SHELTER FROM THE STORM – A BIGGER BEAST CONCERT SERIES
Photos Courtney Rienzo
By Ralph Beauchamp
On Saturday January 11th, Connecticut-based independent record label Bigger Beast Records & their event management and community outreach arm “All Boats Rise Entertainment” put on the 1st Annual Shelter From The Storm Concert to benefit Family Promise. Family Promise is a not-for-profit organization that works to prevent family homelessness throughout the state of Connecticut.
This past fall, Family Promise of Central Connecticut was working with over 20 families across the state experiencing housing insecurity and have been doing this work with numerous families inside of Connecticut for over 15 years. With increased challenges across the state including layoffs, food price inflation and more, Family Promise board members, Cheryl & Ed Liedke approached leaders at Bigger Beast Records including current CT State Troubadour Kala Farnham, New England Music Awards’ Independent Artist of the Year Frank Viele, and New England Singer/Songwriter mainstay Lee Totten about trying to create a fundraising event to help families in need.
Inspired by one of Farnham’s favorite Bob Dylan songs, the concept of the 1st Annual Shelter From The Storm Concert was formed where 16 regional independent singer/songwriters, on stage four at a time, would each play one of their songs and a song of their choosing from the incredibly vast Bob Dylan Songbook!
The doors at New Britain’s Trinity-On-Main opened at 6pm and folks poured in. The lights flickered at 6:38pm and by 6:45pm when Dot Schultz Ames of WCNI Radio approached the podium to introduce the first grouping of performers, there wasn’t an empty seat in the 300 capacity theater!
The opening song came from Connecticut mainstay Robert Fullerton who was performing for the first time since undergoing open-heart surgery only 5 weeks prior. To a pin drop quiet crowd, he performed a favorite from his catalog aptly entitled “Come To My Table”. The moment he plucked the last note on his guitar the crowd of 300 plus attendees erupted and the night had officially begun!
Photos Courtney Rienzo
Robert was followed by 3 other artists sharing the stage with him for the first round of performances including Guilford, CT resident Laura Clapp, Tracy Walton, owner of On Deck Recording Studio in Litchfield, CT, and young Torrington troubadour Adelaide Punkin. They each performed one of their original songs and then went back around to each sing a Bob Dylan Classic.
Every performance was spellbinding and met with roaring applause from the crowd. Laura Clapp’s version of “To Make You Feel My Love” was absolutely breath taking and I must tip my hat to 17 year old Adelaide Punkin for tackling all 11 verses of “Hurricane” with such conviction and poise. What an incredible group of artists to start off the night!
The second round of artists was singer/songwriter Shawn Taylor who shared a relevant heartfelt personal story with the crowd prior to his opening song entitled “Balance”. He was followed by New Haven folk mainstay Anne Marie Menta, Lucas Neil, and Meriden, CT based duo Inner Groove. After their original performances, they all chose a Bob Dylan classic including chilling performances of “Mr. Tambourine Man” by Lucas Neil, “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” by Anne Marie Menta, and a soaring vocal performance by Denise Jones of Inner Groove on the Dylan gospel classic “You Gotta Serve Somebody”.
Photos Courtney Rienzo
The next group of artists was songwriting icon Eddie Seville, Lee Totten, Halley Neal, and Connecticut folk and Americana pillars Frank Critelli and Muddy Rivers performing as a duo. Their first round of originals radiated off the stage and had the crowd waiting on the edge of their seats for their Bob Dylan song choices. Seville and the Critelli/Rivers duo both picked deeper cuts from the Dylan catalog while Lee Totten shook the stage with a riveting version of “Subterranean Homesick Blues”.
Halley Neal proved to be one of the highlights of the night with her version of “I Shall Be Released” as she led the crowd in a sing along for the last chorus. The night could’ve ended as Critelli and Rivers hit the last note of Dylan’s “Wallflower”, but there was still one more round to go.
The final round proved to be worth the wait as Middletown resident Bryan Titus started off with his powerful song “Living My Best Life” which was followed by the latest single by the awe-inspiring Westport singer/songwriter Canyon entitled “Victorious”. Next, Hamden resident and most recent New England Music Award winner for “Song of The Year” Frank Viele sang his Springsteen-esque rocker “Hearts We Left Behind”
Photos Courtney Rienzo
It was followed by the current Connecticut State Troubadour Kala Farnham who performed a beautifully powerful and poignant song entitled “David” of which she explained she wrote after interviewing a New England veteran who grew up in a shelter. The song details the story of his life and when she sang the lyric “there’s strength in numbers and together we can fight”, every ear in the attentive audience truly noticed the power of community that was on full display that evening.
Now it was time for the final four songs. 4 Bob Dylan classics! Titus went first with what might’ve been the most soulful version of “The Times They Are A Changin’” ever performed, followed by a hauntingly gorgeous version of “Blowin’ In The Wind” by Canyon. The energy level hit its peak with Viele’s pedal to metal version of “Tangled Up In Blue”, and the night ended with Kala Farnham singing an awe inspiring version of “Shelter From The Storm” to a crowd that hung on every word, from the opening note to the moment she strummed her last chord.
Then once the official show was over, as is tradition for Bigger Beast Records community driven events, the after show went on until midnight with the “All Are Welcome After Hours Song Circle”. Hosted by singer/songwriters Christina Meadows and Liz Reed, many artists in the audience that evening performed songs of their own on stage while music lovers and performers gathered in celebration of the power of community and music.
Donations are still rolling in via Venmo and the Family Promise website, but so far the night raised over seven thousand dollars for homeless families in Connecticut making it the single largest Family Promise fundraiser since they have opened their doors.
The community in attendance was blown away by the evening and the energy in the room for over 3 hours of entertainment!
Tom Porrell, whom is the co-director of House of Bread Foodbank, said “At the House of Bread we talk a great deal about building supportive communities of like minded people; people that want to help each other and provide hope and then take that hope and make it actionable, not just conversational. Ultimately, it’s how we work.”
“Tonight helped grow the Family Promise community,” Porrell continued, “and the support for people that are experiencing homelessness in an engaging and thoughtful way… one that will have long term benefits. In the process, this concert grew a new community of supporters for the artists that participated. Two communities in one event, nicely done!”
Another attendee, George Wentworth, said “At a time when many of us are worried about the future direction of our country, Saturday’s concert was a reminder of all the good we as individuals can achieve when we pull together. So many of the Dylan songs performed were about the need to care for each other in hard times and that is exactly what Family Promise of Central Connecticut has been about since its inception.”
In addition, after the event, Cheryl & Eddie Liedke told AMP Magazine “We believe that most people are wanting to do good in this world they are just waiting to be asked”. Since we got involved with Family Promise we are continually amazed at the generosity shown for our neighbors in need. The Shelter From the Storm concert only enhanced our beliefs as 16 songwriters gave of their time (giving up an opportunity to get paid) to share their talents. The Bigger Beast team went above and beyond to make a great event. Those who attended were treated to a great show and showed their appreciation through their own generosity! Grateful doesn’t begin to describe what we feel in the afterglow of this truly wonderful event!”
With an abundance of joyful social media posts from the artists and attendees exclaiming the power of community and the incredible experience they all had, we had to ask members of the Bigger Beast Records & Family Promise team if this spectacular event will happen again.
Luckily, they all agreed that this will be an annual event going forward. So mark your calendars for January 2026 and the 2nd Annual Shelter From The Storm Concert.
This is assuredly a night you won’t want to miss!
Until then, you can learn more about Family Promise of Central Connecticut and donate at: https://familypromisecct.org/
The 1st Annual Shelter From The Storm Concert
January 11th, 2025
Setlist:
1 – Come To My Table / Robert C. Fullerton
2 – Let It Rain / Laura Clapp
3 – Better Man / Tracy Walton
4 – Part & Parcel / Adelaide Punkin
5 – All Along The Watchtower (Bob Dylan) / Robert C. Fullerton
6 – To Make You Feel My Love (Bob Dylan) / Laura Clapp
7 – Simple Twist of Fate (Bob Dylan) / Tracy Walton
8 – Hurricane (Bob Dylan) / Adelaide Punkin
9 – Balance / Shawn Taylor
10 – Front Door / Anne Marie Menta
11 – A Bump In The Road / Lucas Neil
12 – Romantic Born / Inner Groove
13 – Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You (Bob Dylan) / Shawn Taylor
14 – Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright (Bob Dylan) / Anne Marie Menta
15 – Tambourine Man (Bob Dylan) / Lucas Neil
16 – You Gotta Serve Somebody (Bob Dylan) / Inner Groove
17 – Ebony & Gold / Eddie Seville
18 – Panama City / Lee Totten
19 – Emily / Halley Neal
20 – Lady Mondegreen / Frank Critelli & Muddy Rivers
21 – Please Crawl Out Your Window (Bob Dylan) / Eddie Seville
22 – Subterranean Homesick Blues (Bob Dylan) / Lee Totten
23 – I Shall Be Released (Bob Dylan) / Halley Neal
24 – Wallflower (Bob Dylan) / Frank Critelli & Muddy Rivers
25 – Building My Best Life / Bryan Titus
26 – Victorious / Canyon
27 – Hearts We Left Behind / Frank Viele
28 – David / Kala Farnham
29 – The Times They Are A Changin’ (Bob Dylan) / Bryan Titus
30 – Blowin’ In The Wind (Bob Dylan) / Canyon
31 – Tangled Up In Blue (Bob Dylan) / Frank Viele
32 – Shelter From The Storm (Bob Dylan) / Kala Farnham
To learn more about Bigger Beast Records, check out their Website
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