Atwater-Donnelly Band – January 21, 8 p.m.

“To those who…deny the human spirit, I give you these chroniclers of its joys and sorrows, light and dark, hope and despair and say that they have but liberated what is in us all. Their dancing notes say, ‘Here it is! Humanity’s real self. Look! Isn’t it wondrous?”— From a poem written about Aubrey and Elwood, “The Folk Singers” by Philip R. Pearson, Jr. in his book Poetry is to be Consumed, Vantage Press, New York

“I almost fainted when you sang and danced and played the banjo at the same time! My mouth was droped (sic) open the entire time.”— 4th graders, Chaplin Elementary School, Chaplin, CT

The Atwater-Donnelly Band performs a unique and thrilling blend of traditional American and Celtic folk music and percussive dance. Elwood Donnelly, Aubrey Atwater, Cathy Clasper-Torch, and Erin Lobb Mason blend beautiful vocals and play guitar, mountain dulcimer, banjo, fiddle, cello, bass, whistle, harmonica, limberjacks, and other surprises including freestyle Appalachian clogging and French Canadian footwork.

The performance is appealing to all ages and with a relaxed stage presence, Aubrey, Elwood, Cathy, and Erin explain song, instrument, and dance origins to give more relevance to the material. Separately and together, these performers have received numerous accolades and have produced many recordings and books which will be available at the performance.