SPH Presents: Concerts in the Chapel with Jacob Furr and Pat Byrne
Friday, December 15, 2023
Doors 6:30pm
Showtime 7:30pm
Please join us for a wonderful evening of music with two iconic folk artists. This will be a BYOB show, with some complimentary beverages as supplies last. Also, there will be a jam session likely to break out after the show in the Reception Salon so bring your instruments along. The Rose Chapel is a perfect place to hear these terrific artists.
Jacob Furr is an award-winning songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, collaborator, and genre fluid artist from Fort Worth, Texas. His work blends West Coast folk with the dusty expanses of West Texas, and explores themes and stories of love, loss, grief, and recovery. He has toured the US since 2014. Furr has opened for Peter Case, Dan Bern, Shovels and Rope, and Over The Rhine, among others. Furr has long been a strong advocate for local, DIY music. He won the Bluelight Live Songwriting Competition in 2015, and is a founding member of Hear Fort Worth, as well as being a major supporter of music programming and entrepreneur incubator, Amplify817, with The Fort Worth Public Library. Furr’s most significant work is a three-album cycle over 10 years about the loss of his wife to brain cancer in 2013. His songwriting paints pictures of thunderstorms on the Llano Estacado, cemeteries of lost lifeboat sailors in California, and the intimate feelings and details of recovery and healing. All of these stories and themes are blended into songs that range from towering electric anthems of lost stars, to intimate, solo work that recalls Bert Jansch and early Joh Ritter.
Pat Byrne migrated from Ireland to Austin, Texas in late 2017. Since then, he has melded two musical cultures known for introspective lyricism and raw, from-the-heart emotion - with spectacular results. Following his 2021 Into The Light album, Byrne delivered strong new works in 2022. His unmistakable voice and cinematic lyrics continue to touch our universal humanity. Supported by legendary musicians from Emmylou Harris’s band he presents another gem with “Only a Man”. Recorded at The Next Waltz with Bruce Robison and band, “Until it Isn’t” is a gorgeous rendition wistfully recalling lost love. Byrne’s December 2022 release, “Feels Like Living”, makes palpable the working musician’s struggle and uncertainty, underpinned by a nostalgic arrangement of strings and harmonium. Into the Light, recorded at the Sound Emporium studio in Nashville, takes the listener on an emotional journey with lyrics both touching and agonizing—heightened by Byrne’s dynamic vocal style.
“Byrne delivers 11 original tunes ranging from the buoyant pop of “Capsize” to the anthemic rock & roll of the title track to the tender balladry of “Precious Cargo” and “Win Lose or Drown.” A strong supporting cast helps make Into the Light one of the best-sounding singer-songwriter albums to come out of Austin in years. What ultimately stands out the most is how strong “Into the Light” is from start to finish. Every track radiates, and rewards repeated listening.” -Peter Blackstock, Austin American Statesman
“The raspy melodic soul of Byrne’s voice recalls the emotional spells the late Austin troubadour Jimmy LaFave used to cast, though Byrne’s songwriting bears a more distinctive Irish stamp. He’s more contemporary that strict traditionalists, putting him more in the league of Glen Hansard or Luka Bloom.” Peter Blackstock, Austin American Statesman