An Evening of Songs and Storytelling with Andrew Revkin

An Evening of Songs and Storytelling with Andrew Revkin

In an evening of storytelling and songs, longtime journalist, author, educator and performing songwriter Andy Revkin will explore his dual-path journey aimed at connecting the public with ideas, issues and solutions using any means possible.

Revkin, a prominent figure in the Hudson Valley for decades both as a New York Times environmental journalist and musician, now lives in Downeast Maine. But he’s returning for this show to raise funds for the Chapel, which holds special meaning for him because he was married here in October 1996 to Lisa Mechaley.

Through his professional life, Revkin has split his time between prize-winning reporting and songwriting, including music featured on NPR and two albums of original songs. Released this year, “Wake Me up Martha” is described by Revkin as a “sonic survival guide for these crazy times.” The album offers a mix of humorous and haunting songs on themes ranging from escaping social media to the travails facing farming families, from a skeptic ending up in heaven to a mountain community grappling with an epic flood. His 2013 album, “A Very Fine Line,” featured guest appearances by some of the area’s finest musicians, including Dar Williams and Bruce Molsky. Pete Seeger helped tweak the lyrics to Revkin’s much-praised song about the space crunch at Arlington National Cemetery.

Revkin’s reporting has taken him from the burning Amazon rain forest to the melting North Pole sea ice. Learn more about his journalism and music on his Sustain What blog on Substack at revkin.substack.com.

Pete Seeger, commenting on Revkin’s song “Arlington,” featuring Dar Williams: “Andy, send copies to all the folky mags and all the peacenik mags you know! And send CD’s to radio stations. Keep singing. Keep writing.”

Hit songwriter Dean Friedman ("Ariel"): "Andy Revkin is both a consummate songwriter and a journalist writing timely, relevant songs about the critical topics of the day, infused with insight, veracity, humor and style. His songs are everything contemporary folk aspires to be."