Ohio River Blues

Friday | May 19 | 7:30 – 8:30pm
Minnesota Marine Arts Museum

An evening of songs and poems inspired by the hard-scrabble life of sharecroppers and factory workers in the Ohio River Valley during the Great Depression and the Second World War.

Jim Armstrong has taken the story of his grandfather and put it to music—played on the vintage Gibson guitar his grandfather bequeathed him. Jim will be joined by musicians Scott Lowery and Jim Reineke, as well as Pippa Armstrong on viola and vocals.

The set will feature a baker’s dozen of new songs that Jim wrote for this project, along with a few traditional tunes from the period. The songs follow the arc of a man who rose out of the depths of poverty by sheer grit but also by the country’s mobilization for defense work in the early ‘40s. This project was sponsored by a grant from the Southeast Minnesota Arts Council. Admission is free and all ages are welcome.

The Minnesota Marine Art Museum is a member of the River Arts Alliance. To learn more about the benefits of membership, please visit: riverartsalliance.org/JOIN.