For many years, The Shaw Brothers performed nationally and internationally, recording many albums that included their original music in addition to well-known songs from the folk genre. Their travels often took them from the place where they grew up, and where they loved to be the most, New Hampshire.

New Hampshire was also where they enjoyed performing most, in particular Prescott Park, in Portsmouth, where they performed live for 22 consecutive summers to literally thousands that would turn out for every show. In fact by popular demand their album, “Concert in the Park” was recorded live in 1982, a first for Prescott Park. Ron and Rick’s music became the soundtrack for so many New Hampshire people’s lives. Sadly, Ron and Rick retired from playing some years ago due to ill health and Ron passed in 2018 and Rick passed soon after in 2021.

Their legacy lives on though and as part of the 400th Anniversary Celebration of the city of Portsmouth in 2023, Prescott Parks Arts Festival will host an event to celebrate the life and music of the Shaw Brothers. This event will serve as a fundraiser for the Music is Magic Fund, established to honor Ron and Rick’s memory. The concert will help fund a permanent memorial in Prescott Park, and will support the Arts Festival’s mission of accessibility.

A selection of performers with connections to New England, and to the Shaw Brothers, will create an evening of music that will include Shaw Brothers hits and other popular classics. Audience members can expect to see an eclectic group of talented singers and musicians, and perhaps one or two surprise guests, honoring the Shaw Brothers and supporting the Music is Magic Fund.

The concert itself will take place at the legendary outdoor venue, Prescott Park Arts Festival, in the heart of downtown Portsmouth. Over 150,000 people attend this unique venue every summer to see the range of performing arts events that are provided exclusively on a suggested donation basis. Prescott Park Arts Festival is a much-loved and integral part of the Portsmouth community and is delighted to be supporting the Shaw Brothers legacy.

Both Prescott Park Arts Festival and the Shaw Brothers can rightly be considered stand outs in Portsmouth’s rich 400-year history.

1992 Official Guide to Prescott Park Arts Festival,

featuring The Shaw Brothers

Featuring Livingston Taylor

Livingston Taylor’s career as a professional musician has spanned over 50 years, encompassing performance, songwriting, and teaching. Described as “equal parts Mark Twain, college professor, and musical icon, Livingston maintains a performance schedule of more than a hundred shows a year, delighting audiences with his charm and vast repertoire of his 22 albums and popular classics. Livingston has written top-40 hits recorded by his brother James Taylor and has appeared with Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Fleetwood Mac, and Jimmy Buffet. He is equally at home with a range of musical genres – folk, pop, gospel, jazz – and from upbeat storytelling and touching ballads to full orchestra performances. In addition to his performance schedule, Livingston has taught stage performance for over 30 years, beginning at Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1989, passing on the extensive knowledge gained from his long career on the road to the next generation of musicians. Liv is an airplane-flying, motorcycle-riding, singing storyteller, delighting audiences with his charm for over 50 years.

with more friends to help celebrate

Todd Hearon

Todd Hearon is an award-winning poet, author and songwriter, born in Texas, and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. The hymns and folk songs of his youth continue to influence his music, along with more contemporary Americana and Alt-Country sounds. His two studio albums are Border Radio (2021) and Yodelady (2023); he’s also the author of three collections of poems–Strange Land (2010), No Other Gods (2015) and Crows in Eden (2022)–a number of essays and plays, and a novella, Do Geese See God (2021). Todd is joined tonight on stage by his good friends and close musical collaborators Ann Norton Holbrook, Bill Holbrook, Gretchen Bowder and Paul Wolf.

Jonathan Sarty 

Performing Artist Jonathan Sarty is a singer-songwriter and host of the popular Cold River Radio Show, a show dedicated to promoting and celebrating the Arts and Culture of New England. Since 2012 the Cold River Radio Show has thrilled theater audiences and radio listeners with high quality production and dynamic line ups. The show received Best of NH Awards in 2017 and again recently for Best YouTube Radio Channel 2023. Jonathan has received a Best of NH Award for Best Band Leader 2019 and he can be seen performing regionally in venues throughout New England. Performing hundreds of shows each year Jonathan is known as one of New England’s hardest working musicians.

Check out his music at https://www.youtube.com/@jonathansartymusic

Taylor Whiteside

Taylor Whiteside is quite simply by any standard an extraordinary multi-talented musician. His list of live and recording song credits is legendary as is his list of musical collaborations, including recordings and appearances with the likes of Pete Seeger, Johnny Cash, Crystal Gale, Tom Paxton, and of course, The Shaw Brothers, whom Taylor played with for several years during their live performances. In the 1990’s he joined The Brandywine Singers and with them and Northeast Winds appeared in numerous PBS TV specials and at The Kennedy Center. Today Taylor is involved in a number of musical projects including playing live in Portsmouth-based Great Bay Sailor and in a group of his own creation, “The Elderly Brothers.”

The late great Tommy Makem probably summed it up best when he said, “a rare talent is Taylor Whiteside. Go listen to him any time you can. I’m sure you’ll consider it a privilege!”

Woody Woodward & Julie Dougherty

To the legions of Shaw Brothers fans Woody Woodward needs no introduction. For 12 years from 1976 Woody was the Shaw Brothers bass player and performed alongside Ron and Rick in concert, on TV and of course in the recording studio. Any concert celebrating the Shaw Brothers musical legacy would not be complete without Woody’s participation, and the Shaw family are delighted that he will be on stage at Prescott Park. Of course he has been an accomplished professional musician for many years, and a close musical collaborator with his wife Julie Dougherty, who will also feature at the Prescott Park celebration concert. Julie is a very gifted singer, songwriter, and musician with a wealth of experience from her time in Nashville and Los Angeles. Today, she can be seen performing across New England, at times alongside her life and musical partner, Woody.

Reservations

Table and blanket reservations are non-refundable, but can be transferred to another available date in the 2023 season.

Please Note: General Admission Donations do not include reserved seating. This is a way to make your gate donation in advance.

Table reservations seat four. 

Blanket reservations are placed in the blankets-only area of lawn and do not allow for chair placement.

See you in the park!