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Outdoor Concert: Dennis King & Erik Balkey at Library Gazebo

Free Concert in Partnership w/ Skylands Songwriters Guild

Dennis King and Erik Balkey will each offer a 30 minute set.

Outdoor performance at the Roxbury Library Gazebo.  Bring your own lawn chair.

Dennis King is a New Jersey-based indie singer-songwriter whose music blends intimate folk storytelling with the raw edges of post-punk, Americana, and DIY rock. Having performed under the name SONOFDOV, King built a reputation for deeply personal songs that explore loss, resilience, and the quiet beauty found in everyday life. Growing up in the shadow of New York City's music scene, King cut his teeth in underground rock clubs before evolving into the reflective songwriter he is today. His cinematic songwriting has been featured in film and television, including Wander, Coyote, PBS, and Discovery, while his releases have earned praise for their emotional honesty and atmospheric arrangements. Critics have described his work as "haunting," "cathartic," and capable of "composing ballads that transport us and pierce us."

New Jersey songwriter Erik Balkey is a storyteller with a committed and intimate approach to delivering songs that compel you to lean in. He has written hundreds of songs and has earned recognition in over a dozen national songwriting contests including being named a 2005 Kerrville New Folk Winner. His song “Baseball in my Blood” has been featured on NESN, the Boston Red Sox TV Network. His songs have been heard on one 100 folk radio show around the world. Erik lives with the idea that the greatest gift we have to give each other is the gift of listening. As a performer, he draws in listeners with an understated presence and an inviting stage demeanor. As an artist, he is an observer and listener with the human inclination to connect and learn. His songs are, first of all, direct and literal with a plain-speaking storyteller’s viewpoint. The layers of deeper meaning, and an invitation to interpret, become evident to the listener willing to go there. When Erik is not singing in his living room, at the local open mic, or in songwriter showcases, he is busy slowly gaining wisdom and being humbled by his 12-year old son. He has represented hundreds of artists in the folk scene for folk radio promotion with his company Hudson Harding Music. He has made it his business to inspire and foster the creation of meaningful topical songs for our times, in the folk tradition, and to make sure they are heard. https://www.facebook.com/erikbalkeymusic/

Register online or by calling the library at (973) 584-2400.  We need to know who's coming for safe headcount purposes as well as our way to contact you should mother nature require us to postpone.

Skylands Songwriters Guild is an educational 501(c)3 dedicated to nurturing the community of Singer/Songwriters of Northwest New Jersey and the surrounding region. We seek to provide enlightenment for the public, revealing the talents of songwriters, and to offer educational and performance resources for artists to advance their craft.  SSG seeks to provide an open and supportive atmosphere for aspiring amateurs through accomplished professionals.
The Guild will host learning and sharing events such as Open Mics, coffeehouses, song-craft workshops and seminars, as well as showcases and festivals for performances. The Principals of the SSG are well established in the local independent artist community, hosting many of the events mentioned above. They seek to make the SSG a non-profit entity unto itself for the sole purpose of building community among those who create and those who appreciate!

Funding has been made possible in part by funds from Morris Arts through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.

With thanks to all our concert series sponsors.

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