Multimedia Celebration of Acoustic Music Continues in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania Movie Theaters

Westchester County, New York-based contemporary folk artists Kelly Flint, Susan Kane and The YaYas perform on Wednesday evenings in January as part of an ongoing multimedia celebration of acoustic music known as “WoodSongs at the Movies.” In addition to Clearview’s Bronxville Cinemas, the series also takes place at theaters in Babylon, NY; Montclair and Hackettstown, NJ; and Wayne, PA.

AcousticMusicScene.com joins with Clearview Cinemas and Folksinger Michael Johnathon’s WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour to present the weekly series at Clearview’s Bronxville Cinemas (84 Kraft Avenue in Bronxville, NY). A 30-minute open mic and live 40-minute performances by featured regional artists precede a one-hour screening of a recorded concert and interview program each week. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12, with two-for-one discounts available for Optimum Rewards members.

Performing live in the theater on Jan. 14 is Kelly Flint, whose music might best be described as post-modern folk with an Americana tinge. The singer-songwriter, formerly the female vocalist for Dave’s True Story, also hosts the monthly “Upstairs Sessions” series at The Living Room in Manhattan.

The YaYas, a trio featuring singer Catherine Miles, acoustic guitarist Jay Mafale and keyboard player Paul Silverman, bring their well-crafted songs and melodic modern folk-pop sound to the theater on Jan. 21. Susan Kane, an award-winning Americana singer-songwriter, whose songs draw on many strains of roots music – from folk to blues to country – and who serves as president of Tribes Hill, a nonprofit organization uniting musicians from the lower Hudson Valley and their patrons — is the featured artist on Jan. 28.

Bronxville-based singer-songwriter Glen Roethel, co-creator of AcousticMusicScene.com, will be introducing the artists and coordinating the open mics (for which sign-up begins at 7 p.m. in the lobby). Artists slated to appear on the big screen include the Hudson Valley’s own Dar Williams (Jan. 14), John McCutcheon (Jan. 21), and Band of Heathens and Geoff Atcheson (Jan. 28).

“AcousticMusicScene.com is delighted to join with Clearview Cinemas in presenting WoodSongs at the Movies in Bronxville and to help expose people here to some talented emerging artists from throughout Westchester and the New York metropolitan area,” said Michael Kornfeld, the online publication’s editor and publisher. Kornfeld, who also serves as an officer of the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance, views AcousticMusicScene.com’s involvement as a natural extension of its hosting of late-night music showcases at the annual NERFA Conference in the Catskills and song swaps at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.

Performing live in Clearview’s Babylon Cinema (34 Main Street, Babylon, NY) this month, under the auspices of the Folk Music Society of Huntington (www.fmshny.org) are husband-and-wife contemporary folk duo Princess Peapod, Jan. 14; folksinger Bill Lauter, Jan. 21; and contemporary folk singer-songwriter David Bailey, Jan. 28. Sanctuary Concerts (www.sanctuaryconcerts.org) presents Byron & Travelers, Jan. 14, and Laura Birdsong, Jan. 28, at the Clearview Bellevue Cinema (Bellevue Avenue, Montclair, NJ). The Folk Project (wwwproject.org) presents Mike Lawlor live at Clearview’s Mansfield Cinema 15 (10965 Route 57, Hackettstown, NJ) on Jan. 28. Although live artists have yet to be announced, “WoodSongs at the Movies” also screens weekly at the Anthony Wayne Cinema (109 West Lancaster Avenue, Wayne, PA).

WoodSongs (www.woodsongs.com), which began years ago in a small recording studio that could barely fit 18 people, has evolved into a multi-media celebration of grassroots music that now airs on nearly 500 radio stations worldwide, XM Satellite Radio, online, and on public television stations across the U.S. It is recorded before a live audience every Monday night at the historic Kentucky Theater in Lexington, Kentucky.

“Clearview Cinemas is pleased to partner with WoodSongs so music fans and moviegoers alike can experience folksinger Michael Johnathon’s world-renowned Old-Time Radio Hour on the big screen for the first time,” said Doug Oines, the cinemas’ senior vice president and general manager.