Focus Rockville Presents – John Flynn

This show will be presented virtually at : https://www.facebook.com/FocusmusicDC/videos/604127020227159/

John Flynn is an American singer-songwriter and activist known for his powerful music and tireless efforts on behalf of the lost and the lonely, the shackled and scarred. His career has embodied an authentic troubadour odyssey that moved legendary folk DJ Gene Shay to call Flynn “the most quintessential folk singer in my life”, and Deana McCloud, Executive Director of the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma to write, “John Flynn is the real deal. His work follows in the footsteps of Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Kris Kristofferson, and other social justice troubadours as he speaks the truth and gives a voice to society’s disenfranchised. His work fills your heart and opens your eyes as he continues to walk the walk of a true advocate for equality, justice, and peace.”

Over three and a half decades, John Flynn’s music has carried him from Jersey shore bars to Nashville’s Music Row; from home plate performances in major league ballparks to concerts in maximum-security prisons; from star-studded benefit shows at Tipitina’s in New Orleans to appearances at the Walter Reed Military Hospital and the Dover Air Force Base. Along the way Flynn has continued to make new friends and fans as he has given of his defiantly unguarded heart and optimistic spirit from large and small stages, living rooms, pulpits and schools across this country.
These days John’s performances draw widely from a significant body of work, ranging from his early country offerings to story songs, love songs, songs for kids, funny songs, songs of social justice, and meditations on love, loss, presence, forgiveness, and hope.

Among the recognitions John has received for his work are the Phill Ochs Award for Music and Social Activism for Political and Social Justice, the Dominican’s Shining Star Award, Rotary’s Paul Harris Fellow Award, and Pacem in Terris’s Peacemaker Among Us Award. Additionally, The American Library Association has recognized John for family recordings; and in 2012 he was a Grammy honoree for his song “Two Wolves’ on the anti-bullying compilation, All About Bullies, Big and Small.

NOTE: Given our current circumstances, it will be awhile before we will be able to sit shoulder to shoulder in a crowded venue to listen to great live music. While the partnership between Focus and Tikvat Israel remains strong…we will not be presenting concerts at TI for the foreseeable future. This is also the case at all other Focus venues in the metro area.

We had planned to have John Flynn perform on June 28 at the Shul. He will still be performing at 7:30 on June 28th – but the performance will be virtual! We are working on the technical details now and will be communicating the way to connect well in advance.

There are advantages to the virtual concert format. You can enjoy these great performances with folks from afar and those unable to get to the Shul. Also, you can put your feet up and enjoy your favorite adult beverage while listening!

We look forward to the day when our world returns to some version of ‘normal’ and we can again bring live folk and acoustic music to our audience. Till then we are doing what we can to promote live (if exclusively virtual) performance, support the talented artists who perform, and stream as much of that live experience as we can (under the circumstances) to our audiences. These efforts are going to continue to evolve as we all learn to adapt to the ‘virtual venue’.