The Club Kuss series:
Oct. 12 — Susan Werner and David Wilcox
Nov. 16 — Ruthie Foster
Feb. 15 — “The Cooke Book,” a tribute to soul pioneer Sam Cooke
March 22 — The Good Lovelies, a Canadian folk trio
April 19 — The Michael Kaeshammer Trio (think young Harry Connick Jr.)
May 17 — Four Bitchin’ Babes
SPRINGFIELD — Ruthie Foster, who first performed in Springfield in 2011, embodies the Club Kuss concert series at the Clark State Performing Arts Center.
She’s a Grammy-nominated singer who’s won the Koko Taylor Award for best traditional blues female two years straight at the Blues Music Awards.
“I knew she was going to be good. I was wrong,” said Stuart Secttor, the center’s executive director. “She was fabulous.”
Foster returns to Kuss Auditorium this fall as part of the adventurous local concert series that features performers with a huge amount of talent — and precious little name recognition.
“It’s the best entertainment by people you don’t know,” Secttor said.
And it’s growing — the 2012-13 Club Kuss series will feature six concerts, up from the usual four.
“The Babes are back,” Secttor said.
Always popular locally, Four Bitchin’ Babes — those funny, menopausal folk-music chicks — will return with a new show, “Mid Life Vices.”
Singer-songwriters Susan Werner and David Wilcox kick off the series on Oct. 12.
Werner played the Summer Arts Festival in 2008 — or at least attempted to. Rain kept most people away.
“She didn’t have the audience she deserved to have,” Secttor said.
Her most recent album, 2011’s “Kicking the Beehive,” featured Vince Gill and Keb Mo.
The series continually draws ticket buyers as fearless as the acts themselves.
“We want adventurous people,” Secttor said.
Season tickets are on sale now at pac.clarkstate.edu or by calling (937) 328-3874.
Shows are at 7:30 p.m.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0352 or andrew.mcginn@coxinc.com
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