Beloved balladeer returns for Grange concert

Friday, August 23, 7 p.m., Orcas Grange

— from Ellie Hoague for Orcas Women’s Coalition —

Connecticut-based folksinger Geoff Kaufman is coming to Orcas once again, to perform in a benefit concert at the Orcas Grange on August 23. For those of us who heard (and sang with) him before, this will be a wonderful reprise; for those who are new to him, a rare opportunity to hear a true professional balladeer.

For more than 25 years, Kaufman has been leading audiences to find truth, humor, and beauty in folk music. Until his retirement this year, he served as a Chanteyman at the Mystic Seaport living history museum in Connecticut, and as the director of the museum’s annual Sea Music Festival for many years, where he joined the world’s best maritime music performers to sing and perform. Whether singing sailor songs with his quartet, Forebitter; raising environmental awareness alongside Pete Seeger as a singing crew member of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater; or in solo performances at coffeehouses throughout the Northeast U.S. and festivals in Europe, Kaufman has entertained and touched audiences near and far.

Songs of the sea, songs of the earth, songs of the heart and the spirit — all of these are in Geoff Kaufman’s ditty bag. Ancient ballads, work songs, and songs of love; poignant songs of people in struggle, humorous glimpses of human foibles, and insights into history — you’re likely to find them all woven into the concert. At the core of Kaufman’s performance is his rich tenor voice and an exuberant love of singing. A big part of that love is to entice audiences to sing along. In this age of digital downloads and electronic overload, he likes to stress the “live” in live performance, much to the delight of his listeners.

The evening is being sponsored by the Orcas Women’s Coalition’s Immigrant Rights Group and by Irthlingz Arts-Based Environmental Education, and will go to benefit Chucho Coro’s fight against deportation.

COME JOIN US!! The concert begins at 7 p.m. Suggested donation is $15 – $25.