Musicians and couple Chris “Critter” Eldridge, left, and Kristin Andreassen will close out the Foundry Theater’s inaugural programming season on Friday, May 17. (Submitted photo)
Folk duo closes inaugural season at Antioch College’s Foundry Theater
- Published: May 17, 2024
The Foundry Theater at Antioch College will hold the final performance of its inaugural programming season Friday, May 17, 7–9 p.m., with Kristin Andreassen and Chris “Critter” Eldridge taking the stage.
Andreassen, whose solo efforts as a singer, guitarist and songwriter have focused on folk, old-time and indie pop tunes, is also a dancer; in 2003, she joined the old-time supergroup Uncle Earl — which, at the time, included KC Groves, Abigail Washburn and Foundry Theater stage alumna Rayna Gellert — as a vocalist, instrumentalist and dancer. Andreassen is also a founding member of “folk noir” group Sometimes Why with Aoife O’Donovan and Ruth Ungar.
As a songwriter for both her own solo records — including 2007’s “Kiss Me Hello” and 2015’s “Gondolier” — and for Uncle Earl, Andreassen has been a finalist or winner for several John Lennon Songwriting Contest awards; in 2007, she won the grand prize in the children’s category for “Crayola Doesn’t Make a Color for Your Eyes,” which appeared on her first album.
Guitarist Eldridge has been a member of a number of well-known progressive bluegrass and folk groups, including The Seldom Scene — his father, Ben Eldridge, was a founding member — The Infamous Stringdusters and Punch Brothers. He’s also performed with a wide variety of solo artists, including Fiona Apple, Paul Simon and Justin Timberlake.
Eldridge and his Punch Brothers cohort — Chris Thile, Noam Pikelny, Gabe Witcher and Greg Garrison — have released six full-length albums, with their 2019 album, “All Ashore,” winning a Grammy for Best Folk Album. In 2023, Eldridge co-founded the bluegrass supergroup Mighty Poplar with Pikelny, Garrison, Andrew Marlin and Alex Hargreaves; the band released a self-titled album last year.
Eldridge and Andreassen, who are married, met in the early aughts when Uncle Earl and Punch Brothers were in their emerging years. The two recently co-produced “A Mind of Your Own,” the debut album of The Bright Siders, a duo that includes Andreassen and child psychiatrist Kari Groff. The album — released by Smithsonian Pathways and featuring a range of musicians and actors, including Punch Brothers and Ed Helms — is intended to support “the mental health of kids and the grownups who love them,” according to the duo’s website.
Now with a child of their own, the couple has spent some of their time at home playing from Andreassen’s catalog. Local audiences can look forward to a performance of her songs, chosen and reimagined by Eldridge for “two guitars, two voices and a more finely tuned sense of ‘the things that matter,’” according to the Foundry Theater’s website.
Tickets are $20 for general admission and $5 for students; go to bit.ly/FoundryTix for more information and to purchase tickets.
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