Dear Friends in Music,
As always, I hope that you are well. Having survived the chaos of another election cycle, may we all find peace and comfort in connecting with community, making music, and moving forward with the many other aspects of life that bring us joy.
I am excited and honored to be offering concerts this weekend and coming week for:
11/11/22 ~ Friday Night Folk ~ New London, CT
11/12/22 ~ Walkabout Clearwater Coffee House ~ White Plains, NY
11/13/22 ~ Concerts in The Nave ~ International Music Series ~ Stone Ridge, NY
11/19/22 ~ Old Sloop Coffee House ~ Rockport MA
*More details on www.joejencks.com.
In December I will have some additional concerts out east:
12/1/22 ~ Kendal Quaker Communities, near Philly
12/2/22 ~ Kendal Quaker Communities, near Philly
12/3/22 ~ Season of Hope, Johnson City, NY
12/9/22 ~ La La Land Presents at Coddington Road Community Center, Ithaca, NY
12/10/22 ~ Golden Link Folksinging Society, Rochester, NY
As I think about what I missed most for two years, while on the Great Basement Tour of the Pandemic, it was not the music. I was making music every day. It was the people. And 2022 has been a remarkable year for reconnecting with community and remembering why I log long hours on the road, sleep in strange beds night after night, and carry a substantive load of instruments and gear, multiple times a day. It is people who are at the center. And it is good to be back in the process of connecting with communities in person and connecting communities to each other. This is what I have missed the most.
I also missed hearing people sing together. Hearing you all raise your voices again in song has been one of the real highlights of this year. Returning to concert halls from New England to Ontario, from New Mexico and Arizona, to Texas, to North Carolina and so many points in between. I am grateful for community, for music, and for the stalwart efforts of so many people who keep stitching the quilt of community together by hosting concerts and holding space for magic to happen. Through festivals, camps, concerts, community centers, and conferences, spanning 2 continents, 3 countries, and 37 states ~ it has been a year of gratitude and reconnection. And it continues.
As we enter the Thanksgiving Season, I am grateful for you. Grateful for kindness and hospitality in so many ways great and small. Grateful for the support of the Folk DJ community in lifting up the new album, The Coming of the Years. I am grateful to all of you for helping me put the new music into the world. See a list of advanced supporters here: (https://www.joejencks.com/news/f/News/3332)
And I am grateful for making music with friends and colleagues, for countless volunteer hours spent by so many people who keep the music happening, and for helping hands in so many ways witnessed and unknown.
May your Thanksgiving be filled with an awareness of how much there is to be grateful for, even as we hold an awareness of so many losses in the last few years. May gratitude be the greater of our emotions and may it direct our actions and interactions.
Wishing you a safe and heartfelt Thanksgiving. I hope to see you on the road somewhere, soon!
In Gratitude & Song,
~ Joe Jencks
P.S. I am deeply honored to be included in a new compilation CD produced by the Music to Life Foundation (Elizabeth Stookey Sunde & Noel Paul Stookey) called Hope Rises II. It is a celebration of musicians and performance artists useing their talents to work for progressive change and social justice. The CD was officially released on November 10th and is available in physical and download form - from the Music to Life Foundation: https://www.musictolife.org. Check out an astonishingly gifted set of artists and all of the amazing work that Music to Life is doing by supporting Changemakers in the arts!
P.P.S. My radio show, My Highway Home, can be heard this week on Folk Music Notebook at 6:00 PM ET on Sunday Nov. 13, again at 11 PM ET on Sunday Nov. 13, and again at 12 Noon on Wednesday Nov. 16. A showcase of some new music from 2022 by colleagues and friends. You can tune in at www.folkmusicnotebook.com. Please adjust for your time zone.
