Benefit for Musicians in Need Honors Memory of John Herald

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

(WOODSTOCK, N.Y.) The second annual Concert for The John Herald Fund and Family of Woodstock at Harmony Music (52 Mill Hill Rd.), takes place on Saturday, January 7, 2012, at 7 p.m., to raise money for artists in need of funds for some of life’s essentials.

Hosted by Charles Lyonhart and Brian Hollander, the concert – rescheduled after a freak snowstorm caused a cancellation last October 29 — features the Sunburst Brothers; Seth Rogovoy; the Saturday Night Bluegrass Band; the Princes of Serendip; Charles Lyonhart with George Quinn, T.G. Vannini and Chris Zaloom; and surprise special guests.

With Hurricane Irene leaving many people homeless, without food, money for their medical bills and other necessities of life and with unemployment still rising, the fund memorializes bluegrass-folk legend John Herald, who unfortunately was plagued by poverty in the final years of his life, by raising money for musicians in need in his name.

John Herald, a native of New York City, was a fixture on the Greenwich Village folk scene of the late-1950s and early-‘60s. He was a founding member of the Greenbriar Boys, along with Bob Yellin and Eric Weissberg, and played lead guitar and sang lead vocals for the group. It was in a support gig for the Greenbriar Boys at Gerde’s Folk City in the Village in 1961 that first garnered Bob Dylan recognition in a New York Times review by Robert Shelton.

A noted songwriter, Herald’s songs were performed by Linda Ronstadt, Maria Muldaur, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul and Mary. Herald lived in the Woodstock area for many years. He died at his home in West Hurley, N.Y., in 2005.

The concert begins at 7 pm.