Sing Out! calls Rogers the “greatest male interpreter and vocalist performing in the contemporary folk scene.” His area fan base has been looking forward to this visit since the end of his last show — two years ago. Opening the show is Maine’s Putnam Smith, that rare breed of musician that manages to be a throwback without ever coming off as dated. His heart-on-his-sleeve lyrics and acoustic melodies make him a welcome alter­native to the processed, homogenized offerings of corporate radio.

Barely out of high school, Canadian born Garnet Rogers was on the road as a full-time working musician with his older brother, Stan. Together they formed what has come to be accepted as one of the most influential acts in North American folk music. Since Stan’s untimely death, Rogers has established himself as ‘one of the major talents of our time.’ Hailed by the Boston Globe as a “charismatic performer and singer,” Garnet is a man with a powerful physical presence — close to six and a half feet tall — with a voice to match. With his “smooth, dark baritone” (Washington Post) his incredible range, and thoughtful, dramatic phrasing, Garnet is widely considered by fans and critics alike to be one of the finest singers anywhere. His music, like the man himself, is literate, passionate, highly sensitive, and deeply purposeful. Cinematic in detail, his songs “give expression to the unspoken vocabulary of the heart” (Kitchener Waterloo Record). An optimist at heart, Garnet sings extraordinary songs about people who are not obvious heroes and of the small victories of the everyday. As memorable as his songs, his over-the-top humor and lightning-quick wit moves his audience from tears to laughter and back again. Get a Witness, a long awaited concert album which is his latest release, was selected as one of the top ten folk albums in 2007 by the Boston Globe.

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Since being selected for the Old Port Music Festival in Portland, Maine in 2007, Putnam Smith has garnered critical praise (MaineFolkMusic.com, The Maine Edge), substantial radio airplay, and an impressive fan base for such a short period of time on the scene (headlining a packed house at Portland’s premier listening hall: One Longfellow Square). In addition to being selected for other festivals (Arootsakoostik Festival, Bay Ridge Music Festival, Knock On Wood GuitarFEST), Putnam is a regular in NYC (Rockwood Music Hall, The Bitter End), and has toured from Boston to New Orleans, and numerous places in between. Steeped in Appalachian ‘Old-Time’ and other Americana Roots music, Putnam’s songs sound like they’ve come from a back porch in the Blue Ridge Mountains, or some cabin on the coast of Maine. From whiskey-slinging good-time numbers on his grand­father’s banjo, to intimate heartbreakers on the guitar, to wry and sardonic tunes on the mandolin, Putnam is able to connect with each member of his audience as if each one were an old friend with whom he were spending the evening.

• [Garnet Rogers] mixes the powerful and the gentle and demonstrates his mastery of both. . . . One of the major talents of our time. Boston Globe
• I have found strength and comfort in his songs. This is good and rich and big music. Welcome one and all. Come on in. Get down. Greg Brown
• A master musical storyteller, often dealing in songs of the heart, Rogers digs an emotional well and invites the listener in for a long, refreshing drink. Dirty Linen
• . . .
• Sometimes, it seems like the best thing to do might be to go back in time and enjoy a little music for music’s sake.
  Putnam Smith makes that kind of music. He’s that rare breed of musician that manages to be a throwback without ever coming off as dated. His heart-on-his-sleeve lyrics and acoustic melodies make him a welcome alternative to the processed, homogenized offerings of corporate radio. Allen Adams, The Maine Edge
• As quirky and genuine as the state from which he hails. Dirty Linen Magazine