Stuart Markus
"Four Centuries of Folk Music"
When you think "folk music," do you immediately think of a bunch of hippies singing Bob Dylan? Think again!
The world of western folk music includes centuries-old ballads of palace intrigues, affairs, love and murder; songs of poverty and labor unrest, sea chanteys and railroad songs, beer hall and drinking songs, political anthems and protest songs.
Stuart Markus, a noted performer on Long Island's folk scene for nearly three decades, presents a program that starts with 17th-century minstrel ballads (the evening news and entertainment of the day), runs through the works of Stephen Foster and many anonymously written 19th-century tuns still sung today, and continues through songs written and sung by Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and modern singer-songwriters.
The program will include songs that will be familiar and new discoveries for all but the most dyed-in-the-wool folkies, and songs that many may not realize are traditional folk songs! Stuart provides historical footnotes, context and explications between the songs, and the "folk process" that allows songs to evolve over time for new generations.
Biography:
A fixture on Long Island's folk and acoustic scene since the mid-1990s, Stuart Markus has been writing songs since middle school and has played professionally for nearly three decades.
Listed in Newsday as one of "Long Island's Best" and sometimes called the Island's "hardest-working man in folk music," Stuart actually grew up in Rochester, NY, where he studied at the Eastman School of Music while in high school. While at the University of Pennsylvania he played French horn in the marching band and wind ensemble, sang in the University Choir and several a-cappella groups, and eventually became president, musical director and arranger (all at the same time) of the nine-voice Chord-On-Blues.
A full-time musician, Stuart has also organized a number of community folk concerts, most notably the annual "Just Wild About Harry" Chapin tribute concerts by top Long Island songwriters since 2004 and an annual event at the Jeanne Rimsky Theater since 2023. (To date the concerts have raised nearly seven tons of food.) He currently serves on the board of the Folk Music Society of Huntington, the Island's premier folk music organization.
Stuart is perhaps best known outside of Long Island as a member of the folk-rock harmony trio Gathering Time, along with fellow Long Islanders Gerry McKeveny and Christine Sweeney. Described alternately as a rocked-up Peter, Paul & Mary or a co-ed Crosby, Stills & Nash, the trio has been touring, primarily on the northeastern folk circuit, since 2009.
A lover of history and all things maritime, Stuart is also half of the sea chantey duo The Royal Yard, with fellow folky Robin Greenstein.
Websites:
www.StuMarkusMusic.com
www.YouTube.com/user/smarkusvideo
