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Community Corner

JOHN FLYNN Live @ The Cellar Stage

JOHN FLYNN

Tickets $20.00 ~ Showtime 8:00 pm - 410-521-9099



Songwriter and activist John Flynn calls himself a “hopeful pessimist.” The
pessimism comes from an honest clear-eyed assessment of the condition
of the world we live in. The hope comes from a deep-rooted faith in the
beauty and resilience of the human spirit. In an artist of Flynn’s caliber, the tension inherent in these seemingly contradictory points of view yields the kind of songs that moved Kris Kristofferson to compare Flynn to the best writers he knows, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott to boast “John Flynn is the John Lennon of the plasma generation!” Scott Sheldon of Sing Out! magazine writes: “With a poet’s voice and a heart tuned to justice, John Flynn’s voice and songs sing for us all.” John
began writing professionally in 1980 after graduating from Temple
University with a degree in political science. A staff writing contract
with Combine Music and Billboard Magazine. In the early 90’s, Flynn
performed heavily in and around his native Philadelphia where his first
self-released CDs began to receive extensive airplay on AAA radio
giant, WXPN. His first main stage appearance at the 1995 Philadelphia Folk Festival cemented John’s reputation as a dynamic original contemporary folk artist. Songs that Flynn wrote, for his own four children, became the basis of two highly acclaimed family CDs. He was awarded the American Library Association’s Notable Recording Award. John appears regularly on the Peabody Award-winning children’s radio program “Kid’s Corner” and continues to present extremely popular assemblies and creative-writing workshops. In 2005, Arlo Guthrie invited John to join his post-Katrina “Train to New Orleans Tour.” Arlo says of John, “More
than just a good song writer, performer, or guitar player, John Flynn
is a friend because he actually does the kinds of things to help make
the world a little better.”
John sings from the heart.
His powerful songs of humanity and hope are deeply rooted in the
traditions of Woody Guthrie. From barbed political verse to joyous
fun-loving lyrics for kids, John paints vivid, lasting images
with words and music drawn from a palate of awareness, irony, humor, and
compassion. He opens his new CD, The End of the Beginning with the lines “Like
river stone, it may be that some edges get worn smooth, or maybe it’s
just that these days you don’t have as much to prove.”
These
words seem to capture not only the mood of the disarmingly acoustic
release, but also something of the 54 year-old singer-songwriter
himself.

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