Sara Grey and Kieron Means House Concert

General admission: $20, $5 for students

Concert will be held in a private home in Brookline MA.
Reservations required: email HouseConcerts@fssgb.org for reservations and directions.

Sara Grey is one of the most gifted and knowledgeable artists working in the field of traditional music. Sara’s singing is both powerful and sweet, with a distinctive and lovely tremolo. It is a voice well suited to native American songs and ballads of Ireland and Scotland.

It is not Sara’s lovely voice alone that makes her one of the most popular singers on the folk scene; on many of her songs Sara accompanies herself by frailing a five string banjo and, when playing dance tunes, it is obvious why she is regarded as one of the foremost exponents of the clawhammer style. As well as singing and playing, Sara is well known for her storytelling – specialising in stories from New England where she grew up learning many of her stories from her father.

Sara grew up in New Hampshire but has lived in North Carolina, Ohio, Montana, New York, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Wales, Scotland and England. As a youngster in North Carolina she developed a love for old time songs and banjo music. She cites Kyle Creed as the chief influence on her understated, syncopated clawhammer banjo style. She has now been performing professionally for more than 30 years.

• “She is one of a select band of performers who still breathe life into traditional ballads.” Vic Smith, Folk Roots
• “Sara Grey has quietly and powerfully taken over the mantle of premier interpreter of American traditional music.” Tor Jonassen, WRDV

Kieron Means is a singer primarily of traditional songs but also of contemporary songs and guitar player of great merit. He has a great rapport with an audience and has an exceptional professionalism for a young performer. His voice is as smooth as silk, rich and mellow and he sings to his audience not in spite of them.

Kieron is the son of the traditional singer Sara Grey and music journalist Andrew Means, one time writer for Melody Maker. He was born in the United States and grew up in Britain gaining a great love of the music of both traditions as well as the contemporary scene. He has become a performer of traditional songs from the US and from the UK and many of the contemporary songs he sings he has written himself.

He has toured in the States and often performed with Sara Grey. In 2000 he has performed at Whitby and Wadebridge festivals where he was received with much acclaim. His first CD has received much praise with air play on Travelling Folk and Mr Anderson’s Fine Tunes both on radio Scotland. An article on him will shortly be appearing in Folk Roots magazine.