Hank Cramer will be performing on March 10th for the humanities series program at Coffeyville Community College. The program will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Spencer/Rounds Performing Arts Theatre. The performance is free and open to the public.
Cramer, a national-touring folksinger from the Pacific Northwest, will give a concert series of Irish folk songs just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Through grant funding from “Artists Of Note,” he will perform in schools and senior centers throughout the region from March 9th through 12th. He will wrap up his Kansas tour with a concert at the restored Burford Theatre in Arkansas City on March 14.
Cramer is well-known for his booming bass voice, wry humor, and smooth picking on a vintage flat-top guitar. He has recorded twenty-two CD’s and three movie soundtracks during his career, and is a popular performer at festivals and venues across the United States, Canada, and Europe. In 2017, he recorded a one-hour television concert for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Cramer's most recent release, “Make The Rafters Ring,” is a high-spirited collection of Irish and Scottish pub songs.
Though he performs a wide variety of music, the ballads of Ireland and Scotland are the centerpiece of Cramer’s repertoire. Born into an Irish-American family, Cramer grew up learning stories and songs from his immigrant grandmother, Agnes O’Toole, who was the “nanny” in their single-parent household. When he was eight, Agnes took Cramer to a concert by a touring Irish vocal group, The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. That was a life-changing event, steering Cramer on to a career of singing Celtic ballads. Cramer has been featured at Celtic festivals in Washington, Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, British Columbia, and Nova Scotia, and he frequently tours Ireland and Scotland.
Cramer’s music has received critical acclaim, including extensive airplay on National Public Radio. He is the 2011 recipient of the prestigious Humanities Washington Award, presented for excellence in the arts to one performer annually. Sing Out!, the national folk magazine, called Hank’s Songs Of USS Constellation CD “the most beautiful and accomplished album of sea music we’ve ever heard.” Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio gives a straight-forward description of Cramer’s singing: “He’s got one helluva voice!” The late Faith Petric, leader of the San Francisco folk scene, said of Cramer's singing: “He made me laugh. He made me cry. And that’s what good music is all about.”
When not on the road performing, Hank lives on a ranch in Washington’s Methow Valley with his wife Kit McLean and their many critters.
To learn more about Hank Cramer feel free to visit his website, www.hankcramer.com.