As part of its 10th Anniversary slate of events, The Center for the Arts at Monmouth University has announced that tickets are now on sale for a Sunday, November 1, concert by the folk-Americana music duo The Pine Hill Project.<\/p>\n
Scheduled for 7 p.m. inside the Pollak Theatre, the concert marks the first area appearance for the project co-fronted by two musical friends and contemporaries \u2014 the professional psychologist turned singer-songwriter Lucy Kaplansky, and Lakehurst-born folk artist Richard Shindell. At the same time, it represents a long-awaited \u201cwelcome back\u201d to the Monmouth campus for both performers, who previously appeared on the Pollak stage in 1999 (and in the company of Dar Williams) as members of Cry Cry Cry.<\/p>\n
That one-off partnership notwithstanding, The Pine Hill Project represents the first true collaboration for the two musicians, even after numerous harmonizing guest shots on each other\u2019s albums throughout the years. The 2015 release Tomorrow You\u2019re Going finds the veteran solo performers interpreting compositions by an eclectic group of influences, with classic clarity and road-seasoned wisdom \u2014 and, in a nod to the realities of the modern music business, a Kickstarter campaign that summoned the Project into being through the magic of fan-based online financing.<\/p>\n
On record, Kaplansky and Shindell team with Grammy-winning Americana producer Larry Campbell and a small-combo band that boasts legendary Little Feat keyboardist Bill Payne; drawing from a musical mix encompassing everything from the traditional folk-blues \u201cI Know You Rider\u201d to U2\u2019s \u201cThe Sweetest Thing,\u201d with whistle-stops at the works of Greg Brown, Nick Lowe, Porter Wagoner, and Dolly Parton.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an approach that has extended to the Project\u2019s live performances; an itinerary that has seen Shindell, Kaplansky and Campbell augmenting their sets with interpretations of signature songs by The Band (\u201cThe Weight\u201d) and others. A performance by The Pine Hill Project \u2014 a still-new band that carries the heft of its founders\u2019 celebrated solo catalogs and unerring instinct for great songcraft \u2014 promises an excursion to that crossroads where folk, rock, country, pop, and blues kick off their shoes and share a dance.<\/p>\n