Detroit musicians Matt Watroba (left) and Robert Jones will visit Grand Marais Oct. 10-12, where they will perform at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts and work with students at Great Expectations School. The pair showcases their talents through a selection of music drawn from many cultures. Photo courtesy North Shore Music Association
On Friday, October 12 at 7 p.m., Detroit musical duo Robert Jones and Matt Watroba will perform an all-ages concert with the theme “Common Chords” at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts in Grand Marais. The pair’s impressive musical talents are showcased as they take the audience on a historic journey through American traditional music drawn from many cultures, illustrating how they’re woven together to create the fabric of the great American musical tapestry.
Musician and music educator Matt Watroba is a founding member of two nonprofits that promote and preserve folk music: the National Folk Alliance, and The Ark (Ann Arbor, Mich.). Matt has written dozens of articles and reviews for Sing Out! magazine, founded by Pete Seeger in 1950.
He created and hosted the popular Folks Like Us program for over 20 years on WDET-FM in Detroit, and produced and hosted Sing Out! Radio Magazine on the XM Satellite network. Matt sings and writes songs of compassion, inner strength, humor, and everyday living. He has shared the stage with Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Arlo Guthrie, Christine Lavin, Peter Yarrow, and Richard Thompson.
Robert Jones has a deep love for traditional African American and American traditional folk music. In his 20 years of performing and teaching, Robert has shared his skill and passion for regional and historical guitar styles as well as voice, harmonica, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, quills, and bones.
Robert is an award-winning songwriter, the creator of American Roots Music in Education (presented to over 250,000 students in the Midwest), and a storyteller and instructor of educational process drama and stage acting. As a longtime blues musician and historian, Robert has become especially interested in the study of sacred American Roots Music.
From October 10–12, Robert and Matt will work with students in grades 5–8 at Great Expectations School in Grand Marais. Their residency program, “Music That Matters,” celebrates racial and cultural diversity and cooperation through sharing and exploring traditional styles of American music, storytelling, art, and singing. Students learn how American Roots music is a rich, diverse, direct, and powerful cultural legacy that reflects history, social change, migration, hopes, and dreams.
This activity is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 youth (18 and under). They can be purchased in advance at www.aca.tix.com or the night of the show. The ticket booth opens at 6 p.m. at the ACA.
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