Joe Jencks

press release: Joe Jencks, an internationally-known folk singer and award-winning songwriter, will perform in Madison at 7 p.m. on Friday evening, March 8. The event will be hosted by James Reeb Unitarian Universalist Congregation (JRUUC), 2146 E. Johnson Street.  The concert is a benefit to raise funds to renovate the congregation’s space to offer sanctuary for immigrants facing deportation.  There is a suggested donation of $20 per person to help raise the remaining $4,000 needed for JRUUC to become the first sanctuary congregation on Madison’s East Side.

From coffeehouses to Carnegie Hall and Canada to Ireland, Jencks has made a mark on the folk circuit, blending well-crafted instrumentals and vivid songwriting, then serving it all up with a lyric baritone voice to tell stories that educate, illuminate and inspire.

Jencks co-founded the dynamic harmony trio Brother Sun, whose 2016 CD Weights & Wingswas #1 on the Folk DJ Chart. The trio’s 2013 release, Some Part of the Truth, also charted at #1. Joe’s song from that album, Lady of the Harbor, was Folk DJ Song of the Year and was never more relevant than it is today.

Jencks’s 2017 solo album, Poets, Philosophers, Workers & Wanderers, debuted to critical acclaim. “What really shines through … is his resonant, honey-rich voice, his open-hearted humanity, and his commitment to social justice,” wrote one reviewer. Another critic said: “Joe Jencks brings us moving and stunning songs of hope, redemption, connection and remembrance, sung with passion and delivered in his rich tenor voice.”