Arts & Entertainment
Folk Artist Jim Crawford Closes Out Nat'l Library Week in Red Bank
Singer/Songwriter Jim Crawford entertained visitors to the library on the last day of the national observance.
Concluding National Library Week, Red Bank Singer/Songwriter, Jim Crawford entertained the Saturday afternoon crowd at the Red Bank Public Library. "I've never had to apologize for playing too loud before," Crawford said in a jovial, contrite way to open his set in a setting that typically calls for quiet.
For the record, Crawford wasn't hushed once. Instead, the crowd that was there to read, to use the computers, and to enjoy the final day of the national observance of libraries was appreciative of Crawford's thoughtful, sometimes wry lyrics and gentle melodies.
Specializing in Americana, folk, and country styles, Crawford performed at the Jersey Acoustic Music Awards show in Asbury Park in February. His album Team of My Father was nominated for Album of the Year.
Crawford, who looks a bit like a cross between Twain and Vonnegut, writes a bit like them as well. He is a socially conscious songwriter, with tunes about soldiers killed in war and the state of the economy and unemployment. He balances the heavier stuff with charming little songs about love and the occasional Johnny Cash selection. Everything he does though has a smart turn of phrase or a twist on a concept. His cerebral sound made him well suited to close out the 53rd National Library Week.
The observance is sponsored by the American Library Association and by local libraries across the country every year during the month of April. National acknowledgments and programs mark the special week, along with individual events created by specific local libraries.
