Hard Luck Café: Joe Crookston

Joe Crookston, a widely acclaimed singer-songwriter and guitarist based in Ithaca, New York, returns to Long Island on Wednesday, September 17 to open the 2025-2026 season of the monthly Hard Luck Café concert series. Co-presented by the Folk Music Society of Huntington and the Cinema Arts Centre (423 Park Avenue, Huntington, NY, 631-423-7610), the concert takes place in the Cinema’s Sky Room from 7pm-10pm.  An open mic, for which sign-up begins at 6:30pm, precedes the 8pm concert.  Tickets are $32 ($25 for Cinema Arts Centre/FMSH members) and may be purchased online at cinemaartscentre.org or at the box office through the evening of the show.

An engaging and energetic live performer, Crookston has played such notable music venues and festivals as Club Passim, Godfrey Daniels, The Guthrie Center, the Kerrville Folk Festival, Mariposa Folk Festival, The Philadelphia Folk Festival, and 30A Songwriters Festival, among others. He toured with the late Gordon Lightfoot in 2021-2022 and has performed on Long Island a number of times since being among the artists voted “Most Wanted to Return” following the Grassy Hill Emerging Artist Showcase at the 2007 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.

Crookston has released eight studio albums of award-winning songs, many of which have been covered by other musicians. Two of his songs, “Blue Tattoo” and “Brooklyn in July,” have been made into feature films. His album Able, Baker, Charlie & Dog – a collection of songs inspired by stories ordinary New Yorkers from the Finger Lakes region related to him during his year-long travels under a songwriting grant from The Rockefeller Foundation — was awarded Album of the Year by Folk Alliance International during the 2009 International Folk Music Awards, in recognition of the extensive folk radio airplay that it received over the prior year.  He also was chosen as Folk Alliance International’s Artist in Residence and invited to collaborate and perform “The Letters of Florence Hemphill” as part of a keynote gathering featuring Judy Collins during its 2016 international conference.

Besides writing and performing his songs, Crookston taught songwriting and guitar at The Ashokan Center and The Swannanoa Gathering, among others. Also a talented visual artist, his artwork and paintings have been installed in many galleries. Visit joecrookston.com for more information and to view some videos.