Acclaimed singer and songwriter Susan Werner will return to Long Island on June 1 as the featured artist for the Folk Music Society of Huntington’s First Saturday Concerts series. The 8:30 p.m. concert at the Congregational Church of Huntington (30 Washington Drive, off Route 25A, Centerport) is preceded by an open mic at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, priced at $30 ($25 for FMSH members) may be purchased in advance online at www.fmsh.org, using a credit card, or at the door (cash and checks only). For more information, visit the website or call (631) 425-2925.
“Susan Werner, a clever songwriter and engaging performer, brings literacy and wit back to popular song,” according to The New Yorker, while the Chicago Tribune has aptly hailed her as “one of the most innovative songwriters working today.”
A favorite of FMSH audiences, Werner has never been one to adhere to just one musical style. A gifted singer-songwriter, who accompanies herself on both guitar and piano, she is known for her musical versatility and for her witty repartee during live performances. The classically trained and jazz-inspired Iowa native, who now calls Chicago home, has been delighting concert and festival audiences for more than two decades. She has performed for the Folk Music Society of Huntington a few times and co-headlined the Huntington Folk Festival in 2010.
Besides her live performances, Werner is known for iconoclastic concept albums in which she updates traditional styles of music with sharp, incisive lyrics. Inspired by the piano stylings of Professor Longhair and Dr. John, she composed nine new tunes and tossed in a new take on an old classic on her new album, NOLA: Susan Werner Goes to New Orleans. She will perform songs from NOLA and some of her previous recordings during the June 1 concert.
Founded in the late 1960s, the Folk Music Society of Huntington (www.fmsh.org, 631-425-2925) presents two monthly concert series, a monthly folk jam, and an annual folk festival in conjunction with the Huntington Arts Council. Its monthly Hard Luck Café series at Huntington’s Cinema Arts Centre will feature singer-songwriters Kyle Hancharick and Monica Rizzio on Thursday, June 20. Loudon Wainwright III headlines the 14th annual Huntington Folk Festival — a free event that is set for Saturday, July 27, from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., at Huntington’s Heckscher Park.
During the June 1 concert, tickets also will be raffled off for this summer’s Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in Hillsdale.
