St. Cecilia Music Center (SCMC) announces its first four concerts of the Acoustic Café Folk Series 2024-2025 Season. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 7 at 10 a.m.
Grammy Nominated artist and songwriter Sierra Hull kicks off the series on September 17, 2024; “An Evening with Valerie June” brings this powerful Nashville sensation to SCMC on November 12, 2024; the iconic Del McCoury Band will appear at SCMC on December 5, 2024; and beloved singer songwriter Judy Collins will return to SCMC on March 13, 2025.
Executive & Artistic Director of SCMC Cathy Holbrook says, “We are delighted to launch our first group of Acoustic Café Folk Series concerts of the new 2024-2025 season with four eclectic shows. We have two icons, Del McCoury (and his band) and Judy Collins on the series. As well as two young artists - mandolin player Sierra Hull, and Valerie June, a bright star from Nashville. We will announce additional shows throughout the season.”
Tickets for all four of the first Acoustic Café Folk Series concerts will be available this Friday at www.scmcgr.org or by calling 616-459-2224. Contact the Box Office Manager at tickets@scmcgr.org or 616-459-2224 x201 with questions. A pre-sale for SCMC donors and subscribers is happening until Thursday at midnight. Single tickets have a $4.00 per ticket fee. All concerts start at 7:30pm.
Additional Acoustic Café Folk Series concerts will be announced throughout the upcoming months and during the new season.
Four Acoustic Café Folk Series Artist Bios:
September 17, 2024 – Sierra Hull
Sierra Hull is widely regarded to be a as a master of her instrument; A two-time Grammy Nominated artist and songwriter, recognized for both her most recent projects, 25 Trips (2020) and Weighted Mind (2016), she is also the 4x recipient of IBMA's Mandolin Player of the Year, the first woman to ever receive this distinction. A pioneer for acoustic music throughout her already impressive multi-decade career, she has graced the country's most iconic stages, including Carnegie Hall, the Grand Ole Opry, and the White House. Her virtuosic abilities have garnered respect from genre-defining trailblazers, friends, and collaborators such as Alison Krauss, Sturgill Simpson, Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Bela Fleck, Bobby McFerrin, and Brandi Carlile. Originally hailing from Byrdstown, Tennessee, her unique sound is rooted in bluegrass, and she is widely considered one of acoustic music's most inventive artists.
November 12, 2024 – An Evening with Valerie June
Valerie June Hockett is a Grammy-nominated artist from Tennessee. She’s been hailed by the New York Times as one of America’s “most intriguing, fully formed new talents.” A musician, poet, certified yoga and mindfulness meditation instructor, and author, she honorably served as a Turnaround artist working with students for the President’s Committee for the Arts and Humanities and continues serving through The Kennedy Center. She has recorded three critically acclaimed, best-selling solo albums and has also written songs for legendary artists such as Mavis Staples and The Blind Boys of Alabama. Her albums have been praised by numerous publications such as Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, The Washington Post, NPR Music, Mojo, Uncut and many others. She's been featured on The Tonight Show, CBS, PBS, Austin City Limits, BBC, and many more. When she’s not touring, she splits her time between Tennessee and New York.
December 5, 2024 – Del McCoury Band
Even among the pantheon of music’s finest artists, Del McCoury stands alone. From the nascent sound of bluegrass that charmed hardscrabble hillbilly honky tonks, rural schoolhouse stages, and the crowning glory of the Grand Ole Opry to the present-day culture-buzz of viral videos and digital streams, Del is the living link. Emerging from humble beginnings in York County, PA nearly eighty years ago, Del was not the likeliest of candidates for legendary status. As a teen, he was captivated by the banjo playing of one of its masters, Earl Scruggs, and decided he’d be a banjo picker, too. The Baltimore/Washington, D.C. bar scene of the early 1960s was lively and rough. Del caught a break. More than a break, really. It was an opportunity of a lifetime, joining Bill Monroe's BlueGrass Boys in early 1963. Considered the Father of Bluegrass, Monroe transformed McCoury, moving him from the banjo to guitar, anointing him lead singer, and providing him with a priceless trove of bluegrass tutelage direct from the source. Countless hours of recording sessions and miles of tireless touring dotted the decades. Del carried on and carried with him the hallowed traditions of the form and its dedicated following. The passing years became certificates of authenticity.
Now helming the Del McCoury Band, with sons Ronnie and Rob, the ensemble did and continues to represent in a larger, growing musical community a peerless torchbearer for the entire sweep and scope of bluegrass history. Those many years, not to mention a good-natured willingness to stay alert to the latest sounds and opportunities around him, earned McCoury a whole new generation of fans, including some in unlikely places.
March 13, 2025 – Judy Collins
In her 50-plus years in music, Judy Collins has always exhibited impeccable taste in songcraft. On her landmark 1967album, Wildflowers, she curated a stunning collection featuring originals alongside songs by not-yet household names such as Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, and adventurous selections by Jacques Brel and Francesco Landini. Her discerning palette, and her literary gifts, have enabled her to evolve into a poetic, storyteller songwriter. The cultural treasure’s 55th release, Spellbound, out February 25, 2022, finds Judy enjoying an artistic renaissance. The 13-song album is a special entry in her oeuvre. It marks the first time ever she wrote all the songs on one of her albums. It features 12 new recently-written modern folk songs, and a bonus track of her evergreen, “The Blizzard.” Spellbound is an introspective and impressionistic album. It unfolds as if Judy curated a museum exhibit of her life and welcomed us into a retrospective of her most formative moments, some big and public, and some intensely personal and intimate.
Now, in her 6th decade as a singer and songwriter, Judy is experiencing a profound level of growth and prolific creativity. In a life and a career brimming with milestone moments, Spellbound is a high watermark of artistry and personal evolution. Though Judy has been writing for half a century, her new album ushers in an era of unbridled creativity. “I always knew I was going to be a late bloomer,” she says, cracking up with laughter.
Individual Tickets for the Acoustic Café Folk Series, Spectacular Jazz Series and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Series are available at www.scmcgr.org or by calling 616-459-2224. Contact the Box Office Manager at tickets@scmcgr.org or 616-459-2224 x201 with questions.
Single tickets have a $4.00 per ticket fee. All concerts start at 7:30pm.
