Our Side of Town: A Red House 5th Anniversary Concert

Eliza Gilkyson

Photograph: Mary Bruton

Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater; Thu 24

In the beginning there actually was a red house: specifically, the Iowa farmhouse that singer-songwriter Greg Brown called home when he launched the Red House imprint in 1981. High-school teacher Bob Feldman resuscitated the label two years later, and transformed the St. Paul, Minnesota, indie into an American roots-music institution.

In addition to Brown, Red House has championed the late Utah Phillips, Robin and Linda Williams, Peter Ostroushko, John Gorka and the three artists on tonight’s bill: Cliff Eberhardt, Eliza Gilkyson and Lucy Kaplansky. Feldman left the company at the end of 2005 due to health concerns, and unexpectedly passed away a few weeks later. The label, now run by longtime production chief Eric Peltoniemi, has soldiered on, signing impressive newcomers like the Wailin’ Jennys, Storyhill and Meg Hutchinson. Fittingly, a new anthology, Our Side of Town: A Red House 25th Year Collection, marks the occasion with fresh sounds from the current roster.

Each of tonight’s participants has a strong recent disc to tout. Eberhardt’s The High Above and the Down Below, released last year, marks the gruff-voiced troubadour’s return after a 2002 automobile accident. On Over the Hills, also from 2007, Kaplansky deals with the joys of new motherhood and the pain of losing her father and Feldman. Gilkyson’s powerful new Beautiful World tackles politics without polemics. Still, expect a communal spirit to prevail in this festive song-circle setting.