[FM] Re: Robin and Linda Williams singing about trains

[Dare Thompson]

Greetings,

I have been lurking on this list for a couple years - this is my first message.

The Hudson Valley Writers' Center in Sleepy Hollow, NY, where I am 
the executive director, is usually a venue for writers reading their 
works, but since I am a folk music fan (and since it makes sense, 
because songwriters are writers too!), we have recently presented 
Pete Seeger (a neighbor here in the Valley who has just published a 
great book on storytelling, co-written with poet Paul DuBois Jacobs), 
and  at 2 pm on Sunday, April 29 we will be presenting Robin and 
Linda Williams and Their Fine Group.

The venue is very small - a beautiful wood-panelled restored commuter 
train station right on the Hudson River - and there are only a few 
seats left, so move fast if you're interested.   The really special 
treat is that Robin and Linda will be focusing on songs about trains 
and REAL TRAINS will go by during the event - great special effects!

Just in case you don't know Robin and Linda, they are from Virginia 
and are regulars on "Prairie Home Companion."  They have been making 
music together (personally and professionally) for over 25 years and 
they really defy categorization.  They have a country sound, but it 
sure isn't regular country music tho' they are great fans of the 
likes of Hank Williams and Patsy Cline.  Their harmonies are terrific 
and so is their stage banter.  But above all they both write and 
cover great songs. Linda's "Leavin' Train" is a classic example. 
Once I learned that it was inspired by a little girl Linda talked 
with in a laundromat, I have never visited a laundromat without 
thinking of that little girl - and her mom who goes away every week 
on "the leavin' train."  Like so many of Robin and Linda's songs, 
"Leavin' Train" grabs and won't let go.

If you are a singer/songwriter reading this, please know that we do 
very few concerts a year and they need to have a special "hook" with 
who we are and where we are - check out our website at 
www.writerscenter.org before sending up any promotional material; I 
don't want you to waste your efforts.  We have a large Latino 
population in Sleepy Hollow and neighboring Tarrytown (Dominicans and 
Ecuadoreans dominate), so Latino musicians and songwriters would 
definitely have appeal.

Dare Thompson  (dare@writerscenter.org)

The Hudson Valley Writers' Center
300 Riverside Drive
Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591-1414
914-332-5953  (fax: 4825)
www.writerscenter.org, info@writerscenter.org