Hard Luck Café: Gathering Time

Gathering Time (https://gathering-time.com/home) — an acclaimed internationally touring folk-rock harmony trio —  is the featured act during 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) in the Cinema’s Sky Room on Wednesday, October 18, from 7pm-10pm. An open mic, for which sign-up is at 6:30pm,  precedes the concert. Tickets are $20 ($15 for Cinema Arts Centre/FMSH members) and can be purchased online at https://cinemaartscentre.org or at the box office now through the evening of the event. 

Based on Long Island, Gathering Time performs a mix of original, classic 20th century, and traditional tunes.  Like a co-ed Crosby, Stills & Nash, the trio is known for its astute songwriting, spirited and accomplished musicianship and a stellar vocal blend.  

Stuart Markus, Christine Sweeney and Gerry McKeveny evince deep roots in 1960s and 1970s folk-rock, with a healthy dash of traditional folk in the mix. Their on-stage chemistry makes clear that they take the music (if not themselves) very seriously, yet their infectious energy wins over even fans who never considered themselves folkies. 

Gathering Time is among the few acts to have two successive  #1 and four successive top-five albums on the monthly folk radio charts now compiled by Folk Alliance International. Its most recent release, Old Friends, topped the albums chart in September 2020 and featured five of the month’s top 25 songs, while its previous release, Keepsake, was the most-played album in March 2015 and featured the month’s #1 song. These followed on the heels of When One Door Closes  (#3 album in January 2014) and Red Apples and Gold (#5 album in September 2012).

Gathering Time has had a record five juried showcases at Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) conferences and was one of three acts during the 2012 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival’s Grassy Hill Emerging Artists Showcase voted “Most Wanted to Return” in 2013. Although the trio has seen a couple of personnel changes since then, Gathering Time continues to entertain and delight fans up and down the East Coast and beyond with both its concerts of mostly original songs and tribute shows featuring 1960s and 1970s classics. 

John Platt, host of WFUV’s Sunday Supper, has hailed Gathering Time for its “harmonies that can charm the birds out of the trees, strong original songs, and a savvy repertoire of cover songs ranging from traditional folk to classic rock.”