Legendary folksinger Ramblin’ Jack Elliott will sing songs from his vast collection of American folk songs Thursday May 10 at 7:30 pm at the Mainstay in Rock Hall, MD. Admission is $20. For information and reservations call 410-639-9133. Information is also available at the Mainstay’s website.
In 1969, Johnny Cash introduced Jack Elliott on national television saying, “Nobody I know—and I mean nobody—has covered more ground and made more friends and sung more songs than the fellow you’re about to meet right now. He’s got a song and a friend for every mile behind him.” That’s still true today, though these days there are a lot more miles, more friends and more songs to add to the legend.
Jack Elliott ran away from home in Brooklyn, New York at fourteen to join the rodeo, and learned to play the guitar from a cowboy. In 1950, he met Woody Guthrie, moved in with the Guthrie family and traveled with Woody to California and Florida becoming so enthralled with the man that Guthrie remarked, “Jack sounds more like me than I do.”
In 1954, along with folksingers Frank Robinson and Guy Carawan, he journeyed south through Appalachia, Nashville and to New Orleans listening to the authentic American blues and country music that could still be found on the rural byways and city streets.
In 1955, Jack married and traveled to Europe, where his genuine American folk, cowboy and blues repertoire and his folk guitar, inspired a new generation of budding British rockers, from Mick Jagger to Eric Clapton. When he returned to America in 1961, he met a younger folksinger, Bob Dylan at Woody Guthrie’s bedside. Elliott became a mentor to Dylan who later made him a founding member of his Rolling Thunder Review. Along the way Elliott heard the blues first-hand from Leadbelly, Mississippi John Hurt, the Reverend Gary Davis, Big Bill Broonzy, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Jesse Fuller and Champion Jack Dupree. He influenced generations of songwriters from Dylan to Springsteen.
In 1998, he was awarded the National Medal of the Arts by the National Endowment for the Arts. At the ceremony bestowing the honor, then President Bill Clinton said, “In giving new life to our most valuable musical traditions, Ramblin’ Jack has himself become an American treasure.”
Ramblin’Jack Elliot has made more than 40 albums. He won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album in 1995 and won one for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2009.
On stage, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott is a storyteller, a big spirit, and a singer of timeless American folk songs that have outlasted the current musical fashions of the day. The stories from his more than six decades as a pioneer of American folk music are spellbinding. In the tradition of roving troubadours, Elliott has carried stories and songs for decades from one place to another, from one generation to the next.
The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. It is a 501(c)(3), non profit dedicated to the arts, serving Rock Hall, MD and the surrounding region. It is committed to presenting local, regional and national level talent, at a reasonable price, in an almost perfect acoustic setting. Wine, beer, sodas and snacks are available at the bar.
The Mainstay is supported by ticket sales, fundraising including donations from friends and audience members and an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council.
For information and reservations call the Mainstay at 410-639-9133. More information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.
Upcoming Mainstay performances include:
May 12 Verroneau
May 26 Honey Dewdrops
June 1 Tribute to Pete Seeger: Betty and the Boomers
June 2 Tribute to Pete Seeger: Tom Paxton
June 9 Guy Davis
June 16 Red Mountain (free outdoor concert)
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