For Immediate Release:
Contact: David Kuehn, Executive Director
Cotuit Center for the Arts
Phone: (508) 428-0669
Email: David@cotuitcenterforthearts.org
Website: ArtsOnTheCape.org
Sunday Gospel Brunch with Southern Rail at Cotuit Center for the Arts
Cotuit Center for the Arts presents a rousing Sunday Gospel Brunch with Southern Rail, a lively
bluegrass band, on Sunday, January 18, at noon. Prior to the concert, from 11 AM until noon, there
will be an optional old-fashioned community potluck brunch/church social in the gallery.
The brunch is free; participants should bring a dish to share. The cash bar will be open so that guests
may enjoy a Bloody Mary or non-alcoholic beverages with their meal. Ticket prices are for the
concert only.
Considered one of New England’s finest bluegrass bands, Southern Rail is known for its high-energy,
good-humored, entertainment-oriented approach to music, it riveting vocal harmonies, and its
strong musicianship. Founded in 1978 by Jim Muller (guitar and lead vocals) and Sharon Horovitch
(string bass and harmony vocals) shortly after they were married, Southern Rail also includes Richard
Stillman on banjo and harmony vocals and John Tibert on mandolin and harmony vocals.
Southern Rail has released 12 recordings; many of the band’s songs have climbed Bluegrass
Unlimited’s charts. “Glory Train,” a special bluegrass gospel CD, was nominated for Best Gospel
Recording of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association.
Gospel music is an important part of Southern Rail’s repertoire, but the band also plays a variety of
other traditional bluegrass tunes, country and folk songs, and original tunes written by Muller and
other band members.
“We do a lot of songs from other genres of music that we feel lend themselves well to bluegrass
treatment or bluegrass instrumentation,” said Horovitch. “We might do a Merle Haggard tune or a
Paul Simon tune. We like to say we play good music and it just happens to be bluegrass.
“Bluegrass has so many good things going for it,” said Muller. “It expresses basic fundamental values,
things that are important to people, but it also has great rhythm and great melodies. It’s stuff you
can tap your foot to easily. It’s fun to play, and it’s fun to listen to.”
“It touches people’s lives personally,” said Horovitch. Band members enjoy intimate stages like Cotuit
Center for the Arts, she said. “There is a different kind of energy in the room when everyone is up
close to the performance area and you can really interact with them. For me it is all about people,
about making people happy.”
The name of the band reflects the aspirations of the band. “We want to conjure up an image of music
as an adventure,” Horovitch said, “a journey, rather than a destination.”
The railroad has inspired many bluegrass and country songs, and though bluegrass music is played in
parts of the country, the traditional form originated in the South with Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt and
Earl Scruggs, said Muller.
Southern Rail’s vocal harmonies, which have been described as “exquisite,” “precise,” “rich,” and
“distinctive,” set the band apart from other bluegrass groups. They have presented vocal harmony
workshops at numerous festivals throughout the country.
“We work out our vocal harmonies to a very fine level,” said Muller. “There are a lot of parts
crossing; we put a great deal of thought goes into how the harmonies are structured.”
Muller grew up in Virginia in a very musical family. “I fell in love with the banjo when I was about 2
years old, and have been singing in public since then too,” he said. He took up guitar at the age of 15,
and soon discovered bluegrass music. His rich, distinctive voice and offbeat humor have become one
of the group’s trademarks. Muller is also known for his polished flat-picking and rock-solid rhythm on
guitar.
Horovitch is from Montreal, where she grew up listening to folk music and French-Canadian fiddle
music. Her small stature, irrepressible good humor, and command of her large string bass have led
some to jokingly describe her as “an ant carrying a large crumb.”
Muller and Horovitch met at MIT while they were both pursuing graduate degrees, Horovitch in
microbiology and Muller in geophysics. He introduced her to bluegrass and to the string bass. While
they both continued to work in their chosen fields, Southern Rail became and “almost-full-time”
occupation for both of them.
Richard Stillman plays banjo and sings harmony vocals in Southern Rail. He has founded or been
involved with a number of influential bluegrass bands, has many recording credits, and has won
numerous banjo competitions. He teaches banjo and is on the music faculty at Tufts University.
John Tibert plays mandolin and sings harmony vocals. He has been addicted to bluegrass for years,
teaches mandolin and is a prolific songwriter.
Band members are looking forward to meeting audience members at the pre-concert Sunday Brunch.
The brunch begins at 11 AM. The box office opens at 11 AM, and the concert begins at noon.
Tickets for the concert are $25. $22 for members, and $20 for seniors. Cotuit Center for the Arts is at
4404 Route 28, in Cotuit. For more information, visit artsonthecape.org, or call 508-428-0669.
# # #
What:
Sunday Gospel Brunch with Southern Rail
Where:
Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Route 28, Cotuit
When:
Sunday, January 18. Brunch, 11 am to noon; Concert begins at noon
Admission:
$25, $22 for seniors, $20 for members
END