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Annual Charity Auction Begins October 16

Exciting trips, scrumptious food, exquisite jewelry awaits you in the Annual Common Fence Music Auction.
Bidding runs through October 30.

NEW HEALTH & SAFETY FOR ATTENDANCE

​We are thrilled to be back again this Fall.  Along with many other arts organizations in the country, we have some new health policies to help keep everyone safe while they enjoy the performance.  Please familiarize yourself with the requirements before attending

COMMON FENCE MUSIC
​FALL 2021 SEASON

JAKE BLOUNT
​October 16 - 8:00pm
CFP Arts - 933 Anthony Rd, Portsmouth, RI 02871

Jake Blount, a disciple of Rhiannon Giddens, is an award-winning banjoist, fiddler, singer and scholar based in Providence, RI. He is half of the internationally touring duo Tui, a 2020 recipient of the Steve Martin Banjo Prize, and a board member of Bluegrass Pride. He is a two-time winner and many-time finalist of the Appalachian String Band Music Festival (better known as Clifftop). Although he is proficient in multiple performance styles, he specializes in the music of Black and indigenous communities in the southeastern United States, and in the regional style of Ithaca, New York. He foregrounds the experiences of queer people and people of color in his work. He has studied with modern masters of old-time music, including Bruce Molsky, Judy Hyman (of the Horse Flies), and Rhiannon Giddens and Hubby Jenkins (of the GRAMMY-winning Carolina Chocolate Drops).

S.G. GOODMAN
​October 30 - 8:00pm
The Casino Theatre - 10 Freebody St, Newport, RI 02840
S.G. Goodman just played this summer's Newport Folk Festival and we’re catching her on an open date on a larger concert tour between New York and Toronto. S.G. Goodman was listed as one of Rolling Stone's "Artists to Watch", describing her as "Kentucky farmer’s daughter writes songs so the world can hear what life is like where she grew up." When she was growing up, her farmer father would plant an annual crop of sweet corn for his three kids, which they later harvested by hand and sold for money to buy their school clothes. Raised primarily in Hickman (“The town, not the county — it’s a very important distinction. People get ticked about that,” she says), Goodman relocated to Murray for college and quickly fell in with the town’s thriving post-punk scene, which includes the popular record store Terrapin Station. For a time, she recorded under the Savage Radley moniker, contributing a song to the Pine Mountain Music. The Boot says "Goodman showcases her roots at every turn in her music, even enlisting her young niece as her co-star in her "The Way I Talk" music video, but as much as she embraces the place from which she comes, she actively seeks change within it, too. The singer's music confronts the more painful parts of life in a farming community, much of which is governed by big business or political mechanisms that seek more to turn a profit than to value and support the lives of its employees."

GARCIA PEOPLES
November 6 - 8:00pm
Channing Memorial Church - 135 Pelham St, Newport, RI 02840

Garcia Peoples formed in New Jersey by guitarists Tom Malach and Danny Arakaki, the band took a few years to find their flying shape, solidifying into a lineup with Danny’s brother Cesar on drums and Derek Spaldo on bass by mid-2016. Ramping up their acceleration around the time of their 2018 Cosmic Cash debut on Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records, they’ve blasted through residencies and new songs and sessions and collaborations, relocating to New York, picking up two new members in keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Pat Gubler and bassist Andy Cush, and leaving a trail of live tapes in their wake. This year, they’ve delivered not one but two new albums for BBiB: the sleek and song-oriented Natural Facts and the sprawling improvisatory opus of One Step Behind. The first part of 2019 has seen Garcia Peoples back Philadelphia guitarist Chris Forsyth (an expanded Solar Peoples Band has hit double-drummer overdrive several times now), and joined with guitarist Ryley Walker. They’ve improvised on WFMU, and jammed with the sounds of ocean waves and falling rain at strange late night happenings. Probably something else new and wonderful and weird has happened in the Garciaverse since I wrote this.

LANEY JONES
with Mary Elaine Jenkins
​November 20 - 8:00pm
Channing Memorial Church - 135 Pelham St, Newport, RI 02840

Laney Jones headlines with special guest Mary-Elaine Jenkins, two women stretching the boundaries of folk music. Laney Jones’ music career started as something of an accident. She picked up the guitar and began writing songs during college as a respite from the demanding academic curriculum working on an international business degree. Her aptitude as a singer and songwriter was instant. She soon found herself immersed in the roots scene as a rising young talent. It was all a whirlwind for Laney—uncovering her innate multi-instrumental gifts and being thrust into a distinct niche of music. Laney has received accolades from No Depression and L.A. Record, as well as the legendary Alison Krauss. As an unsigned artist, she’s managed to grace the stage at New York’s Lincoln Center and DC's Kennedy Center for the Arts, feature on PBS’s Great Performances series, earn corporate sponsorships and licensing deals, and receive nationwide college radio spins for her original songs. Currently, her music is spinning in steady rotation on over 50 CMJ indie radio stations across the country, and her voice can be heard on soundtracks of films and TV from the likes of Disney and Dreamworks. Laney’s also won many prestigious songwriting and new artist competitions, most notably the prestigious John Lennon Songwriting Contest.

HUBBY JENKINS
December 4 - 8:00pm
CFP Arts - 933 Anthony Rd, Portsmouth, RI 02871​

Hubby Jenkins brings his roots music to Common Fence on Saturday, December 4th at 8 PM. Hubby Jenkins is a talented multi-instrumentalist who endeavors to share his love and knowledge of old-time American music. Born and raised in Brooklyn he delved into his southern roots, following the thread of African American history that wove itself through America's traditional music forms. As an integral member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and later Rhiannon Giddens band, Hubby has performed at festivals and venues around the world, earning himself both Grammy and Americana award nominations. Today he spreads his knowledge and love of old-time American music through his dynamic solo performances and engaging workshops.

NELLIE MCKAY
December 18 - 8:00pm
The Casino Theatre - 10 Freebody St, Newport, RI 02840

Nellie McKay - “Her last two ‘cabaret’ shows I saw have been jaw-dropping. They both completely subverted the genre,” said David Byrne, … Among Ms. McKay’s charms, Mr. Byrne said, are the ways she playfully mixes what he called a “tragic noir vibe” with her “wicked sense of humor.” She has won a Theatre World Award for her portrayal of Polly Peachum on Broadway in The Threepenny Opera, performed onscreen in the films PS I Love You and Downtown Express, and her music was used in Rumor Has It, Monster-in-Law, PS I Love You, Gasland, Last Holiday and Private Life.  McKay co-created and starred in the award-winning off-Broadway hit Old Hats and has written three acclaimed musical biographies – I Want to Live!, the story of Barbara Graham, third woman executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin, Silent Spring: It’s Not Nice to Fool Mother Nature, an exploration of environmental pioneer Rachel Carson, and A GIRL NAMED BILL – The Life and Times of Billy Tipton, named one of the Best Concerts of 2014 by The New York Times. Her latest lady bio is The Big Molinsky – Considering Joan Rivers (“unpredictable, thrilling…sardonic wit..” – The New York Times). Nellie’s music has been heard on Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Weeds, Grey’s Anatomy, NCIS, Nurse Jackie, and SMILF, and she has appeared on TV shows including The Late Show with David Letterman, Conan, Ferguson, and The View.  Nellie has made numerous radio appearances on NPR’s Mountain Stage, A Prairie Home Companion, eTown, and Marion McPartland’s Piano Jazz. The Chase Brock Experience produced a ballet of her third album, Obligatory Villagers, and she contributed the forward to the 20th anniversary edition of The Sexual Politics of Meat.  Her writing has also appeared in The Onion, Interview and The New York Times Book Review.