BARRYVILLE, NY — Mike Edison will perform a celebratory concert of spirituals, original folk blues and protest songs at 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 23 at the Barryville United Methodist Church.

All proceeds will go to local food pantries. 

The Barryville-based writer and musician will sing selections from his ongoing “Gospel from the Garage” project.

Edison is an author and musician (and a sometime River Reporter contributor) who has toured the world, singing and playing blues, gospel and garage punk. His books have covered wide-ranging topics including all facets of the American counterculture.

His “Gospel from the Garage” song cycle goes beyond the typical definition of gospel to embrace unfiltered, primitive rock ’n’ roll rhythms, he said.   

At the church, Edison will accompany himself on guitar and piano. 

Many of these songs were written over one hundred years ago and were revived during the Civil Rights era as songs of freedom, empowerment and revolution. They were recorded by artists such as Bob Dylan, Odetta, the Staple Singers, Woody Guthrie and more. 

“It’s a real thrill to be able to sing these songs in a historic church, along the river, just down the hill from my house,” Edison said. “Rock ’n’ roll started in the church and moved to the garage. Now I’m going through the looking glass, bringing it all back home.”

 Edison is also the former editor and publisher of “High Times,” and in the 1980s and ‘90s opened for bands as diverse as Sonic Youth, Soundgarden and the Ramones. He continues to tour and perform, locally, in New York City and abroad. His most recent record, “The Devil Can’t Do You No Harm” (2021), recorded in Andalucia with Spanish folk-blues group Guadalupe Plata, was followed by a sold-out tour, and was awarded four stars in Mojo magazine.

His most recent book, “Sympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters” has been featured in the New York Times, the Paris Review and Billboard, and on CNN, the BBC and more.

Edison lives and works in Barryille. He is a teaching artist at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, and is the co-host and producer of the podcast “Everything Is Better in Barryille.”

The church is located at 3405 Rte. 97.

 The cost of admission is a suggested donation of $10, which goes toward local food pantries.

Learn more about Edison at www.mikeedison.com.