FINLEY >> On Friday, May 18 Don Coffin has planned a Sulphur Fire Benefit featuring Rita Hosking.
This folk and bluegrass concert will be held from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at the Big Valley Hall, which is located at 1510 Big Valley Rd on the Finley and Lakeport border. Ticket proceeds will go to the NCO Sulphur Fire Fund to benefit those who lost homes last October.
Opening the evening will be Don Coffin and Gloria Strasburg, who have played together for the past five years. Strasburg and Coffin recently completed a stage presentation and CD project called “Unfinished Life” based on the music of Kate Wolf. Coffin has produced concerts and festivals in Lake County for the past 15 years. He’s well known at the Ely Stage Stop Country Museum where he plays with the fiddlers on first Sundays. He also has a radio show “Bluegrass Traveler” on KPFZ 88.1 FM, Lake County Community Radio which airs on Thursdays at 7 a.m., with repeats on Mondays at 3 p.m.
Northern California’s Rita Hosking sings of forest fires, culture clash, demolition derbies, the working class and hope. From NPR’s Weekend Edition to Bob Harris’s BBC show, Hosking is moving audiences around the globe with her stories in song and doubly sweet and sinewy voice. A descendant of Cornish miners who sang in the mines, Hosking grew up with deep regard for folk music and the power of the voice.
Hosking’s style of country-folk has been lauded for story and sense of place, and her performances praised for capturing the audience. Honors include the winner of the ‘08 Dave Carter Memorial Songwriting Contest at the Sisters Folk Festival, a finalist in the ‘09 Telluride Troubadour Contest, and many more. Her records have earned Best Country Album Vox Pop in the 2010 Independent Music Awards, No Depression’s Top 10 “Young Female Artist releases for 2011”, “Hidden Gem” lists by The Observer, and “Top 10 Country Albums of 2013” by The Telegraph.
Volunteers from Lake County Fire Recovery Benefits will be selling beer and wine for Hope City to rebuild homes without sufficient insurance that were lost in the Lake County 2015-7 fires. Big Valley Hall members will sell soda, water and homemade desserts for hall renovations.
Tickets are $25 at the door, $20 presale tickets are available at Watershed Books in Lakeport and Catfish Coffee House in Clearlake. For questions, contact Don Coffin at 707-477-0458.
