5th Annual Evening of Words and Music

An Evening of Words and Music, in its fifth year as a benefit for the D.M. Hunt Library in Falls Village, returns to Music Mountain on Saturday, September 7 at 7 p.m. This year's presentation features the return of Bill Lauf, Jr., The Joint Chiefs, Vance Cannon, as well as Woods Sinclair joined by Jack Mahoney. The presentation is a blend of music and readings and will take place at Music Mountain's Gordon Hall, known nationally for its superlative acoustics.

Bill Lauf, Jr., a singer songwriter and purveyor of the tenor (4-string) guitar, is a resident of Warren. He will be performing songs from his famous Follow the Fire walking tours and his recent CD Grey Diner at 5 a.m. In the early 1980s, Lauf embarked on the Follow the Fire autumn minstrel walks, three successive musical walking tours of New England and Quebec. These tours covered over 1,000 miles collectively, the longest and last of which took Lauf from Montreal to Manhattan and included 86 performances in 26 days.

Lauf's musical career of performing and recording folk music throughout the northeast and eastern Canada has spanned 36 years. During these travels he met several songwriters who influenced his writing, including Bruce Cockburn, Paul Lauzon, Susan Osborn, David Darling, Lui Collins and Horace Williams. Besides appearing on the recordings of some of these artists, Lauf released The Weight of the Rose with Horace Williams, and a solo album, Songs from the Heart. His newest CD, Gray Diner at 5 a.m., was released last fall, and features primarily new material. He will also be showcasing a few songs from his forthcoming CD (as yet untitled) to be released in early 2003.

The Joint Chiefs, consisting of Eliot Osborn and Louise Lindenmeyr (founders of Project Troubador) and George Potts, will perform songs from their recent CD it matches your juice. Since their formation in 1996, the trio has performed locally at clubs, benefits and festivals throughout the tri-state area. Surrounding their own material with a broad repertoire from a diverse group of well known recording artists, the band performs on guitar, bass and mandolin.

Vance Cannon is a resident of Falls Village, and performs in the folk and bluegrass tradition. A Connecticut native, he has played professionally since the age of sixteen, performing with several R & B bands throughout the region. He plays 6- and 12-string guitars and performs songs by writers such as Stan Rogers, Richard Thompson and John Gorka.

Woods Sinclair will return to An Evening of Words and Music, joined by Jack Mahoney, reading a humorous selection from Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. Mr. Sinclair is the chairman of the D.M. Hunt Library board of directors, and a retired English teacher from Housatonic Valley Regional High School. Mr. Mahoney is also on the board of the Library, and was formerly the principal of Housatonic Valley Regional High School. The two will read as Huck and Jim from the "talking French" section of the novel.

This year's presentation of An Evening of Words and Music is sponsored by Sand Road Animal Hospital and Falls Village Feed Store, Culligan Water Conditioning, and the Falls Village Saw Mill. The benefit will help support programs at the D.M. Hunt Library such as story hours, summer workshops for children, slide presentations, art exhibits, the Saturday Sessions series of author readings and book signings, and community group meetings, to name a few.

Tickets are $12 and may be purchased by calling 860-824-7126 (credit card orders only), or by going to the D.M. Hunt Library on Main Street (off Route 7), Village Deli Mart (formerly Fife's), and Mountainside Cafe in Falls Village, as well as Cornwall Package Store in West Cornwall, and Oblong Books in Millerton. Tickets may also be purchased at the event. For general info, call 860-824-7424.