The Life & Times of the Great Lead Belly in Byron April 3
BYRON IL - Rockford actor and singer David Causey and folk artist and writer Mark Dvorak of Riverside IL, will present “The Life and Times of the Great Lead Belly” on Sunday, April 3, at 4:00 pm. The performance will take place at All Saints Lutheran Church, 524 Luther Drive and is sponsored by the CrossRoads Blues Society.
“Lead Belly is an essential American artist,” said Steve Jones, President of the CrossRoads Blues Society, based in Byron.
“David and Mark presented their Lead Belly show in Rockford last February to celebrate Black History month. It’s a terrific presentation. Very informative and very musical. Folks will be surprised to learn how many of Lead Belly’s songs they already know."
The show was adapted from a script developed by Dvorak in the early 1990s after he sought out and found the grave of Huddie Ledbetter, better known as “Lead Belly,” outside the small town of Mooringsport, Louisiana, in the in northwest part of the state.
Dvorak distilled his notes into a script which was produced into an audio documentary by WDCB 90.9 fm, Glen Ellyn IL. The show, “Lead Belly’s Legacy” aired in one hundred sixty cities and in 1993 earned Dvorak a Peter Lisagor for Journalism.
Along with Woody Guthrie, Huddie Ledbetter is regarded as one of the great American folk song composers and performers. Born in the late 1800s, Lead Belly was a song collector, an animated entertainer and a crack musician. Although he never achieved great success as a performer and recording artist in his lifetime, his songs and legend are inherently woven into the fabric of American folklore and folk music.
The evening will conclude with a folk singalong and hootenanny led by Dvorak. Admission to the concert is free, but a donation of $10 is suggested. For more information phone 779 537 4006 or log on to www.crossroadsbluessociety.com. For information on Mark Dvorak visit his home page www.markdvorak.com.
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