Well seasoned and still enjoying the road Richie Furay brought The Richie Furay Acoustic Trio to the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, “The Kate,” on June 18th, 2025. It was a warm summer evening and the welcoming audience at The Kate was humming with anticipation for the sold-out show.
Richie Furay is no stranger to The Kate and he let the audience know it was a place that he enjoys playing at. Joining him was his daughter Jessie Furay Lynch and Dan Skarda.
The ensemble is a welcome lull in a electric world. Two acoustic guitars and a tambourine, a simple match that is echoed on porches across the United States on any given summer weekend.
It’s so simple and complex at the same time. As the man on one of the guitars has known success for the last six decades and was both a founding member and artist in a couple of very memorable and still well remembered bands of the last century. Richie Furay was in both Buffalo Springfield and POCO. Anyone who had any radio on or collected music in the 1960’s and 1970’s knows both bands as some of the most popular music of the time. Folk-Rock or Country Rock two of the categories his music falls into made their newest beginnings during those changing times.
This concert was a both fun and casual from the start. The three came on stage, sat on stools and proceeded to make amazingly great music with minimal instruments. Plus, all three enjoyed doing it and interacted with the audience enough to make it feel as intimate as a big old porch get together for pickin’ and grinnin.” The setlist was there but Richie read the room and changed a few songs on a whim because they felt better at that moment. It was refreshing to see them change course and mix it up a bit.
Jessie Furay Lynch, without who Richie said he would not be out on the road performing still if it were not for his daughter agreeing to tour with him, took the lead singing on a couple of songs. Her voice is strong and clear, yet soft and beautiful at the same time. You can tell she was raised on this and lives a life of music.
Jesse sang two songs “Baby Why” and “I Wish It Would Rain.” Her clear and beautiful voice rang out in the theater. She has become quite a wonderful singer and puts a great deal of emotion into all songs she sings.
The three together played a couple Buffalo Springfield songs and a couple of Poco, also a few from his upcoming album as well as some from previous albums released by Richie Furay over the past decades. They were able to cover a few of the many songs Furay has to pick from in his long collection of songs.
The evening with the trio was a great success with the back up from Dan Skarda and Jesse the concert was mellow, fun and fantastically performed.
If you haven’t had the chance to see Richie Furay in this arrangement of acoustic renditions of his classic songs, you should try to see them. It doesn’t take a large band to make great music. I would definitely go to see them again.
.
For more information about Richie Furay and his upcoming tour schedule visit Richie Furay.
Review by Donna Erichsen
Photos by George Bekris
Setlist:
Let It Slide (The Cate Brothers Band cover)
We Were the Dreamers
Fallin’ in Love (The Souther, Hillman, Furay Band song)
Pickin’ Up the Pieces (Poco song)
Baby Why (Jesse Furay Lynch cover) (Lead vocal: Jesse)
I Wish It Would Rain (Nanci Griffith cover)
(Lead vocal: Jesse)
Sit Down I Think I Love You (Buffalo Springfield song)
On the Way Home (Buffalo Springfield song)
A Child’s Claim to Fame (Buffalo Springfield song)
Don’t Tell Me (Lee Ann Womack cover)
(Lead vocal: Jesse)
Don’t Lose Heart (Dan Fogelberg cover)
So Far to Go
I Hope You Dance (Lee Ann Womack cover)
Someday
Overflow
Kind Woman (Buffalo Springfield song)
A Good Feelin’ to Know (Poco song)
America, America
