"I always think of Bob Franke as if Emerson and Thoreau had picked up acoustic guitars and gotten into songwriting" -Tom Paxton
"Bob Franke writes the kind of songs that will still be sung a hundred years from now" -Christine Lavin
"[Lui’s voice] is strong and pure, yet distinctively her own and never forced...agile melodic twists and antique turns of phrase seem as natural as conversation" -Music Matters
"Lui’s got the juju!" Geoff Bartley, singer-songwriter
A rare night with two of our finest singer-songwriters, much-loved solo performers (and old friends). Lui Collins and Bob Franke have each long thrilled folk fans - from The Step's days along Albany’s Washington Park to the present at Proctors.
Yes, a solo concert by either is always an event. But the two of them together promises a truly magical night!
BOB FRANKE ranks among the most prolific and important folk songwriters of our times. Many of his songs, like “Hard Love,” “For Real,” “Thanksgiving Eve,” and “The Great Storm Is Over” are beloved to folk audiences, guaranteed to be heard onstage or on CD sung by musical colleagues too numerous to count, around folk festival singalongs after dark, sung by church choirs, and favorites for song circles and special occasions everywhere.
In concert, his intimate songs and potent ballads are interspersed with revealing anecdotes – sly blues about bicycles, computers, and cagey catfish; daffy ditties about manic monkeys, psychedelic polkas, and adjusting to our loved ones’ foibles.
His voice is warm, soft and familiar; he’s a superb guitarist but never a show-off; he wants to meet and befriend his audience, neighbor to neighbor, friend to friend.
Joining him onstage is singer Buffy Groves.
Lui Collins enthralls her audience from the first warm notes, her voice clear and rich, her performance simply transporting.
Her lyrical and lush songwriting inspired the irascible Dave Van Ronk to call the multi-instrumentalist “one of the best guitarist-arrangers I have heard in years.”
She has been performing and writing for over 40 years, her early Philo and Green Linnet recordings earning her international acclaim.
She has shared stages with Pete Seeger, Bonnie Raitt, Stan Rogers, Dar Williams, John Gorka; and more than one sellout night with Garnet Rogers on our stage.
Guitarist/Grammy-nominated producer ANAND NAYAK accompanies Collins in a wide range of styles and languages; more than a decade of creative collaboration shines in their fluid musical dialogue onstage.
LUI COLLINS "For Real" (Bob Franke)
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