May 8, 7:30PM in person only Registration Required - Coming Soon

According to Dan Bolles of SevenDays VT, "Precious few hepcatamounts swing like Lewis Franco. The central Vermont guitarist, songwriter, and bandleader has almost single-handedly kept the jump and jive alive in the Green Mountains, wailing away with swagger and unimpeachable cool for nearly two decades." Franco says he eventually noticed that most of the jazz and show tunes he loved were not just written by Jews (Berlin, the Gershwin's, Rodgers & Hart, Kern, Arlen, etc…), but were informed by Jewish values and concerns. His YouTube series, "Franco the ReJewvenator" is a result.

His 2023 recording, "On the Sidelines", his sixth CD of original music, also reflects this awareness. It includes titles such as "Say, Don't You Remember Yip Harburg?" and "Just Pretend I Wasn't Lorenz Hart."

"I relate to these songwriters as nervous outsiders, observing American life while seeking a sense of belonging. And they weren't looking casually. They had either been persecuted directly, or felt the effects of centuries of European antisemitism. For them, the question of whether somewhere over the rainbow the American dream of a multicultural democracy really does come true, or if it's only a paper moon, was high stakes." "Yes, my experience is different from theirs. By the time I came along, Jews in the US were far more secure. However, being born and raised in Atlanta to Ashkenazi and Sephardi families during the Civil Rights era, I felt similar anxieties and yearnings to the ones expressed in those amazing songs." Franco explores these themes in his concerts through music, storytelling, and humor.