Legendary R&B singer Mavis Staples, Seattle indie-folk pop band The Head and the Heart and Los Angeles roots-rock band Dawes will perform at the 7th Annual Holiday Cheer for FUV, a benefit concert for New York City Rock & Roots radio station WFUV (90.FM, wfuv.org) on Monday, December 5, at 8 p.m. For the first time ever, the concert will be held at the beautifully restored Beacon Theatre, 2124 Broadway (at W. 74th Street). Tickets are $50 to $150 and go on sale through Ticketmaster on Friday, October 28, at Noon.
“We’re thrilled to have the Beacon Theatre as the new home for our annual Holiday Cheer concert,” said WFUV Music Director Rita Houston. “It’s a big step for WFUV and it’s also one of the best rooms in New York City to see a concert today. As always, we are proud that the show’s lineup reflects WFUV’s eclectic programming and style – and thrilled to expose WFUV to a larger concert-going audience.”
Legendary vocalist Mavis Staples, who began her career as a teenage member of The Staples Singers, is a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner and a National Heritage Fellowship Award recipient. VH1 named her one of the 100 Greatest Women of Rock and Roll, andRolling Stone listed her as one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.
Seattle band The Head and the Heart makes music that pulses effervescently—both explosively danceable and intuitively intelligent. With Americana roots and strong vocal harmonics that swell like a river, this band finds its anchor in solid songwriting that has listeners humming along by the second listen.
California-based roots rock band Dawes is heavily influenced by the gentle, acoustic-based musical trappings and rich vocal harmony of the Laurel Canyon sound (Crosby, Stills & Nash, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell), as well as by the shambling, romanticized Americana of the Band. They have toured with Robbie Robertson and Jackson Browne, who also sings on their album.
WFUV is a non-commercial, listener-supported public radio station, licensed to Fordham University for over 60 years. Serving the New York area at 90.7 FM, as well as an international audience at www.wfuv.org, and a leader in contemporary music radio, WFUV is Rock & Roots Radio, offering an eclectic mix of rock, singer-songwriters, blues, world and other music, plus headlines from National Public Radio and local news.
