Karen Hudson's 2nd installment of her residency continues with special guest singer songwriter, lifetime social activist, women's chorus leader, Bev Grant. Bev won The ASCAP 2017 Jay Gorney Award presented for a song based on its message of social conscience, for her song, "We Were There."
Bev is a labor and social activist, feminist, and the 2017 Joe Hill Award winner from the Labor Heritage Foundation for her contribution as a cultural worker, an honor shared with former recipients Pete Seeger, Hazel Dickens and many others. Bev grew up singing and playing with her two older sisters in Portland, OR. After moving to New York City in the early ‘60s, she formed her band The Human Condition, who recorded their first album “Working People Gonna Rise,” with Paredon Records, now distributed by Smithsonian/Folkways. Her song “Inez” is included in the Smithsonian/Folkways “Best of Broadside” collection. Bev’s song, “We Were There” will soon have a global presence when it is presented at the United Trade Union Confederation 3rd Womens Conference in October in Costa Rica Bev founded and directs the Brooklyn Women’s Chorus, who celebrated their 20th anniversary in March 2017 person.https://www.bevgrant.com

Karen Hudson, performing songwriter/host: A distinctive presence in the NYC Americana scene, Karen Hudson wins audiences over with her edgy wit, elegant stage presence and wry, insightful tunesmithing. Hudson has been compared to Rosanne Cash by The Village Voice, and to early Linda Ronstadt by 3rd Coast Music Magazine in Austin, Texas. On her third CD “Sonic Bloom,” produced by Eric “Roscoe” Ambel, Hudson explores some gothic territory, but refuses to be held hostage by her loss, so even her darkest songs are tempered with wry humor. The musical roots go deep and broad — it’s ‘Americana’ for people who like to mix The Rolling Stones with their Patsy Cline. She has opened for Madeliene Peyroux, Walter Salas Humara and Pete Seeger.