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Event
Concerts for a Cause presents Singer-Songwriter Jud Caswell
Maine's Jud Caswell is a little bit like a one-man folk festival. You've got your banjo picking, your Irish drinking songs, a rack of acoustic instruments, and a deep catalog of award-winning originals. Hes often compared to James Taylor and David Wilcox, but his songs draw on a long musical history and wide-ranging influences from jazz and Piedmont blues to contemporary folk and rock.
Jud is currently celebrating the release of his sixth collection, Watch The Fall. This is his first CD of new material since 2007. The years between have been full of music and focusing on family, friends and community. The album reflects that focus. Early listeners have called it homey and groovy and uplifting and thoughtful -- a celebration of life, love, family, and all that is wonderful about midcoast Maine. Theres a warm gratitude to "Get Poor Slow" and "So Far So Good." There's a sly sweetness to "Now Forever" and a romantic melancholy to "Montreal." There's "Talk To Me" -- a song for a friend in crisis, and "Chasing the Leaves" -- an impressionist snapshot of a little girl dancing on a darkening autumn day. And then there's "Watch the Fall," an homage to the Androscoggin River that runs between Jud's two home towns of Topsham and Brunswick.
Jud is a lifelong musician, but it wasnt until he got to college and heard John Gorka the he found his calling. He sold his saxophone for an acoustic guitar, switched majors from physics to music, and set out to write his own songs. Three albums later, he was still piling 40 hours a week of music on top of a full-time straight job when his first daughter was born with a rare birth defect. Weeks of sleepless vigils at the hospital put a lot of things into perspective. Within two years he had quit his day job to pursue music exclusively. Within four years he had a growing buzz on the national folk scene. Jud played folk festivals from Texas to Oregon and won some of the best songwriting contests in the country. His 2007 release Blackberry Time was a folk DJ favorite. But the travel was a heavy burden, and in 2009, Jud turned his focus back to making music in Maine.
Since that time he has continued to pursue music full time as a performer, teacher and recording engineer. In addition to his acoustic 6 and 12 string guitars, Jud plays banjo, cittern, and whistle at his many Irish gigs. He runs a monthly songwriters circle, offers musical storytimes at local libraries, and leads songwriting programs at local elementary schools. Jud is also an in-demand producer at his own Frog Hollow Studio in Brunswick, where he records some of the best songwriters in the state.
With the new CD, Jud is beginning to tour again, with dates booked in the mid-Atlantic and the northeast and more in the works. He looks forward to reconnecting with the wider folk community, and is grateful, as always, to be making a living in music while making a life in Maine.
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LocationFirst Universalist Church, Unitarian Universalist (View)
169 Pleasant Street
Auburn, ME 04210
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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