“Lush, luxurious”  DAILY FREEMAN

“Soul and feeling…a joy”  IRISH MUSIC MAGAZINE

If the mighty and romantic Hudson River had a voice it would surely sound like the harmonic quintet of BETTY & THE BABY BOOMERS! They wrap their distinctive four-part harmonies, sparkling guitar and dobro licks around songs from Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Dougie MacLean, Bruce Springsteen and others for a lush and romantic evening guaranteed to transport you along the most beautiful banks of the mighty waterway.

From the Hudson Valley to Galway, Ireland, Steve Stanne (guitar, dobro, vocals), Betty Boomer (vocals), Jean McAvoy (vocals), Paul Rubio (guitar, drums, vocals) & Robert Bard (bass) belt out, croon or caress an astonishing array of traditional, contemporary songs and originals. Their seemingly endless repertoire includes songs heard while sailing and working on the Hudson aboard the environmental flagship Clearwater, tunes learned from years of playing with Pete Seeger, McAvoy originals, songs serious and silly, topical and whimsical: swing, folk, a cappella ballads and sea songs.  Their close four-part harmonies are simply sublime, the instrumentals rich and varied.

The award-winning group tours regionally and often appeared onstage with Seeger, who regularly performed one of McAvoy’s songs, “Down By The River,” and included it on his Grammy-winning album Tomorrow’s Children with the Rivertown Kids. The Boomers have long appeared annually at Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival, at WAMC-fm, and at venues throughout the Northeast, New England and beyond.  Over the past 15 years, the Boomers have become a familiar sound and sight alongside The Chieftains, Paul Brady and Christy Moore at Ireland’s enormously popular Clifden Arts Week, Ireland’s longest-running community arts festival.

The group’s frequent Eighth Step performances have included Phil Ochs Song Nights, many of Clearwater’s Pumpkin Sail Concerts in Albany, Step anniversary galas, Seeger tributes and of course, concerts where the spotlight captures the uniquely warm and mesmerizing Boomers themselves.