Award-winning songwriter Namoli Brennet is an openly transgender folk artist. She is a breathtaking and moving performer, delivering music and lyrics resonating with authenticity and true to her desire to help create a more compassionate, understanding world. Her technique draws on a wide range of influences – everyone from Shawn Colvin and Jonatha Brooke to Patty Griffin and Joni Mitchell.

Equally at home on the piano or mandolin, Namoli also engineers and produces her own CDS (her ninth is scheduled for release in October 2011). But beyond the technical is something way more important: Brennet has an innate understanding of the language of music, and she skillfully uses it to communicate insights that are both poetic and powerful.

Saturday, October 22, 2011
Doors Open 7pm, Concert Begins at 7:30 pm

Admission: $15 at the door

Advance Admission: $12
by cash or check made out to Namoli Brennet,
by Credit Card $13.50 (includes $1.50 service fee)
(please call us at 903-852-2781 to arrange) or click HERE for more details.

Come early and see Dave Smith pushing a shopping cart!

The Cottonwood Art Festival is a bi-annual event which features works from the nation’s top visual artists. Located in scenic Cottonwood Park in Richardson, Texas (map), this prestigious art show has been a part of Richardson life for over forty years. The next festival will take place on October 1 – 2, 2011. Admission is free.

Cottonwood Art Festival is a juried show. This year approximately 1,400 artists submitted their work for consideration. For each show, jurors select over 240 artists to exhibit their museum-quality work. The artists compete in 14 categories: 2D Mixed Media, 3D Mixed Media, Ceramics, Digital, Drawings/Pastels, Fiber, Glass, Jewelry, Leather, Metalwork, Painting, Photography, Sculpture and Wood. A list of this year’s artists can be found on the Event Artists page.

The featured artist is chosen to represent Cottonwood’s marketing pieces, including t-shirts and posters. More information on the artist and his work can be found on our Featured Artist page.

Cottonwood isn’t just about the art, though. The festival also features local bands who perform the best in rock, country, jazz, blues, swing and folk. Be sure to check out the courtyard, where you can sit in the shade by the lake and relax while you enjoy the music. Food and spirits are also available in the courtyard. The beautiful atmosphere and ambience of the courtyard is created and designed by Donal McKinney, owner of Green Sculptor.

ArtStop is the childrens’ area at Cottonwood. By heading across the bridge our pint-size Picasso’s will enjoy a wide array of art and craft activities. Children of all ages will have the opportunity to create a sculpture hat from scrap, design a masterpiece in plaster, add to an enormous collage, or practice their hand at sculpting clay on a real potter’s wheel.

Whether you’re shopping for art, listening to music, enjoying the outdoors, or making art of your own, Cottonwood has something for you:
Fast Facts / Frequently Asked Questions

When?
Saturday, October 1, 2011: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sunday, October 2, 2011: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm

Where?
Cottonwood Park, centrally located in the metroplex at 1321 W. Belt Line Rd. Richardson, TX (just one block east of Coit Rd).

David LaMotte

As part of his “Art of Peace Gathering” in East Texas, David will be joining us for a Saturday evening concert here at The Old Firehouse.

David is an award-winning songwriter and itinerant peace activist. A veteran of ten CDs and 2000 concerts on four continents, he suspended his eighteen-year music career at its peak in 2008 to accept a Rotary World Peace Fellowship to study International Relations, Peace and Conflict Resolution at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. As part of that study, he also spent three months in rural Andhra Pradesh, India working with a Gandhian development organization.

For eighteen years David toured full-time as a singer/songwriter, spending nearly 200 days per year on the road. In that time, he developed a large and loyal following around the world. His music has been honored with numerous awards and grants as well as artist sponsorships from Taylor Guitars and John Pearse Strings.

According to the Boston Globe, his music“…pushes the envelope with challenging lyrics and unusual tunings, but he also pays homage to folk tradition.” The Washington Times says that David’s “…guitar-spanking open-tuning
grooves as well as gentle folk-tinged pop. His lyrics range from insightful image-driven stories to equally insightful humor.”

Come listen and derive your own opinion at this first concert in our 2011-12 season.

Bill Nash

Bill’s songs can be summed up as covering a wide base, with much of his writing style influenced by the song writing styles of the likes of Harry Chapin, James Taylor and Dan Fogelberg. His songs are written about real people living in real situations, many are true stories, always with his unique spin on things. Bill has been a musician all his life (40+ years playing and teaching guitar) and his guitar style is well refined with a bent towards finger picking and a voice that will make the listener want to hear more and more.

Bill also has lived with multiple sclerosis for the last 23 years, which has caused him to find unique ways of approaching the art of playing the guitar, using altered tunings and multiple capos to facilitate using fewer fingers while playing (he will describe some of this at the show).

Saturday, September 17, 2011
Doors Open 7pm, Concert Begins at 7:30 pm

Admission: $15 at the door Advance Admission: $12 by cash or check made out to David Lamotte, by Credit Card $13.50 (includes $1.50 service fee) (please call us at 903-852-2781 to arrange) or click HERE for more details.

Save the date. Buy & sell some gear.

Arlington Convention Center

4 Amigos Guitar Show

This down to earth musical storyteller, with his dry, barb-witted social commentary combined with a deep underlying compassion, knows that the best stories are the little things in the lives of everyday people trying to muddle through with some grace. His great gift as a writer is to infuse these stories with humanity and humor, making them resonate profoundly with his listeners. His spoken introductions to his songs can be as spellbinding as his colorful lyrics, which he brings to life with a well-travelled voice and a delivery that’s natural and conversational. His groove-oriented strumming and fingerpicking draw on influences from the mountains of western North Carolina where he now lives, and from lots of different good old traditional folk stuff of all kinds.

Chuck Brodsky’s songwriting pokes fun at political corruption, road rage, mischief he made as a kid, even dumping garbage in the river; he sings about unsung heroes and forgotten but incredible people…odd characters from the game of baseball, migrant fruit pickers, the Goat Man, a clown, or “Radio,” a developmentally disabled man and the love showered on him for 40 years at a high school in South Carolina (this song was used in the 2003 movie “Radio”).

The New York Times says…”What tales this singer-songwriter from Philadelphia has…With insight and good humor, he has taken these life experiences and distilled them into old fashioned story songs brimming with wit and compassion.”

This is a Saturday evening show.  Click HERE for details.

Don’t miss our final concert of the season…it’s sure to be one you’ll remember!

At a time when national fame, fortune and reputation are often awarded to performers of pedestrian and limited talents and abilities, it is wholly refreshing to encounter an artist whose work – often grossly under-recognised – possesses a genius that cannot be denied, ignored or overlooked. Johnsmith is one such artist; a gifted singer-songwriter, moving performer and roaming troubadour.

John possesses these gifts in abundance. His song-lyrics are finely shaped and powerfully moving and voiced with a spirit and soulfulness that is earned through the embracing of the joys and the pains of a life (both physical and spiritual) lived to the fullest.

Tom Kimmel writes…”When I first heard John Smith my attention was captured by his sweet, earthy voice and fine craftsmanship, but what drew me in was his heart. It’s clear that he’s lived the pain in his songs and that his optimism is hope born of wisdom. That’s a rare thing and a gift to all who hear him.”

Each of John’s albums to date seek to explore and develop his unique vision as a wordsmith and his undeniable talent as a musician. As always, John’s musical journey takes the listener in to the heart of what matters to him as an artist..

The show is Sunday at 3:30.  Click HERE for more information.

Pierce Pettis, adored by both critics and public alike, is one of this generation’s most masterful songwriters. His music is distinguished by his uncanny ability to capture universals in human experience by drawing on the humor and trials in daily life. Pettis’ music can simultaneously pull on our hearts and keep us laughing. The beautiful harmonies, inventive yet subtle percussion, strong guitar, and Pierce’s rich vocals are a constant throughout his body of work.

“Pierce Pettis doesn’t write mere songs, he writes literature…End to end the songwriting is brilliant…”

“Across the entire range of his styles, Pettis constantly reinforces the sensation that he is a thoughtful, sensitive, serious poet, a man who looks deep and ponders long.”

Pettis has performed in all 48 continental states as well as in Canada and Europe, appeared nine times on American Public Radio’s Mountain Stage, been featured on National Public Radio’s E-town, Morning Edition and World Cafe … appeared on VH-1, CBS News, and the Nashville Network. We’re thrilled to have him on The Old Firehouse stage!

The show is Saturday at 7:30.  Click HERE for details.

“These folks are wonderful; fun, energetic, and great musicians.

“100% of your recommended daily allowance of infectious musicality and non-stop energy.
I love the Smalls.”
Susan Werner, Singer/songwriter

Small Potatoes is Jacquie Manning and Rich Prezioso.  This Chicago-based duo has been touring on the folk circuit since 1993 and in that time they’ve become sought-after regulars at many clubs, coffeehouses across the U.S.  They have made repeat appearances at major folk festivals, including the Kerrville Folk Festival, the Walnut Valley Folk Festival, and Philadelphia Folk Festival. They were one of the “most requested” acts at the 1999 Falcon Ridge New Artist Showcase.  Jacquie is also a past winner of the Kerrville New Folk Songwriting Contest.

They call themselves eclecto-maniacs.  They describe their music as “Celtic to Cowboy” and say in has taken them “years of careful indecision” to come up with a mix of music that ranges from country, blues, and swing to Irish, with songwriting that touches on all of those styles and more.  Their four recordings, “Alive!”, “Waltz of the Wallflowers”, “Time Flies”, and “Raw” cover all these styles.  They both sing, they both play guitars and an array of other instruments.  They even yodel.  Dirty Linen Magazine called them “one of the most polished, inventive, and entertaining shows on the circuit.”  Sing Out Magazine called them “wonderfully eclectic” and said “Small Potatoes might well be leading mainstays on the folk scene for years to come.”

“Make ‘em Laugh, Make ‘em Cry…”

“Jacquie Manning and Rich Prezioso combine cleverly witty with powerfully poignant songs, along with well chosen covers to present an unusually entertaining and involving repertoire engagingly delivered. Prezioso’s song “1000 Candles, 1000 Cranes” is one of the most outstanding songs of the past 50 years.”
Rich Warren
The Midnight Special – WFMT Radio, Chicago, IL

Click HERE for details.

In 1987, LJ Booth came out of the central Wisconsin woodwork with his debut album YARNS, which was described as “simply great music.” In the years following, he entered three songwriting competitions; Kerrville’s New Folk, Telluride’s Troubadour, and Falcon Ridge’s Showcase….and won all three.

Born in the Philippines, most of LJ’s childhood was spent overseas… living in northern India from the age of five to ten. With traveling in his blood, LJ hitchhiked extensively in the States and in Europe after leaving home…working a variety of jobs from oil rigs in Wyoming to playing street music in Germany and Switzerland.

Acoustic Guitar said “..this gifted singer-songwriter skillfully connects the dots between his own past, present and future with succinct, often powerful lyrics, appealing melodies, and agile fingerpicking… his keen fascination with life’s journey draws listeners closer to the memories and revelations that make it worth traveling..”

The show is at 3:30 on Sunday. Click HERE for details.