Steve Earle can count on his friends, and so can the Keswell School, where Earle’s 14-year-old son has found a second home since he was three years old. For this reason, Earle and City Winery hosted the 10th Annual John Henry’s Friends Benefit at the Town Hall on November 4. Proceeds from the event support the Keswell School, a non-profit institution in New York City specifically dedicated to educating children and young adults with autism.
Earle’s son, John Henry, was diagnosed with autism at 19 months. At the Keswell School, John Henry and his fellow students daily receive education and other supportive services. The institution, which uniquely offers its students a 1:1 teaching staff, was in financial distress until Earle raised the school’s profile via his annual fundraisers 10 years ago.
After introductory remarks by Michael Dorf, founder and CEO of City Winery, Earle welcomed the audience and introduced his invited guest musicians. This year’s fundraiser presented performances in the round by Earle, Jackson Browne, Margaret Glaspy, and Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams. After years of framing the fundraiser as a regular concert with individual performances, Earle explained that in recent times he was inspired by Emmylou Harris to restage these concerts as a “guitar pull.”
A guitar pull is a southern tradition where an intimate circle of acoustic guitarists alternate playing songs round-robin style, with the other musicians playing along. The “pull” notion originated from the possibility that there would be only one guitar among the group, so one musician might have to “pull” it away from another to get a turn. During a guitar pull, each musician plays one original composition or an interpretation of another artist’s work, then passes the opportunity to the next person in the circle.
Earle began the evening’s music with his signature “The Galway Girl,” followed by Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams performing “Ride with Me,” Margaret Glaspy singing “Memories,” and Jackson Browne covering J.D. Souther’s “Jesus in 3/4 Time.” The informal setting allowed each artist to reflect aloud on their choice of songs. Especially touching were the artists reminiscing on and covering songs by the recently deceased, Browne on J.D. Souther and Campbell and Williams on Phil Lesh.
Each artist performed four songs during the two-hour session. Collaborations were sometimes planned, sometimes spontaneous. As has become an annual tradition since Graham Nash performed at the second fundraiser nine years ago, the evening closed with an ensemble rendition of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “Teach Your Children.”
Setlist
- Steve Earle, “The Galway Girl”
- Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, “Ride with Me”
- Margaret Glaspy, “Memories”
- Jackson Browne, “Jesus in 3/4 Time” (J.D. Souther cover)
- Steve Earle, “Transcendental Blues”
- Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, “That’s the Way You Make Me Feel”
- Margaret Glaspy, “Get Back”
- Jackson Browne, “My Opening Farewell”
- Steve Earle, “When I Fall” (with Stacey Earle)
- Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, “That’s All It Took”
- Margaret Glaspy, “Fruits of My Labor” (Lucinda Williams cover))
- Jackson Browne, “Far from the Arms of Hunger”
- Steve Earle, “Copperhead Road”
- Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, “Attics of My Life”
- Margaret Glaspy, “I Am Both”
- Jackson Browne, “A Little Too Soon to Say”
- Ensemble, “Teach Your Children” (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young cover)
