Amy Friedl Stoner: “Women of Country Music" at the Ohnward Fine Arts Center -- July 19.
Saturday, July 19, 7 p.m.
Ohnward Fine Arts Center, 1215 East Platt Street, Maquoketa IA
A stage celebration that delivers favorites ranging from the heartfelt ballads of Bonnie Raitt to the fiery anthems of Wynonna Judd, touring chanteuse Amy Friedl Stoner's Women of Country Music comes to Maquoketa's Ohnward Fine Arts Center on July 19, the special summertime event finding Friedly and her six-piece band offering exhilarating takes on classics including Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" and Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" With its lineup paying homage to pioneers and showcasing contemporary trailblazers, this concert is a journey through the rich tapestry of country music, where every song tells a story and every chord strikes a note in your soul.
Amy Friedl Stoner is an accomplished and versatile cabaret/jazz singer born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. In just eight years, she has produced numerous sold-out cabaret shows in Eastern Iowa, as well as in several major cities across the United States, catapulting her cabaret career. Stoner made her Carnegie Hall debut in May of 2018 as a featured performer in All the Way: The Music of Jimmy Van Heusen, which was produced by the Mabel Mercer Foundation, Since then, the vocalist has been warmly received in notable venues such as the famous Birdland Jazz Club and Don’t Tell Mama (both in New York City), Davenport’s (Chicago), the Gaslight Theatre and Blue Strawberry (both in St. Louis), and Des Moines' Noce. Over the years, Stoner has worked with many Tony and Grammy Award-winning artists, among them Faith Prince, Christine Ebersole, Jason Robert Brown, and Billy Stritch, the notable music director for Liza Minnelli and Tony Bennett.
Locally, audiences may have seen Stoner performing at Brucemore’s Cabaret in the Courtyard, CSPS, Opus Concert Café, Theatre Cedar Rapids, and Revival Theatre Company. No stranger to the stage, she has been a frequent leading lady in many theatre productions over the last 15 years, with some of her favorite roles including Maria in The Sound of Music, Eva Perón in Evita, Mother in Ragtime, Lizzie in Baby, and Cathy in The Last 5 Years. During most weekdays, Stoner can be found working as a master stylist, a career she has loved for more than 17 years – though she admits that her favorite role of all time is that of mom to her handsome 11-year-old son Weston.
Joining Stoner in her Women of Country Music concert is Jeremiah Murphy, who was born the son of a jazz drummer and raised in small-town Iowa. Murphy has been gigging professionally from the age of 16. Since then, he has had the good fortune of performing and recording with many artists and bands of varying styles/genres; from jazz to country/western, from funk to rock, from cabaret to experimental. In 2005, he joined Iowa's premier reggae band Public Property, with whom he recorded two albums and spent four years touring the United States.
Amy Friedl Stoner's Women of Country Music lands in Maquoketa on July 19, admission is $15-28, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)652-9815 and visiting OhnwardFineArtsCenter.com.
