News
Joe Jencks ~ Fall 2025 Concerts & News
Friday, September 19, 2025
Joe Jencks, sharing a workshop stage with John Gorka and Joe Gorka at The Fox Valley Folk Festival, Geneva, IL over Labor Day weekend, 2025
Upcoming Joe Jencks Concerts & Performances:
Sept. 20 ~ 8th Step Concerts at Proctors Theater in Schenectady
Sept. 22 - Oct. 7 ~ JJ in Ireland
Oct. 9 ~ Inside The Song ~ Online performance interview w/ Tina Ross & The Folk Project
Oct. 15 ~ Benefit for the League of Women Voters - Rockford, IL
Oct. 16 ~ Cafe Carpe, Ft. Atkinson, WI. Co-bill w/ Kaia Fowler
Oct. 23-26 ~ FARM - Folk Alliance Region Midwest
*Oh, Canada!
Oct. 29 ~ Pearce House Concerts ~ Goderich, ON
Oct. 30 ~ Take Note Music House Concert ~ Barrie, ON
Nov. 1 ~ Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist ~ Toronto, ON
Nov. 2 ~ 1st Unitarian Ottawa, ON
Dear Friends in Music,
A brief newsletter this month.
The world feels like it keeps shifting faster than I can keep up. But I’m doing my best. And I am sure that you are too.
It is a great time to be in the world, witnessing first hand the shape of things rather than relying on large media outlets as a sole source of information. Or relying on social media, which can keep us connected, but also sometimes disoriented.
Being in the world remains my favorite way to acquire actual data. Even if the data is anecdotal or limited, it is still useful. And the data says that most humans are doing the best they know how to do, with the information they have. The data also suggests that getting together for community time, by whatever means, is a solid contradiction to feelings of isolation, overwhelm, and freneticism. Potlucks, concerts, spiritual communities, rallies, demonstrations, quilting groups, a yoga or Pilates class, the local public library lecture series, community theater, etc. By whatever means, it seems being in dialogue with other humans in the old-school analogue tradition remains a solid contradiction to feelings of confusion and hopelessness. Perhaps obvious. But so is hydration. And sometimes we forget to do that too.
Even if you can’t go out for whatever reason, check out online communities like The Daily Antidote of Song. They meet at Noon ET, every day, and have done so since the beginning of the pandemic. I have hosted and been a featured artist/ song-leader for DAS many times. And it continues to lift me up every time. There are also other online communities in the music world where you can participate in open mics via Zoom, where you can be in dialogue, and engage in realtime connection. More than anything, remaining connected to each other is, I think, the key to solving the problems, whatever they may be. And for me, that engagement with community is the key to practicing both a commitment to action and a connection to hope. Both are needed.
~~~~~
I will be in concert this weekend for The 8th Step Concerts at Proctors in Schenectady, NY. The 8th Step always produces amazing concerts and I am honored to return to kick off their 58th season of presenting the finest in Folk music. Margie Rosenkranz and a host of volunteers make these shows possible. Links below to a recent media interview, and concert details.
Then, I’m off to Ireland for a few weeks. Yay.
Upon my return, I will be performing in Illinois, Wisconsin, and then off to Ontario for a run of shows at the end of October. Oh, Canada! Always a beautiful place to be in the fall.
Wishing you well from the road.
In Gratitude & Song,
~ Joe Jencks (9-19-25)
* This article recently appeared in the Daily Gazette in Schenectady. Written by Don Wilcock, a veteran on the Viet Nam War who has also been a music journalist for more than 50 years!
** More concert dates for 2025 & 2026 can be found at: https://joejencks.com
*** The Daily Antidote of Song: https://carpediemarts.org/daily-antidote-of-song
