Just Wild About Harry – Tribute to Harry Chapin

For the 15th straight year, more than two dozen of Long Island’s top folk and rock musicians will take to the stage in Eisenhower Park in East Meadow to perform the music of Harry Chapin, the late singer, Grammy Award-winning songwriter and social activist. The “Just Wild About Harry” tribute concert on Monday night, July 15, will feature 17 acts, including concert organizer Stuart Markus and his trio Gathering Time, performing some of Chapin’s classics including “Taxi” and “Cat’s in the Cradle,” plus many lesser hits and fan favorites like “WOLD” and “Mr. Tanner.” The concert, set for 7:15 p.m., is free, but concertgoers are asked to bring donations of nonperishable food to support Long Island Cares, Inc., the regional food bank founded by Chapin in 1980.
“The annual Harry Chapin Tribute Concert in Eisenhower Park is always a very special event for all of us at Long Island Cares because so many of Harry’s fans attend and are extremely supportive of Long Island Cares and the work we do to assist the more than 316,000 Long Islanders struggling with domestic hunger and high food insecurity,” said Paule Pachter, the nonprofit organization’s chief executive officer.

Markus added, “This year marks the 38th anniversary of Chapin’s death on the LIE at the age of 38, while en route to perform on the Eisenhower Park stage that now bears his name, so we’re doing something special: “Cat’s in the Cradle” will be done as a sing-along to a recording of Harry playing it solo-acoustic, where he laid out on the choruses for the audience to take part.”

Besides Markus and Gathering Time, this year’s artist roster includes newcomers Travis McKeveny and Pete Mancini, and returning performers Patricia Shih, Lisa Itts, Robin Eve & Frank Walker, Robinson Treacher, Debra Lynne, Media Crime, Karen Bella & Mara Levine, Jerry DeMeo, Sid Cherry & Helen Schrier Pandal, Toby Tobias, Mike Barry, Folk Goddesses, and Christine Solimeno, plus assorted side musicians.

In addition to collecting donations of non-perishable food at a tent near the entrance to The Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre, Long Island Cares’ staff and volunteers will also be selling tee shirts and Harry Chapin CDs, as well as distributing literature about the organization’s programs and services.

Guests should bring their own lawn chairs or picnic blankets to The Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre at the park, which is located off Merrick and Stewart Avenues in East Meadow. The concert will be held rain or shine, precluded only by thunderstorms. For more information, visit http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/1767/Parks-Recreation-Museums.

(Photo of Harry Chapin by Robert Berkowitz/RSBImageWorks)