The next show in my, “Trust Me” series is Thursday, Sept. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at Tir-na-nog Theatre and features the shared bill of Linda McRae and Thad Beckman.
Like most people, I first became aware of Linda McRae as the spirited accordion player and singer in the platinum and gold record earning band Spirit of the West. Now based in Nashville, Tennesee, Linda left the band to resume her solo career and has since released six critically acclaimed recordings. 2017 marks her 30th year as a recording artist performing and teaching both nationally and internationally. This year she was honoured to have been named a BC Entertainment Hall of Fame inductee for 2016.
After answering a call to host a song-writing workshop at California’s New Folsom Prison in 2011, Linda was moved to develop writing workshops for at-risk youth to try and prevent them from ending up behind bars in the first place.
Linda’s new, highly acclaimed Steve Dawson-produced release, Shadow Trails, is inspired by these workshops. “Flowers of Appalachia” was co-written with Ken Blackburn, a 73-year-old Folsom Prison inmate serving life without parole. Playing banjo, guitar and accordion with what Pot Pourri’s Lesley Mitchell-Clarke calls “unflaggingly authentic, deeply satisfying, refreshingly acoustic imbued with a big dose of soul and a skilled musicality,” Linda’s warm and world-weary voice, unforgettable melodies and thought-provoking lyrics, make her a captivating and sought-after artist.
Linda will be joined for the Bowen Island show by Portland, Oregon’s Thad Beckman. From the David Letterman show, Levon Helms Midnight Ramble, the Kerrville Folk Festival, Waterfront Blues Festival, Edmonton Folk Festival and venues across the U.S., Canada and Europe, Beckman has been entertaining audiences with what John T. Davis of The Austin American Statesman called a voice that rasps like shoe leather on roadside gravel, and a finger-picked guitar on which notes fly by like railroad ties under a fast moving freight. As a songwriter he has written and produced seven solo albums. Tom Russell declared Thad “one of America’s best guitar players and a damn good songwriter.”
All proceeds from the shows go to the performers. Tickets are available at Phoenix or online at trustme.bpt.me. I hope to see you there!
