Save the date: October 20, 2024!
We are putting together a
live concert with a bunch
of our favorite performers
to celebrate of 50+ years
of Bound for Glory—
more details here!
October 20, 2024 •
Noon to 6 pm •
Hangar Theatre, Ithaca, NY
Calling on volunteers!
We need volunteers to help with all the facets of putting on this live show, both in the planning and on the day of the event!
Have you volunteered to help out on a Bound for Glory show in the past? We need you one more time! If you haven’t been able to in the past–now is your chance!
If you are interested in helping, please contact Jim Harper, President of the Friends of Bound for Glory, by sending an email to this address.
Bound for Glory is rebroadcasting the best of Bound for Glory shows
Each week we will be featuring a recording of a previous live show or music from a selected performer. Is there something you would like to hear? Email Phil here! Click here for ways to listen to the show.
On your radio April 21—Beaucoup Blue
Originally broadcast 2/12/17
“This powerful yet gentle father-and-son duo gets their audience lost in reverie with arrestingly soulful music. Their original songs blend folk, R&B, jazz, country, and bluegrass together in songs that might be classics, or might just sound like it.” – Sarah Craig, Caffe Lena
Beaucoup Blue is the Philadelphia-based father and son duo, David and Adrian Mowry. Adrian grew up watching his father perform in coffeehouses and clubs, but discovered the guitar on his own and learned his chops in his own band. Some well-received party gigs launched them as a duo. Over the course of several albums, they have crafted original songs that pull together eclectic influences to extend the reach of Americana music. Besides being in the top 40 of Americana radio playlists, they have won first prizes in songwriting, one in Billboard Magazine’s 2010 contest, and another in the Blues & Brews Acoustic Contest in Telluride. Their voices—one, mature and mellow, the other a higher keening tenor—along with David’s plaintive slide guitar and the pulse of Adrian’s picking underscore the drama in their haunting melodies and soulful lyrics.
On your radio April 28—
Phil Shapiro and Terry Kelleher
Originally broadcast 7/15/18
What happens when you run a live radio show and the scheduled performers end up not arriving at the last minute? You get two great performers, like Phil Shapiro and Terry Kelleher (who also happen to work on that show), to perform! That’s how this concert came about.
Besides being the host of North America’s longest-running live folk concert broadcast, WVBR’s Bound for Glory, Phil Shapiro is a folksinger and guitarist who chooses fascinating, energetic songs from the last couple of hundred years of American traditional folk song, plus newer songs written squarely in the folk tradition. Shapiro has been entertaining folk audiences throughout New York State–and beyond–for over 40 years. He is a fine finger-style guitarist; creative and lively, good at getting his guitar to “talk”, to be part of the song and the story.
Terry Kelleher can usually be found near a sound mixer, at Ithaca Contra Dances and at other folk venues. He’s been the “head techie” at Bound for Glory for the past 25 years or so. But he is also a singer, songwriter and musician who occasionally performs in public around Ithaca and Binghamton. He has a deep appreciation of story songs and is highly attracted to humorous songs. He performs a wide range of contemporary folk music in addition to his own originals.
Terry has been described as “an interpreter of the strange”, with a great love of songs by Steve Goodman and John Prine, getting ample inspiration from these fine songwriters. He gathers songs from many sources, covering topics from alien abduction to cannibalism and from pirates to broken appliances. His original songs offer a view of life from a perspective colored with humor and an appreciation for the strange twists of life. Terry’s wife has said that his mind must be a peculiar place to live.
On your radio May 5—
Chris Koldewey & Joy Bennett
Originally broadcast 11/17/19
Chris Koldewey has been singing folk music—and sea music in particular—since his early teens. He comes from a family rich in maritime traditions, and his lullabies as a child were traditional songs of the sea. Chris primarily performs US and British traditional music, and he is attracted to the stories behind many of the songs he sings. He has played concerts and festivals in both the US and the UK, and has led workshops dealing with a variety of traditional music forms. Chris plays guitar, banjo, fiddle, concertina, mandolin, and other things common to an average garage sale. Chris is a public school music teacher by trade, which allows him to spend his summers as one of the Chanteymen at Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut.
Joy Bennett has been involved in folk music for most of her life. As a member of the quartet Water Sign for 13 years, and the all-female a capella group, The Johnson Girls, for the past 15 years, she has explored the close-knit harmonies of both traditional and contemporary folk music. Joy has performed solo, with Water Sign, the Johnson Girls, with Chris Koldewey, and with guest artists in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and across Europe. She served on the board of Folk Music Society of New York for many years, ten of them as president.
On your radio May 12—Jeni and Billy
Originally broadcast 7/19/09
Drawing from Traditional Country, Appalachian, Old-time, Country Blues, Bluegrass and Folk music to create their original songs, Jeni Hankins and Billy Kemp have crafted a unique sound that is truly their own. Their sparse sound and absorbing lyrics have caught the attention of Americana greats Jim Lauderdale and Buddy Miller and folk-rock artist Jim Reilley of the New Dylans.
Their 2008 album, “Jewell Ridge Coal,” their second, chronicles the changing fortunes of the Southwest Virginia coal mining community of Jewell Ridge. Though the subject is regional, the songs are meant to present universal themes: earth and heaven, rich and poor, love and loss, work and rest.
Jeni comes by her mournful, lonesome voice honestly. Born in the coalfields of Southwest Virginia, her singing has been compared to that of Mother Maybelle Carter and Hazel Dickens. A born storyteller, she has been a writer almost since she could put pen to paper. Billy comes to the duo with a long history of music-making. He has been everywhere from Germany to the Grand Ole Opry playing his guitar and singing. A Baltimore native, he was introduced to the world of country music through the fateful movie house experience of seeing “Bonnie & Clyde.”
On your radio May 19—Darryl Purpose
Originally broadcast 4/14/13
Darryl Purpose came back to making music, with a new energy and purpose, after a seven-year sabbatical in the Rocky Mountains ending in 2012. He’s spent much of that time shepherding the release of “Singer-Songwriter Heaven: the Songs of Kevin Faherty,” and captaining the Second Strings Project, which has delivered over 20,000 sets of guitar strings to those who need them around the world. Meantime, he was inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame.
You may not have realized it, but Darryl was once recognized as the world’s top blackjack player. As a peace marcher, he crossed the U.S. over nine months, then continued on to Russia for an historic walk across the Russian heartland that culminated in a first-ever outdoor stadium rock concert, featuring Bonnie Raitt, Santana, James Taylor, and Darryl’s band, Collective Vision. He has made his mark in the folk music world with his distinctive baritone voice, a smoothly proficient fingerstyle guitar technique, a sense of drama and storytelling in his music and lyrics, and a charismatic performance that captures coffeehouse and theater audiences alike.
2012 saw the release of Darryl’s first CD of original material in ten years, “Next Time Around,” produced by Billy Crockett for the Blue Rock Artists label. This show was first broadcast in 2013.
On your radio May 26—
Jim Gaudet & the Railroad Boys
Originally broadcast 5/10/15
“One of the most respected literate musical talents on the capital region scene, Jim Gaudet is the rare singer/songwriter capable of dancing across the tightrope that stretches between wit and wisdom.”—Greg Haymes, Albany Times-Union
After several years off the northeast folk circuit, tending to family duties, Jim Gaudet reopened his guitar case a couple of years ago and returned to touring. This year’s new album with the Railroad Boys, “The Reasons that I Run,” highlights the latest collection of Jim’s stories and songs. As always, the themes of his work can be widely varied.
Jim Gaudet’s journey began as a flat picker, not a singer, playing mandolin and guitar for the Lost Country Rounders. After the Rounders split up, he worked up the courage to try covers at such Albany-area haunts as Caffe Lena and Eight Step Coffeehouse, before finally offering his own stunning, confident originals. He’s been playing with the Railroad Boys: bassist/vocalist Bob Ristau, mandolinist/guitarist Sten Isachsen, and vocalist/fiddler Tim Wechgelaer are at the intersection of folk and bluegrass.
On your radio June 2—Hugh O’Doherty
Originally broadcast 9/29/19
“He’s a musician! He’s a pilot! He’s a Renaissance Man! … I HATE him!” — Christine Lavin
A veteran of New England, Greenwich Village, and California songwriting communities, Hugh O’Doherty ‘s live performances take the audience from romance to satire, and from riveting emotional issues to downright self-deprecating silliness. He lives in, and sings about, the real world. Hugh puts the frameworks of human connections into perspective with songs of: love, humor, childhood, friendship, marriage, blended families, justice, environmental issues, and other contemporary topics.
Hugh was raised in a family in which music was as essential as oxygen. Listening to it, dancing to it, playing it. In Hugh’s case, that meant singing, and playing piano and banjo (and guitar, when his brother, Liam Tomas O’Doherty, wasn’t looking). In high school, he sang in acoustic groups with Liam and other friends. Like Liam, Hugh started writing his own songs, and acting in the school plays. Hugh continued acting in college, while playing many of the campus coffeehouses in the Middle Atlantic States. He then carved a career, flying rescue aircraft, from hangars along American and Canadian shorelines. Meanwhile, Hugh conducted the parallel artistic pursuit of playing for the acoustic audiences of many of those regions, and engaging in California, New England, and Greenwich Village songwriting communities.
On your radio June 9—
Amy Gallatin & Stillwaters
Originally broadcast 10/6/19
“Live in Europe is a super album of well-chosen material, all put over really well, with beautiful crystal clear heartfelt singing plus top class high quality bluegrass music including great Dobro licks…a thoroughly appealing album…” — Graham Hassall, host of Radio Nightingale , Rotherham, England
The powerhouse duo of Amy Gallatin and renowned resophonic guitarist Roger Williams joined forces a few years ago to explore their mutual love of country standards, served up with an acoustic treatment in the bluegrass vein. The result is a toe-tapping blend of heartfelt vocals, soaring harmonies and red-hot picking, traditional yet modern and distinct.
The two are enhanced by mandolin and vocals from Roger’s son, JD, and by veteran bassist Eric Levenson. Amy Gallatin and Stillwaters have taken the stage at some of the most prestigious venues in the U.S., Mexico, and Europe.
Amy Gallatin, born in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, lived in several states before settling in the West, where she was raised. Amy is at home singing various musical styles — country, folk, bluegrass or western swing–branding each song with soulful sincerity.
Roger Williams started playing the resophonic, Dobro style guitar in 1963, when he was just a young teenager. He has gone on to perform and/or record with many well respected Bluegrass and folk acts on the national and international circuit. Bluegrass Unlimited magazine said “Williams, like all great acoustic slide players, can be mellow and lingering or crisp and jaunty. He’s also a very fine singer (with) more than a little of Merle Haggard in voice and emotion.”
On your radio June 16—Scott Cook
Originally broadcast 9/22/19
“He sings his heart and soul, and in doing so lets light flood into your own… A good eye for imagery, a gentle human touch, a wry sense of humour, a whole lot of integrity, a warm, rugged voice and a bunch of memorable lines… Truly one of Woody Guthrie’s children.” -RnR Magazine
A roots balladeer with a rare personal warmth, Canadian Scott Cook has managed to distil the stories collected over his years touring across Canada, the USA, Europe, Asia, Australia, and elsewhere into straight-talking, keenly observant verse. Road-worn, painfully honest, and deeply human, his tunes weave threads of folk, roots, blues, soul and country over spacious fingerstyle guitar and clawhammer banjo arrangements. His fourth release, One More Time Around, was nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award. UK magazine Maverick Country named him “one of Canada’s most inspiring and imaginative storytellers”.
In 2015 he put together a seven-piece honky-tonk band for his fifth studio album, Scott Cook and the Long Weekends Go Long, and in 2017 he released his sixth album Further Down the Line, earning his second Canadian Folk Music Award nomination, for English Songwriter of the Year. The album is included inside a softcover book offering a look back, in words and pictures, on his last decade of near-incessant rambling. All the hard miles notwithstanding, he still believes that songs can change your life, and your life can change the world.
On your radio June 23—
Pepper & Sassasfras
Originally broadcast 3/14/19
“It’s the blend. It’s the instruments. It’s the ideas. It’s the creativity. It’s the authority. It’s the flair. It’s the flirting. It’s the fast fingers. It’s the laughing. It’s the words. It’s the rock. It’s the folk. It’s the wit. It’s hard to put your finger on just what you like best about Rodgers and Ramsay.”—Nancy Emrich, LilFest
Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, teams up with multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Wendy Ramsay in this dynamic folk-rock duo. Rodgers, also the founding editor of Acoustic Guitar magazine, delivers masterful band-in-a-box guitar work while Ramsay, harmonizer extraordinaire, adds flute, clarinet, guitar, accordion, and her quirky originals to the mix.
Based in upstate New York, the two musicians collaborated on Rodgers’ latest album, “Almost There”, which won the 2015 Sammy Award for Best Americana. They were selected to perform, with the full JPR Band, in the 2015 Emerging Artist Showcase at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. Now known as Pepper and Sassafras, the duo was finalist for Best Duo at FreshGrass. The duo has played in venues ranging from house concerts and coffeehouses to bars and churches.
“Jeffrey and Wendy meander comfortably from laugh-out-loud funny to beautiful love songs and rousing sing-alongs…all performed with great musicianship and goose-bump harmony.”—Jim Clare, Tunes by the Tracks
On your radio June 30—
Carolann Solebello & Joe Iadanza
Originally broadcast 2/16/20
As kindred spirits and longtime friends Carolann Solebello and Joe Iadanza are perhaps the yin and yang of performing songwriters. Solebello’s smooth, warm voice and precise rhythm guitar perfectly dovetail Iadanza’s raw, honest vocals and graceful six-string virtuosity.
Carolann Solebello was born and bred in New York City. Best known to folk audiences as a founding member of Americana trio Red Molly, she now tours both solo and with modern folk quartet No Fuss and Feathers.
Carolann’s smooth, compelling voice and warm acoustic guitar style surely nod to rural folk traditions, yet her decidedly urban sense of rhythm and sophisticated vocal phrasing bend those traditional forms into more contemporary shapes. Carolann has garnered a number of songwriting awards, and her lyrics, always sharp and incisive, delve deeper and wider than ever before on her latest release, “Shiver” (2018).
“Shiver is perhaps my most intimate album to date,” Solebello says. “Though some of these songs feature characters who are purely products of my imagination, each narrator, real or imagined, whispered to me from some unswept corner of my psyche, asking to be heard.”
Born of Italian immigrants and union activists, Joe Iadanza understands the passionate struggle of the American dream. With a voice that recalls Cat Stevens and Harry Chapin, and songs that hearken to the impassioned storytelling of Springsteen and Leonard Cohen, this Long Island native’s music is rooted in classic folk: honest and raw.
Joe’s return to the road in 2019 is marked by the July release of his third studio album, Common Man—a folk-rock love letter about trust, starting over, and charting new relationships.
On your radio July 7—The Vollmers
Originally broadcast 3/1/20
The Vollmers are an acoustic duo composed of spouses Claire Byrne of Driftwood and Brian Vollmer (Old Time Music Party & The Gerry Garcia String Band). They are full-time musicians (who also teach and lead workshops), who make their home in Binghamton. They play older Country and Bluegrass songs, archaic fiddle runes from rural Appalachia, and original roots music. Their interpretation of timeless American music is compelling and revealing. Their debut album, “Waves on the Sea” has just been released.
Brian’s first CD, Old Time Music Party, was released in 2013, and quickly received widespread acclaim. The album has had such an impact on the Old Time music community that you can always hear some of the more unusual and archaic tunes that Brian composed for the album being played at jam sessions at fiddler conventions all over the world. In recent years, Brian moved from the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina to Upstate New York. There he met and married musician Claire Byrne of Driftwood during an apprenticeship in Ithaca.
Well known as the violinist and singer in Driftwood, Claire Byrne mixes folk, country, blues, old time and a sound that’s all her own. Byrne’s music flies out of her heart and into the room in which she sings. Held akin to the musical styling of Loretta Lynn, June Carter and Janis Joplin, Byrne’s music is rich in energy and emotion and reflective of human nature.
On your radio July 14—Joe Jencks
Originally broadcast 2/2/20
“I am literally stunned by this new album. Poets, Philosopher, Workers & Wanders tells our stories, his story, and the untold stories, as an American folk master can—with heart and unfettered perfection. Add this one to the folk canon!”—MarySue Twohy, The Village, SIRIUS XM Radio
Joe Jencks is a 20-year veteran of the international folk circuit, an award-winning songwriter, and celebrated Chicago-based vocalist. Merging conservatory training with his Irish roots and working-class upbringing, Joe delivers engaged musical narratives filled with heart, soul, groove and grit. Having penned several #1 folk songs including the ever-relevant “Lady of The Harbor”, Jencks is also co-founder of the harmony trio, Brother Sun. From Festivals like Falcon Ridge, Kerrville, Mariposa, and Old Songs, to venues like Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, Jencks has enthralled diverse audiences with his approachable style. Joe is noted for his unique merging of musical beauty, social consciousness, and spiritual exploration. Blending well-crafted instrumentals and vivid songwriting, Jencks serves it all up with a lyric baritone voice that has the edgy richness of a good sea-salt caramel.
Joe’s newest Solo CD, “Poets, Philosophers, Workers, & Wanderers”, was released in 2017 to critical acclaim. The CD spent several weeks at #1 on Sirius XM’s Americana Chart, and was also the #1 CD on the Folk DJ Chart for May, 2017 – with 4 songs in the top 10.
“Beyond the fine selection of songs and the talented team assembled in the studio, what really shines through on Joe Jencks’ new album are his resonant, honey-rich voice, his open-hearted humanity, and his commitment to social justice. We need artists who inspire our better selves more than ever, don’t we?”—John Platt , Sunday Supper, WFUV, Bronx, NY