KPR 105 Live from the Dole Institute ft. Kelley Hunt and Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg + The Mad Greek

Join KPR 105 Live for a special performance featuring singer-songwriter Kelley Hunt and former Kansas Poet Laureate Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg at the Dole Institute of Politics. Before their performance, enjoy food and refreshments from The Mad Greek, and family activities starting at 11:30 a.m. Free concert begins at 1 p.m.

Kelley Hunt’s love for her craft was ignited listening to early blues, R&B, roots rock, jazz and Gospel influences — artists like Ruth Brown, Mahalia Jackson, Billie Holiday, Ann Peebles, Ray Charles, Dinah Washington, Aretha Franklin, Charles Brown, Wanda Jackson and a crossection of the New Orleans/St. Louis/KC piano traditions of Professor Longhair, Toots Washington, Johnnie Johnson and Kansas City masters Jay McShann and Mary Lou Williams among others. Before that came the sound of her mother singing jazz and blues – her first musical memories – and the influence of her New Orleans Gospel singer grandmother.  You can hear all of the above in her music and see it in a career built on fierce independence, incredible will, unassailable cred  and hard-won accomplishment. The narrative includes 1800+ performances with appearances on a long list of premier North American and International roots, blues and pan-genre festival stages, six times on American Public Media’s ‘A Prairie Home Companion’, seven critically acclaimed studio albums and two singles and 150,000+ indie units sold and downloaded on her own label.

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg is the 2009-13 Kansas Poet Laureate, a writer, teacher, and facilitator, and coach and consultant who explores how the spoken, written and sung word can help us live more vibrant lives. Caryn received her Ph.D. from the University of Kansas and has trained in organizational development, grassroots organizing, poetry therapy, and teaching yoga. She taught for 33 years on the college level, at Goddard College, Haskell Indian Nations University, and the University of Kansas. She is the recipient of Kansas Arts Fellowship in Poetry, the Rocky Mountain National Park artist-in-residency, and other honors.

The Mad Greek has been a Lawrence institution since its founding in 1988. The restaurant was founded by George and Peggy Kritos, whose commitment to quality Greek and Italian cuisine brought over two decades of success and economy to Massachusetts Street. In 2014, in their much deserved retirement, George and Peggy passed along the legacy of The Mad Greek to their long-time family friends Theo and Deb Tagtalianidis. As the new owners, Deb and Theo promise the same passion and consistency as the Kritos family, while adding a Tagtalianidis flare.