Renowned Musician Annie Humphrey Comes to New York Mills

Cultural Center Hosts Concert

The Cultural Center in New York Mills kicks off its fall concert series with musician Annie Humphrey plus special guests, The Long Hairz Collective, on Saturday, September 23.

Annie Humphrey opened the tour for her new album release, The Beast and the Garden, during a concert at Bluestem Amphitheater in Moorhead, MN with Bonnie Raitt and the Indigo Girls on September 1. Various artists accompany Humphrey on her five-week tour of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. For this concert in New York Mills, she is joined by The Long Hairz Collective (LHC).

LHC is a project of Joe Reilly of Ann Arbor, MI and William Copeland of Detroit, MI. Copeland studied at the Berkeley School of Music and continues to do the work of music, environmental policy, and social justice. Reilly is the official Troubadour of National Get Outdoors Day. He is an educator, a recording artist, and an environmental advocate. Together, their sound is a powerful blend of folk and hip hop. Their albums weave together word with tone, and drum beats with heartbeats.

Native American singer/songwriter, Humphrey, was born and raised on an Ojibwe Indian reservation in Minnesota, the daughter of author Anne Dunn. Her father taught her to play the guitar when she was in the first grade, and two years after that, she taught herself piano and began writing songs. Humphrey’s music career began out of pure necessity. With two young children to care for, she began performing at coffee houses and local events. Over the years her songwriting has focused on a specific theme with a message to “Be brave and have a good journey.”

All songs on The Beast and the Garden (except Geronimo’s Cadillac by Michael Martin Murphy) were written during Humphrey’s fight against tar sands oil and the pipeline reroute which crawls through Minnesota’s 1855 treaty lands. This oil line threatens the lakes, rivers, wild rice, fish and plant medicines which Humphrey and her community use to sustain their families.

Regarding recording music again after fighting for environmental protections of treaty lands, Humphrey says, “Organizing and activism is keeping the beast out of the garden. I think playing music for a while is me taking care of the tomatoes.”

Humphrey is supported in her music and environmental journey by Honor the Earth, an organization founded by activist and political candidate, Winona LaDuke. Honor the Earth is a proud sponsor of this concert.

The September 23rd concert in New York Mills begins at 7:30 p.m. with doors open at 7:00 p.m. Light refreshments are served and a cash bar is available. Tickets are $15 at the door or $12 in advance (-$2 member discount), or $5 for students.

The concert is part of the Weaving Waters Fiber Arts Trail Grand Opening Weekend which lasts Friday and Saturday September 22-23 and stretches from Little Falls, up to Brainerd, and over to New York Mills.

To buy tickets, please call the Cultural Center at (218) 385-3339 and for more information, visit the Center’s website at www.kulcher.org.

###

The Cultural Center in New York Mills is a rural hub for creativity, community vitality, and lifelong learning in the arts. We offer visitors intimate opportunities to encounter art and artists in our 80-seat concert listening room, two galleries in a historic building, a gift store featuring local artists, an artist residency program, a sculpture park, and a variety of opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive. Since our incorporation in 1990, we have been passionate about connecting people to artists and rich cultural experiences in rural Minnesota, celebrating the local and being a window to the world.