Legendary Local Folk Singer Performs Tonight
Patty Larkin takes the stage at Museum of Fine Arts
Local folk musician and Berklee College of Music artist-in-residence Patty Larkin performs tonight in the Museum of Fine Arts Courtyard. Photo by Flickr contributor Thom C
Folk artist Patty Larkin recorded her first album, Step into the Light, 30 years ago. She has since become an integral part of Boston’s folk scene, recording a dozen albums and serving as artist-in-residence at Berklee College of Music. Her latest album, 2013’s Still Green, is a ruminative exploration of loss, grief, and solace, born out of the deaths of her parents and the serious illness of her sister. Tonight, Larkin will perform music from that album as part of the Museum of Fine Arts Elaine and Jerome Rosenfeld Concerts in the Courtyard series.
Originally from Milwaukee, Larkin arrived in Boston in the early ’80s and began performing as a busker on the streets of Cambridge. She later studied jazz guitar at Berklee, which has given her an honorary degree. Entertainment Weekly has called her music, which she labels “folk-urban pop,” hypnotic. Still Green was inspired in part by a book of poems by Pulitzer Prize–winner Kay Ryan and the songs were written and recorded on Cape Cod, where Larkin lives, and in Boston. The album features the musician on vocals, guitar, bass, piano, mandolin, loops, organ, and keyboards.
So bring along a blanket or low lawn chair and enjoy a live performance tonight in the MFA’s Norma Jean Calderwood Courtyard. Outside food and beverages are not permitted, but the museum offers a courtyard menu featuring fruit and cheese, edamame and hummus, and various sandwiches as well as sangria and imported and microbrew beer. For $24, you can order a picnic basket full of snacks and dessert.
Arrive early so you can check out the MFA’s spellbinding exhibition of Japan’s most famous artist, Hokusai, which closes August 9. Admission to museum exhibitions is free on Wednesday evenings and galleries are open until 9:45 p.m.
Patty Larkin performs tonight, Wednesday, August 5, at 7:30 p.m., as part of the Elaine and Jerome Rosenfeld Concerts in the Courtyard series at the Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston. Doors open at 6 p.m. In case of rain, the concert will be moved inside to the Remis Auditorium, with doors opening at 7 p.m. Tickets are $24 for museum members and $30 for nonmembers, and can be purchased at the desk, online, or by calling 1-800-440-6975. Note: large coolers and bags are not permitted. Find directions here.
Ashley Mayrianne Jones can be reached at ashjones@bu.edu.
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