Fri 9/5 @ 8PM
Charlie Mosbrook has been a mainstay and a catalytic presence in the northeast Ohio acoustic music scene for some 30 years. He’s cranked out album after album of both original music and significant cover tunes that resonate with him, and plays a full schedule of gigs; he’s hosted open mics, and organized and promoted shows with other musicians; he’s a teaching artist with Roots of American Music and president of Northeast Ohio acoustic music advocacy nonprofit Folknet; and he’s toured the country — and he’s done all this while dealing with a disability that requires him to use a wheelchair. (He’s also the son of noted Cleveland jazz historian Joe Mosbrook who passed away last November at the age of 91 — clearly, advocating for the area’s music culture runs in the family.)
Of course, being a folksinger, he’s also a political activist; we saw him recently downtown at the Musicians Against Dictators rally where he performed with fellow folkie Alex Bevan and retired comedian/songwriter Charlie Wiener. See photo above.
His brand-new CD is called What Are We Waiting For? It’s Time (and clearly, Charlie waits for nothing when there’s music needing to be played). It features nine Mosbrook originals and a cover of Steve Van Zandt’s “I Am a Patriot.” While some of the songs, such as “Fond of You” and “Let’s Do It This Time” deal with more personal feelings, others, such as “A New King Has Been Crowned,” “A Little More Heart” and “We Should Have Known,” address the intersection of personal feelings and the social/political environment. And “Train Wreck in East Palestine” is in the storied tradition of the topical song which fueled the repertoire of so many folksingers, from Woody Guthirie to Pete Seeger to Phil Ochs.. Mosbrook’s music draws on multiple strains of American folk music as well.
Mosbrook will debut the album live (it’s available online now) in a “Backstage” concert at Cain Park, where the audience sits onstage with the artist at the Evans Amphitheater.
Go here for tickets.