For immediate release
Contact: John Dachik
(920) 216-1438
Ochslist@hotmail.com
SINGER/SONGWRITER JOHN DACHIK TO PRESENT PROGRAM OF SONGS BY PROTEST SINGER PHIL OCHS

Singer/songwriter John Dachik will present a full-length program of songs by Sixties activist/songwriter Phil Ochs on Saturday, August 9, 7:30 p.m., at the Rhode Opera House in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Entitled "Songs of the Troubadour: The Music of Phil Ochs," the program will be a benefit performance, with all proceeds going to Amnesty International. Along with Bob Dylan , Peter Paul & Mary, Tom Paxton, and others, Phil Ochs stood at the center of the folk/protest music scene in New York's Greenwich Village in the 1960s. Ochs played his topical songs at voter registration drives in the Deep South; for impoverished coal miners in Kentucky and West Virginia; and at anti-war rallies throughout the United States. He performed privately for Robert F. Kennedy, and he hosted an acclaimed Madison Square Garden concert protesting the United States involvement in the overthrow of Chilean President Salvador Allende. He was a familiar figure in international folk festivals, and he traveled extensively in Africa and South America. Disillusioned with his life and the direction his country was taking, Ochs took his life, at age 35, in 1976. Over the years, Ochs' songs have been recorded by a wide variety of artists, from Pete Seeger to They Might Be Giants, from Joan Baez to Ani Di Franco. A two-CD anthology of songs recorded by other artists, WHAT'S THAT I HEAR, was issued in 1997. John Dachik's program presents songs from all facets of Ochs' career, including the protest standards ("I Ain't Marching Anymore," "Here's to the State of Mississippi"), the patriotic anthems ("Power and the Glory"), and such timeless masterworks as "There But for Fortune" (a hit for Joan Baez), "Changes," and the haunting tribute to the Kennedys, "Crucifixion." Ochs biographer Michael Schumacher, a Kenoshan, saw an early version of Dachik's program and came away deeply moved. "I've always felt that Phil Ochs wrote timeless material, even if the songs came out of current events," Schumacher said. "This selection of his music not only keeps his music alive and front of the public; it addresses some of the most important issues of the present time." The August 9 performance in Kenosha will be the first public performance of the revised version of the program. Tickets for "Songs of the Troubadour" are priced at $10.00 ($8.00 for seniors) for general admission seating. For more information on ordering or reserving tickets, please contact the Rhode box office (262-657-PLAY).
(For further comments or an interview with Michael Schumacher regarding this program, please contact him at (262) 654-1834 or through email (jhenry1@acronet.net).