{"id":23500,"date":"2014-10-09T09:16:14","date_gmt":"2014-10-09T13:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=23500"},"modified":"2014-10-09T08:44:16","modified_gmt":"2014-10-09T12:44:16","slug":"unionvilles-litzenberg-in-sister-act-at-dupont","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/?p=23500","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: Unionville’s Litzenberg in ‘Sister Act’ at DuPont"},"content":{"rendered":"

Also: Ex-Byrd flies into area for solo gig<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>,\u00a0Staff Writer, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Kristin-Litzenberg\"<\/a>

Unionville High School graduate Kristin Litzenberg performs with the national touring cast of ‘Sister Act,’ which opens Oct. 14 at The DuPont Theatre in Wilmington.<\/p><\/div>\n

When \u201cSister Act\u201d touches down at the DuPont Theatre (Hotel DuPont, Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-656-4401,http:\/\/duponttheatre.com<\/a>) for a six-day, eight-show run from October 14-19, a lot of the seats throughout the week will be filled by people from the Unionville area — for good reason.<\/p>\n

One of the main actresses in the national tour\u2019s ensemble is Kristen Litzenberg, a 2009 graduate of Unionville High School. Her father Scott Litzenberg is a teacher at Unionville High and the director of the Indians\u2019 marching band.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth my parents are music teachers,\u201d said Litzenberg, during a phone interview last week from a tech rehearsal stop in York. \u201cI performed in musicals every year in high school and was Dolly in \u2018Hello Dolly\u2019 in my senior year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was also a member of the marching band. And, I played soccer for 12 years but eventually realized that I like theater more.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating from Unionville, Litzenberg attended AMDA (American Music and Drama Academy) and had a bi-coastal undergraduate education on her way to a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in music theater.<\/p>\n

\u201cAMDA has schools in New York and Los Angeles,\u201d said Litzenberg, whose credits include \u201cChildren of \u00a0Eden\u201d (Eve\/Mama Noah),\u00a0\u201cThe Secret Garden\u201d\u00a0(Martha) and\u00a0\u201cI Love You, You\u2019re Perfect, Now Change\u00a0(Woman 2).<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent the first two years in New York and then took a year off to do regional theater and summer stock. I spent the last two years in Hollywood.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was in L.A. that Litzenberg and \u201cSister Act\u201d first crossed paths.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast April, I auditioned for the show in L.A.,\u201d said Litzenberg. \u201cI had two callbacks in L.A. and then one final callback in New York in June. It was really great.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s run in Wilmington will feature two \u201cfirsts.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is the opening show of the current tour of the Tony Award nominated musical, which is based on Whoopi Goldberg\u2019s 1992 hit movie of the same name. And, it is Litzenberg\u2019s first-ever national tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cSister Act\u201d differs from the movie in several ways. The movie was set in the early 1990s while the Broadway musical is set in the late 1970s — at the height of the disco era. And, the film was set in Nevada and San Francisco while the play has the nuns living in Philly.<\/p>\n

The story has stayed the same. It tells the tale of Deloris — how her gangster boyfriend wants to kill her because she witnessed a murder, how she enters a convent as part of a witness protection program and how she and the nuns transform each others\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe music is demanding for the female ensemble,\u201d said\u00a0Litzenberg. \u201cIn addition to playing nuns, we play a lot of different roles. In the show, I\u2019m a nun and I\u2019m also a hobo. I didn\u2019t have any experience with nuns but I did some research. The costumes are exact down to the minute detail.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw \u2018Sister Act\u2019 on Broadway in 2009 with the original cast and it was wonderful. When the auditions came to L.A., I knew I had to go for it. I had also seen the movie. It was handy when I was auditioning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSister Act\u201d opened first in London and ran for almost a year-and-a-half in 2009 and 2010. It had its Broadway debut in March 2011 and\u00a0received multiple\u00a0Tony Award<\/a>\u00a0nominations including for \u201cBest Musical\u201d, \u201cBest Actress in a Musical\u201d and \u201cBest Featured Actress in a Musical.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the nuns\u2019\u00a0sisterhood,\u201d said\u00a0Litzenberg. \u201cWe really do enjoy being sisters who go through a joyless situation to being able to have fun. In the song \u2018Raise Your Voice\u2019 you see the transformation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAudiences like the show because it\u2019s such a universal story — trying to spread love, happiness and joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets for the show range from $35-$85. Performance times are 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 and 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, 8 p.m. on Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.<\/p>\n

This is bonanza time for area theater fans.<\/p>\n

The hit musical \u201cThe Addams Family\u201d is running now through November 2 at the Media Theatre\u00a0<\/strong>(104 East State Street, Media, 610-891-0100,www.mediatheatre.org<\/a>. Tickets for the show are $42 for adults, $35 for seniors and $25 for children. Evening performances are at 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. Matinees are at 2 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays.<\/p>\n

Live theater is also alive in northern Delaware. \u201cFiddler on the Roof,\u201d which is one of the all-time favorite American musicals, is running now through November 2 at the Candlelight Theater (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware,\u00a0302- 475-2313,\u00a0www.nctstage.org<\/a>). Tickets, which include a tasty buffet dinner, are $59 for adults and $33 for children (ages 4-12).<\/p>\n

\"chris-hillman\"<\/a>

On October 11, Chris Hillman, a founding member of The Byrds, and his musical partner Herb Pederson will perform together at the Ardmore Music Hall.<\/p><\/div>\n

Over the next week, there will be concerts in the area featuring two musicians who were key members of some of rock\u2019s all-time best (and now departed) bands — Chris Hillman, who was the bassist for the Byrds, and Ian McLagan, who was guitarist for the Faces.<\/p>\n

On October 11, Hillman and his musical partner Herb Pederson will perform together at the Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, 610-649-8389,\u00a0www.ardmoremusic.com<\/a>). Hillman is one of the trailblazers who led the way to the development of country rock.<\/p>\n

He was one of the original members of the Byrds — a band formed in Los Angeles in 1964 that went on to be\u00a0ranked at number 45 on\u00a0Rolling Stone magazine\u2019s\u00a0list of the \u201c100 Greatest Artists of All Time.\u201d He also was a founding member of several other influential bands —\u00a0the<\/a>\u00a0Flying Burrito Brothers,\u00a0Manassas\u00a0and the Desert Rose Band.<\/p>\n

Herb Pedersen, who was Hillman\u2019s bandmate in the Desert Rose band,\u00a0is aguitarist<\/a>,\u00a0banjo<\/a>\u00a0player\u00a0and\u00a0singer-songwriter<\/a>\u00a0who has\u00a0established himself as a top-flight player in a number of genres including bluegrass, folk rock, country,\u00a0folk and country rock.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the last grand hurrah for awhile,\u201d said Hillman, during a phone interview Wednesday from his home in Ventura, California. \u201cHerb and I are doing a three-day weekend in the East starting in Long Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe play each year from March to November 1 — usually about 10 shows a month. It\u2019s very rewarding. I feel like I\u2019m really lucky that we\u2019re still working — and that people still love it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHerb and I have known each other for 52 years now. He grew up in Berkeley and had a bluegrass band there. At the same time, I was learning mandolin when I was in high school in San Diego. We met up in L.A.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then, music was just a passion for me. I never expected to make a dime. We met in 1963 and that was the first year that we both got paid for making music. He stayed in bluegrass and I got an offer to join the Byrds.\u201d<\/p>\n

The initial Byrds\u2019 line-up featured Roger (nee Jim) McGuinn, David Crosby, Gene Clark, Michael Clarke and Hillman.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had all come out of folk music,\u201d said Hillman. \u201cThen, we all plugged in to our amplifiers and made a great band. It was a great band. It has stood the test of time. We found a way to make folk music danceable. There were three bands that really did a good job of combining folk and rock — the Lovin\u2019 Spoonful, Buffalo Springfield and the Byrds.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy the time we had a hit with \u2018Eight Miles High,\u2019 we had become a very interesting band. We were listening to Ravi Shankar, a sitar player from India, and jazz artists like John Coltrane, Miles Davis and McCoy Tyner. It definitely influenced our music.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1968, the Byrds released their country-influenced \u201cSweetheart of the Rodeo\u201d album — an album that served as a template for the hundreds of country rock bands that followed over the next 46 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really did love the first two Byrds\u2019 albums,\u201d said Hillman. \u201c\u2018Sweetheart of the Rodeo\u2019 wasn\u2019t my favorite record. But, it did open the floodgates.\u201d<\/p>\n

After awhile, Gram Parsons, who had joined the Byrds prior to the \u2018Sweetheart of the Rodeo\u2019 album and was influential in the country flavor of the disc, and Hillman left the band.<\/p>\n

They joined together with steel guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow and bassist Chris Ethridge to form the Flying Burrito Brothers and later added former Byrds\u2019 drummer Michael Clarke.<\/p>\n

Hillman parted ways with the Flying Burritos after a few albums. Then, a phone call from old friend Stephen Stills set him on a new musical journey — the band Manassas, which had two albums in the early 70s. Hillman\u2019s next band after that was called Souther-Hillman-Furay, which had two albums in the mid-1970s.<\/p>\n

\u201cManassas was a great band,\u201d said Hillman. \u201cStephen Stills was on his game then. He\u2019s a great player. Souther-Hillman-Furay was a good idea — but it didn\u2019t come off. I don\u2019t do any songs from those two albums.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next group for Hillman was McGuinn-Clark-Hillman — a band that released three albums from 1979-1981. After that, Hillman joined the Desert Rose Band\u00a0with Pedersen, John Jorgenson, Bill Bryson, Steve Duncan and JayDee Maness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Desert Rose Band had a number of country hits,\u201d said Hillman. \u201cOur song \u2018Love Reunited\u2019 reached Number Six on the country charts. There were great musicians in that band — and no baggage. That\u2019s why it lasted as long as it did. We\u2019ve all remained close friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Hillman is back to performing as part of a duo with Pederson — and playing a lot of tunes from his previous bands.<\/p>\n

\u201cHerb and I are both 70 years old,\u201d said Hillman. \u201cBut, as long as we can sing and play — and people want to hear us — there is no reason we can\u2019t keep doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show has a 7 p.m. start time with tickets priced at $30 in advance and $35 day of show.<\/p>\n

\"ian-mclagan-1\"<\/a>

Ian McLagan, the former guitar player for The Faces, offers a solo show at The World Cafe at Queen in Wilmington, Oct. 15.<\/p><\/div>\n

Ian McLagan may have turned 69 in May but the veteran English rocker is showing no signs of slowing down.<\/p>\n

On October 15, he is performing at the World Caf\u00e9 Live at the Queen (500 North Market Street, Wilmington, 302- 994-1400,\u00a0www.queen.worldcafelive.com<\/a>). On October 16, McLagan is performing at the Sellersville Theatre (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808,\u00a0www.st94.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cMy show in Sellersville will be fun because they have a Steinway (piano) there,\u201d said McLagan, during a phone interview Tuesday from his home in Austin, Texas. \u201cAnd, I\u2019ll be playing with my band — the Bump Band — which is Jon Notarthomas on bass and vocals, Scrappy Jud Newcomb on guitars and vocals and Conrad Choucroun on drums and vocals. In Wilmington, it will be just a duet with me and Jon.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 1965, McLagan signed on to play keyboards for the British hit-making band The Small Faces.\u00a0\u00a0In 1969, after\u00a0Steve Marriott\u00a0left the Small Faces and\u00a0Rod Stewart\u00a0and\u00a0Ronnie Wood joined, the band changed its name to\u00a0Faces<\/a>.\u00a0After the Faces split up in 1975, McLagan worked as a\u00a0sideman<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0the Rolling Stones — both in the studio and on tour — as well as various\u00a0Ronnie Wood\u00a0projects.<\/p>\n

The line-up of \u00a0music luminaries that McLagan has toured and\/or recorded with also includes\u00a0Bobbie Womack, Bonnie Raitt,\u00a0New Barbarians, Bob Dylan,\u00a0David Lindley, Ronnie Wood, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen,\u00a0Taj Mahal,\u00a0Paul Westerberg,\u00a0John Hiatt,\u00a0Billy Bragg,\u00a0Keith Richards, Patty Griffin,\u00a0Warren Haynes, Jennifer Nettles\u00a0and\u00a0Lucinda\u00a0Williams,.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in the Small Faces from 1965-1969 and the Faces from 1969-1975,\u201d said McLagan. \u201cThen, in the late 70s, real musicians couldn\u2019t get a gig. It was all synthesizers and drum machines.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Small Faces had hits with songs such as \u201cWhatcha Gonna Do About It,\u201d \u201cSha-La-La-La-Lee\u201d and \u201cItchykoo Park.\u201d They also made a studio masterpiece drenched in psychedelic vibes. It was titled \u201cOgdens\u2019 Nut Gone Flake\u201d and came in a round tin cover designed to resemble an antique tobacco tin.<\/p>\n

The Faces — the band that served as Rod Stewart\u2019s springboard to fame — had a number of\u00a0 hits including \u201cStay with Me,\u201d\u00a0\u201cHad Me a Real Good Time,\u201d\u00a0 \u201cCindy Incidentally\u2019 and \u201cPool Hall Richard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some Small Faces songs that I still perform in my current shows,\u201d said McLagan. \u201cI do \u2018All or Nothing,\u2019 \u2018Get Yourself Together\u2019 and \u2018Whatcha Gonna Do About It.\u2019 I also play a few Faces songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the Bump Band, I write all the songs. I usually write on guitar but for the last few years I\u2019ve also been writing on piano. I used to not write on piano because I ended up playing too much.<\/p>\n

\u201cSong ideas come from anywhere and everywhere. Right now, I have 50-60 songs that are beginning or are halfway done. And, new songs keep coming up.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLagan has released seven albums since 2000 with the most recent being \u201cUnited States,\u201d which was released on Yep Roc Records earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my first album for Yep Roc,\u201d said McLagan. \u201cI\u2019m glad I\u2019m with a record company that cares. I also am still doing some session work. I just played on Lucinda Williams\u2019 new album (\u201cDown Where the Spirit Meets the Bone\u201d). It\u2019s a very fine album.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLagan has also written a book titled \u201cAll the Rage.\u201d In the promo for the book, he wrote — \u201cIf you want to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth from the horse\u2019s mouth, read my book. It\u2019s opened a few wounds, made some people grin, and shone a light into the goings on behind the curtains, in the dressing rooms and between the sheets of the short and stylish, and the famous and the infamous!\u201d<\/p>\n

McLagan\u2019s show at the Queen is scheduled for 8 p.m. on October 15 with tickets listed at $20. His show with the Bump Band will take place at the Sellersville Theater on October 16 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 and $40.<\/p>\n

The Sellersville Theater hosts the California Guitar Trio and the Montreal Guitar Trio on October 9, Phil Vassar on October 10, Jars of Clay on October 11 and Herb Alpert & Lani Hall on October 15.<\/p>\n

Other shows over the next week at the World Caf\u00e9 Live at the Queen are \u201cSuperbad! A Tribute to James Brown Tribute\u201d on October \u00a010 on the Downstairs Stage while the Upstairs Stage presents Divers and Satellite Hearts on October 9, Butch Zito and the Prine Time Players on October 10 and RKVC\u2019s Annual Birthday Bash with Maggie Gabbard, \u00a0Nalani & Sarina and Danielle and Jennifer on October 11.<\/p>\n

Nalani & Sarina, one of the East Coast\u2019s brightest new acts to emerge in the last few years, will also be performing at the Tin Angel in Philadelphia on October 9 and at Philadelphia\u2019s World Caf\u00e9 Live on October 23.<\/p>\n

The duo features Sarina Bolton and her twin sister Nalani Bolton — both of who are multi-instrumentalists, solid songwriters and great singers. With roots based in rhythm-and-blues, soul and rock, the sisters create vocal harmonies that only twins can make.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re sonically alike and there is this telepathy,\u201d said Sarina, during a phone interview Wednesday afternoon from their home in Flemington, New Jersey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be singing a new song and when one of us gravitates to a harmony, the other knows exactly where to go. We\u2019ve been singing together ever since we were three. Being twin sisters, there was nothing else to do. We started singing professionally when we were 15.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nalani said, \u201cWe\u2019re identical twins. We graduated early from Hunterdon Central High a few years ago and we\u2019ve been doing music ever since. Actually, we both started playing classical piano when were six and then studied operatic vocals when we were in sixth grade.<\/p>\n

\u201cClassical music and opera provided good basics for us. We also did musical theater. That was fun but we stopped because we didn\u2019t want to take on other people\u2019s characters. We always want to be ourselves..<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mom was a folkie so we listened to a lot of folk music when we were young — great songwriters like Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan. We joined a folk band in our early high school years. And, we\u2019ve listened to a lot of classic rock. We do a lot of hard rock covers — Led Zep, AC\/DC, Ramones — but we do it on ukulele.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nalani & Sarina list acoustic guitar, piano and ukulele as their main instruments.<\/p>\n

\u201cLately, we added electric guitar and mandolin — and we just bought a Hammond B-3 organ with big Leslie speakers,\u201d said Sarina, who is older by 15 minutes. \u201cWe both play all the instruments. We can switch at any time — even in the middle of a song — and we do.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started writing our own songs about six years ago and really started to delve into soul music two years ago. We love all the Stax artists — Sam & Dave especially. We sang a ballad with Sam Moore — \u2018When Something is Wrong with My Baby\u2019 — and it was the greatest experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sisters have released one album so far — \u201cLessons Learned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recorded the CD a year ago,\u201d said Nalani. \u201cWe cut the album at Carriage House in Connecticut and at Julian Herzfeld\u2019s studio in Wayne. We mixed it at Milkboy in Philadelphia. Now, we\u2019re working on a new EP.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Tagalog, the language of Nalani & Sarina\u2019s Filipino mother, the sisters\u2019 sound would be described as \u201cmagandang musika,\u201d which means \u201cgood music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the upcoming shows at the Ardmore Music Hall are the Black Lillies and Mason Porter on October 9, Loudon Wainwright III on October 10 and Splintered Sunlight on October 11.<\/p>\n

\"lucy-wainwright-roche\"<\/a>

Lucy Wainwright Roche and her dad \u2014 Loudon Wainwright III \u2014 discovered they’ll be playing gigs this weekend only a few miles apart Oct 10: Roche is at Burlap & Bean Coffeehouse, while her dad is at The Ardmore Music Hall.<\/p><\/div>\n

Earlier this week, Wainwright and his daughter Lucy Wainwright Roche spoke on the phone and made an interesting discovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was talking to my dad and I told him that I was playing a show in suburban Philadelphia on Friday night (Oct. 10),\u201d said Roche, during a phone interview Tuesday morning from her home in Brooklyn.\u00a0 \u201cHe said — so am I.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roche is performing at Burlap & Bean Coffeehouse (204 South Newtown Street Road, Newtown Square, 484-427-4547,\u00a0www.burlapandbean.com<\/a>). The venue is 7.5 miles southwest of the Ardmore Music Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping to catch the end of his show on Friday evening,\u201d said Roche. \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll even be able to do a song with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roche is part of a musical family that has created many successful acts and a lot of records.<\/p>\n

She is the daughter of\u00a0singer-songwriters<\/a>\u00a0Loudon Wainwright III<\/a>, a 2010 Grammy Award winner, and\u00a0Suzzy Roche<\/a>, who, along with her sisters Maggie and Terre Roche, were in the Roches. Roche is also the half-sister of singer-songwriters\u00a0Rufus Wainwright<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Martha Wainwright<\/a>\u00a0(whose late mother\u00a0Kate<\/a>\u00a0was half of the Canadian folk duo\u00a0Kate and Anna McGarrigle<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year, my mom and I did a duet album together and we\u2019ll be touring together later this year,\u201d said Roche. \u201cIt\u2019s really rewarding when you work with someone new one-on-one. It brings out different things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the time, Roche is a solo artist who entertains fans with her voice and her guitar. She has released two EPs — \u201c8 Songs\u201d (2007) and \u201c8 More\u201d (2008) — and two albums — \u201cLucy\u201d (2010) and \u201cThere\u2019s a Last Time for Everything\u201d (2013).<\/p>\n

After a childhood that was heavily influenced by music, Roche got bachelors and masters degrees in education and began teaching school in New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t see myself as someone who wanted to be interested in the music industry,\u201d said Roche. \u201cI loved kids and teaching. I moved away from the family business and then realized I missed it a lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2005, my brother (Rufus) brought me out on the road to sing with him. After that, I started back making music and began recording songs. My latest album \u2018There\u2019s a Last Time for Everything\u2019 came out a year ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recorded it eight or nine months before in Nashville. I have a friend there named Jordan Hamlin. I had gone to her house to do a couple-song demo in her studio. Instead, we recorded the whole album in eight days.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was overwhelming but amazing. I had never recorded outside New York before. It was totally different. A couple of the songs were written then when I was in Nashville. There was something about the pressure cooker time frame that really kept us focused. A lot of great things came out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is a $15 cover for Roche\u2019s show with Jesse Rubin as the opening act. On October 11, Burlap and Bean will present Marc Erelli with Charlie Rose as the opener.<\/p>\n

Fans of folk music will have a hard time deciding which direction to travel on October 10. Just over 20 miles to the west of Burlap & Bean,\u00a0The Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295,\u00a0http:\/\/www.kennettflash.org<\/a>) is hosting a show by veteran folkie John Gorka.<\/p>\n

Gorka, a New Jersey native who got his start musically at venues in the Lehigh Valley, released his first album \u201cI Know\u201d in 1987 on Red House Records. His next five LPs were on Windham Hill\/High Street Records.\u00a0 He returned to Red House in 1998 and put out six more albums. The most recent is \u201cBright Side Down,\u201d which came out earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started recording the new album in fall 2012 and finished it a year later,\u201d said Gorka, during a phone interview Tuesday from his home in Minnesota. \u201cIt was my first time to do it this way — working a little bit at a time — seeing how the songs stand up to time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I recorded 17 and 12 made it to the record. The others will come out in some form. I just have to find the right setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many singer-songwriters get wrapped up in the stories behind the song which at times can stretch the length of the song. This was something Gorka wanted to avoid when making \u201cBright Side Down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted this album to be an album that people could listen to in one sitting,\u201d said Gorka, whose songs have been recorded by internationally-acclaimed artists such as Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nanci Griffith, Mary Black and Maura O\u2019Connell.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my favorite artists is Tim Hardin. Some of his songs were under two minutes and they were still great. I wanted to write songs that were fully realized in the smallest amount of time possible. The main thing was to have beginning, middle and end and have it feel complete.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new album features guest vocal appearances by Red House labelmates Lucy Kaplansky, Eliza Gilkyson, Claudia Schmidt and Michael Johnson. But, the focus is clearly on Gorka\u2019s vocals and guitar work.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince people see me playing solo live, I wanted to have that on record — build around vocal and guitar performance,\u201d said Gorka. \u201cI had a similar approach on this one and my last one (\u201dSo Dark You See\u201d) — focus on guitar and vocals.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2010, Gorka also released an album on Red House Records with Kaplansky and Gilkyson under the name Red Horse.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still are working as Red Horse,\u201d said Gorka. \u201cOne of my shows this summer was at Longwood Gardens. It was an open-air show and unfortunately got rained out for the second half of the show. This time, I\u2019m playing a few miles away — but with a roof over my head.\u201d<\/p>\n

The upcoming schedule for Chaplin\u2019s (66 North Main Street, Spring City, 610-792-4110,\u00a0http:\/\/chaplinslive.com<\/a>) features\u00a0Charles Preston, Jake Currie and Jiggley Jones on October 10, Syphe Dublin on October 12 and Random Holiday, Brosef Gordon Levitt and Home Again on October 13.<\/p>\n

The Steel City Coffee House (203 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, 610-933-4043,www.steelcitycoffeehouse.com<\/a>) will host Ben Arnold & His band on October 10. The show on October 11 will feature Don Henry, Buddy Mondlock and Craig Bickhardt.<\/p>\n

The Keswick Theater (291 N. Keswick Avenue, Glenside, 215-572-7650,\u00a0www.keswicktheatre.com<\/a>) presents Tim and Eric & Dr. Steve Brule on October 10, Kathleen Madigan on October 11 and Jeanne Robertson on October 15.<\/p>\n

The Grand Opera House\u00a0(818 North Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-652-5577,\u00a0www.thegrandwilmington.org<\/a>) will have Hass Kowert & Tice on October 10, The Golden Decade of Disco Divas on October 11 and The Birds of Chicago on October 12.<\/p>\n

The American Music Theatre (2425 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, 717-397-7700,\u00a0http:\/\/www.amtshows.com<\/a>) hosts Englebert Humperdinck on October 10. On October 12, the stage will belong to the Golden Boys — Philadelphia\u2019s 1950s teen idols Frankie Avalon, Fabian and Bobby Rydell. The venue will also present \u201cMusic of the Night: Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber\u201d on October 9 and 11.<\/p>\n

The Chameleon Club (223 North Water Street, Lancaster, 717-299-9684,http:\/\/www.chameleonclub.net<\/a>) will present Holy Ghost Tent Revival on October 9,<\/p>\n

Agent Orange<\/a>,\u00a0The Architects and\u00a0Trio Agave<\/a>\u00a0on October 10, Periphery, The Contortionist, Intervals and Toothgrinder on October 11 and\u00a0Alter Bridge<\/a>,California Breed and\u00a0Like A Storm<\/a>\u00a0on October 13. The venue will also hostIcon for Hire on October 10 in its Lizard Lounge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Also: Ex-Byrd flies into area for solo gig By Denny Dyroff,\u00a0Staff Writer, The Times When \u201cSister Act\u201d touches down at the DuPont Theatre (Hotel DuPont, Market Street, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-656-4401,http:\/\/duponttheatre.com) for a six-day, eight-show run from October 14-19, a lot of the seats throughout the week will be filled by people from the Unionville area […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23496,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[6225,6226,6224,6228,6229,6227],"class_list":["post-23500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-chris-hillman","tag-ian-mclagan","tag-kristen-litzenberg","tag-loudon-wainwright-iii","tag-lucy-wainwright-roche","tag-nalani-sarina"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23500"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23501,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23500\/revisions\/23501"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unionvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}