EDITOR’S NOTE: The Oct. 8 and Oct. 15 concerts have been canceled due to lack of power.
The Americana Community Music Association has a busy schedule in October between its listening room concerts and the return of the Songwriters on the Plaza series at the library in downtown Fort Myers.
At the listening room, the ACMA kicks off the month with a concert featuring Violet Bell on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. Gareth Rockliffe will open the show.
Violet Bell is re-wilding Americana music. Lizzy Ross’s rich soprano intertwines with Omar Ruiz-Lopez’s fiddle, guitar, banjo, and harmonies to create a lush and sinuous sound. Together they draw on a thread of untamable energy and natural magic passed down through generations of storytelling.
Ruiz-Lopez was born in Panama and raised in Puerto Rico, and Ross was born and raised in Maryland and NYC. As a duo with wildly different backgrounds, Violet Bell has a unique perspective on the roots music traditions that inform their sound. They’re tending to traditions and creating a new way forward for like-minded musical innovators, with our shared humanity at the forefront.
Rebecca Folsom
On Oct. 15 at 7 p.m., the ACMA welcomes Rebecca Folsom in concert. ACMA member Bob Williams will open that night.
Rebecca Folsom’s music is all about love and the connection to our shared humanity. Her four-octave range dances from raw and powerful to sweetly tender, creating a deeply moving, edgy and elevated style. Her voice aims to the heart like a gentle bull’s eye, and cracks you open while filling you with hope. In short, her performances will “knock-you-to-your-knees.” (KUNC radio).
In her songs, she shares stories from her own life and from others’ lives, bringing to light the vulnerability and wisdom that we all share. Her words point like a compass into our deepest emotions, inviting us to find the courage to face our fears, embrace our dreams and choose to live our best life with loving-kindness as our guide.
While writing her newest album, Sanctuary, she reached out to established organizations representing marginalized communities. She hosted The Art of Vocal Freedom workshops, guiding participants in the discovery and expression of their unique voices, and then collaborated with the group in the writing of the songs for the album. These communities include, refugees, inmates, the aging, recovering addicts, as well as environmental leaders and people experiencing homelessness.
Black Feathers
The month’s schedule ends with The Black Feathers on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. at the ACMA listening room in Fort Myers. ACMA member Chuck Williams will be the opening performer that night.
The Black Feathers, made up of Ray Hughes and Sian Chandler, are two such talents. They first became aware of the magic between them while collaborating on several musical projects, becoming The Black Feathers and life partners in 2012.
The doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the show starts at 7 p.m. Door donations are $12 for ACMA members and $18 for non members.
All Faiths Unitarian Congregation is located at 2756 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers. Find out more online at www.americanacma.org
