Sometimes, you hit a lead-off home run. That’s what Sundilla has done this time, as we start off 2010 with an absolute home run. Joe Crookston will be making his Sundilla debut; showtime is 7:30 and admission is just $10, $8 for students, and free for children 12 and under. While you might not have heard Joe yet, by the time Friday night is coming to a close, he will surely rank among the all-time favorites of many Sundilla fans.
I’m speaking from experience. Two years ago I had never heard of Joe Crookston either, even though by then he had already released one CD, been named a finalist in the Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, received a songwriting grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, and been named as one of the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival’s “Most Wanted” performers. But in February 2008, at the Folk Alliance Conference, Don Porterfield (who you have seen at Sundilla many times, playing bass for Kate Campbell, Pierce Pettis, Cosy Sheridan and Chuck Brodsky, just to name a few) tracked me down and said four words: “Go hear Joe Crookston.” So I pulled out my schedule, which listed hundreds of performers and thousands of performances, and found out when and where Joe would be playing next. I went and listened and was hooked– after one song. At the end of his set, I pulled out the schedule again, to find out when he would be playing again. I wasn’t the only one, because many of us who witnessed that first performance went to the next performance, too.
By the time the 2009 version of the Folk Alliance rolled around, Joe was a star in the folk music world; his second CD, “Able, Baker, Charlie and Dog” would be named “Album of the Year.” But even with his star rising and no ceiling to stop it, many in this part of the country have still never heard of Joe. That’s because it’s a big country, and Joe spends most of his time in other parts of it. But fortunately for us, he has decided to spread his magic down south.
So what should you expect when Joe Crookston takes our stage? Well, he is artful, intense, and often transcendent.imaginative, and extremely engaging…- If you love a moving song and magical madness, Joe delivers it all….the music, the lyrics, the energy, and the passion for exceptionally well written songs — He loves his audience, and it shows. He stands on stage holding his Martin OM 28, stomping his foot, singing superb songs about ruby red dresses, drunk roosters, ex-slaves, window washers, Polish Immigrants, Tinian Island, rutabagas and the cycles of life & death. He sings about the thread that runs through us all. Whether it’s his hypnotic guitar sound, bubbling banjo, or short story lyrics, his music draws from his urban adventures and his rural Ohio roots, exuding a remarkable timeless quality.
Someone who runs a concert series in Seattle says “I’ve watched audiences glued to their seats at the end of Joe’s shows simply not wanting the evening to end. There is a spirit in his music that is simultaneously sacred, celebratory, artful and solidly grounded in tradition………. Go see this man perform, and don’t be surprised if you drive home singing his songs with a renewed sense of what’s possible.” That sums up what I have been trying to say.
So now that you have the chance to see Joe Crookston perform, don’t let it pass you by; like I said, he doesn’t get down this way often, and chances are good that he’ll be playing stages larger than ours before too long anyway. But he’ll definitely be here this Friday, January 8; showtime is 7:30, and admission is just $10, $8 for students, and free for children 12 and under. We’ll have free coffee, tea, water and food, though as always you are welcome to bring whatever food or beverage you prefer. For more information, just go to www.sundilla.org.
From the Archives — originally published on the Opelika Daily News on January 5, 2010. View the original page.
