Contemporary Folk Music at The Lace Mill featuring Barry Oreck & Markley & Balmer
Brooklyn Singer-Songwriter Barry Oreck & his band share a bill with “musicians’ musicians” Markley & Balmer
Barry Oreck is a Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter known for evocative storytelling, rhythmic and stylistic variety, and songs that move and motivate. He explores a range of topics from the personal to the political, touching on societal and ecological issues as well as the perils of aging and long-forgotten love. His stellar band, Rima Fand (violin, marimba, vocals), Jesse Miller (guitar, mandolin, vocals) and Adam Armstrong (bass) weave interlocking instrumental arrangements and tight three-part harmonies to offer a satisfying and original take on songs by Oreck as well as by other contemporary songwriters and traditional songs that invite audience members to sing together.
Oreck is releasing his fifth album, We Were Wood, with 10 new songs including historical ballads, lost and found love songs, celebrations of trees and nature, and contemplations on life in this unsettling moment. Oreck’s music does not fit neatly into a single folk style or genre; the new tunes span a wide range of genres from bluesy folk, to R&B, folk rock, and Celtic. Oreck is also a long-time NYC performer and choreographer in dance and theater (nicollandoreck.com) and a teacher/researcher in arts education (barryoreck.com).
Markley & Balmer:
“Gilberto Gil and Joni Mitchell fall in love on a road trip across America and look for breakfast in New Jersey”
—Jonathan Byrd“…some of the most accomplished musicians I’ve ever heard…the second coming of Ella and Bird…the Tuck and Patti of the singer-songwriter world.”Sometimes described as “musicians’ musicians”, Lisa Markley and Bruce Balmer are an indefinable duo who blend jazz, folk, pop, be-bop, art song, and the odd polka into a mix that raises the bar for songwriters and instrumentalists alike.
In 2022, after a combined 80+ years of performing, Markley & Balmer were selected for the GRASSY HILL EMERGING ARTIST showcase at the FALCON RIDGE FOLK FESTIVAL, proving that the artist must be open to growing and perpetually emerging throughout their entire lives, that genre walls can (and must) be broken down, and that the song is all the open listener needs.
It’s the song.
It’s the song.
It’s the song.
