2nd SHIFT Concert: JOY CLARK

joyclarkmusic.com

The first name says it all—Joy Clark is a radiant spirit, determined to rejoice regardless in the face of darkness and despair. Clark embodies a fierce hope, a hard-won optimism and strength that, when paired with peerless musicianship and an electric smile, audiences are powerless to resist.

You can usually find Joy gracing any number of hallowed stages around her New Orleans home, or touring the world as part of GRAMMY-nominated Allison Russell’s band. But Joy is poised to make a splash all her own when she releases her debut album on Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records this fall.

Come out now and you can brag that you knew her “way back when.”

2nd SHIFT Concert: CHRISTOPHER PAUL STELLING

christopherpaulstelling.com

Christopher Paul Stelling is an old-school, guitar-toting troubadour, as at home onstage at the Newport Folk Festival or on CBS’s Saturday Morning tv show, as he is traveling the highways and byways of America and beyond.

Known for his intricate, finger-style guitar playing and soulful, introspective vocal delivery, there aren’t too many stages where Stelling hasn’t thrown down and won over the crowd. Rooted in—but not weighed down by—the blues, his artistry is the kind that both embodies and transcends tradition, a voice that compels us to listen with focus and intent.

Stelling’s been on the road for most of the year, touring behind his sixth full-length album, Forgotten But Not Gone & Few and Far Between, and we are delighted his travels are taking him to Waltham for our fall 2024 2nd SHIFT series.

2nd SHIFT Concert: RACHAEL KILGOUR

rachaelkilgour.com

You can often judge an artist by the company she keeps. Rachael Kilgour’s 2023 album My Father Loved Me, produced by the Juno Award-winning singer/songwriter Rose Cousins, is a complex and immensely moving masterpiece.

Kilgour is skilled at both finely-wrought character sketches and the broad brushstrokes of the emotional milestones we must all endure and, ultimately learn to grow from. Mourning and celebration are often two sides of the same coin, and Kilgour’s excavation of her grief leads frequently to humor and lightness in concert.

It’s easy to stay numb and disconnected these days, but Rachael Kilgour is the kind of artist that bravely demonstrates for us all that we have to learn and gain from opening ourselves to life’s loves and losses.

2nd SHIFT Concert: STEPHANIE LAMBRING

stephanielambring.com

An intensely brave writer, Stephanie Lambring is as adept at voicing the inner monologues of people we tend to ignore, as she is at shining light on the darkest feelings we might sometimes rather hide. Her songs can, at times, be stark and unrelenting—just like the truth often is. At the same time, her voice is also hopeful, resilient, and unbowed, just like people often are, in spite of the rigors and indignities of modern life. In a just world, everyone would know Lambring's name—she’s that great of a songwriter.

If you’re a fan of singers like Patty Griffin or Lori McKenna, take a chance on Stephanie Lambring and prepare to meet one of your favorite new artists.

2nd SHIFT Concert: ALICE HOWE & FREEBO

alicehowe.com
freebomusic.com

We’re kicking off the fall 2nd SHIFT series in fine fashion with a pair of artists that frequently record and tour together, embodying both respect for tradition and the resilience required to carry it forward.

Freebo was an integral member of Bonnie Raitt’s band, appearing on many of her classic, early-career records. In recent years, he’s been energized by just how much humor and heart he has to offer as a singer and songwriter in his own right.

Newton, Massachusetts’ own Alice Howe proudly deals in the sort of catchy-yet-emotionally-literate songs that once ruled the airwaves. Her tenderly muscular alto brings to mind shades of Ronstadt and, yes, Raitt, but is best-served delivering her own hopeful and empowering anthems.

2nd SHIFT Concert: MIKE + RUTHY (of the Mammals)

doors open 7:30, concert begins at 8PM

Community, connection, and sustainability…every song they sing is an invitation to us all to envision the world we want to live in. Mike + Ruthy hit the perfect honest-yet-hopeful note to end on for the final show in our spring 2024 series.

2nd SHIFT Concert: CAROLINE SPENCE
with Mary Bragg

doors open 7:30,
concert begins with Mary Bragg at 8PM and Caroline Spence at 8:45

There are some voices that manage to sound so sweet and innocent while conveying complicated truths and hard-won wisdom. There are some songs that are so effortlessly catchy that it’s easy to overlook how thoughtful and well-crafted they are. When such a voice and such songs come together in a single artist, the effect is utterly beguiling—as is the case with Nashville-based singer/songwriter Caroline Spence.

2nd SHIFT Concert: SPECIAL EVENT: THE FOLK COLLECTIVE Songs for Earth and Humanity

doors open at 7:30, the music starts at 8PM.

Tickets $20

Our stage will be packed for this special collaborative performance featuring powerhouse vocalists Lydia Harrell and Stephanie MacKay, dynamic young songwriters Gabriella Simpkins and Anju Madhok, multi-instrumentalist Maxfield Anderson, and Boston folk scene veterans Kim Moberg and Alastair Moock.

2nd SHIFT Concert: REED FOEHL

doors open 7:30, concert begins at 8PM

Like any good troubadour, Reed Foehl has traveled countless roads and lived to tell the tale. We’re honored the road led him here tonight for his 2nd SHIFT Series debut.

2nd SHIFT Concert: VIV & RILEY

doors open 7:30, concert begins at 8PM

Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler have been captivating audiences with their unique blend of dumpster-folk and thrift store-Americana for over a decade now. They’ve more than earned their road dog wings, but they refuse to lean on the typical haggard, road-worn stereotypes. Graham and Tyler sing of the darkness that tries to weigh us all down as well as anyone. But more often than not, their songs take flight, born aloft on clear-eyed optimism and hard-won hope.

2nd SHIFT Concert: Wesley Stace

doors open 7:30, concert begins at 8PM

wesleystace.com

You might have first become aware of Wesley Stace as we first did, from the many albums he released under the Dylanesque moniker “John Wesley Harding.” Since switching back to his birth name, he’s continued to make literate and refined folk music, while diversifying his creative output.

Whether he’s curating his offbeat variety show Cabinet of Wonders in a hip New York city club, writing his next novel, or sharing his expertise teaching at Princeton or Swarthmore, his singular voice and writer’s eye for detail always shines through.

We can’t think of a better way to close out our fall 2023 2nd Shift series than by welcoming a true musical titan.

2nd SHIFT Concert: Jake Blount

doors open 7:30, concert begins at 8PM

jakeblount.com

Jake Blount is an award-winning musician and scholar based in Providence, RI. He’s the 2020 recipient of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize—yes, THAT Steve Martin—a two-time winner of the Appalachian String Band Music Festival “Clifftop,” and a specialist in the early folk music of Black Americans. He’s justifiably won a lot of accolades by skillfully reminding us of where “American roots music” comes from, but he also understands that traditions thrive by continuing to look ahead. His latest release, 2022’s The New Faith, is an Afrofuturist concept album that reimagines and recontextualizes traditional Black religious music in the imagined aftermath of a climate crisis.

Though he typically performs accompanied by other musicians, this performance, we are lucky to have the relatively rare chance to see him in a special intimate, solo format.

2nd SHIFT Concert: Anna Tivel

doors open 7:30, concert begins at 8PM

annativel.com

In today’s clickbait world, it’s often the bombast and bluster that grabs our attention, or at least temporarily distracts us. Anna Tivel is committed to walking a more subtle path, capturing our imagination with intricate, quiet songs, like finely-wrought short stories set to music. The imagery is never predictable, but the humanity on display in the songs you’ll hear will resonate deeply. Hers are songs that explore our neighborhoods and our neighbors, songs that see the kinds of people and stories that so many overlook.

She’s got a lot of fans, not the least of which is our curator Mark Erelli. Get ready to lean in and hang on every word

2nd SHIFT Concert: Matthew Fowler

doors open 7:30, concert begins at 8PM

matthewfowlermusic.com

The only thing that’s more fun than presenting a well-known artist in an intimate setting like the Charles River Museum, is turning our audience on to newer voices they might not have heard yet.

Fowler released his Signature Sounds debut, The Grief We Gave Our Mother ,in 2021, and it’s been hailed as a profoundly personal work of self-discovery that wrestles with love and loss in the face of ambition and independence. But it’s also an ode to growing up and chasing dreams, with songs that radiate all the joy, wonder, heartbreak, and confusion of young adulthood.

He is building a career the old-school way, with shows night after night clear across the country, but for this show, we’re grateful that he’ll be here with us in Waltham

2nd SHIFT Concert: Sol y Canto

doors open 7:30, concert begins at 8PM

solycanto.com

To kick off our Fall 2023 series, we're excited to present a group that expands on what we might have come to expect musically from the 2nd Shift. Sol y Canto are singers, songwriters, and pickers, for sure, but in a Pan-Latin ensemble context.

Puerto Rican/Argentine singer and percussionist Rosi Amador and New Mexican guitarist, singer, and composer Brian Amador, are known for making their music accessible to Spanish and non-Spanish speaking audiences of all ages. They will be joined by cellist Queralt Giralt Soler, making this evening a triple thrilling musical night!

We couldn’t be happier to begin our newest chapter with a fresh and worldly musical perspective!

2nd SHIFT Concert: Abbie Gardner

abbiegardner.com

Don’t let her infectious smile fool you, beneath the radiant exterior lies the soul of a fierce and fiery dobro player. You might know her best from her work with Americana darlings Red Molly, but Abbie Gardner centered her own gritty, sweet tales of love and loss on her 2022 solo album Dobrosinger. You’ve seen a lot of singer/songwriters with acoustic guitars come through this series, but the dobro, played by sliding a steel bar along the strings, provides a particularly dynamic, expressive backdrop for Gardner’s songs.

Come for the heartfelt, intimate ballads and stay for the raw, bluesy picking. Gardner’s got all your musical bases covered, and we are very excited to have her close out our Spring 2023 series.

2nd SHIFT Concert: Jeff Black

jeffblack.com

You could measure Nashville-by-way-of-Kansas City-Missouri songwriter Jeff Black by the company he keeps, with his songs having been recorded by everyone from Alison Krauss and Waylon Jennings, to Jerry Douglas, John Oates, Dierks Bently, and more. But it’s better to appraise his work on its own terms, and Black’s spare-yet-unsparing delivery, with not much more than his voice and an acoustic guitar, infuses his songs with a stark and elemental weight.

Though Black was voted one of the top 100 Folk artists of the last 25 years by Boston's WUMB listeners, he doesn’t often make it up to these parts. Our 2nd Shift audience is in for a rare and special treat, so mark your calendars now.

2nd SHIFT Concert: Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem

raniarbo.com

Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem’s steadfast brew of wit, camaraderie, and musicality leaves audiences everywhere humming and hopeful, spirits renewed.

Centered around the intimate, smoky grace of Arbo’s voice, the band’s signature lockstep harmonies can shake the rafters or hush the room. Sweet and sinewy fiddle, genre-defying guitar, rumbling upright bass, and the deep groove of Kessel’s homemade percussion kit combine to proudly position the group at the forefront of the lineage of string bands who gleefully blur the boundaries of American roots music. Original songs fit seamlessly aside artful re-workings of Georgia Sea Islands music, Hank Williams, Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen — just a few of the many places this band is willing to go.

Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem were originally part of our canceled fall 2020 series, and we are overjoyed to finally bring them to the museum for a night of memorable music.

2nd SHIFT Concert: Dori Freeman

dorifreeman.com

Dori Freeman first broke out in 2016, with a stunning debut produced by Teddy Thompson and a sparkling voice that seemed to come from out of nowhere. In fact, that unadorned and honest voice comes from Galax, Virginia, and is infused with the same sort of clear-eyed, fierce independence that is the trademark of her Appalachian home.

Freeman’s 2019 release Every Single Star, was stuck on repeat in our curator Mark Erelli’s stereo that year, and he made it his mission to present her music in the 2nd Shift Series. Though the pandemic had other plans and we had to cancel Freeman’s original show, we are so grateful for the second chance to bring her back in support of her most recent album Ten Thousand Roses.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to come out to the show and marvel at the incisive insight and bruised romanticism of her instantly memorable songs

SOLD OUT! 2nd SHIFT Concert: Sean Rowe

seanrowe.net

Sean Rowe is an American singer/songwriter whose powerful sound carries an emotional conviction that demands attention and a robust voice that NPR’s All Songs Considered says “can just crush granite.” Rowe’s baritone is as timeless as his approach, a organic cross between the earthy folk of Greg Brown, Van Morrison in his prime, and late-era Johnny Cash.

An avid naturalist and forager, with a popular web series called Can I Eat This?, Rowe speaks and sings of his deep connection to the land.

He’s shared the stage with Alabama Shakes and Robert Plant, and we’re more than honored to host him for a rare, Boston-area solo performance in our main gallery.

SOLD OUT 2nd SHIFT Concert: Kelly Willis, Brennen Leigh and Melissa Carper

THIS SHOW HAS SOLD OUT

doors open 7:30, concert begins at 8PM

Masks encouraged Visit HERE for our current COVID-19 policies

kellywillis.com • brennenleigh.net • melissacarper.com

What do you get when one of Americana’s long-standing leading ladies teams up with an artist who just made a crackling record with western swing stalwarts Asleep At The Wheel, then add one of the greatest golden-era classic country singers and composers of this generation? One helluva a triple bill featuring Kelly Willis, Brennen Leigh, and Melissa Carper! March is always colder and grayer than we want it to be around these parts, so we are brightening things up by bringing a bit of Texas to New England. Any one of these artists would put on a fantastic show of her own.

We are pleased to kick off our Spring 2023 series by seeing what happens when they join forces for an evening of collaboration.

Diane Taraz: Full Steam Ahead!

FREE with Museum Admission

Some say the invention of the steam engine should be considered the start of the Anthropocene Epoch, when human activity began to substantially alter the Earth. It also altered the way people lived and worked the world over. Hear how James Watt tinkered it into life in the late 1700s, and its adaptation to power machinery, steamboats, and the railroad.

Diane presents songs created by those who worked with these new technologies, including Steamboat Bill, Casey Jones, and John Henry. Blasting tunnels and laying track employed thousands, especially on the epic Transcontinental Railroad. By the 1920s some two million people worked for the railroads, most notably Pullman porters, who led the way into the Civil Rights movement. From their experience we hear The Midnight Special and Freight Train, plus the classic The City of New Orleans. All aboard!

The Tarbox Ramblers Holiday Barnburner 2022

A beer, wine, and non- alcoholic beverage cash bar will be available

tarboxramblers.com

The Tarbox Ramblers return for their annual holiday show at the Charles River Museum! Taking listeners to a place where Appalachian music and rock ‘n’ roll meet, the group is a four-man wrecking crew that’s toured with Robert Plant and been praised by The New Yorker and NPR’s All Things Considered. The Washington Post calls them “a force of nature.” The band’s original songs have an immediacy that sets them apart, and their take on American songs going way back – hillbilly, gospel and backwoods blues – is utterly unique.

2nd SHIFT Concert: The Sea The Sea

It’s a sound that pushes and pulls, sometimes delivering tension and sometimes release, yet always utterly alluring. We can’t think of a better way to end our Fall 2022 series, and we hope you’ll join us to help The Sea The Sea close things out on a high note.

2nd SHIFT Concert: Antje Duvekot

2nd SHIFT Concert: Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards

About this event

2nd SHIFT Concert: Vance Gilbert

Vance was booked for an earlier season that was disrupted by the pandemic, and we’ve been itching to close the circle and bring him back to our main gallery ever since.

Witty and whimsical, poignant and insightful—often in the course of a single song—all these qualities and more are what Gilbert will have on tap for our second show of the series.

The combination of his honey-on-gravel voice and mesmerizing finger-style guitar leads listeners, enthralled in his presence, on a viscerally emotional journey.

'Smith's voice is a rare and deeply soulful combination of granite and velvet’ - THE SUNDAY TIMES

‘Aching, doggedly optimistic and gently spangled with hooks’ - MOJO ‘

There’s a comforting sway to the album’s melodic folk-pop, built on Smith’s subtle guitar work...12 tunes of resilience, devotion and hope, with determination in the lyrics and buoyancy in the music.’ - ASSOCIATED PRESS ‘

An album of searing honesty and lithe beauty whose songs amplify the emotions and experiences of so many of us this year—the reassessed relationships, the self-reflection, and the ultimate search for hope.’ - THE BLUEGRASS SITUATION

2nd SHIFT Concert: Patty Larkin

Tickets $20 - available via EVENTBRITE

masks and proof of vaccination required for entry

The Charles River Museum is grateful for Kathy and Dan Tappan’s
GOLD Level Sponsorship of our 2022 season