“It’s great to have Gary back on the show and we are all so happy to have Mary Beth finally singing with the band,” said Flagpole Café Executive Producer Martin Blanco. “Mary Beth will be performing in some sketches too.  It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Mary Beth Sippin has had a rich career in the entertainment industry which included radio commercials, voiceovers, popular cable television shows, and the recording of the songs “Step Right Up” and “I Want You to Stay Here Tonight,” which enjoyed lots of air-play in the Connecticut music scene.

Her career changed when she joined the celebrated bluegrass band Stringfling (whose members included Dick Neal and Stacy Philips). She met her future husband Gary in a club and they started their own country rock band called Sunset Blues. In a subsequent band called the Diamond Spurs, Mary Beth won several rounds in the Charlie Daniels Talent Round-Up on TNN and opened for several acclaimed country music names such as Ray Price, Bill Anderson and Ty Hernden.

Today, she and Gary play in the high energy acoustic country band Goldrush, which features Mary Beth and Gary’s powerful vocals, augmented by the acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle and pedal steel.

Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online by visiting NewtownArtsCommission.org and clicking on the Flagpole Radio Café link. If further information is needed, call 203-364-0898.

“We are truly grateful to have Vaneese Thomas return this season,” said Martin Blanco, executive producer of Flagpole Radio Café. “Vaneese performed with passion and virtuosity at her September appearance, and her beautiful singing was matched by her generosity. She is a powerful singer and the band is thrilled to perform with her again.”

Season Finale Approaching

Flagpole Radio Café will conclude its 2009-10 season on May 22 with special guest Peter Yarrow, the American singer who came into prominence with the 1960s folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary.

As a member of that renowned musical trio (“Puff the Magic Dragon,” “Day Is Done,” “The Great Mandala”), he has earned many gold and platinum albums, has been awarded numerous Grammys and nominated for several more.

In addition to his accomplishments on stage, Mr Yarrow is also an activist who leant his support and musical talent to numerous causes including equal rights, peace, the environment, gender equality, homelessness, hospice care and education. He is a board member of Connecticut Hospice, the first hospice established in the Unites States. He is also the founder of Operation Respect, a program based on the passionate belief that music, with its power to build community and catalyze change, can be a particularly powerful organizing tool as well as a source of inspiration for children.