Progressive singer-songwriters in a double bill

Deidre McCalla’s songwriting reveals an unyieldingly honest perspective expressed with a lyric touch that relentlessly celebrates the power and diversity of the human spirit. Deidre has shared the stage with a long list of notables that includes Suzanne Vega, Tracy Chapman, Holly Near, Odetta, Cris Williamson, and Sweet Honey in the Rock. Her current release, “Endless Grace,” dominated the June 2022 Folk Radio Charts as the number-one song “Shoulder To The Wheel, won the 19th Annual International Acoustic Music Award for Best Folk/Americana/Roots Song.

Chicago-based singer and activist Joe Jencks (you may remember him from the fine trio act Brother Sun, which he co-founded) has performed with such artists as Pete Seeger, Utah Phillips, Joe Glazer, and Charlie King. A Joe Jencks concert, says the Seattle Folklore Society's Brad Warren, is "an occasion for singing, a contagious rising up of voices, an act of joy and defiance." Joe's songs have traveled to every continent via his own performances, radio, CDs, webcasts, and other musicians. He is noted for his unique merging of musical beauty, social consciousness, and spiritual exploration. Joe Jencks weaves a diverse web of stories with brilliant musical skill, ensnaring even the most rigid of hearts, inviting them to open. His songs invite us to live inside of our passions and our beliefs.

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