Noel Paul Stookey Coming to Rubicon Theatre, 5/15

Returning after last year's sold-out concert, singer/songwriter Noel Paul Stookey (Paul of Peter, Paul and Mary), brings his intimate musicality to the Rubicon Theatre Company stage once again for a one-night-only, two-hour event of story and melody spanning 50 years. The concert, entitled "At Home: Ventura," takes place on Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. at Rubicon's home in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District. For tickets, call (805) 667-2900 or go to www.rubicontheatre.org.

The title of the concert is a nod to Stookey's recently released CD/DVD "At Home: The Maine Tour." For many years, the folk singer and his family have called Maine home, but now spend part of their time every year in Ventura County.

"Noel performed a sold-out concert last year here at Rubicon, "James O'Neil remarks. "We are thrilled to get to share his inspired, thoughtful music selections; his extraordinary vocal and musical talents; and his compelling, charismatic performance style with our audiences."

For the "At Home: Ventura" concert on May 15, Stookey will perform songs from his DVD/CD package, which was filmed and recorded during a nine-city tour of Maine last year. Selections include Stookey standards such as "The Wedding Song," "In These Times," and "Jean Claude," and previously unreleased solo songs from the Peter, Paul and Mary albums. The program will also feature original folk songs written by Stookey about current issues such as "Familia del Corazon," which addresses immigration concerns, and "Nukes R Nuts," which was written in response to a letter from a nuclear age peace foundation in Santa Barbara.

"We are also in discussions with Noel and his daughter Liz Stookey Sunde of Music2Life (a non-profit organization that uses music to effect positive social change)," O'Neil continues, "about a possible future music festival that he would curate at Rubicon. We hope that our theatre will truly become an 'artistic home' for the Stookey family."

Stookey has spent his career raising social consciousness through music, thereby changing the musical landscape of this country. His music resonates across social, age and economic barriers. Stookey passionately believes in bringing the spiritual into the practice of everyday life. He strives to make the world a better place through a continuing dialogue of acceptance and inclusion.

More on Noel Paul Stocky

Born December 30, 1937, Stookey grew up playing electric guitar in his high school rock 'n' roll band (The Birds of Paradise) and hung out at an R&B record shop listening to groups like the Drifters, the Platters and the Cadillacs.

When he moved to New York City at the age of 20, he was looking for independence, but what he found were Peter Yarrow, Mary Traverseand a career that took on a life of its own. Peter, Paul and Mary's first album shot to the top of the charts, where it stayed for two years.

Stookey has performed in intimate coffeehouses, at the White House, and in massive stadiums. At the 1963 March on Washington when Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech, Peter, Paul and Mary delivered "If I Had a Hammer" and "Blowin' in the Wind."

After a profound spiritual experience in the late '60s, Noel realized the 200-plus annual performance schedule of the trio left neither space in which to explore the rediscovered depths of conscience and dedication that were tugging at him, nor the much overdue and deserved time with his family. In 1970, the group took a sabbatical, providing the opportunity for Noel and Betty and their three daughters Elizabeth (Liz), Kate and Anna to move from suburban New York to the coast of Maine.

Peter, Paul and Mary reunited almost a decade later with a markedly more reasonable schedule.

By then Stookey's solo voice was firmly established, writing and performing music that addresses social change while speaking of and to the soul; fusing jazz improvisation and insightful folk lyrics. The political, sociopolitical, spiritual, and cultural dynamics of life's stories continue to drive his songs. Collaborating with his wife Betty, sometimes sharing the presentation of multi-faith seminars and performances, the connection between Stookey and his material, as well as his audience, is intimate, immediate, identifiable and electrifying.

Noel Paul Stookey has recorded over 45 albums, both as part of the legendary trio and as a soloist. In the year 2007 alone he released three CDs: "Facets of the Jewel," "Promise of Love," and "Song for Megumi." In addition to his performance life, Stookey oversees Neworld Multimedia, presenting new artists and creating children's TV shows and music. The royalties from his classic "The Wedding Song" go to the Public Domain Foundation, where nearly $2 million has been put to work for charitable causes.

To post a comment, you must register and login.