Joe Jencks, an international touring musician and award-winning singer-songwriter, will be performing at All Souls Church on Friday, May 16, to benefit two local organizations, CASP and ECDC Vt.
Locally, and to the point of the benefit concert, Jencks may be best known for his song “Lady of the Harbor,” a reference to the Statue of Liberty and a lament for the plight of those who have left their home countries to come the the U.S. It has been sung at All Souls at past services. Also, Jencks led a church Virtual Vesper service during the Covid times.
The concert will start at 7 PM. Advance tickets may be purchased for $25 at ascvt.org/JoeJencks .
No one will be turned away for inability to pay.
A frequent performer at UU General Assembly, Jencks is a 25-year veteran of music festivals, and performances at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. He has enthralled diverse audiences with his unique merging of musical beauty, social consciousness, and spiritual exploration.
Jencks has released 15 CDs in that time. Merging conservatory training with his Irish roots and working-class upbringing, Joe delivers engaged musical narratives filled with heart, soul, groove and grit. Blending well-crafted instrumentals and vivid songwriting, Jencks serves it all up with a lyric baritone voice that has the edgy richness of a good sea-salt caramel.
Joe’s most recent solo CD – “The Coming of the Years” – released August 1 2022 – is an album centered around songs Joe Jencks wrote while on tour in Ireland over a 12-year period. This album emerges as a synergistic blend of Jencks’ Irish and Celtic heritage with themes of immigration spanning multiple generations. As a dual U.S./Irish citizen, Jencks has been swimming in these waters musically and personally for decades.
The Community Asylum Seekers Project (CASP) and ECDC VT is a branch office of the Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) are two of ASC’s Share the Plate organizations.
“The key to the future is people joining in. The music of Joe Jencks captures this essential spirit. Joe is a fantastic singer who carries on the traditions.” ~ Pete Seeger