Our next show pairs a longtime friend of ours with a fine performer from Oregon who will be making her debut at Caltech and is a relative newcomer down our way. Susie Glaze and Lauren Sheehan share a deep connection to traditional American music with two divergent paths.  They discovered that these paths met beautifully when they joined forces to present a workshop in 2017 at the FAR-West (Regional Folk Alliance) conference on the uses of traditional music for contemporary songwriting.  On these two topics these artists are well-versed, as their solo shows feature songs from traditional sources and their own contemporary songwriting, which is typically infused with influences from the great American folk songbook. The workshop experience was so powerful that it inspired the idea to perform together more.  This trip to Southern California will be their first shows together, and they are very excited to join forces once again!
 
While Lauren and Susie both have a deep fluency with Anglo-influenced Appalachian music, they bring great variety and contrast to their show.  Susie’s former Hilonesome Band furnished her with many original contemporary folk/Americana tunes (“the new ones that sound like old ones”!) and favorites from their albums such as “Blue Eyed Darlin’”, White Swan” and “The Dark Eileen” while also presenting covers of classics from the great Steve Earle, Linda Thompson, David Olney and John Prine.  And her set is never fully complete without a few from her beloved Jean Ritchie.  For Lauren, expect music played by Elizabeth Cotton, Mississippi John, Hurt, Robert Johnson, Carter Family, E.C. Ball, Hank Williams, Gillian Welch and others, delivered with extremely personal expression.
 
Lauren will begin the show for a solo set, with her powerful and beautiful guitar and voice, and then Susie will bring up her quartet, the New Folk Ensemble, featuring Steve Rankin on mandolin, Fred Sanders on bass and Mark Indictor on fiddle.  Each artist will do a set and they will all join together for a few songs to close.  Expect some bits of folklore, personal stories and historic detail to flow between songs.
 
Lauren Sheehan
This “one woman Americana juke-box …” (Huffington Post), sings and fingerpicks guitar, banjo and mandolin.  She has been playing dance and social music for over 40 years, starting with Contra dance music in Massachusetts, then adding Irish music, old weird American modal music and songs from the south, country blues and early jazz,  tin pan alley, modern folk and original songs.  She breathes her modern soul into vintage music while retaining nuances and characteristics from the old time, and her stylistic breath, combined with her vocal and instrumental chops, is impressive.  She has played with several National Heritage Fellows and makes a habit of meeting and playing with great musicians as she tours and works around her home in the Pacific Northwest.  Lauren’s music has been featured on BBC, NPR, Sirius Radio, and is catalogued in the Library of Congress.

Susie Glaze
Award-winning recording artist, journalist and critically-acclaimed powerhouse vocalist, Susie Glaze has been called by Bluegrass Unlimited “…an important voice on the California Bluegrass scene” and by Roz Larman of KPFK’s Folkscene “…one of the most beautiful voices in bluegrass and folk music today.” A native Tennessean, Susie appeared on Broadway in Roger Miller’s “Big River” and in California her work with folk, bluegrass and Americana production includes performing, recording, journalism, Board member of FAR-West, and producing events. Her mentorship with the great Jean Ritchie was an honor when Susie was included on the tribute album Dear Jean, Artists Celebrate Jean Ritchie. “A flat out superb vocalist… Glaze delivers warm, amber-toned vocals that explore the psychic depth of a lyric with deft acuity and technical perfection,” wrote LA Weekly. And referring to Susie, Jean Ritchie said, “…with people like this to trust, my music will go on living, and soaring. And, so will I.”

The show will be in Beckman Institute Auditorium (“Little Beckman”) at 400 South Wilson Avenue. On concert night, free parking is available in the lot behind Beckman Auditorium (“Big Beckman), but this lot may fill up, especially if there are other events on campus that night. You can always find parking for our shows in the two parking structures on Wilson Avenue, just south of Del Mar Boulevard. On weekends and after 6:00 PM, you may park in spaces that have individual names. Restrictive wording at the structures refers to weekdays before 6:00 PM. There is also parking available on Wilson Avenue itself. Beckman Institute is on the other side of the large lawn on Wilson Avenue, on the first floor of the left portion of the building. If you get to the fountain and pools that point toward the white, round, building (Beckman Auditorium, which we refer to as “Big Beckman,” you have gone too far. See this map. Beckman Institute is building #74 and the parking structures are #123 and #124. 

Tickets are $20 for adults and $5 for children and Caltech students. They are available at the Caltech Ticket Office by calling (626) 395-4652 and at the Caltech Ticket Office in their new location at 1200 E. California Boulevard in Pasadena (Southeast corner of Wilson Avenue). Their usual hours are 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. They are available online here. There is a fee for phone orders and for online tickets, while purchases at the Ticket Office are free. Tickets can also be purchased (without additional fee) at the door of the venue one half hour before the show, but it is always wise to call the Ticket Office a day or two before a show to ensure they are not close to a sold out show. We hate to have to turn people away, which occasionally happens! Join our mailing list and you’ll be sure to be notified about the show a few weeks ahead of time.
 

A bit more about parking if you haven’t been to one of our shows for awhile:  There will be the usual limited parking right behind the large Beckman Auditorium- It is OK to park in slots with names on weekends and evenings, but the lot may fill up, depending on what other events may be taking place on the Caltech campus.  This is the best place to park for the handicapped (try to come a little early- email us at [email protected] if you need help planning your visit). The parking lots between Michigan and Wilson have been closed- a new building is rapidly rising at the southeast corner of Wilson and Del Mar.  The most reliable parking will be on Wilson Avenue, either on the street or in the two parking structures just south of Del Mar Avenue, across the street from Beckman Institute.   One structure is just north of the Institute at 341 S. Wilson Avenue, and the other, 405 S. Wilson, is just a bit south of the Institute.   Rest assured that after 5PM on weekdays, and all day on weekends, you can park for free in these structures, despite signs that allude to the more restricted parking rules during the day on weekdays.   You are permitted to park in slots that have names on them here as well.  From the structures, walk around the big lawn (much of which is currently fenced in for the building projet to the north) in front of Beckman Institute and you will recognize where to go.  On this map, we are suggesting that you park in structures #123 and #124 in the upper left.    Beckman Institute is building #74, just to the east (right).  If you need help figuring this out, try calling (626) 616-4559