FARMINGTON – One of Maine’s musical treasures, David Mallett, comes to Farmington as part of the Old South Church Concert Series on Friday, May 10. Mallett has been named one of the most memorable “Mainers” in the millennium edition of The Bangor Daily News (along with Marshall Dodge, Andrew Wyeth, E.B. White, Stephen King, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and others).
The cool breezes of Maine’s northlands have flowed through his songs for more than four decades. As a young adult, while a student at the University of Maine where he was a theatre major, Mallett discovered the music of singersongwriters like Gordon Lightfoot and Bob Dylan and soon began writing his own songs.
“I felt that if I became a singer-song writer, I could sing my own words,” Mallett said.
Mallett’s songs are filled with passion, evocative imagery, and a sense of inevitable passage of time. The struggle of the common man and the loss of American towns and landscapes are the subject of many of his songs.
Mallet’s rich influences come from “having grown up around country people and farmers, rural life has always been the wellspring for a lot of my best work. A turning point in his career came in 1975, after he discovered that Noel Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary had moved to Blue Hill, Maine and was opening a recording studio. Within six months of visiting Stookey’s studio, Mallett found a true mentor. Stookey produced David’s first three albums and helped bring his tune “The Garden Song” to the attention of influential folksinger, Pete Seeger. Then John Denver recorded the song in the late 1970’s, taking it to the top ten in adult contemporary charts.
When Mallet is not touring, the place where he makes his songs is in his writing room in an old farmhouse with a view across the field with a tintype of his great-grandfather on the wall.
“I like to keep reaching out to touch the past…to connect it with what’s going on now. To me music is one of the few things that is timeless…human emotion is one continual chain,” he said.
To learn more about David Mallett visit http://davidmallett.com/
Old South Church is located at 235 Main Street in Farmington. Handicapped accessible. Doors will open at 7 p.m. Concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. Adults $20. Students $10/$5. College students ID required. Refreshments available by donation during intermission. Ticket reservations highly recommended by call 207-491-5919. Email oldsouthchurchconcerts@gmail.com to subscribe to their newsletter. Updates on Facebook or http://www.farmingtonucc.org/news–events.html
