CONTACT: Pat or Tex LaMountain, plamountain@ctriver.org ; pattex@crocker.com 413-772-2020 X203 T and Th; 413-834-2606 any day
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Greenfield, MA. July 25, 2012 – The Connecticut River Watershed Council, a conservation group based in Greenfield, MA is moving forward with plans for its Goodnight Irene songwriter concert to be held at Deerfield Academy’s large auditorium on Tuesday, August 28th at 7 pm in Deerfield, MA. The performance, on the first anniversary of tropical storm Irene, is a benefit for the Council’s annual Source to Sea river cleanup, which will be held Sept 29, 2012.
The following songwriters will be performing or will be represented at the concert: From Vermont : Patty Carpenter (Guilford), Steve Spensley (Pittsford), Dave Clark (Quechee), Larken Goode (Woodstock), Dan Seiden (Brookline), Bridget Ahrens (Winooski), Victor Tremblay (Granby), Laura Molinelli (Jamaica), and Leslie Blair (Hancock); From Massachusetts: Charlie Conant, Roland Lapierre, Pat & Tex LaMountain (all Greenfield), John Currie (Orange), and Katie Clarke (Conway); From Towson, MD: Greg Bullen, former Choral Director at Deerfield Academy for over a decade in the 1990’s.; From Munich, Germany: Michael Veitch, who has four CD’s of original songs, has toured with singer-songwriter Shawn Colvin and been covered by Judy Collins on his song “Veteran’s Day”. Veitch’s song is about the Bartonsville Covered Bridge that has received a lot of YouTube attention.
“We are putting together a vibrant cast of singers and musicians who can bring these wonderful songs to life before your eyes, including many of the writers themselves,” adds Pat LaMountain, co-producer. Information on songs, writers and performers will be available at:
Tickets ($10) can be purchased at CRC headquarters or online.
“A rich collection of over 30 songs has arrived at CRC’s Greenfield MA office showing a broad spectrum of emotions and points of view expressed by regional writers,” says Tex LaMountain, co-producer of the event. Reacting to the call for songs inspired by Tropical Storm Irene, response has come from songwriters in six states, including a former Vermont resident and songwriter who now lives in Munich, Germany and a former Deerfield Academy Director of Choral Music who is an internationally recognized composer now living in Maryland. “We are incredibly impressed with the quality of the songs received. They vividly describe the initial shock and wonder at the damage, then give way to respect, hope, humor, and of course, Yankee determination and resilience,” notes LaMountain.
“The awesome force of the storm can be felt in the rhythms and lyrics. Graphic, poetic descriptions segue into intense instrumental solos conjuring up storm images; then a humorous look at ‘That No Good Irene’, and finally a determined ‘Can’t Drown Out Vermont.’ In a refreshing surprise, a beautiful modern classically-flavored ballad asks us to ‘trust the rain again’ and ‘follow the river to its end’; finally, we are rebuilding bridges, cleaning up the fields, regaining our confidence, as the music moves into upbeat toe-tapping country-flavored bluegrass/gospel-styled ‘river revival’. This concert covers a lot of ground,” adds LaMountain. “We had to select fifteen to eighteen songs out of the 30 submitted. That was hard.”
“In the stories, the images, and in the music, we can almost see and feel our beloved rivers transitioning and relaxing back into their roles as lifelines of our communities. We have all witnessed the unpredictable force and power of nature, but perhaps the respect we have gained will bring us to appreciate even more the true gifts we all have,” notes Pat LaMountain. The rivers mentioned in the songs include: the Deerfield, the OttaQuechee, the West, the White, the Mad, the Winooski, Otter Creek, the Green, the Williams, Clesson Brook, and the Chickley.
The Watershed Council is grateful to have received the support of four lead sponsors for this concert: Woodard and Curran, TransCanada, Southworth Paper and Western Mass Electric Company, and two general sponsors: PV Squared and WGBY.
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