Exceptionally well-known in her native land, but much less so in the US & Canada — perhaps because, as the title track to her 2005 album The Girl Who Wouldn’t Fly explains, Kate Rusby is afraid to fly, and thus does not tour much, if at all, on this side of the pond — Rusby tends towards a traditional folk of the old-school type, grounded in the old ballads and songstyles of her native Britain. Each of her eight solo albums, a mere decade of output, features a rich combination of such ageless folk songs, and a scattering of contemporary folk covers and timeless originals which share the same trope and lyrical sentiment. But this is no mere tradfolk, and Kate is no mere interpreter of song. Her arrangements may be sparse and simple, but they are also deliberate, and delicately nuanced; the 36 year old singer-songwriter may be grounded in life, but the deceptive potency of her pure voice and the ring of her high-strung guitar contain a power beyond description, setting songs of all origin to lift off and soar in all cases, whether slow and solo or tempered by a touch of the squeezebox drone, the pipe and brass, the brushed drum, the low bass, or the full folkrock package of, say, her take on The Kinks. The result is incredible: deeply personal, highly emotional, proud against the full winds of change, and yet somehow both delicate and universal enough to startle even the most jaded tradfolk or folkpop listener into a second look, and then a lifetime of delight. It’s no wonder she is such a sought after collaborator and guest vocalist in her native land; no wonder that she is so celebrated, though surely not enough, at least on our side of the ocean.

The concert begins at 8:00 pm.  Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door.