cool in Saint Louis, has always hung on the fringes. He is to jazz as Uncle Tupelo was to country-western or Steve Earle to bluegrass. He possesses the schooling (both formal and hard-knocks) as well as the "chops" of a great jazzman. The basic truths of Delta-blues, swing, Gospel, and Bohemia are deeply rooted in Tommy's songwriting psyche, but this concert will mostly feature his swing repertoire. We will leave space for dancing!
$10.

Rough Shop

Principal songwriters John Wendland and Andy Ploof are a formidable team, along with Anne Tkach on vocals and Spencer Marquart on drums. Riverfront Times describes them this way: "They harmonize with the evocative happenstance of the only band they resemble: The Band….They groove without jamming, play country like rock, rock like soul, bluegrass like pop and pop like completely original, completely refreshed roots music."
$10.

roughshop.com/

Cumberland Gap

Cumberland Gap began taking shape in 1998 with Greg Silsby ( lead vocals, guitar), Aaron Muskopf (vocals, bass) and Dave Anderson (lead guitar). Kevin Liley (vocals, banjo, mandolin, fiddle) joined the group in 2000 and Cecil Tinnon (mandolin, vocals) soon followed. Multi-instrumentalist Gary Hunt and Dobro player Bob Bridenbach have made guest appearances on both albums and have played live with the band on several occasions. Since the beginning Cumberland Gap has stayed true to its roots. They were named as the best bluegrass band in St. Louis by the Riverfront Times in 2004 and again in 2009.
$10.

Colin Blair

Colin Blair is an amazing musician who will be showing us his clawhammer banjo skills and old-time fiddling repertoire. He is a remarkably thoughtful teacher, historian and writer. (See his thoughts on Old-Time fiddling at www.musicfolk.com/docs/Features/Feature_FiddlingThoughts.htm )
Colin performs around the St. Louis area, but spends his days working as a luthier and teacher at Music Folk in Webster Groves, MO.
$10.

October 2010

Caroline Pugh, Sara Ann Dawodu, and Dominique Dodge!

Three brilliant young Scottish performers, who will be in the States for the Scottish Games in Forest Park, all of whom display gorgeous skills on harp, fiddle, guitar and lovely singing. All have excellent prefessional credentials and solid grounding in Scottish traditional song and instrumental music. This one will be special. Check out their websites for more specifics:
$15.

www.myspace.com/carolinepugh
www.myspace.com/SaraAnnCull
www.dominiquedodge.net

Brian McNeill

This year Brian McNeill celebrates the 40th year of a career that has established him as one of the most acclaimed forces in Scottish music. Brian has been described as ‘Scotland’s most meaningful contemporary songwriter’ (The Scotsman); add to that his work and influence as performer, composer, producer, teacher, musical director, band leader, novelist and interpreter of Scotland’s past, present and future and you have a man who has never stood still. We first met Brian in his Battlefield Band days, and have been continually impressed with the depth and scope of his solo career! He will make you laugh, listen, and think!
$15.

www.brianmcneill.co.uk/

Lou and Peter Berryman

It's the typical story: boy meets girl in high school, they play in folk bands, they marry and move to Canada for five years, move back to Wisconsin, divorce and form a fresh guitar/accordion duo producing songs that are being sung by amateurs and professionals all over the world. OK, perhaps it's not typical. But then there is very little that is conventional about Lou and Peter Berryman. These two are quite possibly the funniest people you've ever seen-- and their playing and singing isn't bad either!
$15.

www.louandpeter.com/

Cathy Barton and Dave Para

A versatile duo, Dave and Cathy play several stringed instruments including hammered and fretted dulcimers, banjo, guitar and Autoharp, as well as "found" instruments like bones, spoons, mouthbow and leaf. Their concerts present a range of music from the lively dance tunes they have collected in their home region to old ballads to new songs. Dave and Cathy are caretakers of a long musical heritage, and they are known for deep understanding and affection for traditional music. They also keep their minds and ears open as the roots and branches of folk music run deep and spread wide. Missouri is a social and geographic meeting place, and its rich cultural diversity continues to inspire Dave and Cathy’s music and broaden their repertoire.
$15.

Carrie Newcomer

Tickets on sale now!
This show is rescheduled from her cancelled show in May. We will honor your tickets for that concert at this one.

She has toured with Alison Krauss and Union Station, and her song “I Should’ve Known Better” was
recorded by Nickel Creek on their Grammy®-winning album, This Side. Her successful 2008
release, The Geography of Light, earned her Artist of the Year and Album of the Year from Folk Wax
Magazine. In 2009 Newcomer was invited by The American Centre to visit India as a cultural
ambassador, where she met and performed concerts with Indian musicians, and taught workshops on songwriting and community involvement. About her impressions of India, Newcomer says, “music can be a language deeper than words...” Come and experience just what she means.
$18 in advance; $20 at the door.

www.carrienewcomer.com/

Tim Grimm & Greg Klyma

Double Bill!

Tim’s recording, The Back Fields, was named Best Americana Album in the 2006 Just Plain Folks Music Awards, (the largest and most diverse music awards in the world). He was named “2004 Male Artist of The Year” by the Freeform American Roots DJs. His is a unique voice in Americana music. Grimm walks the fine line between folk and country, with a strong footing in tradition. Comparisons most often cite Johnny Cash, Woody Guthrie and (Nebraska era) Bruce Springsteen. Tim is also an actor on stage and screen.

Songwriter/musician/entertainer Greg Klyma grew up in a blue-collar town with a blue-collar work ethic and an appreciation of blue-collar fun. He has matured into man of homespun, timeless elegance, telling stories with a delightful precision of language. The stories blend seamlessly into songs, evoking a flavor of Mark Twain, Woody Guthrie, and David Sedaris. $15.

www.timgrimm.com/
www.klyma.com/

Paul Geremia

For almost forty years, Paul Geremia has survived solely by the fruit of his musical labours. Having abandoned all other means of support in 1966, he has been travelling far and wide ever since, performing in every capacity from street singing to club and concert bookings, throughout the U.S.A., Canada and Europe. In the years since, Geremia has built a reputation as a first rate bluesman, songwriter, a "scholar" of early jazz and blues, and one of the best country blues fingerpickers ever with his tools - six and twelve-string guitars, harmonica, piano and a husky soulful voice - and with an innate sense of the humour as well as the drama of the music, he keeps traditional blues fresh and alive with his performances.
$15.

www.paulgeremia.org/

Matt Rowland Band

The Matt Rowland Band , formerly (briefly) Stratosphere, Singer-guitarist Matt started playing piano at 5 and guitar at 7. When he quit piano at 10, he began taking lessons on guitar, and at 13 began giving lessons. Joe enrolled at the University of Missouri and quickly became a member of the top jazz band at the college. Steve and Joe knew each other because both were members of jazz groups at the university. In addition, Steve was already the bass player in Rowland's trio, and took it upon himself to ask Joe to sit in for one gig. They continued to play gigs every weekend for the remainder of their time at Mizzou. This is the band that opened for Brewer and Shipley and received raves!
$10.

Vitamen A

Vitamen A or Vitamin A has been haunting the music scene since 1991. VA started out as a college band (Vitamin A) and changed many times until today. The core has stayed the same even though they did change the spelling to 'Vitamen' in 2002 (vitamenA.com). VA toured the world, had a write up with picture in Billboard magazine, voted best band, best CD in the River Front Times and in 2009 were voted best jam band! They generally play what they like and have no genre rules. River Front Times coined the phrase 'neo everything' for VA; we think that sums them up well.
$10.

Cormac McCarthy

Michael Brewer

Chris Smither

Tickets on sale NOW! $20 in advance [$22 at the door]

smither.com/

Sandy Weltman & Co.

Dave Landreth

Switchback

www.waygoodmusic.com/index.php

7th Annual Rough Shop Holiday Show!

Benefit for KDHX and The Focal Point

roughshop.com