After a great parade of Celtic acts to start out 2015, the Pasadena Folk Music Society leaves the British Isles long enough to bring the great Texas-born singer, guitarist, and songwriter, Katy Moffatt back for a show on Saturday, March 28 at 8:00 p.m. in Beckman Institute Auditorium (Little Beckman).
Over the years, Katy has written and collected some great songs that she sings with a wonderful, soulful voice. The London Daily Express wrote, “If ever there was the perfect singer-songwriter it is Katy Moffatt. Her songs are drenched in emotion, her voice perhaps the most searingly beautiful thing you’ll ever hear.” Listen to her perform Walkin’ on the Moon and Dance Me Outside to get an idea of her music. Nat Hentoff wrote in the Wall Street Journal, “In all her albums and her appearances, Katy Moffatt is indeed a storyteller. Her voice has many shades of meaning as well as memory. She illuminates—in natural light—the characters and the places in her songs…her passion is the abiding force in her music.”
Katy comes from the country-tinged/Texas singer-songwriter wing of folk music and has carved her own niche with her outstanding vocals and the storytelling nature of many of her songs. She has performed and collaborated with the likes of Tom Russell, Dave Alvin, Andrew Hardin, and her brother Hugh Moffatt, each combination bringing out different aspects of her great talent. But solo shows like this one emphasize her own guitar skills and place her amazing vocals front and center. Katy has performed in our series five times before, so some of you have heard her, and we suspect will be back.
In honor of March being National Women’s History Month, this performance will be her Caltech debut of part of her newest project, a one-woman show titled Midnight Radio. It is a musical and spoken-word performance piece that combines some of her songs about real people and events, often with an emphasis on women, their accomplishments, struggles and predicaments. Examples include Sojourner Truth, a song about the African American ex-slave who became a powerful speaker against slavery in the 1800’s, and Hank and Audrey, a song about the contentious marriage of Audrey Williams and country music star, Hank Williams. Here she is doing the rousing Sojourner Truth: Ain’t I A Woman?
Katy will also be performing some old favorites and new song or two as well. Though she now lives in Southern California, she spends much of her time touring out of state and in Europe, so don’t miss this chance to hear her while she’s in town! Tickets for the show are $15 for adults and $5 for Caltech students and children. Order them at the Caltech Ticket Office, 9AM-4PM, Monday through Friday at (626) 395-4652 or in person (no service charge) at Winnett Student Center on campus. You can also buy them online.
If you attended our Jeni & Billy with the Big Picnic Band concert in November last year and liked what you heard, or if you missed the show and want to see and hear what it was like, listen to their song Reckoning Day on YouTube and see our familiar chalkboard backdrop. Seven minutes of very fine music! They’ll likely be back at Caltech.
This Saturday, March 21, the Pasadena Central Library will celebrate the first full day of spring with a free concert in the auditorium featuring Brit Rodriguez, Marina V, and the Ukulele Orchestra of the Western Hemisphere. The show will run from 1PM to 5PM in the Library’s plush auditorium at 285 E. Walnut in Pasadena, just north of the impressive City Hall. Check http://cityofpasadena.net/