PORTLAND – Members of the Family Folk Chorale, a Boston intergenerational chorus, will perform American bluegrass music at 3 p.m. Sunday, June 20, at The Center for Cultural Exchange.

The ensemble is under the direction of Chris Eastburn.

The full group of about 30 members will perform such classic favorites as “Keep on the Sunny Side of Life,” “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” “I’ll Fly Away,” Woody Guthrie’s rugged “Bed on the Floor” and Ralph Stanley’s rousing gospel song “Shoutin’ on the Hills.”

Among the more recent offerings will be Dave Carter’s moving ode to the Earth, “Gentle Arms of Eden,” and a new song by the chorale’s Dan Dick, “Truth Has Many Tongues.”

The chorale kids will sing “King Kong Kitchee,” as well as Mabelle Carter’s gospel tune “In the Highways,” in three-part harmony.

The teens will contribute “Shady Grove,” the men sing “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms” and the women offer “Wabash Cannonball.”

Two tunes by Hazel Dickens highlight soloists of the chorale, a working class women’s anthem, “The Rebel Girl,” and “Mama’s Hand,” about a girl leaving home for a new life.

A mother and daughter will present “Dream of a Miner’s Child.”

Music director Eastburn and instrumentalist Dick will perform comic “musical interludes for the financially challenged” including “Bill Morgan” or “My Name is Morgan But It Ain’t JP, “How Long Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live” and “My Long Journey Home (with a $2 bill).”

The chorale features singers ranging from 4 to 74 and traditional instruments such as guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin and percussion.

Eastburn, a composer and arranger, is on the board of trustees and edits the choral publishing series of the nationally known PALS children’s chorus.

He has also planned repertoire and arrangements for the Von Trapp Family’s newest generation of entertainers.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children.

People can call the center at (207) 761-1545.

Copy the Story Link