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Sons of Town Hall, David Berkeley and Ben Parker, share spellbinding songs and stories under the aliases Josiah Chester Jones and George Ulysses Brown. SJOSKE BURRSINK
Sons of Town Hall, Ben Parker and David Berkeley, perform under the aliases Josiah Chester Jones and George Ulysses Brown. They will present at concert at The Church in Sag Harbor on March 6. COURTESY THE ARTISTS
Sons of Town Hall, Ben Parker and David Berkeley, perform in concert at The Church in Sag Harbor on March 6. SJOSKE BUURSINK
Sons of Town Hall, Ben Parker and David Berkeley, perform at The Church in Sag Harbor on March 6. ERIKJAN KOOPMANS
Join the transatlantic folk duo Sons of Town Hall comprising American songwriter/author David Berkeley and British songwriter/producer Ben Parker as they fill The Church’s main gallery with their spellbinding songs and stories under the aliases Josiah Chester Jones and George Ulysses Brown. The pair perform at The Church on Thursday, March 6, at 6 p.m.
“Think Simon and Garfunkel lost at sea, and you get a sense of the mythic world at play here,” says The Philadelphia Inquirer. Travel back in time as the 19th century vagabonds take us on a lyrical journey in a hand-built boat to escape troubled pasts in search of adventure and love.
Sons of Town Hall’s show is both very funny and surprisingly poignant as the duo weaves hilarious stories of sailing the seas and roaming the land between their bewitching vocal harmonies and rousing songs. It’s a form of performance art that pulls from the duo’s radio-theater, “Madmen Cross the Water” and promises to be unlike any concert you’ve seen. Join The Church for what is sure to be an evening of laughter interspersed with moments of deep contemplation about friendship, resilience and shared humanity.
Dressed in threadbare Victorian outfits and armed with weather-beaten Gibson guitars, the Sons of Town Hall crafts songs of wonder and woe, heartbreak and hope, on a voyage across the Atlantic. The harmonies are sublime. The stories are hilarious. The show is part concert, part performance art.
The duo’s forthcoming album, “Of Ghosts and Gods,” will be unveiled one song at a time in each episode of their comedy-fiction podcast, “Madmen Cross the Water.” The podcast features witty writing, cinematic production and a beautiful original score. Hosted by a modern-day super fan and performed by the Sons, the series unfolds as a music-history deep dive charting their misadventures as they travel the world armed with relentless optimism. It is a must-listen for fans of indie folk music and off-kilter storytelling, a bit like if Dolly Parton’s America shared a tour bus with Welcome to Nightvale, Iron and Wine, and some bizarre troupe reenacting Don Quioxte.
Tickets are $25 (members $20) at thechurchsagharbor.org. The Church is at 48 Madison Street in Sag Harbor.
Staff Writer on Feb 16, 2025