A live concert and CD release celebrating Tom Wisner’s life and work, ‘Follow on the Water: A Celebration of the Bay’s Life in Story and Song,’ will be held at the Calvert Marine Museum on Friday, Jan. 29. Tickets are $20.00 inadvance or $25.00 at the door and may be purchased at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the performance begins at 7:30 p.m. Seating is limited and advance purchase is recommended.

Wisner has dedicated his life to chronicling the rich traditions of our regional waterways. He will be joined on stage by local musicians and long-time friends and associates, Frank Schwartz, Teresa Whitaker, Mac Walter, and John Cronin, singer/songwriters and powerful performers.

“This new production, Follow on the Water, is an ensemble of stories ‘to hear, to tell, to sing’,” said Wisner from his home in Calvert County. “They have been collected and crafted over years of interviews and through hearty friendships, culled from the energy of the earth and burnished by the Chesapeake sun. They are the songs and stories of the sailing oystermen,” he said, “the sun-tanned, quiet breed of watermen whose lives are bound in the regional traditions to follow on the water.”

Frank Schwartz grew up in Baltimore, and is the oldest of three sons of deaf parents. Having been a musician for most of his life, that journey continued when he married singer, songwriter, and storyteller Teresa Whitaker. They performed at the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival in Washington, DC, as part of a special honoring of the 25th anniversary of Tom Wisner's Chesapeake Born album, along with friend and acoustic guitarist Mac Walter. Schwartz has two recordings: ‘Things Have A Way Of Working Out’ and ‘Below The Radar.’

Three-time WAMMIE winner Mac Walter is a versatile and dynamic master of the guitar. In the 1960s, Walter developed his unique finger-style approach to playing folk, rock, blues, jazz, and country. Walter and his cousin, John Cronin, began playing together as teenagers and developed their unique style over the past 35 years. The acoustic finger-style and harmonies they project together is amazing. Cronin, who lives in British Columbia, spent seven years working in the hugely popular Ian Tyson Band touring Canada and the USA. Wisner describes John’s playing as “the heart of the guitar.” Walter and Cronin have produced two CDs entitled ‘Cousins’ and ‘Second Cousins.’

Battling lung cancer for the last year, Wisner has long been heralded as the ‘Bard of the Bay.’ His vast repertoire of bay-oriented songs has been featured on national TV and forms a part of the Smithsonian Folkways Collection. Wisner is the recipient of the 2003 John Denver award of the World Folk Music Association. He also received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 from the Chesapeake Music Institute.

Since the 1960s, Wisner has pioneered the use of original songs and stories to heighten awareness of the national treasure known as the Chesapeake Bay. With Dr. Sara Ebenreck of St. Mary’s College he co-founded the project CHESTORY: The Center for the Story of Chesapeake Life and Culture, designed to encourage artists of many disciplines to heighten awareness of Chesapeake Bay ecology and culture.

This musical tribute to our Chesapeake waters, watermen, and artists will also signal the release of Tom Wisner’s final recording, which will be available for sale that evening. For additional information and to purchase tickets, visit the website at www.calvertmarinemuseum.com or call (410) 326-2042. Cash bar with beer, wine, and soda will be available.