On the day of vernal equinox we will be greeting the onset of spring with poetry, song, story and percussion with our guest features Lawrence Johnson, Tara Greenblatt and Oen Kennedy. Our growing community of poets, writers and musicians and all others interested are warmly welcome, there's free coffee and scones and admission is free with passing of hat for the features. As this event takes place inside HCAM TV studio, the program is filmed and later edited for cable television. Some of the open mic participants are included on this tv program, others are included in a separate All Open Mic Highlights show.

Hope to see you there! --WUASTP host, Cheryl Perreault

Lawrence E. Johnson ...poet of Sharon, Ma who was born and raised in the South-Bronx, NY. 

Lawrence  graduated from Pace University, NY and taught in the South-Bronx for three years. Later he attended Harvard University for graduate work and three Fellowships.

and then went on to teach in the Needham Public Schools for 30 years.  He has two books of published poetry including Reclamation and Ruminesques.  In 2007, Lawrence was awarded  Caregiver of the Year award from the Governor of MA. and in 2010 he  will be seen in the documentary film, "Gen Silent," which will have its Boston premiere this May at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Tara Greenblatt ...percussionist/singer-songwriter and storyteller hails from Boston's vibrant folk scene and has been performing all over New England for over seven years . Matt Smith of Club Passim has called her an "innovator." With a single djembe drum,  Tara pounds out foot-tapping rhythmic landscapes to back her effortless melodic and soulful voice.  In a storyteller style, she draws you into life’s light and dark currents. Cross-cultural relationships, love, drowning both literally and figuratively, the joys of simple life, motherhood, and the struggle to be true to oneself, are just some of the subjects she sings about. She  Her two cds include  ‘River Belly’ (2005), and Tara’s debut CD "Caught Between the Woods and the Road" www.drumtara.comwww.drumtara.com

Oen Kennedy, ...singer-songwriter and winner of the 2008 Boston Folk Festival Songwriting Contest and a frequent performer on the Boston folk music scene.. He is currently working on a new cd soon to be released and his first four albums have received frequent airplay from local stations and he was also featured on the "Best of Boston CD" in 2003. Oen is a regular at such venues as Club Passim, House of Blues, Jonny Ds, The Kendall Café, The Nameless Coffee House, Uncommon Coffeehouse, and many others. He has also contributed vocals, percussion, guitar (electric, acoustic, and bass) and piano to many fellow musicians’ albums, and has opened for such performers as Richie Havens, Lorin Rowan, Tony Bird, Priscilla Heardman, Phoebe Snow, and many others. ---"Oen Kennedy is musical, he’s subtle, he’s irresistible and he has an innate sense of the innocent soul in every one of us. Weaving birdsong and exotic instruments into his music as naturally as dew gathering on grass, his songs embrace the natural world with a gentle intelligence that is altogether unique. Oen can fill a room with melody and birdsong and take the people in the room to a far and magical place. . . Earth." -Marilyn Rea Beyer, Music Director, WUMB 91.9 Boston. www.myspace.com/oenkennedy