Upcoming Concerts:

6/8/23 ~ Joe Jencks & Heather Styka at Café Carpe, Ft. Atkinson, WI
6/9/23 ~ Joe Jencks & Heather Styka at the Three Lakes Theater, Three Lakes, WI
6/10/23 ~ Joe Jencks & Heather Styka at Fox Valley UU Fellowship, Appleton, WI
6/11/23 ~ Joe Jencks & Heather Styka at The Big Easel Gallery, Wabeno, WI
6/16/23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert at Mt. Toby Concerts in Leverett, MA
6/17/23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert at Six On The Square, Oxford, NY
6/18/23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert at Susquehanna Summer Solstice Fest, New Azilum, PA
7/13/23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert at The Ark, Ann Arbor, MI
7/23/23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert at The Listeneing Room - UU Franklin, NC - 2:30 PM
7/28/23 to 7/30/23 ~ Joe Jencks in Concert at the Falcon Ridge Folk Fest, Goshen, CT

Dear Friends in Music,

Summer 2023 is upon us! Graduations have happened or are about to, school is out or will be soon! Vacations are in the works, BBQs, and time with friends and families are happening. I hope your summer is off to a good start. I just returned from 9 days at The Kerrville Folk Festival in TX. It was wonderful to reconnect with so many friends and peers in community.

My friend Jenny Bienemann (Chicago area) has a longstanding and marvelous project called Haiku Milieu. She sends out a Haiku via email every Sunday morning. And she also ropes friends, fellow musicians, and the community into writing Haiku. (https://haikumilieu.com) This particular Haiku of Jenny’s spoke to me recently:

Whatever your gifts
They grow too heavy to bear
Unless you share them

I am still pondering this. But, I take it as a tacit invitation to consider that all of us have not only the opportunity to share our talents in community, but the obligation to do so. And that doing so is requisite not just for the well-being of community, but also for our own health and wellness. In short, we are made more whole by giving. And there are many talents beyond artistic. An ease with numbers, an intuitive understanding of the physical world, emotional intelligence, organizational capacity and drive, a capacity for nurturing others, and so much more. I like the implication that whatever our gifts may be, it is a virtuous circle to share them. Amen. Think on it. See where it takes you.

I am off this week to Wisconsin (June 8-11) for four concerts in collaboration with my long-time friend and colleague, Heather Styka. We’ll start at the legendary Café Carpe in Ft. Atkinson, and then head up to Three Lakes Theater, then to Fox Valley UU in Appleton, and finally to Big Easel Gallery in Wabeno. Please tell your friends and help spread the word, even if you can’t be there. Marvelous harmonies and good mojo will ensue.

The following weekend I am off to MA, NY, and PA for some solo concerts and a festival. Mt. Toby Concerts (Leverett, MA), Six On The Square (Oxford, NY), and the Susquehanna Summer Solstice Fest (French Azilum, PA). I hope to see many of you at one of these shows!

I’ll be attending the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly in Pittsburgh at the end of June, and I look forward to reconnecting with friends and community there. If you will be there also, please let me know.

My guest this week on My Highway Home (my radio show) is Aaron Smith. He and his band, The Coal Biters have just released a fabulous new album: The Legend of Sam Davis & Other Stories of Newton County, Arkansas. Please join us for a deep dive conversation. The show will broadcast on www.folkmusicnotebook on Sunday June 11th at 6:00 PM and again at 11:00 PM ET. The interview will rebroadcast on Wednesday June 14th at 12 Noon ET. Please adjust for your time zone.

Later this summer I will be performing at The Ark in Ann Arbor, MI (July 13), and as a mainstage artist at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (July 28-30, Goshen, CT). I will also be teaching at the Pinewoods Camp in Plymouth, MA. TradMad Week returns! More info on these and other tour dates for 2023 & 2024 can be found at: www.joejencks.com.

I hope to see you soon!

In Gratitude & Song,

~ Joe Jencks