New Guest Artists Announced—

Elisabeth Von Trapp, Now With Blue Train Partner Musicians, Will Perform Flagpole Radio Café Season Finalé

Newtown Cultural Arts Commission is pleased to announce that Elisabeth von Trapp will be joined this weekend by fellow Vermont musicians Paul Asbell and Peter Riley, who together are embarking on a new musical venture known as Elisabeth Von Trapp and Blue Train.

The trio will be the guest artists for the May 19 presentation of Flagpole Radio Café — the 2011-12 season finale. The show had originally been announced as featuring only Ms Von Trapp.

The performance is scheduled for Saturday night beginning at 7 pm in the theater of Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for students and senior citizens, and are available at www.FlagpoleProductions.org.

For Elisabeth Von Trapp, a granddaughter of Maria von Trapp, whose story inspired The Sound Of Music, music has been part of her life since earliest memories. By age 16 she was playing guitar and traveling the back roads of New England performing with her siblings at weddings, gospel meetings and town halls.

Since those formative years, Ms Von Trapp has appeared with orchestras and choirs, taking her music to small opera houses and major performance centers; from the Washington National Cathedral and The Kennedy Center to the Great Hall of New York City’s Grand Central Station.

From his early years playing blues on Chicago’s South Side to his present multi-faceted career based out of northern Vermont, guitarist and vocalist Paul Asbell has played and recorded with Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Otis Rush, Paul Butterfield, Pops Staples, Donny Hathaway, and numerous others while in his hometown of Chicago, Ill.

Since 1994, Mr Asbell has been reconnecting with his original folk-based roots in enthusiastically received festival shows and solo concerts. His two solo acoustic CDs, Steel-String Americana and Roots and Branches, received numerous rave reviews for its highly individualized twists on blues and jazz  standards and original pieces from the American roots tradition.

A founding member of award winning bluegrass ensemble Breakaway and hard driving rock unit The XRays, Peter Riley, a master of both acoustic and electric bass, slides seamlessly from Appalachian tragedy to roadhouse.

Mr Riley is a true Renaissance man: songwriter and music teacher, nationally recognized birder, piano tuner, Irish tenor and a formidable force on the links as one of Vermont’s top amatuer golfers, a scratch player any day of the week.

Von Trapp, Asbell and Riley’s vocals draw on the talents of three extraordinary singers who all stand out on lead and blend beautifully on three part harmonies. Whether an original tune, a Ralph Stanley nugget, a Lennon-McCartney classic, or an old-time gospel hymn, Elisabeth Von Trapp & The Blue Train delivers acoustic with traditional ring. 

Flagpole Radio Café is an engaging show that features music by Jim Allyn and The Flagpole Radio Café Orchestra and radio style comedy sketches by the Flagpole Shakespeare Repertory Theatre, in addition to a musical guest artist.

For further information send email to info@flagpoleproductions.org or call 203-364-0898.