Community Celebration of Place (501 C-3), through a Minnesota State Art’s Board ‘Legacy Tour Grant’, sponsored American Roots Revue, which features several of Minnesota’s most gifted performers and arts educators, to perform in five outstate Minnesota communities in partnership with homeless shelters, incarceration facilities; community and veterans organizations. Each event FREE and open to the public.
American Roots Revue features: Larry Long (Smithsonian Folkways Recording artist who has made his life work the celebration of everyday heroes.), JD Steele (Mr. Steele and his dynamic vocal siblings, “The Steeles”, have garnered nearly every major music award and accolade that Minnesota has to offer), Billy Peterson (Bass player, songwriter, composer, session musician, producer, and oldest musical son of the renowned Peterson family), Tonia Hughes (Tonia’s vocal style is colored with melodic acrobats and elements of Gospel, Blues, Jazz, R&B, Rock and Worship), Cory Wong (Cory Wong may be young, but he has already proven himself to be a standout guitarist/musician in the Twin Cities), Marc Anderson (World percussionist, ethnomusicologist, teacher, composer, grandfather, and bandleader), and Waubanewquay-Dorene Day (Traditional Midewiwin Anishinabe Ojibwe Head Woman Singer.)
American Roots Revue has now performed at festivals in three of the five host communities, including: Duluth, Cass Lake, and St. Cloud in partnership with Hands Across the World; Cass Lake Chamber of Commerce; Leech Lake Boys & Girls Club; and Peace United Church of Christ and Churches United in Ministry (CHUM).
Each American Roots Revue concert features a song collectively written by members of each host community at a two-hour songwriting session facilitated by Larry Long.
For example: In Duluth Larry wrote music with incarcerated women in the St. Louis County Jail. The American Roots Revue performance of their song was filmed at the Rhubarb Festival (In memory of Steve O’Neil) in Duluth and later shown to the incarcerated women, who helped compose it.
Here’s the opening verse to their song, It’s Another Day:
I dream of a future sober and bright
Progressively moving towards the light
Free of shackles and jails, addiction and crime
The rattling keys which measures time
Of another day
Leech Lake Girls & Boys Club, Collective Songwriting, Cass Lake, Minnesota
The final two American Roots Revue ‘Legacy’ performances will be held: August 15th, Crookston, Minnesota, in partnership with Beyond the Yellow Ribbon and theCrookston Chamber & Visitor’s Bureau; August 22nd, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, in partnership with The Refuge (regional homeless shelter)
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This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. |