Hope & Harmony Fundraising Concert Set at SBCC

SOUTHBURY – Sweetcake Mountain, an acclaimed Alt- and Traditional Bluegrass band, will headline Hope & Harmony, a fundraising concert to benefit a young refugee family, now proud U.S. citizens.

The concert is set for 7 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, April 5, in the parish hall at South Britain Congregational Church, 693 South Britain Rd., Route 172.

Opening for Sweetcake Mountain will be Massachusetts-based touring artist Jake Klar.

Hope & Harmony is sponsored by Team Nilab, a Woodbury-based grassroots refugee assistance group, in coordination with the Outreach Committee of South Britain Congregational Church. The event will benefit a young family who came to Waterbury in 2018 from a war-torn country in the Middle East.

Since arriving as refugees, the couple learned English, received their driver’s licenses, worked full-time jobs, purchased a small home for their family of five and earned their U.S. citizenship. Recently, a serious congenital condition caused the father to lose most of his teeth and portions of the adjacent bone. Proceeds of the fundraiser will go to help the family pay their overwhelming dental debt.

Sweetcake Mountain, an acoustic band featuring Steve Bacher on banjo, Don Snyder on bass, Craig Rogoff on fiddle, Mat Kastner on guitar and Alan Zinser on mandolin, plays bluegrass “with a Swamp Yankee groove.”

“Each of us brings our own musical heroes to the mix,” said Mr. Zinser, noting such greats as Bill Monroe, Doc Watson, the Louvin Brothers, the Carter Family and the Stanley Brothers.

“While all our songs have a driving bluegrass style, that doesn’t stop us from honoring our cross-genre heroes, from Merle Haggard to Fats Waller,” he said. “To us, bluegrass is joy.”

Since its founding in 2016, Sweetcake Mountain has played venues and festivals throughout Connecticut and New York. In 2023, they were invited to play at a music festival in Eindhoven, Holland, as part of a short European tour.

An alternative rock-poet storyteller, Jake Klar’s songs showcase an ongoing collection of life’s lyric moments, from the daily to the eccentric. A veteran of festivals throughout the Northeast, he rides on the Americana tradition, bringing the edge of modern folk/rock-inspired arrangements.

In addition to music, Hope & Harmony will feature refreshments for purchase, a silent auction, a craft/tag sale and other surprises.

Admission is by a suggested donation of $25 per person. An RSVP to hold a seat is requested at hopeandharmonyfundraiser@gmail.com. Questions may be addressed to Merri Klar at the same address. Donations can be made by searching Hope&Harmony on gofundme.com.