Foundation and Library Summer Songwriter Workshop and Performance Series features local professional songwriters

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Poster by Melissa Mercado

The Fox Valley Music Foundation is teaming up with two local libraries to offer some insight into what makes a songwriter create a song. The 2016 Summer Songwriter Workshop and Performance Series will feature six local professional songwriters who will describe their craft and perform before an audience at the local library.  Attendance is free. Each series will feature a one-hour songwriting workshop led by the artist and will be directly followed by a sixty-minute live performance. The West Branch of the Aurora Public Library and The Batavia Public Library are co-sponsoring the events with the Fox Valley Music Foundation. The series begins with local favorite Greg Boerner on Saturday, June 11th at the West Branch of the Aurora Public Library, 233 S Constitution Drive, Aurora, IL 60506 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. The next event will feature Scott Tipping on Saturday, June 25th from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the Batavia Public Library, 10 S Batavia Ave, Batavia, IL 60510.  The singer/songwriter workshops are just some of the things the Foundation has planned for this summer. Some of the other things include Blues on Water Street and a complete line up of events for Blues Month leading up to the 20th Anniversary of Blues on the Fox and beyond.

The entire schedule and biographies of the artists are included below:

Songwriter/Performer Roster:

Saturday, June 11th West Aurora Branch – Greg Boerner
Saturday, June 25th Batavia Public Library – Scott Tipping
Saturday, July 9th – West Aurora Branch – Dave Ramont
Saturday, July 23rd – Batavia Public Library – Noah Gabriel
Saturday, August 13th – West Aurora Branch – Kevin Trudo
Saturday, August 27th – Batavia Public Library – Gerald Dowd

Biographies:

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Greg Boerner

Greg Boerner – Saturday, June 11th West Aurora Branch

Greg Boerner (“Burner”) is a Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter originally from Augusta, Georgia now living in a far west suburb of Chicago. His music is an original blend of blues, folk, country and all that comes between–Southern style. He will be performing songs from his 4 cds…plus new material from his upcoming 5th cd and favorite covers. www.gregboerner.com

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Scott Tipping

Scott Tipping – Saturday, June 25th Batavia Public Library

Scott Tipping has been making music in the Chicago music scene for 20 years. He has made a name for himself while playing with such bands as The Mighty Blue Kings, Backyard Tire Fire and Cornmeal.  This show will be an intimate look at some of the material he has been involved with, his own material and a heavy stamping of blues and blues history.  This will all coincide with a new project he has been working on with Steve Warrenfeltz in tribute to Aurora’s historic Leland Tower.

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Dave Ramont

Dave Ramont – Saturday, July 9th – West Aurora Branch

Dave Ramont is a singer/songwriter and private music instructor who’s been playing his folk-pop-roots-slop throughout the Midwest and points beyond for years, whether solo or with band. He’s released several CDs, his music being heard on public/college radio across the U.S. and Europe. He carries a rock in his shoe and a song in his head. www.daveramont.com.

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Noah Gabriel

Noah Gabriel – Saturday, July 23rd – Batavia Public Library

Honesty is where the best songs come from, and a decade ago – within the first lines of the first song from his very first album, no less – Noah Gabriel was already making that abundantly clear. “I don’t know what to say, but I won’t turn away,” from the appropriately-titled “Pride,” ushered Gabriel into the Chicago roots-rock scene, crafting his own blend of amiable roots-rock that pulls equally from fiery blues of Stevie Ray Vaughn or BB King and wry folk witticisms a la Lucinda Williams or Ryan Adams. From 2005’s debut solo effort In Aurora to this year’s Easy (as part of the power-trio Noah’s Arcade), Gabriel’s songs are powerful dissections of characters in desperate times or taking even more desperate measures. http://www.noahgabriel.com/

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Kevin Trudo

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The Kevin Trudo – Saturday, August 13th – West Aurora Branch

Kevin Trudo is a singer and a songwriter who hates singers and songwriters. Sure, you try to write insightful and occasionally heartbreaking songs – you try to be literate and musical – but it’s supposed to be fun and it’s supposed to make you move. You take that Great American Song and you give it legs: you make it dance.

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Gerald Dowd

Gerald Dowd – Saturday, August 27th – Batavia Public Library

GRAMMY AWARD©-losing drummer Gerald Dowd hails from the Boston area. Since moving to Chicago in the late 1900s, he has played/sung/recorded with Robbie Fulks, Justin Roberts, Dave “Dave” Ramont, Mavis Staples, and Rich Little.  He’s released two albums of original songs under his own name, and he’s never hang-glided. (Is that even a word? Sounds weird.)  http://www.geralddowd.com/

About the Fox Valley Music Foundation. The Fox Valley Music Foundation is a not-for-profit organization comprised of music lovers, music educators, arts enthusiasts and people who have spent many long hour days and years in this business of music. The Foundation’s reason for being is to preserve, promote and protect the wonderful music of the Fox Valley area of Illinois while providing Music Education to people of all ages and from all walks of life.  You can contact the Foundation by visiting: https://foxvalleymusicfoundation.com/