Sanctuary all-time favorites David Wilcox and Susan Werner take a rare break from their long careers as award-winning solo artists to join forces for this remarkable duo show. 

David Wilcox has been called "the best-known of the brilliant crop of singer-songwriters to emerge in the late '80s" (Acoustic Guitar). His use of open tunings to create gorgeous, inventive accompaniments has made him a hero to a generation of guitar aficionados. His profoundly philosophical and deeply soulful songs have filled fourteen albums, including on the prestigious A&M and Vanguard labels; and his honeyed tenor voice has often been compared to that of James Taylor.

Susan Werner is a sharp, witty songwriter who brings all the wit and effervescence of Great American Songbook composers like George Gershwin or Richard Rodgers to her own whimsical, offbeat jazz-influenced songs like "If I Wrote Cole Porter" and "Last of the Good Straight Girls." We love that she writes sophisticated, playful songs with titles like "Let's Regret This In Advance"... and what other folksinger would ever have been invited by Michael Feinstein to perform at the Carnegie Hall tribute to Irving Berlin?  We also love her deliciously smart, wise-cracking, and totally straight-from-the-heart stage personality, reminiscent of a Cheryl Wheeler or a Paula Poundstone. 

These friends, who are two of the smartest songwriters on the folk circuit, realized that their different styles would create a special magic when joined together.  We're looking forward enthusiastically to this one-of-a-kind pairing.

Tickets: $25

Our 2011/2012 season was a joy, including unforgettable sold-out performances by Jorma Kaukonen, David Bromberg, Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin, Dar Williams, POCO, Steve Forbert and so many more. So, it's time to celebrate and to thank our loyal audience!

The evening begins at 8PM with an over-the-top Ice-Cream Social, featuring a buffet of ice cream flavors and fun toppings, included in the $10 admission price. During the ice-cream social, we will hold our very popular One Dollar CD Sale, at which hundreds of CDs will be sold for one dollar each. You may also bring your own CDs to trade.  After the concert, the remaining CDs will be sold for five-for-$1! 

Then, at 9PM, we are proud to host sassy, sexy soulful singer Treasa Levasseur and her band.  Treasa is a force-of-nature piano-playing blues/soul singer who has been called “the next Aretha Franklin.” She will appear with her ace backing band. About her album “Broad,” the Ottawa Sun said: “With that big blues voice, and a sassy, sexy personality, Levasseur identifies with those lovable old gals we used to call broads.” She features spirituals, funk, soul, and blues in her live shows.
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Tickets: $10 (Free for Pick Six members)

We kick off the new season with The Kennedys in an informal small-room "kitchen concert."*  

Pete and Maura Kennedy have been creating "gorgeous boy-girl harmonies and catchy tunes" (Entertainment Weekly) since they met as members of Nanci Griffith's band in 1992. Over those twenty years, the couple (now married), have been remarkable in their virtuosity and their prolific creative output.  Pete and Maura's tight harmonies, their chemistry, and their unashamedly idealistic outlook have brought them to venues ranging from the prestigious Newport, Falcon Ridge and Kate Wolf music festivals to the most intimate house concerts.  We are catching them on a rare break from their latest tour with Nanci.  

In addition to their ten duo albums and several solo works, they've created the ukulele-toting swing band The Stringbusters, featuring a ukulele version of the Rhapsody In Blue; a Celtic-influenced sitar-driven 7-piece ensemble The Strangelings; and a kids' record under the name The Snacks. Their latest work is a collection of hits and unreleased songs from their past 17 years of recording.

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*What is a Kitchen Concert?  This concert takes place in an intimate 100-seat side room at our usual church, featuring plush padded chairs (!).  You are invited to bring pot-luck to share.  (However, you are not required to bring food to participate in the pot-luck dinner.  We'll bring lots of extra!).

Tickets: $15

"I think we are all born singing Tom Paxton songs." - Nanci Griffith

"Tom’s songs have a way of sneaking up on you. You find yourself humming them, whistling them, and singing a verse to a friend. Like the songs of Woody Guthrie, they're becoming part of America." -Pete Seeger

From the 1960's, when he would leave his army base at Fort Dix, NJ to haunt the Village folk clubs at the height of the Great Folk Boom, through some four decades as probably the most widely-known folk songwriter since Woody Guthrie, Tom Paxton has been the beloved voice of a generation...addressing issues of injustice and inhumanity; laying bare the absurdities of modern culture; and celebrating the most tender bonds of family, friends and community. He is often outspoken, often wonderfully funny, and always accessible and warm-hearted.

Dozens of Tom's songs have become absorbed into our oral tradition: "Ramblin' Boy," "Bottle of Wine," "Whose Garden Was This," "The Last Thing On My Mind," "Goin' to the Zoo," and "The Marvelous Toy" are just a few. He's recorded 34 albums, published 16 children's books, and had his songs covered by hundreds of artists as diverse as Pete Seeger, Willie Nelson and Placido Domingo. He's also a Grammy nominee and an ASCAP Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

Special guest James Keelaghan has been called "Canada's finest songwriter" for his plainspoken and beautiful story-songs, such as the classic "Cold Missouri Waters." 

Tickets: $25

"Songs of soul-searching, heartache and joy." -Billboard Magazine

The songs of Karla Bonoff have defined a generation. Even if you don't know that she wrote them, you will immediately recognize them.

As Billboard said after her career-retrospective album All My Life was released on Sony Records, "Long before Alanis and Jewel, there was a breed of singer/songwriters whose earthy anthems of soul-searching, heartache, and joy touched souls in a way few can muster today."

Her songs became known first through the singing of Linda Ronstadt, who covered three of Karla's songs on her 1976 album Hasten Down The Wind. Other of her songs became known worldwide through the singing of Bonnie Raitt and many others, and as part of the soundtracks of movies like Footloose and About Last Night... Her legions of fans, however, believe no one sings Karla Bonoff like Karla Bonoff.

Karla's special guest is the master Americana songwriter David Olney, whose "moving, ferocious, mystical, mesmerizing, brutal and tender" story-songs earn him comparisons to Tom Waits and whose "exuberant" stage shows have been described as "part Baptist preacher, part caustic comedian, and part existential bluesman."

Tickets: $25