Write a commentThe Oswego Music Hall is pleased to present national award-winning singer/songwriter Cosy Sheridan on Saturday, Sept. 26th, 7:30 p.m. A reviewer for The Boston Globe explains what distinguishes Sheridan and her performances: “Her user-friendly musical philosophy sets her happily apart from the myopic, self-involved songwriters . . .. She is a wonderfully lively, very funny and enormously amiable entertainer with a keen and wicked eye for the excesses of our fast-food, TV-happy and noisome culture.” Charlie Koch and his bass will be joining Cosy for this performance.
Cosy Sheridan has been called “one of the era’s finest and most thoughtful singer-songwriters.” She considers songs “a three-minute piece of energy that you're bringing into the world," a task that she takes seriously---with humor. Sheridan first caught the attention of national folk audiences in 1992 when she won both the Kerrville Folk Festival's New Folk Award and The Telluride Bluegrass Festival Troubadour Contest, and then released her critically acclaimed CD Quietly Led on Waterbug Records. Since then she’s released nine more CDs, taught songwriting at workshops and camps across the country, and written a one-woman-show entitled The Pomegranate Seed – An Exploration of Appetite, Body-Image and Myth.
Sheridan is one of the most respected touring musicians on the folk circuit, appearing everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the Jerry Lewis Telethon and the Philadelphia Folk Festival. In 2011 when she released her tenth CD, The Horse King, The Chicago Examiner wrote: "You can't make it into double digits, and continue touring for twenty or so years, unless you know what you're doing, and do it well. Rarely do you find a CD where every song is memorable. It happens, just not often. It happens here."
Cosy’s concerts are wide-ranging explorations: modern renditions of mythology (meet Hades the Biker), children’s stories woven into tales of modern adulthood, blues and gospel guitar and love songs for adults. Her alter ego, Chlamydia, often appears with songs such as Botox Tango or Multiply Pierced. The Cornell Folksong Society wrote: “Sheridan is frank, feisty, sublimely and devilishly funny. She fuses myth with modern culture; Persephone with Botox.”
Sheridan is a finger-style guitarist. She studied with Guy Van Duser, who pioneered the transcription of stride piano playing for the guitar. Cosy admires Randy Newman and tries to make her guitar sound like his piano playing. “A lot of [Randy’s] chord progressions are drawn from the ‘Great American Songbook,’ like his use of dominant 7th chords,” she says. “It’s a distinctly American sound; Stephen Foster was the pioneer.” Back in New England after many years living in Utah, Sheridan knows and sometimes plays fiddle tunes (on the guitar), but her tastes keep drawing her toward Southern styles like ragtime and the blues rather than string band music.
Check out Sheridan’s Web site at www.CosySheridan.com. Then treat yourself to her poetic lyrics and impeccable guitar work along with Charlie’s bass at a live concert on Sept. 26th at the Oswego Music Hall. The venue is the McCrobie Civic Center, 41 Lake Street, Oswego, in a space overlooking Lake Ontario that volunteers transform into an intimate atmosphere with candle-lit tables surrounding a small stage. Desserts, snacks, popcorn and beverages are available for purchase.
Ticket prices for this event are $15 if purchased in advance and $17 at the door. Children 12 and under are half-price; under 5 are free. Tickets can be purchased on-line at http://oswegomusichall.org/ or at the river’s end bookstore, 19 West Bridge Street in Oswego. Holders of tickets purchased before 1 p.m. on the day of the concert will have preferred seating. After 1 pm, seating will be general admission. For information about money-saving Season Tickets or becoming a member or a volunteer, go to the website or contact Membership Secretary, Carol Forrest at 343-2988.
The Music Hall’s next show, Sat. Oct. 10, will bring the high-octane duo, Loren Barrigar and Mark Mazengarb, to its stage. Before the show, Loren and Mark will offer a special workshop.
The Oswego Music Hall has been run entirely by volunteers from its beginning over 38 years ago. Volunteers can earn admission to shows by helping with various different tasks. Free Open Mic shows are held on Friday nights before all Sat. shows, making it a popular place for local and regional talent to be heard.
Music Hall concerts are made possible in part with funding from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. For more information call 315-342-1733 or access the Music Hall website: http://oswegomusichall.org/
