I've been booking concerts for the Library for nearly five years now. When I started, the tradition was to have popular music (in other words, “Great American Songbook”) in the fall and jazz in the spring. While this has always been popular, I started thinking about the audiences we get for these shows. Many attendees are seniors and I'm sure the American songbook concerts have touched upon some old favorites of theirs and introduced younger attendees to classic music. However, time marches on and my own parents are seniors now. While they know many American songbook songs, they grew up in the era of rock and roll. Songs from the 50s were the soundtrack to their childhood and songs of the 60s carried them through high school and college. (Not to mention my uncle, who was in high school in the 50s.)

I thought it was time for some change. I still book concerts featuring American songbook composers (did you come to the Johnny Mercer tribute performed by Sonny and Perley on October 28?) but have started adding rock and roll to the mix each fall.

This fall, our rock and roll show is titled, appropriately enough, The Rock ‘n' Roll Show. The acclaimed Aesthetic Realism Theatre Company will perform their “Rock ‘n’ Roll, the Opposites, & Our Greatest Hopes: a Concert Celebration!” in our auditorium on Sunday, November 11 from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Please join us for electrifying rock songs–from the ‘50s & ‘60s to now–with thrilling commentary telling why they’re important, loved, and what they have to do with everyone’s life.