On Sept 26, 2020, Anne Hills, Jamie O’Reilly, Paul Amandes, and pianist John Erickson performed a concert, recorded at the Hinsdale Unitarian Church, honoring the musical life of their friend, the beloved singer/songwriter Michael P. Smith, who died on August 3 of this year.

Produced, hosted and engineered by Rich Warren for Folkstage, a program of cultural icon WFMT Fine Arts Radio, the concert was presented in two sets. Listen at to the 58:30 minute set via the WFMT Folkstage link (for a limited time) here: https://www.wfmt.com/programs/folkstage/

Listen to it here as well. The 58:30 minute set, that was broadcast live, follows here, in two parts.

(Note: The first portion was videotaped by Randy Styka, for a special audience, to be aired on radio at a later date. The audio of that set is in a previous blog post.)

Song selections from Folkstage Broadcast – in two parts.
Listen to Part 1 of the second set
Spoon River (excerpt,) When I Lived in My Grandmother’s House,
The Ballad of Elizabeth Dark, I Wish Someone Would Take Me Dancing,
Sr. Clarissa

Listen to Part 2 of the second set
The Last Day of Pompeii, Waving to Picasso,
Crazy Mary, Cloudships,* Hey, Kid,
Angels Were at Our Side*, Such Things Are Finely Done

Music and lyrics of the selections were written by Michael Smith, with the exception of Cloudships, which has lyrics by Opal Whitely, and music by Michael.  And Angels Were at Our Side, from a poem by Gabriela Mistral, music by Michael.

WFMT’s Folkstage, Copyright 2020 WFMT/WWCI, all rights reserved. 

Websites:
Michael Peter Smith michaelpetersmith.com
Jamie O’Reilly jamieoreilly.com
Anne Hills annehills.com
Paul Amandes https://www.colum.edu/academics/faculty/detail/paul-amandes.html
John Erickson https://www.johnericksonpiano.com/bio