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The Focal Point

Traditional & Original Music Concert Series & Arts Center
2720 Sutton - Maplewood, MO 63143
314-560-2778 or 314-726-4707

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Concerts 2012

May       June

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Joe Newberry & Mike Compton

Joe grew up in Boone County, Missouri in a family that loved to sing -- old Ozark songs, sacred songs, and popular songs of the day. His mother's family loved dancing, singing, and fiddling. He took up the guitar as a teenager and learned fiddle tunes from great Missouri fiddlers like Taylor McBaine, Pete McMahan, and Jake Hockemeyer. Younger musicians Cathy Barton, Lee Ruth, and Dave Para also influenced his music; Para introduced him to clawhammer-style banjo. Mandolinist extraordinaire Mike Compton was born in 1956 in Meridian, Mississippi, hometown of Jimmie Rodgers. He was exposed to music at an early age and received his first mandolin at the age of fifteen. Mike moved to Nashville in 1977 and for the next several years played with legendary North Carolina banjoist Hubert Davis and the Season Travelers. In 1985 he was recruited for the Nashville Bluegrass Band and during his initial stint in the group (1985-1989), he appeared on the four albums that first brought the band to prominence. After a year of working in the Catskill Mountains, Mike returned to Nashville and began playing with John Hartford in the Hartford String Band, a fertile association that continued until John's death in 2001. They love the chance to play together, and you'll be glad of it!
$15 advance; $20 at the door.

www.joenewberry.com/
mikecompton.net/

Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/247544

Jil Chambless & Scooter Muse

We met these guys at the Scottish Games; not only were they wonderful, but they got glowing recommendations from Brian McNeill and Ed Miller: Jil Chambless is without a doubt one of America’s top Celtic music vocalists and musicians. A native of Montgomery, AL, Jil was first introduced to Celtic music in the 1980's when she met the Tuscaloosa, Alabama based band, Henri’s Notions, and the rest is history. Jil has one of those voices that lifts the spirit and the heart. Her solo CD, The Ladies Go Dancing, has received praise by all that experience it. Scooter Muse has his roots in Bluegrass Music and has been privileged to win eight State of Alabama & Tennessee Valley Championship titles for 5 String and Old Time Banjo. Scooter began to tap into the incredible world of Celtic Music about 25 years ago. After learning a flood of traditional jigs and reels on the banjo he began to explore the Celtic domain of open tunings for the guitar and from 1994 till 2002 was founder and leader of one of the country’s finest Celtic bands, The Full Moon Ensemble, touring the US, Canada and Scotland. Gorgeous singing, brilliant guitar work!
$15 advance, $20 at the door.

Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/246516

Songbird Café

Songbird Café presents singer/songwriters in the round:
Guests:
R. Scott Bryan, Billy Engel, Michele Isam and David Torretta

Many stories will be told; many songs will be sung.
Doors open at 7:00
$12 in advance; $15 at the door.

Advance tickets at songbird-stl.com

Bumble Bee Bob Kamoske

BLUES!! One of our own local heroes, bob is an outstanding guitarist who draws from the deepest of deep St. Louis, Delta, Memphis, and Chicago blues styles. As a former member of The Soulard Blues band (and they still admit it,) Bob brings and energy and talent instantly recognized by fans and band members alike. If crippling guitar licks and the perfect blues voice aren't enough, his songwriting is certainly worth lending an ear to.
$10 at the door.

The Sins of the Pioneers

With a name like Sins of the Pioneers, you know right off the bat that the musicians in this band have a slightly warped sense of humor. And although this St. Louis band isn't likely to break into a Sons of the Pioneers medley of "Cool Water" and "Tumblin' Tumbleweeds," the two groups do have something in common. The country vocal group, Sons of the Pioneers, included two brothers in its original lineup back in the 1930s. But the ante's been taken up by Sins of the Pioneers featuring brothers Mark "Sunnyboy" Mason on bass, brother Tom on drums, and their father, "Wild" Bill Mason on trumpet.The trio built on that family core and started working as Sins of the Pioneers in the early 1980s. Despite several personnel changes over the years, the group is still going strong. The original band started with a focus on Western swing, but soon expanded its musical palette to include a range from New Orleans style jazz and R&B, vintage rock, and just about anything else that strikes its fancy.
$15 at the door.

www.myspace.com/thesinsofthepioneers

Listen Up!

Listen Up! night is a showcase of St. Louis' most talented singer-songwriters, each playing a micro-set of their best songs. Performers this month: TBA

Seating will include tables & chairs for less formal atmosphere..
$3 cover.

The Root Diggers with Sadie Hawkins Day

Colin Blair and the Root Diggers have fast become St. Louis' most popular old-time group. Their 1st show EVER was done at Focal Point only a few months back and we could have sold out twice that night. This time, they're bringing along Sadie Hawkins Day, consisting of Dave Black, The Williamson Sisters and Dan Higgins!
$10 in advance; $15 at the door.

www.reverbnation.com/therootdiggers

Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/246516

Switchback

 For over two decades, the musical partnership of Brian FitzGerald and Martin McCormack, known as Switchback, has been entertaining audiences around the world with their unique American Roots music blended with Celtic Soul.   In 1986, FitzGerald was a mandolin student of Jethro Burns and had already been touring with Clifton Chenier when he met McCormack, an award-winning voice student of Whelma Oshiem at the American Conservatory of Chicago and a member of the Star Search selected band Beyond Blue.  They were both chosen by legendary County Kerry composer and concertina master Terrence 'Cuz' Teahan to join his traditional Irish group.  Teahan taught FitzGerald and McCormack the old country techniques of Irish musical entertainment, making them one of the last generations to be directly influenced by a master of this musical genre. They've been Focal Point favorites for a Long Time; come find out why!
$15 in advance; $20 at the door.

www.waygoodmusic.com/

Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/249540

Kick Down

Never heard of them? That's too bad. Kick Down is what happens when you take a couple of brothers who grew up in a musical family playing everything from mandolin to trumpet to piano—pair them with an amazing rhythm section and let them loose on the town. We're talking killer acoustic and electric originals, Blues, Jazz and a few tasteful covers!
$10 at the door.

Samba Bom

Samba Bom offers the authentic sounds of Brazil with a flavor of carnival! Playing a unique mix of Brazilian popular song styles, Samba Bom is under the direction of Mo Marchini, a native of Brazil. Performing together for over 12 years at a variety of venues, including music festivals and clubs, they enjoy a lively loyal following among their many fans.
$10 in advance; $15 at the door.

www.sambabom.com/

Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/249538

Racket Box

Racket Box describes themselves as "a marching band falling down a flight of stairs in a rain storm." But really, they are truly one of St. Louis' top acoustic and/or electric everything bands. They'll play anything, any time, anywhere and do it very well! These guys could put many top notch national touring acts to shame. You like blues? Folk rock? Songwriter stuff? Irish? Country? Originals? They've got it!
$10 at the door.

Music Folk Spotlight

Music Folk has always employed the most knowledgeable, talented staff possible. You can buy a guitar, dobro, mandolin, or fiddle and someone will be there to teach you to play it. For this show, they're bringing their collective talent to the Focal Point stage for a showcase! These guys, when not teaching or selling or repairing your instruments, make up some of the best-known bands in town. And here they are all in one place!!
$10 in advance; $15 at the door.

Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/249542

Songbird Café

Songbird Café presents singer/songwriters in the round:
Guests TBA
Many stories will be told; many songs will be sung.
Doors open at 7:00
$12 in advance; $15 at the door.

Advance tickets at songbird-stl.com

Travelers Dream

Band members Michael Lewis and Denise Wilson delight audiences with lively Irish jigs and reels, French-Canadian voyageur songs, spirited sea shanties, and ballads that capture the heart and history of many culture. Nestled alongside this vibrant canon of music are original songs that are often inspired by the beauty of the Midwestern landscape and the relationships people have with the land and with each other.
$10 in advance; $15 at the door.

Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/221998

Bach to the Future with Blue Fusion

What would happen if one were to take the compositions of Back or Beethoven, then smush them together with Coltrain or Miles Davis, and the pile that atop a 70s Funk rhythm? Under most circumstances, a total trainwreck. Not the case with Michael Silverman's Bach To The Future. Don't miss our season's closer. Joining them will be Blue Fusion, an equally amazing Jazz-fusion group!
$10 in advance; $15 at the door.

www.bachtothefuture.net/

Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/249544

Richard Gilewitz

American fingerstyle wizard Richard Gilewitz has become a regular sighting around the globe for a number of years, lively entertaining audiences with his 6 and 12-string finger gymnastics while spinning enchanting yarns and short quips too unbelievable not to be true. This year's Missouri tour follows on the heels of Richard's Australia/Tasmania/New Zealand tour. The 2011 Down Under tour resulted in a recording, "Tasmania Live", that was released in the United States in Nov. 2011

Preserving the legacy of the acoustic guitar, his performances are laced with sounds from folk and traditional, to the blues and the classical.  With Richard's signature playing style delivering a technical diversity of banjo style picking patterns, classical arpeggios, tapping and harmonics, along with a rhythmic and percussive approach, he shares a fresh impression of sound to the listener during his concert performances and at this GillaCamp Guitar Workshops.  We are pleased to welcome Richard to our Focal Point stage!
$15 in advance; $20 at the door

www.richardgilewitz.com/
www.richardgilewitz.com/gillacamp.html

Cathy Barton and Dave Para

www.bartonpara.com/

Coming in August and beyond: 

Troubadours of Divine Bliss, August 11
Rocky and the Wranglers, August 18
Brian McNeill, September 15
Caroline Pugh, September 21
Beppe Gambetta, September 22
February Sky, September 29

Page updated 5/14/12
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