Stress Relief through Music and Rhythm: A Participatory Experience

Please note: because our building is closed, we will be meeting in the Multi-Purpose Room at Parks & Recreation, 561 Main Street South.

These are tense times. Percussionist Craig Harris provides the key to releasing endorphins and eliminating pent-up frustration using songs, stories, and guided music-making. Let it all out!

Music historian, educator, storyteller, percussionist, photographer, and Washington, DC radio show host Craig Harris is the author of Rise Up! Indigenous Music in North America (2023),  Crossing Borders (2021, with Max Baca), Bluegrass, Newgrass, Old-time and Americana Music (2018), The Band: Pioneers of Americana Music (2014/2017), Heartbeat, Warble, and the Electric Powwow: American Indian Music (2016), and The New Folk Music (1993). The Musical Life of Melanie: From the Village to Woodstock and Beyond and The Band from The Hawk to “Killers of the Flower Moon” are forthcoming on Bloomsbury Books.  A skilled percussionist, Harris has played with the Gaea Star Band for over a decade and has co-hosted the weekly syndicated Gaea Crystal Radio Hour (Dreamvision 7 radio network) since 2014. He’s also played with C.J. Chenier and his Red Hot Louisiana Zydeco Band, Greg Brown, Jonathan Edwards, Rod MacDonald, Melanie, Mustard’s Retreat, Merl Saunders, Rick Danko (The Band), and Los Texmaniacs. After more than a quarter of a century as a music teacher in public/charter schools, Harris launched the Drum Away the Blues program in 2009. Since then, he’s presented multimedia programs in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, North Dakota, Indiana, Kentucky, Arkansas, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Florida. The weekly Craig Harris Show airs Fridays (10 PM – 1 AM) on Bluegrass Country Radio WAMU-FM hd2, Washington, DC.

Like all Southbury Public Library programs, this event is free to attend and open to anyone regardless of town of residency. Registration is required. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Southbury Public Library. For more information about this program, please email Rebecca at rrandall@biblio.org or call the reference desk at 203-262-0626 ext 1.