ISSA In the Round ~ 2025 April 27 ~ Oakes Ames Memorial Hall ~ North Easton, MA Scroll to below video for a review of the show. Videos I Try <
Review This ninety minute afternoon concert by performers in the folk realm was a benefit for the International Singer-Songwriter Association ("ISSA"). It was hosted in one of the most spectacular buildings in which I've ever attended a concert, the Oakes Ames Memorial Hall. The musicians did their songs in the in-the-round format, meaning they took turns. The stage wasn't big, but big enough for the six musicians and their appealing range of instruments. First up was Linda Marks on the piano, a well-known and very busy working musician in the area, who has put out something like fourteen albums and is on the verge of releasing another one. She has a beautiful singing voice and the audience enjoyed her very pretty piano folk songs, and she had them laughing and singing along when the last of her songs was a children's song featuring a hedgehog. She also gets a pat on the back for her excellent musical scale socks. Next on the rotation were duo Dave & Brenda, David Jackson and Brenda Jane Meehan. Brenda played one of the most visually appealing instruments of the day, a mahogany flute, and David played guitar. Their songs contained elements of folk and of blues. They were accomplished players and singers. Their standout song spoke of the Wampanoag tribal nation and their relationship to the herring run. They did another song that was a bit more uptempo than you sometimes hear at this type of folk concert. Tom Irving's turn next. I've seen Tom do a full set once before, on a double bill with Tom Smith at the old Javawocky Coffeehouse. He admitted to being a bit rusty, since he's mostly been doing visual art lately. But his songs were very good, showing that he has real songwriting talent, one a personal story ballad, and another laugh-out-loud funny about if it ain't broke (well, you know the rest). Besides guitar, he played a lovely homemade Appalachian mountain dulcimer, and sang his last song, about being thankful, a cappella. The fourth performer was Andy & Judy, whom I'd just seen last weekend. The songs they did were "DJs" - "I Try" - "Freedom In Hope" - "Take the High Road." These songs are mostly singalongs, which engaged both the rest of the performers as well as the audience. Karen Woodhall, who is involved in managing the South Shore Folk Music Series, was in the audience. It's not every day you see a folk concert in a 19th century mansion. The building is named for Oakes Ames, a Congressman from the area who worked with President Lincoln to build the Transcontinental Railroad, and whose father, Oliver Ames, owned the shovel making business with which the town of Easton is identified. The shovel making business boomed because of the California gold rush as well as the construction of the railroad. Oakes Ames' son Oliver Ames later on became Governor of Massachusetts.
Linda Marks
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of the concert