“Beyond A Simple Folk Song” Concert 2023

“Beyond A Simple Folk Song” is a concert which challenges folk artists to go beyond what they normally do and stretch their art beyond their comfort zone.  For this concert, please join our headline act, Betty and the Baby Boomers, for a “trip” down memory lane as they wander through “their generation” making periodic stops with signature tunes from a great musical era.

The Stissing Center, July 30, 2023 at 2pm, 2950 Church St, Pine Plains, NY 12567
Tickets are available on line at the website – www.thestissingcenter.org
$15 in advance, $20 at the door

Betty and the Baby Boomers

”Sounds like either a yuppie- oriented pop group or an outfit starring Betty with some sort of backup band. As it happens, neither is anything remotely like the reality. Despite having given her name to the proceedings, Betty Boomer is just one of the equal partners in a likable and eminently folk-oriented [quintet] … I enjoyed the group very much.”

                                    Bob Sherman, host of “Woody’s Children” –
WQXR and WFUV, New York, NY

When Betty Boomer, Jean Valla McAvoy, Paul Rubeo, and Steve Stanne began singing together more than 35 years ago, the name made sense—a play on Betty’s name and the fact that they all are children of the baby boom era. If they’ve had second thoughts, it’s too late to change now. “Betty and the Baby Boomers” appears on the covers of the band’s five CDs, and the name is known to folk music fans from the mountains of Connemara in Ireland to the Catskills overlooking New York’s Hudson Valley, their home base.

The American folk genre covers many styles.  In addition to original songs from Jean, the Boomers draw on sources including traditional tunes, Americana roots music, contemporary artists like Greg Brown, Bruce Springsteen, and Dougie MacClean, and classic “folksingers” like Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Phil Ochs.  Whatever the source, each song is “Boomerized” – set in distinctive arrangements with three and four-part harmonies. The singers’ voices differ in range and color; they combine in a unique and resonant blend that is the Boomers’ signature. Their vocals are coupled to impressive instrumental work on guitars, Dobro, bass, bodhran, and kazoo, or sometimes a capella selections.

The group’s talents have led to frequent performances in venues such as the Eighth Step in New York’s Capital region, the Towne Crier in Beacon, and at Phil Ochs Song Night concerts in rooms ranging from New York City’s Village Gate to the Nameless Coffeehouse in Cambridge, Mass. The group is regularly booked along with the likes of the Chieftains, Paul Brady, and Christy Moore to perform during the Clifden Community Arts Festival in County Galway, Ireland; 2022 marked the Boomers’ 17th engagement at this festival, which has been running for forty-five years.

HVFG Opening Act:

The Coffeehouse – A Creative Community

Join Kevin Becker, Phil Miller, Neil Okeson and Jim Pospisil as they take you on a collaborative journey in song, exploring past and present-day coffeehouse communities.