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Chris Shaw Concert Highlights AIC Winter Celebration
The Adirondack Interpretive Center (AIC) will celebrate winter Dec. 8 with a day of activities highlighted by a concert by Adirondack singer/songwriter/storyteller Chris Shaw.
Shaw, who has 10 albums to his credit along with appearances on NPR and PBS, will perform at 3 p.m. There is no fee for admission.
Throughout the day, visitors will have an opportunity to create their own nature decorations and hang them on the center's winter solstice tree. Visitors can learn about the winter solstice, hike or snowshoe on the trails, and watch birds at the feeders. Eggnog and punch will be served at 2 p.m.; participants are invited to bring a plate of cookies to share. The center will be open until 5 p.m., an hour later than usual.
Shaw was raised in the Adirondacks, the grandson of a commercial steamboat pilot on Lake George. He worked the big boats and grew up listening to the songs and stories passed down from generation to generation.
For more than 10 years, Shaw toured internationally for Taylor Guitars as a clinician demonstrating American folk and country-style guitar. He has appeared at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and performed for the Smithsonian, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Old Songs Folk Festival and the Chautauqua Institute in addition to other venues across the United States and Europe.
He has also produced a number of soundtracks for Public Television. He wrote the soundtrack and was "the voice of Seneca Ray" for the television special "Seneca Ray Stoddard: An American Original" seen coast to coast on PBS. Most recently, a live concert special called "Chris Shaw: Live in Concert" is showing on PBS stations across the country.
Shaw's 1988 debut recording, "Adirondack," has been inducted into the Library of Congress Folk Archives. Performers who have contributed to his recordings include such acoustic innovators as Artie Traum, John Sebastian (The Lovin' Spoonful), Garth Hudson (The Band), Vassar Clements, Cindy Cashdollar (Asleep at the Wheel), Tony Trischka, Jay Ungar and Steve Riley. He and his wife, singer/songwriter Bridget Ball, have presented the highly acclaimed Christmas show "Mountain Snow and Mistletoe" at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall for the last 13 years, and this year the show moves to the Capital District's premier concert venue, The Egg.
The AIC is a branch of the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry's Northern Forest Institute. Anyone wishing to obtain more information about the program should contact the AIC at 518-582-200 ext. 11 or by email at aic@esf.edu.