Caroline Doctorow Returns To Songwriters Share Series

Feb 27, 2018 1:12 PM

Singer-songwriter Caroline Doctorow lives in Bridgehampton, just a stone’s throw from both the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse of the South Fork, where she will make her fourth consecutive appearance in the annual Songwriters Share charity concert series on Friday, March 2, and the Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center, which she once again chose as the beneficiary of her performance.

The folk musician said during a recent interview that fans of her music and supporters of the Bridgehampton Child Care & Recreational Center are often one and the same. “The people that like my music tend to be into social change causes.”

The center is a nonprofit that offers after-school activities for underprivileged children as well as summer camp, college prep and field trips.

“Both locations are a half mile down the road from me,” Ms. Doctorow said of the center and of the concert venue. “So it just sort of feels right in terms of thinking globally, acting locally.”

Nancy Remkus, a Sag Harbor native and herself a singer and songwriter, founded the concert series in 2015 as a way to benefit East End charities while building a relationship between the community and musicians.

Ms. Doctorow said she enjoys playing in the Songwriters Share series because of the spirit of fellowship, and the support for songwriters and worthy causes. “So, it seems to be a win-win. And also, the actual place is quite beautiful … it’s very acoustically pleasing and visually pleasing.”

For this year’s concert, Ms. Doctorow will perform will bassist Karl Allweier and not just one, but two fiddle players, Gary Oleyar and Chris Tedesco.

“We don’t often get to have twin fiddles in the band, because I mostly, these days, do trio shows,” Ms. Doctorow said. “But the songs that I haven’t written will be these pretty amazing fiddle tunes that are just very fast paced and beautiful.”

She raved about the talents of Mr. Oleyar and Mr. Tedesco, whom she called world-class.

“It’s pretty much heaven for me to stand there between these amazing players,” Ms. Doctorow said. “And a lot of people don’t know that about me, but literally one of my favorite things to do in the world is play rhythm guitar behind fiddlers. I find that incredibly—I don’t even know what the word would be. It’s an out-of-body experience.”

Besides the twin-fiddle tunes, Ms. Doctorow plans on Friday to play staples of her repertoire, and to debut a brand new song that she was still working on.

“It’s a song I’ve been writing for a while, and it’s just giving me a push to get it done,” she said.

The song is titled “Every Day Can’t Be Saturday Night,” and Mr. Tedesco gave her the idea while they were driving out west.

“We were at a convenience store and it was in the middle of the week and these guys were partying,” Ms. Doctorow recalled. “We wondered, what might happen to them? That’s where that title comes from.”

Her latest album, “Dreaming in Vinyl,” includes eight songs that she credits with helping her learn to become a singer-songwriter, plus two originals. It stayed at No. 2 nationally for two months on the folk radio airplay charts, and Ms. Doctorow said it features many string arrangements, layered harmonies and instruments.

“That record is sort of a study in the sound of ’60s and ’70s folk albums that I listened to growing up, and a lot of people that like my music listened to growing up,” she said.

Donovan, Bob Dylan and Judy Collins—three of the artists whose songs are covered on “Dreaming in Vinyl”—made albums that were very lushly produced later in their careers, but they still fell under the folk umbrella, Ms. Doctorow pointed out.

She said Friday’s concert will be a high-powered evening of acoustic music—mainly because of the fiddlers.

“It’s just going to be a really fun night and we have a terrific opening act named Chris Kline,” she assured. “He’s a local Sag Harbor teacher and singer-songwriter—a young guy. And that’s always important to me, to give an opportunity to the younger generation of songwriters coming up.”

Caroline Doctorow performs on Friday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse of the South Fork at 977 Sag Harbor-Bridgehampton Turnpike in Bridgehampton. A complimentary reception with the artists will follow. Admission is $20, or $15 for students and seniors.

Songwriters Share will continue on the first Friday of the month with Fred Raimondo playing for The Retreat on April 6, Gene Casey playing for Turtle Rescue of the Hamptons on May 4 and the Songwriters Share Showcase playing for Maureen’s Haven on June 1.