Concerts | Folkus-nyc

Roger Street Friedman

Sun. Sept. 27, 3:00 PM

“When it comes to this singer-songwriter, you can hear the influences of Bob Dylan, John Prine, David Bowie, and Leonard Cohen… and it sounds phenomenal.” THE AQUARIAN

Roger Street Friedman a believes that music can change hearts and minds. Racked with anger and despair, he wrote the stirring and haunting ballad, I Think We Know. Friedman says, “It’s my response to October 7th and the war in Gaza, the innocent people getting killed on both sides. I was thinking that if something doesn’t change in this world, it’s all going in a very bad direction.” He pointedly adds, “But being an eternal optimist, …, I found a grain of hope in the end.”

His newest album, Long Shadows, nods to the gloominess that often casts itself over our lives. For Friedman, those shadows may darken our lives for a while but, as he illustrates in many of the songs on his album, they dissipate to reveal glimmers of hope for a brighter day. “Whatever I’m writing about, I try not to beat people over the head. My goal is to tell stories that evoke feelings, but I also feel that if I see something I have a responsibility to say something.”

Tickets

Tickets

Michelle Shocked

Sun. Sept. 27, 3:00 PM

ART HAS POWER-AND STOLEN ART HAS POTENT POWER

Michelle Shocked remains active on her own terms, focusing heavily on artist rights and independent storytelling. Bootleg This! addresses her long estrangement from the mainstream commercial music industry. Bootleg This!, is a “daring tale of artistic resilience in defiance of AI’s algorithmic abattoir!”

In a September 15, 2026, article in Copyright Alliance, Shocked shared her thoughts.

“Mine is a fiercely original voice shaped by Texas folk, blues, with storytelling and spiritual conviction. In 2013, remarks made during a workshop performance…were bootlegged and uploaded to YouTube, which triggered a high-visibility defamation campaign fueled by agentic AI and “outrage metrics.” I was effectively banished from the public eye for more than a decade. Rather than retreat, I fanned the flames by withdrawing my entire catalog from distribution, while continuing to create new work and re-examining a life spent at the intersection of art, faith, politics, and free expression. The result is the release of my audio memoir, Bootleg This!”

“My music career began as the Bootleg Poster Child…In 1988, people were enthralled to learn that I’d been catapulted overnight to fame and fortune by a bootlegger who’d released my songs recorded at campfire on a Sony Walkman with weak batteries. “Aren’t you lucky!” they exclaimed. It’s taken thirty years, but finally, when I tell people the story of the Texas Campfire Tapes, they are aghast. “How can they do that?!” they ask me now. The fact remains. They can’t. But they did. And no one stopped them from distributing a bootleg album without permission from its creator.”

UPCOMING SHOWS

October 4 - Jess Klein

w/ Jenny Reynolds

October 8 - Shanna in a Dress

w/Brianna Lowe

October 18 - Robert Bidney
November 8 - Patty & Craig

w/ Isabel Sky Meyer

November 19 - The Horsenecks
December 6 - Dave Murphy
December 17 - Eli Lev

See who has played FolkUs-NYC

Folkus-NYC.org’s passion is supporting artists. Three generations of the Lowe family—Jeff, Carol, Matt, Brianna and Jonathan—collaborate to bring singer-songwriters, creators of original Americana, Folk, American-roots, Blues, Jazz, and World music to audiences at the Brooklyn Art Haus in Williamsburg. Artists perform in a dedicated listening room that recreates the warmth of a house concert. Following the concert, guests and artists enjoy social time and snacks from The Mouth, BAH's restaurant, in the comfortable lounge. Folkus-NYC invites music lovers of all genres to join us at BAH for this unique and intimate music experience.