Award-winning singer/songwriter/musician Barry Cloyd is back by popular demand as a part of the 2019-2020 SRC Community Chorus season. On Sunday, February 9, Barry presents the engaging, original show Burl Ives, Midwestern Minstrel in the SRC Theatre on the Canton campus. Show time is 3:00 p.m. Tickets may be purchased by calling 649-6260.
Burl Ives was and is an iconic figure in the annals of American Folk Music getting his start in the farms and fields near the small towns of Hunt City and Newton in Southern Illinois. Generations know him as the singing snowman in the beloved television special Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
In this original program created by Barry Cloyd, Ives’ incredible life will play out as audiences discover the back story of this fascinating person and hear many of Burl Ives’ most popular folk songs.
In the 1930s he was an official hobo, traveling the country in boxcars. A fixture of the nascent folk scene throughout the 1940s to 1960s in New York City, Ives also went on to become an internationally recognized star in film. He won an Oscar for his role in Big Country and starred in many other films.
While Burl Ives became one of the world’s best-known folk singers, he never lost his hometown, folksy touch. He recorded nearly 100 albums in his career and was called America’s Great Ballad Singer by Illinois Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Carl Sandburg.
Barry Cloyd is a Midwestern-based, full-time touring singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who performs more than 125 various shows per year. In addition to his energetic concert schedule, Barry has been the resident stringed instrumentalist/vocalist on The Spirit of Peoria Paddlewheel Riverboat for the last 18 years. Barry is also a recording artist with 10 CDs to his credit and his all original Southland won the award for best Americana album in 2016, resulting in his tracks Spirit Dance and Know This River being placed on radio stations in more than 45 countries worldwide. He has shared the stage and recorded with many stars of the Blues and Americana music worlds including band members of Buddy Guy’s Band, The Byrds, Stephen Stills, Emmylou Harris, The Oak Ridge Boys, John Denver and Dan Fogelberg. Barry has also created and toured dozens of edu-tainment programs which focus on history through music.
“We are pleased to present the multi-talented Barry Cloyd again this year,” said Carol Davis, Artistic Director. “The SRC Community Chorus tradition of providing quality entertainment and establishing SRC scholarships continues as we celebrate our upcoming 15th anniversary season.”
The final production of the SRC Community Chorus 2019-2020 season will be an original musical revue conceived by Carol Davis, Tony Roberts, and Chad Murphy. From Broadway to L.A. will be presented June 5-7. Visit www.src.edu/foundation and click on the Community Chorus link, Like us on Facebook, or contact Carol Davis by emailing cdavis.tenacious@gmail.com.
