City of Kingston Earth Fair

ARM OF THE SEA THEATER

Arm-of-the-Sea is an arts ensemble that fuses visual storytelling with live music in large-scale works of mask and puppet theater. Founded in 1982 by Marlena Marallo and Patrick Wadden, the company’s hybrid performance style channels the evocative power of the arts as a force for joy, insight, and community uplift. Their low-tech devices of theatrical enchantment illuminate relations between humans and the life-support networks of this blue-ocean planet.

Arm-of-the-Sea tours its original productions to cultural centers, festivals, and community venues throughout New York and adjacent states. The organization is transforming the ruins of a 19th century papermill In Saugerties, NY into a waterfront cultural park for bio-regional arts & science.

BIG JOE FITZ

Big Joe Fitz has been performing in the Hudson Valley for more than 25 years. Today’s lineup is a trimmed-down version of the full band, but you can always expect an eclectic set list featuring tunes from a wide variety of sources, including Johnny Mercer, Ernest Tubb, Ray Charles, Tom Waits, Nina Simone, and more.  Big Joe is a warm and engaging performer whose style of Soulful Swinging Blues always connects with the audience.”

CUBORICUA

GAIL ANN DORSEY

JOE JENCKS

Joe Jencks sings with a lyric baritone voice that has the edgy richness of a good sea-salt caramel. A 25-year veteran of the international Folk circuit, award-winning songwriter and celebrated vocalist based in the Chicago area, Joe delivers engaged musical narratives filled with heart, soul, groove, and grit. Known for his music of social consciousness, Jencks has penned several #1 Folksongs, including the ever-relevant Lady of The Harbor. Jencks’ CD Poets, Philosophers, Workers, and Wanderers earned #1 Artist, #1 Album, and #1 Song on the Folk Alliance/Folk DJ Chart and spent several weeks at #1 on the SIRIUS XM Americana Chart. Joe was musical director for an annual retreat: Warriors Heart to Art, writing songs with military veterans. Joe is also a recording artist, producer, and Folk DJ (My Highway Home.~ on Folk Music Notebook). A dual US-Irish citizen, Jencks has also served as a Cultural Ambassador with the U.S. State Department and worked with the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Joe has become a fan-favorite from Carnegie Hall to coffeehouses across North America.

KJ DENHERT

KJ Denhert is an award-winning songwriter based in the Hudson River town of Ossining, NY. Known for her deep musicality and powerful storytelling, KJ brings decades of experience to the stage, blending soulful vocals with roots in folk and jazz to create music that is both unique and relevant for today. She has shared stages with artists including Alicia Keys, Roberta Flack, Robert Cray, and more.

A past performer at the Clearwater Festival and long-time volunteer for Ossining’s Earth Day celebrations, KJ is honored to join the Kingston community for this special event. Set to appear with her are three wonderful band mates and collaborators, Adam Armstrong – acoustic bass, Mark McIntyre – guitar, and Eric Halvorson – drums, who all appear on her 11th independent album, The Evening News.

LISA GUTKIN

Lisa Gutkin has crafted a courageously varied artistic career by bringing an instantly relatable style to audiences through her theater, music, and storytelling. A masterful Grammy Award-winning and Tony adjacent violinist, singer/songwriter, actor, and composer, Lisa is recognized for her work with the groundbreaking, Grammy winning Jewish Roots band The Klezmatics, as fiddler for the Downtown Celtic band Whirligig, and for her scoring, performance, and music direction in the two time Tony Award-winning play, Indecent. She had an on-screen cameo and compositions featured in Sex and the City; performed in Sting’s Broadway musical The Last Ship; and her song Gonna Get Through This World – with words by Woody Guthrie, was hailed by Pete Seeger as “a piece of genius.” Lisa appears on hundreds of recordings with countless luminaries. Inspired by these, she released a CD of her own songs, produced by John Lissauer, titled From Here On In. Accompanied by phenomenal bassist Brian Glassman, Lisa presents a whimsical wander through her musical styles, intertwining Irish, Jewish, and American sounds, with improvisations. Lisa’s playing and stories are fun and poignant, and her voice has been praised by the LA Times as “hauntingly emotional.” 

MATT MUNISTERI TRIO

M’BOLLO

M’Bollo combines West African roots with American musical elements such as upright bass and acoustic guitar. M’Bollo consists of Theo Schikowitz on upright bass, Benjy Bruno and Matthew Albeck on guitar, and Amadou Diallo on Djembe and Gongoma drums. Amadou has been living in America since 2001 and began by teaching African roots drums in the Hudson Valley, collaborating with a great many different groups playing a wide variety of music. M’Bollo’s songs are written by Amadou; some are Sufi songs, others are love songs or songs about peace. M’Bollo has had the pleasure of playing at a variety of local venues, including Opus 40, the Falcon, the Colony Woodstock Cafe, the Rosendale Street Festival, Woodstock Farmers Market, and Bywater Bistro, among others. 

TOM CHAPIN

In a career that spans six decades, 28 albums, and three Grammy awards, Tom Chapin has covered an incredible amount of creative ground. In addition to his work as a recording artist, concert performer, storyteller, and activist, he’s acted on Broadway and worked extensively in television, radio, and film.

With hundreds of songs in his repertoire, Chapin serves up a tasty mix of story songs, ballads, comedic and political songs, family music, sing-alongs, old-time folk classics, and a favorite song or two of his late brother Harry’s. Tom accompanies himself on guitar, banjo and autoharp.

In addition to his musical and media endeavors, Chapin has long been an advocate for issues of hunger and social justice, environmental causes, and a supporter of music and the arts in public schools.