CONCERT AND WORKSHOP
WHAT:
Ryan Lee Crosby Returns to Tiverton’s Four Corners Arts Center for a Guitar Workshop and Concert with special guest Allysen Callery
WHERE:
3850 Main Road, Tiverton Four Corners, 02878
ADMISSION:
Tickets: $20 concert, $25 workshop. All ages.
To Purchase tickets, visit FourCornersArts.org
More info:
fourcornersarts.org/concerts-events
TIVERTON – Portsmouth’s Ryan Lee Crosby returns to Four Corners on Saturday, September 7th, for an afternoon guitar workshop and concert that spotlights the Bentonia and North Mississippi country blues traditions. Crosby has been a long time practitioner of these regional styles, which he has studied firsthand on stage and in recording sessions with Grammy nominated bluesmen Jimmy “Duck” Holmes and the late RL Boyce. For the concert, Crosby will be joined by longtime collaborator Grant Smith on percussion, whose list of international performing credits includes dates with Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, the Violent Femmes and the Atlanta Symphony. There will be an evening concert with special guest Allysen Callery.
Crosby, who relocated to Portsmouth after living and working in Boston from 1998-2022, is a full time musician, teacher and producer. During his time in the city, he played the club scene regularly while also touring the US and Europe. Over the last decade, he has performed in eight countries, at times with his CosiRecords label mate, Allysen Callery.
One of Rhode Island’s most celebrated and prolific songwriters, Allysen Callery is based in Bristol, but has made a name for herself by performing across Europe and New England. In recent years, she was awarded “Favorite Folk Act” by Motif Magazine in 2023 and 2022, as well as “Best Female Vocalist (Americana)” by Motif in 2019. Her 2020 album Ghost Folk was named one Folk Radio UK’s top albums of the year and she continues to attract new converts with her latest release, Witch’s Hand.
Together, these artists will present a night of acoustic music that stretches from the Mississippi delta to the British Isles and beyond. Crosby’s unique interpretation of the Bentonia Blues includes the music’s roots in West Africa, as suggested by Grant Smith’s calabash, which drives Ryan Lee’s 12 string guitar, lap style dobro and dynamic vocals. Callery’s timelessly haunting voice and ethereal fingerpicking evoke essences of Sandy Denny and Nick Drake. Built on years of friendship, hundreds of miles traveled and dozens of events, Crosby and Callery compliment each other on stage beautifully, with a unique program that seeks to entrance, as well as inspire the listener.
Crosby says, “I am truly glad to offer this afternoon and evening of education and culture. It is my honor to share what I’ve learned about the music of Bentonia and North Mississippi, which was brought to the Newport Folk Festival in the 1960s by such artists as Skip James, Fred McDowell, John Lee Hooker and Robert Wilkins. Anyone who is interested in learning more about the music is encouraged to attend the all levels guitar workshop from 2-4pm and then the evening concert, both at the Tiverton Meeting House. It is my hope that people who already love the music will learn something new and that those who are discovering it for the first time will find it as enthralling and beautiful as I have.”
Ryan Lee Crosby has been nominated for three Boston Music Awards and was named “Best Singer/Songwriter” in the 2006 Boston Phoenix/WFNX Radio Music Poll. He composed and performed the film score for the award-winning documentary Racing the Rez (PBS). Crosby has performed on stages all across Europe and the U.S., including at Mississippi’s renowned Juke Joint, Bentonia Blues and Deep Blues Festivals, as well as the Meadowlark Festival in New York. His latest album, Winter Hill Blues, was produced by Bruce Watson (RL Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, Fat Possum Records). Ryan Lee Crosby currently lives in Portsmouth, where he teaches and produces music from his home studio.
“Crosby’s sighing vocals and precise fingerpicking lay bare the ineffable sorrow at the Bentonia sound’s core” – Matt R. Lohr— Living Blues
“Ryan Lee Crosby brings influences from Africa and India to the Bentonia (blues) sound” – Jim Beaugez — Smithsonian Magazine
Ryan Lee Crosby Official Website: www.ryanleecrosby.com
Winter Hill Blues album link: https://ryanleecrosby.bandcamp.com/album/winter-hill-blues