British musician and world citizen Rory McLeod makes his Connecticut debut and
Sloan Wainwright returns on the eve of her new album release in a July 10
concert to benefit WWUH-FM. The concert begins at 7:30 and will be held at
the Wilde Auditorium in the Harry Gray Center on the University of Hartford
campus. Tickets are $15 and all proceeds benefit alternative radio
programming on WWUH.
McLeod was born in London but has roamed the world for most of his adult life,
settling for short periods in China, West Africa, Gambia, Spain, Mexico,
France, Denmark, Australia, Mexico, the United States and many other
countries. While he sings in a broad and appealing English working-class
accent, his music has been marinated in his travels. His blues are textured
with West African rhythms, his ballads shaped with the joy of the mariachi.
He's a modern travelling troubador who uses guitar, harmonica, tap-shoes,
trombone, spoons, bandorea and djembe as guides on his musical travelogue.
He's played and recorded with Michelle Shocked, Ali Farke Toure, Taj Mahal,
Hassan Erraji, Flaco Jiminez, Ani Difranco, Butch Hancock and Jimmy Dale
Gilmore. He's also worked as a fire-eater in a Mexican circus, and most
recently provided the soundtrack for a BBC radio documentary about the East
London's 400 year old Spitalfields fruit and vegetable market. He's recorded
five albums for Cooking Vinyl, including his latest release last year,
"Lullabies for Big Babies."
Sloan Wainwright leads a funky, folky acoustic combo with what the Chicago
Tribune calls, "a brawny, extroverted sound that mingles pop, R&B, and
gospel...with a powerful, dramatic voice." She started singing early, at age
15, travelling from her Westchester, NY home to hoots in Greenwich village.
Despite her initial success, she retired temporarily from performing to raise
a family and run a very successful, and hip bakery in Katonah, NY. In 1990
she returned to performing, released a critically acclaimed eponymous album
for Waterbug, and is about to release her second, "From Where You Are." Sloan
and her fine band, which features Stephen Murphy on guitar, Liadain Clancy on
backup vocal, percussionist Greg Burrows and bassist Doug Wray, are familiar
to Hartford audiences after well-received appearances at The Folk Next Door.
Yes, Sloan is Loudon Wainwright's younger sister, and these days, Rufus
Wainwright's aunt too.
WWUH is a community supported, public alternative radio station which
broadcasts from the University of Hartford at 91.3 FM. Thirty years old this
year, WWUH has never failed to serve the community with a variety of musical
offerings, including more than 20 hours of folk and acoustic programming
weekly, along with jazz, rock, classical, and ethnic music. The station also
provides valuable public affairs programming with an alternative voice.
Tickets are available at the University of Hartford box office
(1-800-274-8587). Media representatives who would like to attend the concert
as guests of WWUH, please email Ed McKeon at emckeon@aol.com.