Traditional folk music duo Curtis & Loretta will be appearing at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts on Saturday, January 15. Expect 1800 period costumes and amazing music from period instruments, including banjo, celeste (an antique keyboard that plays bells), folk harp, mandocello, harmonica, and guitar.
Guests at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts on Saturday, January 15 will be treated to a trip back in time with traditional folk music duo Curtis & Loretta as they present Minnesota Heritage in Song, a delightfully entertaining and educational concert that grew out of The Minnesota Heritage Songbook, a Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission project that Curtis & Loretta worked on in 2008. Dressed in 1800s costumes, the duo makes history come alive with their seamless harmonies and period instruments, including banjo, celeste (an antique keyboard that plays bells), folk harp, mandocello, harmonica, and guitar.
This concert is made up entirely of songs Minnesotans sang here in earlier times. These traditional musical gems highlight the married couple’s old-world charm. This concert appeals to all ages. It illustrates our state’s history and shows how 1800s issues and sentiments are highly relevant today. Between songs, Curtis & Loretta’s engaging stage presence shines through with stories and commentary on the history of the songs, and their importance to our ancestors and to all Minnesotans today. There’s Lincoln’s campaign song, a children’s circle game, immigrants’ songs and a rollicking voyageur song, along with songs of lumberjacks, farmers, homesteaders, and Civil War soldiers. Audience members are encouraged to sing along!
The acoustic folk music duo has been acclaimed across the country for their exquisite harmonies, incisive songwriting, and skill on an array of stringed instruments. Curtis Teague and Loretta Simonet have performed together ever since they met on the beach in Santa Cruz, California, in the late ’70s. Since then, they’ve performed across the U.S. at folk festivals, concerts, folk clubs, universities, on national and regional public radio, and on national cable television. They’ve shared billings with Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Greg Brown, Bill Staines, Anne Hills, and Vassar Clements, to name just a few.
The duo was named Best Acoustic Performer of the Twin Cities for 2002 by City Pages.
They’ve made eight recordings, of both traditional and original music. Both Just My Heart for You and Gone Forever were on the Top Albums of the Year on FOLK-DJ List, an internet site that lists folk radio playlists (folkradio.org). They’ve received numerous Minnesota Music Award nominations for Best Acoustic Folk Artist.
Their performance starts at 7:30 p.m. on January 15. Cost is $7 for adults; $5 for children. Tickets are on sale now at www.tix.com or can be purchased at the door.
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