10 May 2019

Quentin Callewaert, Brad Cole & Robinson Treacher

Last year about this time teenage guitar virtuoso Quentin Callewaert opened a local show for Brad Cole, Matt Nakoa and Robinson Treacher. They hit it off immediately and were booked on the spot for a benefit for a performing arts scholarship in Marblehead. That booking led to this show on Friday, May 10. Callewaert, Cole, and Treacher play and sing together like they have known each other for decades.

Concert starts at 8:00 pm

Quentin Callewaert, Brad Cole and Robinson Treacher

Eighteen-year-old Quentin Callewaert from Byfield, Mass. has only been on the music scene for a few years, but he is creating a major buzz as one of the most gifted guitarists around. He has played the me&thee on several occasions and has wowed our audiences every time. Classically trained, Quentin’s interest in fingerstyle acoustic guitar was inspired by Doc Watson, Merle Travis and Tommy Emmanuel. He is also a gifted singer with a refreshingly bluesy voice that complements his blend of Americana, gospel and bluegrass. It’s been an extremely busy year for this singer/guitarist, performing full shows in venues all across the Northeast. He received a formal showcase invitation to play NERFA (North East Regional Folk Alliance) as well as gigs at both the Philadelphia Folk Festival and Susquehanna Folk Festival. It’s not every teenager who gets called by Jackson Browne to come and chat backstage because his cover of “These Days” was so well done. Quentin just released his first CD, which is self-titled.

Then there’s Brad Cole. The songs of Brad Cole address the ups and downs of the human condition with both wit and raw insight. His passionate and distinctive delivery of roots-based folk music, woven with the grit and groove of old school bossa and rhythm & blues moves the listeners’ souls in a direction that is unexpected, yet perfectly familiar. Brad fourth full-length record, Lay It Down, was described by Glide Magazine as “one of the most beautiful albums you will hear this year.”

Brad has played over a hundred shows and shared the stage with a range of immensely talented artists such as Shovels and Rope, Ingrid Michaelson, Dave Davies, Dan Navarro, and Ellis Paul. In 2015 Cole, Nakoa & Treacher was born as a side project as Brad joined forces with award-winning singer-songwriters Matt Nakoa and Robinson Treacher for a few shows that have led to critical acclaim, a viral live video series, and a run of sold-out shows up and down the East Coast.

Robinson Treacher’s talent is boundless. Whether playing as a frontman in a soul-rock band, as part of an acoustic folk trio, or as a solo singer-songwriter, he seems to drain himself of energy in the ceaseless pursuit of musical passion. His love for music and his performances reveal that raw power that makes an audience sit up and listen. Treacher’s eclectic songwriting is authentic and unabashed in its purity and form. Robinson Treacher is at the crossroads of blues, folk and Americana. His emotionally dramatic songwriting style is matched only by his deeply passionate vocals, clearly represented on his latest EP, Born. He has shared the stage with the likes of Iris Dement, G.E. Smith, Jorma Kaukonen and Vince Gill to name a few. This collaboration with Quentin Callewaert and Brad Cole will turn heads as it did last spring at that performing arts benefit.

Photo by Michael Clough

  • Quentin Callewaert is a very talented young guitarist with an engaging presence onstage. We have been mentoring him a little bit and our audiences have always received him very well. I think they are delighted to see a youngster carrying on the tradition. Pete Kennedy
  • Quentin is one of the most exquisite guitarists I’ve heard in a long time; his mastery of the instrument is inspired and inspirational. Everything Sundry
  • . . .
  • Brad Cole’s voice is a captivating, well-weathered croon, and he proves he can glide from genre to genre in the blink of an eye. Elmore Magazine
  • Brad Cole is a veteran from Chicago but a fresh voice on the New York music scene, with a collection of well-crafted songs with universal appeal. John Platt, WFUV
  • . . .
  • Robinson Treacher
  • There will be comparisons to other great singers — David Gray and Van Morrison come to mind — but his approach to his material is unique. It doesn’t matter which song in his repertoire he sings. Like a tent revival shouter, rooted in gospel and blues — a mix of silk and gravel — the sound is coming from a core somewhere deep. Acoustic Live
  • Whether it be in the studio or in live performance, Robinson’s emotionally dramatic songwriting style is matched only by his deeply passionate vocals. The Stephen Talkhouse

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