This Weekend At Edmond Town Hall—

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott To Appear In Flagpole Café Season Opener

Woody Guthrie’s “keeper,” one of Bob Dylan’s strongest and earliest influences, friend to the beat poet and American folk music repository, Brooklyn born bohemian cowboy Ramblin’ Jack Elliott will open the third season of The Flagpole Radio Café this weekend.

Ramblin’ Jack will headline on Saturday, September 25. Showtime is 7 pm in the theater at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street in Newtown. Tickets are $18, $15 for students and senior citizens.

“We are beginning our third season still thrilled from our finale from season two where guest artist Peter Yarrow performed to a full audience and had such a wonderful time that he remarked ‘This was the best thing I’ve done in years. I wish I could bottle this show as it is, and take it on the road,’” said Flagpole Radio Cafe Executive Producer and Director Martin Blanco. “Building on the success of that show, we have engaged a number of acclaimed musicians to appear this season beginning with the incomparable Ramblin’ Jack Elliott.”

One of the last true links to the great folk traditions of this country, with over 40 albums under his belt, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott is considered one of the country’s legendary foundations of folk music. In the tradition of roving troubadours Ramblin’ Jack has carried the seeds and pollens of story and song for decades from one place to another, from one generation to the next. They are timeless songs that outlast whatever current musical fashion strikes today’s fancy. 

Ramblin’ Jack Elliott ran away from his Brooklyn home at fourteen to join the rodeo and learned his guitar from a cowboy. In 1950, he met Woody Guthrie, moved in with the Guthrie family and traveled with Woody to California and Florida, “from the redwood forests to the Gulf Stream waters.”

Over the years he has traveled through Appalachia, Nashville and to New Orleans to hear authentic American country music;  married and traveled to Europe, bringing his genuine American folk, cowboy and blues repertoire and his guitar virtuosity, inspiring a new generation of budding British rockers, from Mick Jagger to Eric Clapton; returned to America and met and became mentor to a young folk singer named Bob Dylan.

Ramblin’ Jack has continued as an inspiration for every roots-inspired performers and troubadours from Jerry Jeff Walker, Guy Clark to Tom Russell and The Grateful Dead.

He has learned first-hand from Leadbelly, Mississippi John Hurt, the Reverend Gary Davis, Big Bill Broonzy, Brownie Mcghee and Sonny Terry, Jesse Fuller and Champion Jack Dupree. 

He has recorded 40 albums, written one of the first trucking songs (“Cup of Coffee,” recorded by Johnny Cash), championed the works of new singer-songwriters, been nominated for four Grammy Awards, and in 1998 President Bill Clinton awarded Jack the National Medal of the Arts.

The Flagpole Radio Café is an engaging variety show created by Jim Allyn, Martin Blanco and Barbara Gaines in conjunction with Newtown Cultural Arts Commission (NCAC). It features music by Jim Allyn and the Radio Café Orchestra, a dynamic ensemble created for the show, and radio style comedy sketches by the hyperbolically named Flagpole Shakespeare Repertory Theatre.

Performances are is hosted by musician and radio personality Chris Teskey, who also broadcasts the show on his celebrated program on WPKN radio. Each show features a musical guest artist such as Peter Yarrow, Vanesse Thomas, Phil Bowler and Yale’s internationally acclaimed male choir The Whiffenpoofs. 

Subscriptions for all six shows (this weekend, along with November 6, December 4, February 5, March 19 and May 21) are also available, for $90. Tickets and subscriptions can be purchased online by visiting NCAC’s home page at NewtownArtsCommission.org and clicking on The Flagpole Radio Café link. Additional information and ticket orders can also be addressed via email to info@FlagpoleProductions.org or by calling 203-364-0898.