SCHOONER FARE
The 34th annual Devonsquare and Schooner Fare Reunion Concert to benefit the Jack McPhillips Memorial Fund will take place March 10 at The Landing at Pine Point, 253 Pine Point Road.
Doors open at 6: 30 p. m. The concert offers cabaret and dining club seating. Ticket prices range from $25 to $20.
Every year Schooner Fare, Devonsquare and many of their musical friends reunite for a special concert to benefit the Jack McPhillips Memorial Fund. McPhillips organized the first three concerts as a way to see his two favorite groups at the same time. With his untimely death in 1981, the Jack McPhillips Memorial Fund was formed to “continue his mission of good fun and humanitarianism on a local level,” according to a release from concert organizers.
The annual concert has now grown to include a crop of talent from the next generation. Dave Rowe, son of Schooner Fare’s late bass player, Tom Rowe, will join the incomparable Don Campbell, along with long- time friend Denny Breau, for a musical retelling of the musicians’ collective histories.
History
Here’s how organizers describe the origin of the concert:
At the sunset of the Woodstock decade, the Devonsquare Trio, consisting of Cheverus alumni Herb Ludwig, Steve Romanoff and Jeff Rice, congregated in a Portland nightclub with their closest friends and fans. This raucous crew attracted the attention of others, and the group’s show’s at Anthony’s ( now the Asylum) soon became packed affairs. Jack McPhillips was there, larger than life.
In the 1970s the Devonsquare Trio expanded to include Tom Rowe, Alana MacDonald and Chuck Romanoff. Now simply called Devonsquare, the group played to packed houses throughout New England.
With diverging styles and musical interests, the sixpiece group split into two trios. Schooner Fare ( the Romanoff brothers and Tom Rowe) performed Celtic music and songs of the sea.
Ludwig and MacDonald joined with North Conway sensation, Tom Dean, and continued on as Devonsquare, performing catchy, original songs featuring rock- solid harmonies.
In 1980, McPhillips convinced Devonsquare, Schooner Fare and many alumni of the groups to give a concert at the Eastland Hotel Ballroom to benefit Children’s’ Theater of Maine. Two similar benefit concerts ensued before McPhillips died.
At McPhillips’ funeral, Steve Romanoff announced that Jack’s friends and family would establish the Jack McPhillips Memorial Fund to keep the music flowing and to support local people in need the way Jack did, with generosity and anonymity.
When asked to characterize the mission of the fund, Devonsquare alumnus Tom Dyhrberg states, “We give a great show every year, then give the money away to deserving people in Southern Maine who fall through the cracks of eligibility for other charities.”
Passings
Through the years the Devonsquare-Schooner Fare collective suffered grievous losses. Jeff Rice, an original Devonsquare member, died in 1992. Tom Rowe of Schooner Fare passed in 2005. Herb Ludwig, another original trio member, died in 2005.
The Annual Reunion Concert serves to remember and honor them and their musical contributions by sharing their songs and spirit with friends and fans, while raising crucial funds for local individuals in need.
Devonsquare
“ Since their inception, Devonsquare has spearheaded northern New England’s contemporary folk music for more than two decades,” All Music Guide states in the concert release. “ Dubbed the ‘original folk and roll band’ by Rex Fowler of Aztec Two- Step, the Portland-based trio continues to successfully set warm, three-way harmonies to infectious, hook- laden, acoustic- based arrangements.”
Schooner Fare
“ Schooner Fare has won unanimous critical praise for captivating harmonies and winning stage presence,” outergreen.com states in the release. “In addition to their numerous original songs on both contemporary and traditional themes, the band also writes and performs topical songs, country ballads and maritime masterpieces that have made their name synonymous with the ‘ Down East’ style.”
Other scheduled performers include Don Campbell and The Squid Jiggers, a folk duo composed of David Rowe and Troy R. Bennett.
To buy tickets, go to https:// thelandingatpinepoint.com/purchase/cart.htm l?event=547
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