BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – A fine fingerstyle guitarist with a precise baritone roaming from Alaska, Kray Van Kirk set his doctorate in fisheries population dynamics modeling aside to write songs, tell stories, and summon heroes. Van Kirk is not the average crying-in-your-coffee singer-songwriter; he’s a charming, Quixotic, decidedly eclectic character.
“We are driven by myth and the seasons of the heart,” he says, “and the stories are all true. The quest is to journey inside, find what burns at the core of your soul, and bring it back into the light. Everyone gets to be the hero. Nobody is left behind.”
His song “Thunderbird” resurrects the phoenix in an empty desert diner in the American Southwest. “The Queen of Elfland” plucks Thomas the Rhymer from the English-Scottish border in 1250 and drops him and the Queen into a subway car. “The Library Song” has Superman moonlighting among the stacks. “Rosa and Hector” ride through Sherwood Forest on canes and a wheelchair. “The Midnight Commander” celebrates an insane old man leading the City of New York to take up arms – and underwear – against hatred.
Van Kirk’s newest album, “Empire,” was released in February.
John Fealy is a Vermont folk singer, and his acoustic music, made on finger-style steel string guitar, banjo, ukulele, and piano, is rooted deep in his heart and aims to share his love of humanity, nature, and the greater forces of life. He’s a father, husband, and a dedicated street outreach worker – and also the lead singer of the band Ox Child.
Van Kirk and Fealy will play at at Stage 33 Live in Bellows Falls, Vt., on May 17, in a 3 p.m. matinee. Tickets can be purchased discounted in advance at www.stage33live.com, or at the door if available. Advance tickets guarantee entry. Only 40 tickets will be sold. Advance sales will close at midnight the day before the show, or when 40 tickets are sold.