Currently starring as Karen Smith, “the dumbest girl you’ll ever meet”, in Mean Girls on Broadway, Kate Rockwell's debut solo album BACK TO MY ROOTS will take you back to the “second Golden-Age” of Broadway musicals. Follow Kate back to the shows that inspired her to leave the sane, stable world of “normal” professions behind and follow her passion to the Great White (Blonde) Way. Featuring songs by Cy Coleman, Frank Wildhorn, Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, William Finn and more.

Kate’s previous Broadway credits include originating the role of Skylar in Bring It On: the Musical, Sherrie in Rock of Ages, Margot in Legally Blonde, and Hair. She has appeared in numerous regional and touring productions across the country, and been seen on TV in Deadbeat and High Maintenance. 

 Golden Circle Tickets Also Available:

“Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right: American Life in Columns” is the title of Michael Smerconish’s latest speech and was inspired by his book of the same name.

The SiriusXM radio host, CNN television host, and Sunday Inquirer columnist recently published his seventh manuscript. “Clowns” is a compilation of 100 of Smerconish’s more memorable newspaper columns, each with a new afterword, drawn from the 1,047 he published between 2001 and 2016. As characterized by Foreward Reviews: "Michael Smerconish’s collection is compelling and entertaining—not as a filtering of daily news through a predictable ideological lens, but as a group of insightful entries into conversations about current events and issues….This sampling of Smerconish’s columns exemplifies the kind of discourse, based on reason and evidence, that makes a newspaper, in print or online, indispensable to citizens of democracy."

Readers, listeners, and viewers have come to expect no less from the Independent pundit whose common sense often sets him apart from today’s media provocateurs. His optimistic outlook, derived from his political research and unique experiences, is a message for our times: that the American political divide has been greatly exaggerated by those with a motivation to perpetuate polarization.

At ease in front of live audiences, he’s a master at telling political stories which include: his meeting President Ronald Reagan as a newly minted 18-year old voter; his appointment at age 29 to a sub-cabinet level position in the administration of President George H.W. Bush; the seven-hour dinner he had with Fidel Castro in Havana; conducting President Barack Obama’s first live radio interview from the White House; and his taking a front row seat as a CNN analyst for the totality of the improbable 2016 presidential campaign.

But Smerconish’s interests extend far beyond the political realm. He can be equally passionate when discussing such disparate subjects as family pets, lessons learned from yard sales, why he disfavors the tortuous SAT exam, and why he wants to end manufacture of the copper penny. Give him a cigar and a brandy and he might tell you about: the night he hosted Rock and Rock Hall of Fame inductees YES in his back yard for a barbecue; why he once heckled Roger Waters from the front row at Madison Square Garden but later enjoyed drinks with the Pink Floyd co-founder; the night he spent in the company of both Pete Rose and Ted Nugent; how he came to drink champagne from the Stanley Cup; spending an uncomfortable train ride with David Duke; the day he brought the “living legend” Bruno Sammartino to his law office; or the back story of his pre-trial interview with Bill Cosby.

All author proceeds from sale of the "Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right: American Life in Columns” book benefit the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center, a Philadelphia non- profit that provides social services to children who are the victims of trauma.

 A Golden Circle Ticket guarantees a seat in our front premiere section as well as admission to the Michael Smerconish Meet & Greet!

Regular Tickets Also Available:

“Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right: American Life in Columns” is the title of Michael Smerconish’s latest speech and was inspired by his book of the same name.

The SiriusXM radio host, CNN television host, and Sunday Inquirer columnist recently published his seventh manuscript. “Clowns” is a compilation of 100 of Smerconish’s more memorable newspaper columns, each with a new afterword, drawn from the 1,047 he published between 2001 and 2016. As characterized by Foreward Reviews: "Michael Smerconish’s collection is compelling and entertaining—not as a filtering of daily news through a predictable ideological lens, but as a group of insightful entries into conversations about current events and issues….This sampling of Smerconish’s columns exemplifies the kind of discourse, based on reason and evidence, that makes a newspaper, in print or online, indispensable to citizens of democracy."

Readers, listeners, and viewers have come to expect no less from the Independent pundit whose common sense often sets him apart from today’s media provocateurs. His optimistic outlook, derived from his political research and unique experiences, is a message for our times: that the American political divide has been greatly exaggerated by those with a motivation to perpetuate polarization.

At ease in front of live audiences, he’s a master at telling political stories which include: his meeting President Ronald Reagan as a newly minted 18-year old voter; his appointment at age 29 to a sub-cabinet level position in the administration of President George H.W. Bush; the seven-hour dinner he had with Fidel Castro in Havana; conducting President Barack Obama’s first live radio interview from the White House; and his taking a front row seat as a CNN analyst for the totality of the improbable 2016 presidential campaign.

But Smerconish’s interests extend far beyond the political realm. He can be equally passionate when discussing such disparate subjects as family pets, lessons learned from yard sales, why he disfavors the tortuous SAT exam, and why he wants to end manufacture of the copper penny. Give him a cigar and a brandy and he might tell you about: the night he hosted Rock and Rock Hall of Fame inductees YES in his back yard for a barbecue; why he once heckled Roger Waters from the front row at Madison Square Garden but later enjoyed drinks with the Pink Floyd co-founder; the night he spent in the company of both Pete Rose and Ted Nugent; how he came to drink champagne from the Stanley Cup; spending an uncomfortable train ride with David Duke; the day he brought the “living legend” Bruno Sammartino to his law office; or the back story of his pre-trial interview with Bill Cosby.

All author proceeds from sale of the "Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right: American Life in Columns” book benefit the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center, a Philadelphia non- profit that provides social services to children who are the victims of trauma.

Admission to this show is WFUV Invite Only!

BAILEN’s other worldly musicality springs from a very deep well, in fact, it’s in their DNA. Raised in New York City by their classically trained parents, siblings Daniel, David and Julia Bailen (fraternal twins and younger sister, respectively) immersed themselves in a record collection that included Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, Carole King and The Band. Produced by GRAMMY-Award winner John Congleton (St. Vincent, The War on Drugs) the transcendent harmonies, striking arrangements and meticulous songcraft of BAILEN’s debut album, Thrilled To Be Here, are rooted in the young group’s unusual self-assurance, preternatural insight and potent lyrical bite.  

Limited Edition Merch On Sale: SHOP NOW

As City Winery New York embarks on its 10th year anniversary we will be celebrating the legacy of 10 artists who have played our room and are no longer with us.

Join us for a special evening of the music of Roswell Rudd led by Steven Bernstein as musical director with Sexmob and special guests John Medeski, Nels Cline (of Wilco), Fay Victor, Trombone Tribe and more!

"Rudd is the most original and accomplished trombonist  in the jazz world today as well as a very important composer, arranger, teacher, and musicologist."    Steve Lacy 

Roswell Rudd commemorative wine PRESS HERE (All net proceeds go to charity)

Roswell Rudd commemorative hand made sketch PRESS HERE

About Steven Bernstein

Sexmob with special guests John Medeski and Fay Victor (with more to be announced) will celebrate the music and legacy of the great Roswell Rudd. Roswell was not just an enormous presence in the global music world, but a great inspiration to Sexmob, with a composition entitled “Roswell” included on their first CD (long before they met). RR recorded with Sexmob on their 2003 release "Dime Grind Palace", and Sexmob appears on Roswell’s “Trombone Tribe". John Medeski was a neighbor of Roswell’s as well as appearing on Roswell’s CD “Trombone For Lovers", and Fay Victor recorded on RR’s final CD, “Embrace”. Besides being a friend and a mentor, Roswell chose Steven Bernstein to be the musical director for his final two birthday concerts, and his musical and life partnerVerna Gillis had Bernstein to guide his memorial concert as well. Roswell’s catalogue of compositions encompasses more than 50 years, and we will shine a light on the whole beautiful history…celebrating his songs and sound

FOR FULL LINEUP PRESS HERE

Ryan Montbleau Band embarks on a string of northeast shows in April 2019, visiting New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire.

In 2005, Ryan Montbleau and his band headed into Applehead Recording in Saugerties, New York, to cut their debut album. With nothing more than ambition and a relentless work ethic to their names, they bootstrapped the whole thing, maxing out credit cards to fund it themselves and launch their careers from the ground up. Twelve years, eleven records, thousands of shows, and 60 million Spotify streams later, Montbleau returned to the studio for a special one-night-only concert that would become the latest entry in his venerable catalog: ‘Woodstock Sessions.’

“There was something special about performing there again after going into that same studio as a young buck trying to figure out how to make my first records,” reflects Montbleau. “Coming back, I was a decade more confident, a decade stronger in my craft. It felt like coming full circle.”

For his performance that night, Montbleau was backed not by his usual touring band, but by the acclaimed Boston duo Tall Heights (cellist Paul Wright and guitarist Tim Harrington). The collaboration yielded fresh perspective on Montbleau’s catalog, fleshing out his stripped-down acoustic performances with gorgeous vocal blends and elegant instrumental arrangements. Soulful and spontaneous, the set showcased the magic that can happen when three consummate musicians surrender themselves to the songs, when a trio of gifted artists follow their instincts to craft a whole far greater than the sum of its parts.  

“Tall Heights’ sound just naturally wraps around mine in a way that’s really unique,” says Montbleau. “Their harmonies and tones are so dialed in with each other, and their voices gel around mine perfectly. When we get together, something special tends to happen.”

Recorded in front of an intimate audience, the resulting collection combines the pristine audio quality of a studio record with the contagious energy of a live album, an ideal fit for Montbleau’s intimate, honest lyrics and spirited, dynamic delivery. The unusual setting pushed him to step outside his comfort zone and take bold artistic risks, assembling a setlist that was equal parts reimagined retrospective and trial-by-fire as he mixed stripped-down versions of songs from throughout his career with brand new tracks recorded for the first time that night. “Less is more” was the mantra, and while Montbleau may be best known for his barn-burning full-band shows, he’s no stranger to the raw acoustic setting.

“I’ve been touring solo about half the year lately, and my last release was a solo record where I really stripped the songs down to their bare bones,” says Montbleau. “I felt like those were some of the best songs I’ve written in my entire life, and this record is a perfect continuation of that. The music’s fleshed out a little bit more, but at its essence, it’s still me just pouring my heart out.”

Montbleau’s been pouring his heart out in song since the early 2000’s, when he first began performing around his native Massachusetts. He’d go on to collaborate with Martin Sexton, Trombone Shorty, and Galactic among others, and share bills and stages with artists as diverse as Tedeschi Trucks Band, Ani DiFranco, The Wood Brothers, Rodrigo y Gabriela, and Mavis Staples, but it was Montbleau’s ecstatic headline shows—often more than 200 of them a year—that solidified his reputation as a live powerhouse and an inexorable road warrior. NPR’s Mountain Stage compared his “eloquent, soulful songwriting” to Bill Withers and James Taylor, while Relix hailed his “poetic Americana,” and The Boston Herald raved that “he’s made a career of confident, danceable positivity.”

Montbleau’s never been one to rest on his laurels, though, and ‘Woodstock Sessions’ opens with a brand new song called “Looking Glass,” a gentle, pensive track that proves his lyrical prowess and melodic gifts are sharper now than ever before. “Busy people in the burning sand / Take a look up from your looking glass when you can,” he sings, his raspy voice ensconced in velvet harmony over top of intricate fingerpicking.

“That song was written just in time for the session and it was buzzing to get out,” explains Montbleau. “It's about the modern day-to-day, the ways we connect and the isolation we experience from staring at our screens all day and all night.”

The desire for connection, for a true human bond, is a recurring theme in Montbleau’s writing. The bittersweet “Our Own Place” searches for a home that’s perpetually just out of reach, while the brooding “Ships In The Night” ruminates on our polarized political climate, and the heartfelt “The Country and The Town” (a song commissioned by PBS in Montbleau’s newly-adopted home of Vermont) celebrates the power of community. Montbleau’s live shows are nothing if not communal affairs, and the confessional “Help Me” reaches out a helping hand out for anyone struggling through hard times.

“There’s still this shame tied up in mental illness or mental struggles,” says Montbleau. “So many people experience dark, even suicidal thoughts, and we need to talk about that more, collectively as a society and individually as friends and families. I wrote this song when I was going through those feelings myself, and I share it in the hopes that it can help other folks dealing with the same thing.”

Montbleau’s songs have a way of weaving themselves into the fabric of his listeners’ lives that way, offering up hope and light in moments of darkness and doubt. The tender “Carry” pledges to always be there to pick up a lover’s slack, while the striving “Chariot (I Know)” insists upon love and faith in the face of uncertainty, and the lilting “All Or Nothing” (which was originally recorded and released as a single with Tall Heights) promises better days to come. Selecting which ten tracks to include on the album from the nearly three-and-a-half-hour concert wasn’t easy—there’s no way to include every fan favorite—but Montbleau ultimately let the spirit of the songs guide him.

“I’m not trying to put out my greatest hits,” he concludes. “I’m just trying to create the best and most timely art I can.”

A lot may have changed since Ryan Montbleau first set foot in Applehead Recording, but some things will always stay the same.

City Winery 10th Anniversary Commerative Merch On Sale: SHOP NOW

Laura Gibson is an internationally acclaimed multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter, born and raised in the small Oregon logging town of Coquille. Her last album, Empire Builder, was praised by Pitchfork as "a cathartic tale of loss and redemption", and was called “a triumph” by Uncut Magazine. Both literary and raw, with a love of traditional folk music and a bent toward experimentation, she has toured four continents, and had the distinct honor of performing the very first NPR Tiny Desk Concert. She recently completed an MFA in fiction writing from Hunter College, and her sharpened language and story telling abilities are on full display on her new record Goners, on Barsuk and City Slang Records.

Tickets will be $15 Day of Show

Jon Stickley Trio is a genre-defying and cinematic instrumental trio, who’s deep grooves, innovative flatpicking, and sultry-spacy violin moves the listener’s head, heart, and feet. “It’s not your father’s acoustic-guitar music—Instead, Stickley’s Martin churns out a mixture of bluegrass, Chuck Berry, metal, prog, grunge, and assorted other genres—all thoroughly integrated into a personal style,” writes Guitar Player Magazine.

Front Country

An acoustic band born in the land of tech innovation, Front Country was never going to be accepted as an authentic American roots band out of the gate. Cutting their teeth in progressive bluegrass jams in San Francisco's Mission District and rehearsing in the East Bay, they learned to play roots music their own way, with the tools they had on hand. A mandolinist with a degree in composition and classical guitar. A guitarist trained in rock and world music. A bassist equally versed in jazz and bluegrass. A violinist with technique that could seamlessly hop between honky tonk and electropop. A female lead singer with grit and soul that was also a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. In a wood-paneled country dive bar in the shadow of the San Francisco skyline, Front Country forged a sound hell bent on merging the musical past with the future.

“Heroes are as necessary as the sun.”

-- Anton Chekhov

The Chekhov Variety Show, now in its 9th year, is NYC’s longest-running annual celebration of Anton Chekhov’s birthday.

This year’s event celebrates artist-heroes like Chekhov (one of history’s most effective prison reform advocates) and features a performance by free expression activist Mai Khoi, known as Vietnam’s Lady Gaga, Bjork and Pussy Riot all rolled into one.

Valorie Curry (The Tick) and Sam Underwood (Fear the Walking Dead) lead a troupe of Chekhov-loving performers in a night of comic readings of Chekhov’s early funny stuff and “Why We’re Miserable According to Chekhov” by Chekhov superfan and host Laura Strausfeld. Musical guests include Chapman/Sirna-Frest’s “Chekhovian Song Cycle,” New York City’s favorite Chekhov rock band, Mai Khoi and more!

Sponsored by Columbia University's Harriman Institute, in partnership with Yaddo, PEN America's Artist at Risk Connection and the International Free Expression Project

This event is 21+!

Tickets will be $15 Day of Show 

Disney Lovers, 90’s Kids, or anyone who just wants to “Let It Go…”: You’re officially invited to BE OUR GUEST.

Experience the magic while we spin your fave Disney tracks. Get ready to drunkenly sing your heart out to “Circle Of Life,” “Under The Sea,” and “Zero to Hero.” Don’t worry – we’re also throwing in the classics from the iconic Mouseketeers: Britney, Miley, Jonas Brothers, Demi, and more. If they were on the Disney channel, they’re on our DJ panel.

Let’s get Bippity-Boppity-Boozed up on FRIDAY, April 26th with specialty drinks for those bold enough to try a poisoned apple. We can't promise your prince will awaken you from your slumber but it will most definitely knock you out.

 Costumes encouraged! Bring your prince charming, evil queens, and fairy godmothers. You'll want to make this a part of your world.  

City Winery 10th Anniversary Commerative Merch On Sale: SHOP NOW

Kris Kristofferson has been making things happen his entire life. Born in Texas and raised in a military family, he was a Golden Gloves boxer who studied creative writing at Pomona College in California. The Phi Beta Kappa graduate earned a Rhodes scholarship to study literature at Oxford, where he boxed, played rugby and continued to write songs. After graduating from Oxford, Kristofferson served in the army as an Airborne Ranger helicopter pilot and achieved the rank of Captain. In 1965, Kristofferson turned down an assignment to teach at West Point and, inspired by songwriters like Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, moved to Nashville to pursue his music.

“When I was in the army, I was one of the few people outside of his personal friends who knew about Willie Nelson,” Kristofferson recalls. “I listened to a disc jockey who happened to be a Willie fan. He would play Willie’s songs and talk about him all the time. By the time I got to Nashville, he was a superhero to me. For guys like me, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson were two gods we worshipped. Then Willie and I got to be best friends. I came from a position of idolizing him to finding out he’s the funniest son of a bitch you could be around.”

After struggling in Music City for several years, Kristofferson achieved remarkable success as a country songwriter at the start of the 1970s. His songs "Me and Bobby McGee," "Help Me Make It Through the Night," "Sunday Morning Coming Down," and "For the Good Times," all chart-topping hits, helped redefine country songwriting. By 1987, it was estimated that more than 450 artists had recorded Kristofferson’s compositions.

His renown as a songwriter triggered Kristofferson’s successful career as a performer and that, in turn, brought him to the attention of Hollywood, leading to his flourishing career as a film actor. Kristofferson has acted in more than 70 films. In 1977 He won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in “A Star Is Born.” He’s appeared in cult favorites including the “Blade” trilogy, “Lone Star,” “A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries,” “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” “Blume In Love,” “Cisco Pike,” and “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.” Recent films include “Fast Food Nation,” “Dreamer: Inspired By A True Story,” “The Jacket,” “Silver City,” “He’s Just Not That In To You,” and “Dolphin Tale.”

Heralded as an artist’s artist, the three-time GRAMMY winner has recorded 27 albums, including three with pals Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings as part of the Highwaymen. Kristofferson has spent three decades performing concerts all over the world, in most recent years in a solo acoustic setting, which puts the focus on the songs. “There’s an honesty in the sparseness. It feels like direct communication to the listener,” he says. “I still have more fun when I’m with the band, but being alone is freer, somehow. It’s like being an old blues guy, just completely stripped away.”

Kristofferson has reached living legend status, but that hasn’t changed or hindered his creativity. His current CD, Closer To The Bone contains eleven gems that explore love, gratitude, aging, war, and his ever-present theme of freedom. “If you took freedom out of the songs, you’d have very few Kristofferson songs,” he laughs. Kris will release his new album, produced by Don Was, in 2012.

In addition to many other awards, Kristofferson is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, winner of the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriter Hall of Fame, and was honored with the American Veteran’s Association’s “Veteran of the Year Award” in 2002. For Kristofferson’s 70th birthday in 2006, his friends and admirers gifted him with a tribute CD, The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson. Stars including Willie Nelson, Russell Crowe, Emmylou Harris, Gretchen Wilson, Rosanne Cash, and Brian McKnight recorded 17 of Kristofferson’s compositions for the tribute. In 2007, Kristofferson was honored with the Johnny Cash Visionary Award from Country Music Television and in 2009 BMI lauded Kristofferson with the Icon Award. He will receive the Frances Preston Music Industry Award from the T.J. Martell Foundation in March, 2012.

City Winery 10th Anniversary Commerative Merch On Sale: SHOP NOW

Kris Kristofferson has been making things happen his entire life. Born in Texas and raised in a military family, he was a Golden Gloves boxer who studied creative writing at Pomona College in California. The Phi Beta Kappa graduate earned a Rhodes scholarship to study literature at Oxford, where he boxed, played rugby and continued to write songs. After graduating from Oxford, Kristofferson served in the army as an Airborne Ranger helicopter pilot and achieved the rank of Captain. In 1965, Kristofferson turned down an assignment to teach at West Point and, inspired by songwriters like Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash, moved to Nashville to pursue his music.

“When I was in the army, I was one of the few people outside of his personal friends who knew about Willie Nelson,” Kristofferson recalls. “I listened to a disc jockey who happened to be a Willie fan. He would play Willie’s songs and talk about him all the time. By the time I got to Nashville, he was a superhero to me. For guys like me, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson were two gods we worshipped. Then Willie and I got to be best friends. I came from a position of idolizing him to finding out he’s the funniest son of a bitch you could be around.”

After struggling in Music City for several years, Kristofferson achieved remarkable success as a country songwriter at the start of the 1970s. His songs "Me and Bobby McGee," "Help Me Make It Through the Night," "Sunday Morning Coming Down," and "For the Good Times," all chart-topping hits, helped redefine country songwriting. By 1987, it was estimated that more than 450 artists had recorded Kristofferson’s compositions.

His renown as a songwriter triggered Kristofferson’s successful career as a performer and that, in turn, brought him to the attention of Hollywood, leading to his flourishing career as a film actor. Kristofferson has acted in more than 70 films. In 1977 He won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in “A Star Is Born.” He’s appeared in cult favorites including the “Blade” trilogy, “Lone Star,” “A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries,” “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” “Blume In Love,” “Cisco Pike,” and “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.” Recent films include “Fast Food Nation,” “Dreamer: Inspired By A True Story,” “The Jacket,” “Silver City,” “He’s Just Not That In To You,” and “Dolphin Tale.”

Heralded as an artist’s artist, the three-time GRAMMY winner has recorded 27 albums, including three with pals Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings as part of the Highwaymen. Kristofferson has spent three decades performing concerts all over the world, in most recent years in a solo acoustic setting, which puts the focus on the songs. “There’s an honesty in the sparseness. It feels like direct communication to the listener,” he says. “I still have more fun when I’m with the band, but being alone is freer, somehow. It’s like being an old blues guy, just completely stripped away.”

Kristofferson has reached living legend status, but that hasn’t changed or hindered his creativity. His current CD, Closer To The Bone contains eleven gems that explore love, gratitude, aging, war, and his ever-present theme of freedom. “If you took freedom out of the songs, you’d have very few Kristofferson songs,” he laughs. Kris will release his new album, produced by Don Was, in 2012.

In addition to many other awards, Kristofferson is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, winner of the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award from the Songwriter Hall of Fame, and was honored with the American Veteran’s Association’s “Veteran of the Year Award” in 2002. For Kristofferson’s 70th birthday in 2006, his friends and admirers gifted him with a tribute CD, The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson. Stars including Willie Nelson, Russell Crowe, Emmylou Harris, Gretchen Wilson, Rosanne Cash, and Brian McKnight recorded 17 of Kristofferson’s compositions for the tribute. In 2007, Kristofferson was honored with the Johnny Cash Visionary Award from Country Music Television and in 2009 BMI lauded Kristofferson with the Icon Award. He will receive the Frances Preston Music Industry Award from the T.J. Martell Foundation in March, 2012.

City Winery 10th Anniversary Commerative Merch On Sale: SHOP NOW

Celebrated by the NY Times as having  “a sweet, strong, supple voice”, Melanie Kraut has headlined the legendary Capitol Theatre, sung opera on national television, starred in a new musical with Ellen Foley (Night Court, Paradise By The Dashboard Light), guest starred on primetime TV with Robin Williams, and opened for Eric Clapton to 8,000 people.  Her passion for life and music is contagious and electrifying on stage.  

Join Melanie and some very special guest artists and friends for this soul satiating evening of music as she shares her intensely personal musical journey with you.  Stories and songs ranging from her time on NY stages to LA sets, to her fascination with leather pants and The Rolling Stones, to the trials and tribulations of raising three active kids!  Musical styles will range from opera to musical theatre standards to country to the screaming vocals of classic rock n roll.  

And learn about Melanie’s newest passion - WhyHunger: musicians and social activists making huge strides in the fight against hunger and poverty.  Too many people in this country go hungryand it is so easy to be a part of the solution. Thanks to the generosity of City Winery, 100% of ticket sales will go directly to WhyHunger.

melaniekraut.com

Celebrated by the NY Times as having  “a sweet, strong, supple voice”, Melanie Kraut has headlined the legendary Capitol Theatre, sung opera on national television, starred in a new musical with Ellen Foley (Night Court, Paradise By The Dashboard Light), guest starred on primetime TV with Robin Williams, and opened for Eric Clapton to 8,000 people.  Her passion for life and music is contagious and electrifying on stage.  

Join Melanie and some very special guest artists and friends for this soul satiating evening of music as she shares her intensely personal musical journey with you.  Stories and songs ranging from her time on NY stages to LA sets, to her fascination with leather pants and The Rolling Stones, to the trials and tribulations of raising three active kids!  Musical styles will range from opera to musical theatre standards to country to the screaming vocals of classic rock n roll.  

And learn about Melanie’s newest passion - WhyHunger: musicians and social activists making huge strides in the fight against hunger and poverty.  Too many people in this country go hungryand it is so easy to be a part of the solution. Thanks to the generosity of City Winery, 100% of ticket sales will go directly to WhyHunger.

melaniekraut.com

Tickets will be $15 Day of Show

Mary-Elaine Jenkins’ music sounds like a premonition. Like sweat and perfume.  Bourbon and salt water. Spanish moss on ruins. A product of her upbringing amidst the canopy of her Lowcountry family tree, Mary-Elaine carries herself as if she had never left the humidity of the coast. But she did. First Washington DC, then Spain, and now Brooklyn. Venturing far from home, time and space removed from her roots have further distilled Mary-Elaine’s distinctly Southern charm.

 Arriving in New York City in 2013, Mary-Elaine played in venues all over town and surrounded herself with a creative network that would eventually include producer / engineer Thom Beemer. Working together out of Good Child Music Studios, they were joined by Cat Popper (Ryan Adams), Lawson White (My Brightest Diamond, Tony Trischka), JJ Appleton, and Dave Hassell, to make a record as well traveled as it is rooted in the musical traditions of the Southern coast. Her debut album, Hold Still, was released in September 2018 via Good Child Music.

ANYA MARINA is a provocative and gifted live performer, touring nearly non-stop throughout her career, both as headliner as well as in tandem with such artists as Jason Mraz, Spoon, Joshua Radin, Eric Hutchinson, Chris Isaak, Paolo Nutini, Emiliana Torrini, The Virgins, Greg Laswell, Jenny Owen Youngs, Steve Poltz, Rhett Miller, The Plain White T’s, Dandy Warhols, and Tristan Prettyman. 

Marina is also a prolific songwriter, perhaps best known for “Satellite Heart,” from the platinum-selling soundtrack to Twilight: New Moon, and her provocative cover of T.I.’s “Whatever You Like” (6 million YouTube views and counting). Marina’s songs have been featured in national ad campaigns and influential TV series (13 Reasons Why, Grey's Anatomy, Gossip Girl), remixed by Interpol’s Sam Fogarino, and called “a mixture of Liz Phair sex appeal with a dash of [Carl] Jung” by Rolling Stone.  

After releasing two critically acclaimed albums (Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II and Felony Flats) and an EP (Spirit School) on Chop Shop/Atlantic, Marina independently released her last full length album, Paper Plane and EP SERIOUS LOVE. Anya is now embarking on a new EP starting with the first single "Over You" featured in the web series Anya Marina: Indie-pendent Woman (a winner at NYC Web Fest).

“You know how writing goes for me,” John Hiatt says, offering a glimpse into his
creative process. “I get a couple of lines going, and then I just tag along as the songs start
to reveal themselves. You’ve just gotta jump inside and take the ride.”

Hiatt has been on that ride—as have we all, tagging along right beside him—for more
than four decades now. In fact, since the release of his 1974 debut, Hangin’ Around the
Observatory, rarely has more than a year or two passed without a new Hiatt collection
hitting the shelves. But after wrapping up a year of touring in support of 2014’s Terms of
My Surrender—the singer-songwriter’s 22nd studio effort overall—he found himself, for
the first time in a long time, unsure of what would come next.

Not that he panicked. “I’ve been lost before,” Hiatt says, with the self-assurance of a
man who has experienced a thing or two over his long and varied career. “Although
usually I have some sort of notion or clue where to go.”

But this time? He laughs. “I had no sense whatsoever.”

As for the cause of this uncertainty? “Life, really,” he says. “Or just changes in life. My
wife and I made the decision to sell our farm [in Williamson County, Tennessee] and
move back into Nashville. I wanted to spend more time with my family. I was aging,
with all that entails or doesn’t entail. Stuff was just happening.”

During this period of transition Hiatt did manage to compose a new song—a dusty,
road-worn meditation titled “Robber’s Highway.” But the lyrics he penned (“I had
words, chords and strings / now I don’t have any of these things”) sounded almost
ominously prophetic. “I was just thinking in terms of somebody who’s out there
hammerin’ away with his music, wondering what it’s all coming to,” Hiatt explains. “And
maybe the songs just aren’t there anymore…”

Fast-forward a few years, however, and it’s clear that, for Hiatt at least, the songs are
still very much there. And The Eclipse Sessions, his newest collection, offers up his
strongest set of ‘em in years. Long celebrated as a skilled storyteller and keen observer
of life’s twists and turns, Hiatt can get at the heart of a knotty emotion or a moment in
time with just a sharp, incisive lyric or witty turn of phrase. And the 11 tracks presented
here, from the breezy opener “Cry to Me,” to the stark “Nothing in My Heart,” the lostlove
lamentation “Aces Up Your Sleeve” to the rollicking “Poor Imitation of God,”
demonstrate that the singer-songwriter, now 66, is only getting better with age, his
guitar playing more rugged and rootsy, his words wiser and more wry.

And while he may have started slow this time around, once Hiatt got going, the material
that would eventually comprise The Eclipse Sessions came quickly. Following his move
back to Nashville in 2017, he recalls, “I put together a little area in the basement of our
new house, a space for me to write in. And the songs just started coming again.”
From there, things picked up steam. Hiatt’s longtime drummer, Kenneth Blevins,
suggested they visit a friend of his—musician Kevin McKendree—at his farmhouse
studio on in Franklin, Tennessee. There, Hiatt, Blevins and bassist Patrick O’Hearn set
up shop and began recording the new songs as a trio, with McKendree producing. “I was
on acoustic and singing, Kenneth was on a small drum kit and Patrick was on electric
bass or upright bass as the song required,” Hiatt recalls.

After the basic tracks were done, he continues, “Kevin would put either piano or organ
on, and his son, Yates [McKendree], who’s just an incredible musician, would come in
and add some electric guitar. But the main tracks were me, Kenneth and Patrick doing
everything together live, including vocals.”

This stripped-back approach put the focus right where it ought to be—on Hiatt’s guitar
and voice. “I want to push what I do up there in the mix, because it’s all I got,” he says,
then laughs. “Might as well go all in at this point!”

Hiatt certainly does go all in on The Eclipse Sessions. There’s a grit to these songs—a
craggy, perfectly-imperfect quality that colors every aspect of the performances, right
down to Hiatt’s vocals, which are quite possibly his most raw and expressive to date.
“They ain’t pretty, that’s for sure,” he says about the creaks and cracks that punctuate
his phrases in songs like “Poor Imitation of God” and “One Stiff Breeze.” “But I don’t
mind a bit. All the catches and the glitches and the gruffness, that sounds right to me.
That sounds like who I am.”

It’s the sound of an artist not only living in but also capturing the moment. Which, in
Hiatt’s estimation, places The Eclipse Sessions in a lineage alongside two of his greatest
works—1987’s mainstream breakthrough Bring the Family, which sprung from an
impulsive four-day session with an all-star combo led by Ry Cooder, and 2000’s
Crossing Muddy Waters, an unplanned and largely unplugged effort that set Hiatt on
the rootsier path he’s still pursuing today.

“The three albums are very connected in my mind,” Hiatt says. “They all have a vibe to
them that was unexpected—at least to me, anyway. I didn’t know where I was going
when I started out on any of them. And each one wound up being a pleasant surprise.”
To be sure, pleasant surprises abounded during the recording of The Eclipse Sessions—
and not only inside the studio. True to the album’s title, Hiatt and his band were hard at
work on the very day—August 21, 2017—a solar eclipse traveled the length of the
continental U.S. “I think we recorded three songs that day, and then we took a break to
go outside and watch everything happen,” Hiatt says.

The eclipse itself, of course, was hardly unpredicted. But what Hiatt observed amongst
his fellow Nashvillians during that moment of totality—his city was one of a few spots in
the U.S. to be plunged into near complete darkness—did give him pause.
“It seemed everything stopped for a minute or two,” he says. “It was like a magical little
bit of time, a harmonic convergence or something. Like everybody was on the same
page—and that page wasn’t Facebook! So it reminded me of old times in Nashville.”
He laughs. “Getting nostalgic for the old days, as old farts do…”

Old fart? Not Hiatt, not now. He’s more the guy in The Eclipse Sessions’ “Over the
Hill”—“long in the tooth” but still taking “huge bites of life.” Hiatt can only smirk about
that line. “I thought that was a funny one,” he says. “Like, ‘This is a kick… I’m trying to
make aging sound appealing!’ ”

Or the troubadour in “Robber’s Highway,” peeling himself out of a hotel bed in order to
make it to the next show. “We’ve all had nights like that—‘Can’t feel the fingers of one
hand / last night felt like a three-night stand,’ ” Hiatt says, quoting the song’s first lines.
“I mean, that’s a laugh amongst most of us who have ever been out there on the road.
But playing music is the most wonderful gig in the world. It’s just that the cost is high. I
don’t know that people necessarily know the price.”

It’s a price that Hiatt willingly, and for the most part, quite happily, continues to pay.
Since 2000 he’s been on a remarkable late-career run, releasing nine acclaimed studio
albums and embarking on numerous tours in the U.S. and abroad. In fact, even as he
prepared for the release of The Eclipse Sessions, his tenth record this century, Hiatt
could be found traveling the robber’s highway in Europe with his old backing band, the
Goners (featuring slide guitarist extraordinaire Sonny Landreth) for a tour celebrating
the 30th anniversary of his 1988 album, Slow Turning.

“It’s been cool to be out with the original band and playing those songs again,” Hiatt
says. “Because for me it was one of those records that helped to build up the following
I’ve had for the past 30 years. We really took a leap with that one.”

As for whether Hiatt could have ever imagined that, at 66 years old, he’d be
experiencing yet another great leap with The Eclipse Sessions?

“I would never have imagined any of it,” he responds. “If you’d had told me this 40 years
ago I would’ve just said, ‘C’mon…you’re pullin’ my leg!’ So to have this kind of longevity,
and still be healthy and have a wife and family and kids and everybody’s doing well… no,
I would never have dreamed it. I would have thought it’d gone away a long while ago.”

Gone away? Hardly. In fact, with The Eclipse Sessions, Hiatt might very well be gearing
up for yet another new beginning.

He considers the possibility.

“Maybe,” he says, then laughs. “Or a last gasp! You be the judge!”

He laughs again. “Either way, it’s good with me.”

http://johnhiatt.com/
https://www.facebook.com/JohnHiatt
https://twitter.com/johnhiattmusic

https://www.youtube.com/user/JohnHiattChannel

Oregon Wine Month is just around the corner – kick it off with an interactive seminar & tasting of premier wines from Oregon’s major AVA’s with Mollie Battenhouse, Master of Wine and NorthEast Regional Educator at Jackson Family Wines.

Mollie will take you through a flight of eight wines while diving deep into what Oregon wine scene has to offer for a discriminating palate.

The event will consist of the 45 min seminar and a walk-around happy hour style tasting and enjoyment.

Seminar & tasting will include cheese and charcuterie selection from our Chef and the following wines presented by Mollie Battenhouse:

Elk Cove Riesling

Willakenzie Pinot Gris

Penner-Ash Viognier

Gran Morraine Chardonnay

Willakenzie Rose

Angela Yamhill-Carton Pinot Noir

Adelsheim Breaking Ground Pinot Noir

Penner-Ash Syrah

About Mollie Battenhouse:

It's not a widely known fact that a BFA degree can make for a good entry into the food and beverage industry, but that's how Mollie Battenhouse found her way. A student of painting and sculpture, she supported herself through school by working in restaurants. She graduated cum laude from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia , but the pace and energy of restaurants beckoned, and she made it her mission to assemble a stellar resume. She enrolled in The Culinary Institute of America and graduated at the top of her class. She would go on to work at acclaimed restaurants like Payard Patisserie and Bistro and Pondicherry in New York City. Battenhouse's move into wine began with a part-time job at Joshua Wesson's Best Cellars wine shop in Manhattan. Battenhouse found her home in wine at the store; what started as a part-time gig turned into an eight-year tenure. She returned to the restaurant world to work as head sommelier at Tribeca Grill, where she was responsible for maintaining a Wine Spectator Grand Award-winning wine list. Following Tribeca Grill, Mollie moved to the distribution side of the business, and became the Director of Sales and Business Development for V.O.S. Selections in New York and New Jersey. The Education side of the business came calling, and Mollie went to work for Jackson Family Wines in 2016, where she is currently the National Director of Wine Education. Mollie is also an Advanced Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers. In her free time, Mollie is a WineRing Wine Expert, she teaches classes at The International Wine Center, swims, and trains for half-marathons.

City Winery 10th Anniversary Commerative Merch On Sale: SHOP NOW

Tickets will be $18 Day of Show

Sun Mountain Studio (as the name suggests) is on the top of a mountain in the Catskill mountains of New York over looking the Ashokan reservoir.  When Byron came off the road with The Lumineers this is where we headed to reinvent our selves.  While their tour was in motion we traveled along to support our Heavy Lifting E.P.  Even got hang out backstage at Soldiers Filed in Chicago when they were opening for U2. We did videos with Relix & Paste magazines and even did a Daytrotter session and drank a few vineyards along the way. When we’d finished threatening the muses into giving us some more songs we contacted David Baron who had worked with Vance Joy, Jade Bird, Meghan Trainor and Peter Murphy and asked if he’d like to produce our next record. Thus we found ourselves in rented a house nearby playing stupid games involving camouflaged walkie-talkies and commuting to the mountain top each morning to begin the new record. We pushed through our tissue paper ties to Americana and came out in a slightly retro pop/rock universe of cynical commentary on the current craziness enveloping our country. Promises, Promises (as we’re calling this release) takes the permanent background noise of anxiety and pushes it through a large collection of vintage synthesizers, guitar pedals and tea soaked vocal chords. It emerges as a singable, anthem driven record of nine songs that waste no time getting where they’re going. This is the best record we’ve ever made. We promise. 

Noah Chenfeld

Noah Chenfeld is a singer/songwriter in NYC. He’s released three songs on Spotify recently that have over 100,000 total plays, toured the US and internationally on drums, bass and keys with indie rock bands Blonder, Rebounder and Obliques and played the Mercury Lounge/Elsewhere and City Winery with his band and solo

“You know how writing goes for me,” John Hiatt says, offering a glimpse into his
creative process. “I get a couple of lines going, and then I just tag along as the songs start
to reveal themselves. You’ve just gotta jump inside and take the ride.”

Hiatt has been on that ride—as have we all, tagging along right beside him—for more
than four decades now. In fact, since the release of his 1974 debut, Hangin’ Around the
Observatory, rarely has more than a year or two passed without a new Hiatt collection
hitting the shelves. But after wrapping up a year of touring in support of 2014’s Terms of
My Surrender—the singer-songwriter’s 22nd studio effort overall—he found himself, for
the first time in a long time, unsure of what would come next.

Not that he panicked. “I’ve been lost before,” Hiatt says, with the self-assurance of a
man who has experienced a thing or two over his long and varied career. “Although
usually I have some sort of notion or clue where to go.”

But this time? He laughs. “I had no sense whatsoever.”

As for the cause of this uncertainty? “Life, really,” he says. “Or just changes in life. My
wife and I made the decision to sell our farm [in Williamson County, Tennessee] and
move back into Nashville. I wanted to spend more time with my family. I was aging,
with all that entails or doesn’t entail. Stuff was just happening.”

During this period of transition Hiatt did manage to compose a new song—a dusty,
road-worn meditation titled “Robber’s Highway.” But the lyrics he penned (“I had
words, chords and strings / now I don’t have any of these things”) sounded almost
ominously prophetic. “I was just thinking in terms of somebody who’s out there
hammerin’ away with his music, wondering what it’s all coming to,” Hiatt explains. “And
maybe the songs just aren’t there anymore…”

Fast-forward a few years, however, and it’s clear that, for Hiatt at least, the songs are
still very much there. And The Eclipse Sessions, his newest collection, offers up his
strongest set of ‘em in years. Long celebrated as a skilled storyteller and keen observer
of life’s twists and turns, Hiatt can get at the heart of a knotty emotion or a moment in
time with just a sharp, incisive lyric or witty turn of phrase. And the 11 tracks presented
here, from the breezy opener “Cry to Me,” to the stark “Nothing in My Heart,” the lostlove
lamentation “Aces Up Your Sleeve” to the rollicking “Poor Imitation of God,”
demonstrate that the singer-songwriter, now 66, is only getting better with age, his
guitar playing more rugged and rootsy, his words wiser and more wry.

And while he may have started slow this time around, once Hiatt got going, the material
that would eventually comprise The Eclipse Sessions came quickly. Following his move
back to Nashville in 2017, he recalls, “I put together a little area in the basement of our
new house, a space for me to write in. And the songs just started coming again.”
From there, things picked up steam. Hiatt’s longtime drummer, Kenneth Blevins,
suggested they visit a friend of his—musician Kevin McKendree—at his farmhouse
studio on in Franklin, Tennessee. There, Hiatt, Blevins and bassist Patrick O’Hearn set
up shop and began recording the new songs as a trio, with McKendree producing. “I was
on acoustic and singing, Kenneth was on a small drum kit and Patrick was on electric
bass or upright bass as the song required,” Hiatt recalls.

After the basic tracks were done, he continues, “Kevin would put either piano or organ
on, and his son, Yates [McKendree], who’s just an incredible musician, would come in
and add some electric guitar. But the main tracks were me, Kenneth and Patrick doing
everything together live, including vocals.”

This stripped-back approach put the focus right where it ought to be—on Hiatt’s guitar
and voice. “I want to push what I do up there in the mix, because it’s all I got,” he says,
then laughs. “Might as well go all in at this point!”

Hiatt certainly does go all in on The Eclipse Sessions. There’s a grit to these songs—a
craggy, perfectly-imperfect quality that colors every aspect of the performances, right
down to Hiatt’s vocals, which are quite possibly his most raw and expressive to date.
“They ain’t pretty, that’s for sure,” he says about the creaks and cracks that punctuate
his phrases in songs like “Poor Imitation of God” and “One Stiff Breeze.” “But I don’t
mind a bit. All the catches and the glitches and the gruffness, that sounds right to me.
That sounds like who I am.”

It’s the sound of an artist not only living in but also capturing the moment. Which, in
Hiatt’s estimation, places The Eclipse Sessions in a lineage alongside two of his greatest
works—1987’s mainstream breakthrough Bring the Family, which sprung from an
impulsive four-day session with an all-star combo led by Ry Cooder, and 2000’s
Crossing Muddy Waters, an unplanned and largely unplugged effort that set Hiatt on
the rootsier path he’s still pursuing today.

“The three albums are very connected in my mind,” Hiatt says. “They all have a vibe to
them that was unexpected—at least to me, anyway. I didn’t know where I was going
when I started out on any of them. And each one wound up being a pleasant surprise.”
To be sure, pleasant surprises abounded during the recording of The Eclipse Sessions—
and not only inside the studio. True to the album’s title, Hiatt and his band were hard at
work on the very day—August 21, 2017—a solar eclipse traveled the length of the
continental U.S. “I think we recorded three songs that day, and then we took a break to
go outside and watch everything happen,” Hiatt says.

The eclipse itself, of course, was hardly unpredicted. But what Hiatt observed amongst
his fellow Nashvillians during that moment of totality—his city was one of a few spots in
the U.S. to be plunged into near complete darkness—did give him pause.
“It seemed everything stopped for a minute or two,” he says. “It was like a magical little
bit of time, a harmonic convergence or something. Like everybody was on the same
page—and that page wasn’t Facebook! So it reminded me of old times in Nashville.”
He laughs. “Getting nostalgic for the old days, as old farts do…”

Old fart? Not Hiatt, not now. He’s more the guy in The Eclipse Sessions’ “Over the
Hill”—“long in the tooth” but still taking “huge bites of life.” Hiatt can only smirk about
that line. “I thought that was a funny one,” he says. “Like, ‘This is a kick… I’m trying to
make aging sound appealing!’ ”

Or the troubadour in “Robber’s Highway,” peeling himself out of a hotel bed in order to
make it to the next show. “We’ve all had nights like that—‘Can’t feel the fingers of one
hand / last night felt like a three-night stand,’ ” Hiatt says, quoting the song’s first lines.
“I mean, that’s a laugh amongst most of us who have ever been out there on the road.
But playing music is the most wonderful gig in the world. It’s just that the cost is high. I
don’t know that people necessarily know the price.”

It’s a price that Hiatt willingly, and for the most part, quite happily, continues to pay.
Since 2000 he’s been on a remarkable late-career run, releasing nine acclaimed studio
albums and embarking on numerous tours in the U.S. and abroad. In fact, even as he
prepared for the release of The Eclipse Sessions, his tenth record this century, Hiatt
could be found traveling the robber’s highway in Europe with his old backing band, the
Goners (featuring slide guitarist extraordinaire Sonny Landreth) for a tour celebrating
the 30th anniversary of his 1988 album, Slow Turning.

“It’s been cool to be out with the original band and playing those songs again,” Hiatt
says. “Because for me it was one of those records that helped to build up the following
I’ve had for the past 30 years. We really took a leap with that one.”

As for whether Hiatt could have ever imagined that, at 66 years old, he’d be
experiencing yet another great leap with The Eclipse Sessions?

“I would never have imagined any of it,” he responds. “If you’d had told me this 40 years
ago I would’ve just said, ‘C’mon…you’re pullin’ my leg!’ So to have this kind of longevity,
and still be healthy and have a wife and family and kids and everybody’s doing well… no,
I would never have dreamed it. I would have thought it’d gone away a long while ago.”

Gone away? Hardly. In fact, with The Eclipse Sessions, Hiatt might very well be gearing
up for yet another new beginning.

He considers the possibility.

“Maybe,” he says, then laughs. “Or a last gasp! You be the judge!”

He laughs again. “Either way, it’s good with me.”

http://johnhiatt.com/
https://www.facebook.com/JohnHiatt
https://twitter.com/johnhiattmusic

https://www.youtube.com/user/JohnHiattChannel