{"id":2056131,"date":"2025-09-28T19:59:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T19:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2056131"},"modified":"2025-09-28T19:59:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T19:59:15","slug":"eric-andersen-will-perform-60s-classics-and-new-songs-at-avenel-performing-arts-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/eric-andersen-will-perform-60s-classics-and-new-songs-at-avenel-performing-arts-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Eric Andersen will perform ’60s classics and new songs at Avenel Performing Arts Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

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PAOLO BRILLO<\/p>\n

Eric Andersen will perform in Avenel, Oct. 3.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Eric Andersen \u2014 who recently released his first full-length collection of new songs in 20 years, the two-CD Dance of Love and Death<\/em> \u2014 will perform at The Avenel Performing Arts Center, Oct. 3. At 82, he is one of the few remaining touring artists from the heady days of the 1960s folk music scene. While we still enjoy concerts by members of that vibrant musical community, including Bob Dylan, Judy Collins and Noel Paul Stookey, many other groundbreaking artists from that era no longer tour (Joan Baez, Tom Paxton) or are deceased (Phil Ochs, Richard & Mimi Fari\u00f1a).<\/p>\n

A Buffalo native who has long resided in The Netherlands, Andersen is known for poetic, poignant songs such as \u201cViolets of Dawn,\u201d \u201cClose the Door Lightly When You Go\u201d and \u201cCome to My Bedside.\u201d \u201cThirsty Boots\u201d (1966) honored civil rights activists\u2019 commitment to social change; the weary boots referred to those worn by protesters in marches or other forms of resistance. His best known album is 1972\u2019s Blue River<\/em>, featuring \u201cIs It Really Love at All\u201d and the title track (with Joni Mitchell on backing vocals).<\/p>\n

His career has encompassed diverse recordings including albums paying trying to great writers (Shadow and Light of Albert Camus<\/em>, Mingle With the Universe: The Worlds of Lord Byron<\/em>, Silent Angel: The Fire and Ashes of Heinrich B\u00f6ll<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Andersen\u2019s life was chronicled in the 2021 documentary \u201cThe Songpoet,\u201d which highlighted his decades-long journey in folk music; and he was celebrated on the 2022 album Tribute to a Songpoet: Songs of Eric Anderse<\/em>n, featuring Dylan, Linda Ronstadt, Janis Ian, Willie Nile, Lenny Kaye, the late Rick Danko and others.<\/p>\n

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The cover of Eric Andersen\u2019s album, \u201cDance of Love and Death.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

His stirring new songs include meditations on love such as \u201cLove Is a Sacred Thing,\u201d \u201cStory of Skin,\u201d \u201cMap of a Woman\u2019s Heart\u201d and \u201cDance of Love and Death.\u201d His serene, haunting \u201cSeason in Crime (Crime Scenes),\u201d about climate change and wildfires, stands out.<\/p>\n

This last song (listen below<\/em>) was inspired by violinist Scarlet Rivera\u2019s experience with wildfires, and she joins him on it, along with bassist Tony Garnier and others. Both Rivera and Garnier are known for their work with Dylan.<\/p>\n

Andersen sings:<\/p>\n

Embers flying in the wind
The earth is fire and flame<\/em>
Hills are burnin\u2019 to a crisp
Sparks spitting down like rain<\/em><\/p>\n

Water was a rumor once<\/em>
Dying in the mud<\/em>
Soon there came the hurricanes
And then there came the floods<\/em><\/p>\n

Eyes are looking to the skies
But no help from above \u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Crime scenes in the ocean
C<\/em>rime scenes in the air<\/em>
Crime scenes in the rivers
C<\/em>rime scenes everywhere<\/em><\/p>\n

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JAMIE KALIKOW PHOTOGRAPHY<\/p>\n

Eric Andersen and Richard Barone.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When I spoke with Andersen before his performance at Richard Barone\u2019s 2019 \u201cMusic + Revolution: Greenwich Village in the 1960s\u201d show<\/a> at The Outpost in the Burbs in Montclair, we talked about his move to Greenwich Village in the \u201960s, and the interesting life he led as a young man. The show was in a church and, in an irreverent and comic moment, he stood onstage during soundcheck with his arms outstretched near the church\u2019s pulpit.<\/p>\n

During the show, he performed while vintage black-and-white photos of \u201960s musicians, including his friend Lou Reed, were shown on a screen.<\/p>\n

Barone had recorded \u201cClose the Door Lightly When You Go\u201d with Allison Moorer for his 2016 album Sorrows & Promises: Greenwich Village in the 1960s<\/em>, and Andersen performed this song at the show (see video below<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Shows like Andersen\u2019s create nostalgia for a remarkable time, but also remind me of the urgent need to protect our writers, musicians, comedians and activists.<\/p>\n

Eric Andersen will perform in an acoustic duo with Steve Addabbo at The Avenel Performing Arts Center, Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m.; visit avenelarts.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

For more about him, visit ericandersen.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n