P.O. Box 92398
Rochester, NY 14692
www.goldenlink.org
Media contact (not for publication): Dave Townsend, (585) 467-8690
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 27, 2025
Folk music’s renaissance man John McCutcheon returns to Golden Link
See below for a list of concerts through May 2026
Rochester, NY – Folk music’s renaissance man, John McCutcheon is a master instrumentalist, powerful singer-songwriter, storyteller, activist, and author. As an instrumentalist, he is a master of a dozen different traditional instruments, most notably the rare and beautiful hammer dulcimer. His songwriting has been hailed by critics and singers around the globe. John will be performing on Thursday, November 13, 2025, at 7:30 pm at the Rochester Christian Reformed Church, 2750 Atlantic Ave., Penfield, NY. (Note that this is different from the usual Golden Link concert location.)
McCutcheon’s eclectic catalog of ballads, historical songs, children’s songs, love songs, topical satire, instrumentals, and even symphonic works is among the broadest in American folk music and his 40+ albums have earned seven Grammy nominations.
John McCutcheon and Tom Paxton have been pals for decades. During the pandemic, they started meeting each week on Zoom to write songs and in 2023, they released Together, adding another bunch of great new songs to the repertoire of our time. John’s latest album, Field of Stars, celebrates small moments of oft-forgotten history and heroes that quietly stood up, along with songs about family and friends, walking an ancient pilgrimage, and the simple joy of dancing.
People of every generation and background seem to feel at home when McCutcheon takes the stage; as one critic said, it’s “like a conversation with an illuminating old friend.” Whether in print, on record, or on stage, few people communicate with the versatility, charm, wit, or pure talent of John McCutcheon.
“John McCutcheon is the Bruce Springsteen of Folk Music … a national treasure!” – The Oakland Tribune
“The most impressive instrumentalist I’ve ever heard.” – Johnny Cash
“John McCutcheon is not only one of the best musicians in the USA, but also a great singer, songwriter, and song leader.” – Pete Seeger
Online ticket sales end at midnight on November 12.
General Admission: $30 ($32 at the door)
Golden Link Members: $25 ($27 at the door)
Students: $10
Children under 12: $5
See below for calendar listings for this and other upcoming concerts.
Photos of the performers are available at:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1itUdQ1VH1dNEzcbkvGIhjdS6kc9BfsQK?usp=sharing
Phone or email interviews with the performer(s) can be arranged.
Founded in 1971, the Golden Link Folk Singing Society is dedicated to presenting, promoting, and preserving folk music in the Rochester area. Golden Link is a volunteer-operated and member-supported 501(c)3 not-for-profit arts, cultural, and educational organization.
CALENDAR LISTINGS
John McCutcheon
Thursday, November 13, 2025, 7:30 pm
Rochester Christian Reformed Church, 2750 Atlantic Ave, Penfield NY 14526
Folk music’s renaissance man, John McCutcheon is a master instrumentalist, powerful singer-songwriter, storyteller, activist, and author. As an instrumentalist, he is a master of a dozen different traditional instruments, most notably the rare and beautiful hammer dulcimer. His songwriting has been hailed by critics and singers around the globe.
Tickets: General Admission: $30 ($32 at the door), Golden Link Members: $25 ($27 at the door), Students: $10, Children under 12: $5. For more information, visit www.goldenlink.org.
Mad Agnes – RESCHEDULED DATE
Saturday, November 22, 2025, 7:30 pm
Greece Baptist Church, 1230 Long Pond Rd, Rochester NY 14626
Golden Link is excited to welcome back the delightful, genre-bending trio Mad Agnes. Margo Hennebach, Adrienne Jones, and Mark Saunders deliver smart songwriting and passionate performances, and have an ease with one another on stage that invites the audience into their world of human connection and spontaneous fun.
(Note – Their October 25 concert was postponed due to illness. This is the new date.)
Tickets: General Admission: $25 ($27 at the door), Golden Link Members: $20 ($22 at the door), Students: $10, Children under 12: $5. For more information, visit www.goldenlink.org.
Christine Lavin
Sunday, December 7, 2025, 6:30 pm
Greece Baptist Church, 1230 Long Pond Rd, Rochester NY 14626
Christine Lavin is a witty songwriter-storyteller – as well as guitarist, author, and videographer – with a flair for the creative, the dramatic, and the humorous. She has more than 25 albums to her credit, along with her memoir (or mem-WHA?), Cold Pizza for Breakfast. Based in New York City since 1984, Lavin is especially known for her sense of humor, which is expressed in both her music – songs like “Sensitive New Age Guys” and “Good Thing He Can’t Read My Mind” – and her engaging performances, which might incorporate baton twirling and wind chimes. An alum of SUNY Brockport, Lavin was inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame in 2019.
Tickets: General Admission: $25 ($27 at the door), Golden Link Members: $20 ($22 at the door), Students: $10, Children under 12: $5. For more information, visit www.goldenlink.org.
Pepper and Sassafras
with Tim Burns and John Dancks
Saturday, February 21, 2026, 7:30 pm
Greece Baptist Church, 1230 Long Pond Rd, Rochester NY 14626
Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, teams up with multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Wendy Sassafras Ramsay in the dynamic acoustic duo Pepper and Sassafras. Rodgers, also the founding editor of Acoustic Guitar magazine, delivers masterful band-in-a-box guitar work while Ramsay, harmonizer extraordinaire, adds flute, clarinet, guitar, accordion, and her quirky originals to the mix. For this Golden Link concert, the duo will be joined by long-time collaborators Tim Burns (guitar, mandolin, vocals) and John Dancks (upright bass).
Tickets: General Admission: $25 ($27 at the door), Golden Link Members: $20 ($22 at the door), Students: $10, Children under 12: $5. For more information, visit www.goldenlink.org.
Low Lily
Saturday, March 21, 2026, 7:30 pm
Greece Baptist Church, 1230 Long Pond Rd, Rochester NY 14626
With the energy of fiddle music, the introspective quality of contemporary folk, the precision of bluegrass, and the drive of Americana, the Vermont-based trio Low Lily (Liz Simmons, Flynn Cohen, and Natalie Padilla) combine their individual talents into one stunning soundscape. Low Lily has shared their signature sound with enthusiastic audiences throughout North America and the UK, garnering two #1 songs on international folk radio and two Independent Music Awards.
Tickets: General Admission: $25 ($27 at the door), Golden Link Members: $20 ($22 at the door), Students: $10, Children under 12: $5. For more information, visit www.goldenlink.org.
The Clements Brothers
Saturday, April 18, 2026, 7:30 pm
Greece Baptist Church, 1230 Long Pond Rd, Rochester NY 14626
The Clements Brothers are George (guitar) and Charles (upright bass), identical twins from the heart of New England. The two have been playing and writing music together for as long as they can remember, first entering the Americana music scene in 2012 as part of the internationally touring grassroots group The Lonely Heartstring Band, with whom they put out two albums on Rounder Records. This marks their first original project together, focused on capturing their singer-songwriter sensibilities in a unique blend, with harmonies only achievable by their identical voices, at once enthralling and intimate, groovy and serene.
Tickets: General Admission: $25 ($27 at the door), Golden Link Members: $20 ($22 at the door), Students: $10, Children under 12: $5. For more information, visit www.goldenlink.org.
Kray Van Kirk
Saturday, May 2, 2026, 7:30 pm
Greece Baptist Church, 1230 Long Pond Rd, Rochester NY 14626
A fine finger-style guitarist with a precise baritone, Kray Van Kirk has a Ph.D. from the University of Alaska, but he set science aside to write songs, tell stories, and summon heroes. “We are driven by myth and the seasons of the heart,” he says. “The quest is to journey inside, find whatever it is that burns at the core of your soul, and bring it back into the light.” A charming, Quixotic, and decidedly eclectic performer, Van Kirk has performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland and toured the U.S. and Canada.
Tickets: General Admission: $25 ($27 at the door), Golden Link Members: $20 ($22 at the door), Students: $10, Children under 12: $5. For more information, visit www.goldenlink.org.
Garnet Rogers
Saturday, May 16, 2026, 7:30 pm
Greece Baptist Church, 1230 Long Pond Rd, Rochester NY 14626
Born in Hamilton, Ontario to parents of Nova Scotian descent, Garnet Rogers spent many hours listening to Grand Ol’ Opry radio broadcasts and harmonizing with his brother, the late folk legend Stan Rogers. At 18, he was on the road as a full-time working musician with brother Stan, forming one of the most influential duos in the history of North American folk music. Since then, Garnet has courageously established himself as a formidable solo artist, performing across North America, everywhere from small town folk clubs to the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
Tickets: General Admission: $30 ($32 at the door), Golden Link Members: $25 ($27 at the door), Students: $10, Children under 12: $5. For more information, visit www.goldenlink.org.