Contact:
Jim Marren/Sustainable Fairfield Task Force
(203) 255-2698
Fairfield’s Annual Earth Day Observance Features a Free Zoom Concert with 10 Unique Artists Performing Songs Celebrating the Planet
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Fairfield CT, April 15, 2021 – Along with the Earth Day Celebration at the Fairfield YMCA (featuring an array of exciting new electric cars) and a full plate of daily Earth Week webinars, the Sustainable Fairfield Task Force (SFTF) will present a free Zoom-based concert at 7 p.m. on Earth Day itself, April 22. Tune in to the SFTF’s YouTube channel to watch the concert LIVE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCna7YMyCA4O-b6kEP3DI_zg
The concert will be hosted by Fairfield author/journalist, WPKN radio host and SFTF member Jim Motavalli, and will feature live, environmentally themed music performances, from as far away as Denmark and as close as Fairfield’s back yard. Here’s a rundown on the performers:
- Exit 46. This band could have been called The Dogwalkers, since its members met each other walking their pets around the Stratfield neighborhood. Exit 46 (named after the Merritt Parkway exit) play contemporary songs with an emphasis on group harmony from four very expressive lead singers;
- Xanthe Alexis. Based in Colorado Springs, Alexis’ confessional songs have been compared to Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten, Julien Baker and Feist. She channels her work as a trauma therapist into songs of pain, heartbreak and hope;
- Liz McNicholl. Blessed of a gorgeous voice, Ireland-born McNicholl is a musical educator and prolific performer around Connecticut, both solo and with her band The Crickstones. She specializes in Americana, with some Irish tunes thrown into the mix;
- Dan Tressler, an Easton resident, grew up with folk music being played in the family barn. He is a multi-instrumentalist (fiddle, guitar, mandolin) and an incredibly talented baritone singer;
- Allan Harris is a New York-based jazz singer who the Miami Herald said has “the warmth of Tony Bennett, the bite and rhythmic sense of Sinatra, and the sly elegance of Nat ‘King’ Cole.” He also grew up among black cowboys, and pays tribute to them in his original musical play Cross That River;
- Kristin Korb is an American bassist and jazz singer now resident in Denmark. She was mentored by the late bassist Ray Brown, a national treasure on the instrument. Her most recent record What If? finds her jazzing up some well-known pop songs;
- Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno perform original songs in the style of old-time music, which is a family tradition for both of them. They “grew up in the Appalachian stringband tradition, have noted parents in the old-time scene, and spent formative years running wild around festival campgrounds.” Their self-titled debut is just out, and doing very well;
- Greg Packham is a Fairfield-based guitarist, music educator and proprietor of Packham Music in Fairfield. He is a prolific composer who has recorded with jazz greats such as drummer Elvin Jones, but he can play in any style (and also play drums, bass or keyboards)—and does in frequent gigging work as a sideman;
- Carol Sudhalter is a Queens, New York baritone sax player and flutist—originally from Boston and a family of musicians—who has put her adopted borough on the map in terms of jazz performance. Her most recent album is Quartet Live at St. Peter’s Church;
- Clint Roberts is a North Carolina-based singer-songwriter whose new album is called Rose Songs. He’ll be performing his environmentally themed song “Nero’s Waltz.”
As last year, the online hub for the celebration, will be a dedicated website — www.sustainablefairfield.org – offering information on the full event schedule as well as a venue for viewing the week’s “virtual” activities, including informational sessions and a special music concert on Earth Day itself (Thursday, April 22).
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The Sustainable Fairfield Task Force provides support for Town practices and projects that can help Fairfield manage its growth to safeguard the health of its environment, ensure the reliability and economical use of its natural resources, and preserve the quality of life of its residents – today and for the future. For more information, please visit www.fairfieldct.org/sftf
