BRATTLEBORO — Renowned folk musicians Tony Barrand and Keith Murphy will perform a benefit concert for the Friends of Brooks Memorial Library in the Main Reading Room of the library, 224 Main St., on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.
Barrand and Murphy will feature songs and ballads composed by James Atwood and family members during the mid-19th century in West Dover.
The Atwood collection includes dramatic ballads, romantic and funny songs about domestic life and marriage, and children's songs. Tony and Keith will sing “Jubilee Jim Fisk,” a song about Brattleboro's own Jim Fisk, notorious Robber Baron of the Gilded Age.
Several years ago, Barrand and Murphy began their musical collaboration by finding and performing works composed by Atwood and other members of his family.
The Atwood songs were initially published by Edith Barnes Sturgis in 1919 as Songs from the Hills of Vermont. Through connections with Vermont folk artist Margaret MacArthur, descendants and friends of the Atwood and Sturgis families, Murphy and Barrand have tracked down additional tunes and lyrics to perform.
The mission of the Friends of the Library is to support the library through advocacy, public relations, and fundraising. Funds raised through concerts and other events help support the library's First Wednesday lecture series, technology updates, Children's Room activities, and purchase of library materials.