A Magical Musical Evening with Mike Agranoff October 3, 2009

You never quite know what you're going to get when you listen to Mike Agranoff. When I first met him, he was reciting "The Battle of Trenton", a long, improbable and very funny account of how George Washington defeated the Hessians in the Revolutionary War. As the laughter died he pulled out his guitar and launched into a strikingly original fingerstyle rendition of O'Carolan's Sidh Beag Agus Sidh Mor, and believe me it's not so easy to bring something fresh to a tune that has been played for hundreds of years.

Mike's influences also include Tin Pan Alley, JS Bach, Scott Joplin, traditional sea ballads, Gospel and British Vaudeville. He is well known for his parodies, from the short and sweet Will Ye Go to the The Folkie, sung to the tune of Paul Simon's classic "The Boxer". Mike has his serious side, too, penning a sequel to the classic traditional tune Gypsy Davey.

"Mike Agranoff is the guy who walks into a song circle at a folk festival at three in the morning and introduces some great British ballad which fits in perfectly with every other song and which he sings with a strong voice and a great sense of drama. He is a word-smith and raconteur and that makes for a terrific live performance. The last time he played, he was competing with a concert upstairs and a flood downstairs - and he still wowed us."
Postcrypt Coffeehouse, New York City

Official Website: http://www.heartlandconcerts.org