By K.D. Norris
ken@wktv.org
St. Cecilia Music Center’s Acoustic Café Folk Series started off the month of February with a sell-out return of Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn on Feb. 9, and things will end strong on the folk front with the duo of Michael and Tanya Trotter (aka The War and Treaty) as well as Milk Carton Kids coming to town.
The War and Treaty will hit the intimate 630-seat Royce Auditorium stage for an unusual Sunday concert on Feb. 24, and Milk Carton Kids — Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattengale, this time with a full band backing — for a more usual Thursday night show at St. Cecilia on Feb. 28.
Tickets remain available for both shows.
The War and Treaty “are quickly rising on the National scene … (their) upbeat emotional sound, with soul and folk roots, is sure to ignite a bright fire within our audience’s hearts,” Cathy Holbrook, St. Cecilia executive director, said in supplied material.
“We are (also) so happy to bring The Milk Carton Kids with their band to St. Cecilia Music Center this month to perform from their newest album,” Holbrook said. “It will be a great experience for all to see and hear as these two talented performers and their full band perform together.”
The War and Treaty
The War and Treaty may be familiar to some in the Grand Rapids area as they opened for Bob Seger’s Van Andel Arena concert in November 2018.
According to supplied information, they draw inspiration from different artists and genres including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash and Nina Simone — ya, that Johnny Cash and that Nina Simone.
And their music has been described as a blend of roots, folk, gospel, and soul, “reaching back through their deep-rooted history to conjure up the strength of their ancestors.”
The buzz here is all good.
The Milk Carton Kids
The Milk Carton Kids, you may remember as I do, had a brief appearance on the concert film “Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of Inside Llewyn Davis”, which was led by producer T-Bone Burnett. And their latest release — All the Things That I Did and All the Things That I Didn’t Do, which came out in June of last year — was produced by Joe Henry. Both producers are great, and the music they produce is usually also great.
“The Kids” music, which for lack of a better tune is often called American indie folk, has earned the usually solo-duo of Ryan and Pattengale a Grammy nomination in 2015 for Best American Roots Performance, another for Best Folk Album of the year in 2013, and they were the Americana Music Association’s Best Duo/Group of the year in 2014.
The Kids have proven in-demand collaborators, including musical partnerships with Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Dar Williams, and Chris Hillman, as well as teaming with T-Bone Burnett for “Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of Inside Llewyn Davis” — the concert documentary derived from the Coen Brothers film “Insider Llewyn Davis”. (A great movie with great early 1960s music, BTW.)
Two concerts in April will finish up the 2018-19 Acoustic Café Folk Series, both returning favorites: Asleep at the Wheel will return to SCMC on April 11, and Guitarist Leo Kottke will return to SCMC on April 18.
Tickets for The War and Treaty are $30 and $35; tickets for The Milk Carton Kids are $40 and $45. All tickets can be purchased by calling St. Cecilia Music Center at 616-459-2224 or visiting the box office at 24 Ransom Ave. NE. Tickets can also be purchased online at scmc-online.org.
