KINGSTON, R.I. – November 14, 2006 – Award-winning local musicians Joyce Katzberg, Charlie King and Karen Brandow will speak and perform at the University of Rhode Island on Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 7:30 p.m. in Edwards Auditorium, Kingston campus.

Their visit is part of the URI Honors Colloquium, Songs of Social Justice: The Rhetoric of Music, a semester-long series that explores music as a means of expression, persuasion, and mobilization. It is free and open to the public.

The three activist/musicians will explore the contemporary issues they sing about on a daily basis.

Katzberg has performed for more than 30 years. She was born on a military base into a musical family. Her father is Jody Gibson, leader of the Muleskinners, a racially integrated rock-a-billy band from the ‘50s. She grew up singing with her father and had her first performance in 1968 in Pawtucket, R.I. She has been performing ever since teaching and testifying in coffeehouses, taverns, and picket lines along the east coast.

Her songs are historical, passionate, witty, and sometimes humorous representations of people and life. Many of her songs explore the American working class and the rise of the labor movement. She also sings about the Civil Rights and women’s equality movements. Folksinger Pete Seeger says that she has one of the best voices he has ever heard.

King and Brandow, both folksingers and musical storytellers, sing and write about ordinary people who lead extraordinary lives. King is a native of Brockton, Mass. who has been performing folk music for more than 40 years. His music is representative of the folk movement of the early ‘60s, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Vietnam War era.

Brandow has performed with King since 1998. A native of Philadelphia, she worked for human rights in Guatemala from 1986 to 1994. She has studied voice and classical guitar and performed at political and cultural events in Guatemala as a soloist. She also formed an a cappella group.

Visit www.uri.edu/hc for the colloquium schedule and directions. For more information, contact the URI Honors Center at 401-874-2303 or debg@uri.edu.

Major sponsors for the series are The Providence Journal, the URI Division of University Advancement, the URI Honors Program, the URI Office of the President and the URI Office of the Provost.