‘State Of The Union’ Sets High Standards

City Winery, Newport Folk Presents and the Americana Music Association have formed a partnership to present a series of concerts titled “State Of The Union: A Celebration Of American Roots Music.”

Photo: © Craig Lovell / Monterey Jazz Festival
Monterey Jazz Festival, Monterey Co. Fairgrounds, Monterey, Calif.

Scheduled for one night per month in City Winery venues in New York, Chicago, Nashville and Napa, each concert is described as featuring an artist “whose musicianship and excellence sets the standard for live performance.”

The collective brainpower behind the project comes from City Winery national programming director Shlomo Lipetz, Newport Folk Festival producer Jay Sweet and Americana Music Association executive director Jed Hilly.

“The Newport Folk Festival and the Americana Music Association are torchbearers in presenting not only some of the best music today, but also in discovering amazing new talent,” Lipetz said.  “We are thrilled to present this series with these prestigious music loving organizations.”

Photo: Chris McKay / GettyImages.com
Shaky Knees Music Festival, Atlantic Station Park, Atlanta, Ga.

At this time “State Of The Union” is scheduled through May and includes performances by Aaron Neville, Shawn Colvin, Buckwheat Zydeco and North Mississippi Allstars.  Here’s the schedule, broken down by venue.

Chicago
Jan. 19 – Joe Henry
Feb. 18-19 – Shawn Colvin
March 4 – Buckwheat Zydeco

Napa
Jan. 20 – Willie Watson
Feb. 28 – Steep Canyon Rangers
April 4 – North Mississippi Allstars

Nashville
Jan. 19 – Jackie Greene
Feb. 24 – Booker T. Jones
March 8 – Aaron Neville

Photo: Jennifer Bronenkant / ConcertLivewire.com
City Winery Chicago, Chicago, Ill.

New York
Jan. 22-24 – Alejandro Escovedo
Feb. 11 – Jay Farrar
March 29 – Mary Gauthier & David Wilcox

Check out CityWinery.com for more details.