Roots Report

Okee dokee folks… The other night, on a long drive back from a gig ,my mind wandered. I was thinking about editing podcasts and the fact that I have to listen to myself talk, a lot. I tend to analyze the way I speak and don’t always like it. I used to try to not let my Rhode Island accent creep in but alas, it does. One word in particular that bugs me is how I pronounce the word “concert.” I say “kahn-sit.” Bad, I know. A long time ago I recorded a song called “March On” and a friend used to make fun of me because I sang “mahch orn.” I really used to try to keep my R’s where they belonged and not distribute them into places they didn’t. Whenever I got tired or talked a lot they started to intermingle. I called this the Eliza Doolittle factor. If you don’t know who she is I guess that you have never seen My Fair Lady or Pygmalion. Simply put, professor Henry Higgins teaches Eliza how to speak clearly, lose her Cockney accent, and exercise proper etiquette. “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!” But at one point, after she masters this all, the Cockney “oys” creep back in when she gets frazzled or excited. Yeah, that happens to me no matter how hard I try to prevent it. I used to care, but now, like mostly everything else, as I got older I stopped caring. I am a Rhode Islander and that is just how we talk! Whateva. Read on…

Stone Soup Coffeehouse, one of the oldest and most enduring New England folk venues, will have a new annual fundraiser on June 1 starting at noon. A potpourri of performers will take the stage in support of the venue. Line-up includes: The ‘Mericans, Bill Harley, Katherine Quinn, The Swampbirds, Ed Dean, Sarah Lucie, Paula Clare, Maddie Cardoza, Bird & Augur, Kate Mick, Pete Avitable, and Pete Vilbig. The Red Bandana Awards will also be held at this time. This concert closes out the spring season of Stone Soup.

For more about this show, stir over to stonesoupcoffeehouse.org

Don’t miss the “Midnight Train to Georgia” when music icon Gladys Knight steams into Bally’s Twin River Event Center on Friday, June 7. The seven-time Grammy Award winner has captured hits in pop, gospel, R&B, and adult contemporary categories. In her first release since 2013’s Another Journey, Knight’s 8th solo recording, Where My Heart Belongs, is an inspirational gospel album. Knight is also a two-time Grammy winner in the Gospel category and recently won an NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Gospel Album.” During her 60+ year career Knight has scored with songs such as: “Neither One of Us,” “I’ve Got to Use My Imagination,” “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me,” and of course, “Midnight Train to Georgia.” Knight has been dubbed the “Empress of Soul” and still wows audiences worldwide with her rare contralto voice.

For more about Knight, sing over to gladysknight.com and for more about the show roll the dice at: casinos.ballys.com/lincoln

That’s it for now. You can listen to my podcasts at motifri.com/rootsreportpodcast. You can also find my concert photographs at motifri.com/fuzeksfotos. Thanks for reading and listening. johnfuzek.com