Folkocracy is Rufus Wainwright revisiting his roots, of childhood summers spent at folk festivals and watching his famous family on stage. But it’s also the sound of an artist in the present using all he has learnt from conquering pop to opera and showtunes.
“I’ve shied away from folk in the past, preferring the worlds of opera and pop. But the fact is I’m from a bona fide folkocracy who mixed extensively with other folkocracies such as the Seegers and the Thompsons. As I hurtle towards 50, I’m back where it all began.”
The album, Rufus’ 12th studio album released on June 2nd, features and all-star cast of guests including Brandi Carlile, Chaka Khan, David Byrne, Anohni, Sheryl Crow, John Legend, Nicole Scherzinger and his family of course among others. The album is a bit of a 50th birthday present to himself, invite the singers you have always admired to come and join you in the process. “Getting lots of guests was a given from the start,” says Rufus. “The key to folk is community and sharing a stage. But I didn’t want to make a duets record. We rode a fine line – guests, not duets.”
For the tour he has assembled a four piece band of amazing musicians and two incredible back-up singers, his sister Lucy Wainwright Roche and Petra Haden who will sing the parts of most of the guests from the album.
The set list will contain almost all songs from the album. He chose those 15 songs with producer Mitchell Froom, some are bona fide folk songs like Peggy Seeger’s “Heading for Home” or Ewan MacColl’s “Alone” but others are Wainwright’s interpretation of what constitutes a folk song today like The Mama’s and The Papa’s “Twelve-Thirty”, his own “Going to a Town”, or Moondog’s “High on a Rocky Ledge” which he first heard on a sultry Hawaiian New Year’s Eve.
The concept of cover songs will continue for the rest of the set list, picking songs Rufus recorded for his audible original “Roadtrip Elegies” at LA’s legendary folk venue McCabe’s Guitar Store. Those songs accompanied a car ride that he took frequently as a child from his mother’s home in Montreal to his dad’s of New York. This time in his car was his shrink and the entire conversation was recorded with the songs illuminating important stops on memory lane.
This additional material will contain some new songs by Rufus along with covers of among others Bob Dylan, Mina, and the late Burt Bacharach who Wainwright described on his January 2023 tour with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta as the “greatest living American songwriter”.
Not many musicians have the vocal range and depth of interpretation that Wainwright possesses or as The New Yorker simply put it “Nobody sings quite like Rufus Wainwright”. Nobody gives live shows quite like Rufus either. Expect Folkocracy!
Presented by Count Basie Center for the Arts
New Jersey's jazz legacy takes center stage in A Tribute to Count Basie: The Kid from Red Bank. Performed by James Langton's New York All-Star Big Band, this high-energy concert celebrates the unmistakable sound and driving swing of Count Basie - music that still thrills and moves audiences today.
Rick Steves host
New Jersey Symphony
Blue-eyed soul pioneers The Righteous Brothers are back! With a string of #1 clas-sics, including the most played song in radio history, You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Fee/in’, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame duo of Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield topped the charts in four decades. After Bobby’s death in 2003, Bill Medley con-tinued to perform to sold-out crowds around the world, but fans and friends pleaded with him to keep The Righteous Brothers alive.
Between 1925 and 1928, Louis Armstrong made a series of influential recordings with a studio group, the Hot Five, that changed the shape of jazz to come. To pay tribute to these legendary sessions, Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon will welcome the dynamic trumpeter and recent Juilliard graduate Andrew Stephens, along with a small group made up of some of New York’s finest traditional jazz musicians.
Rick Steves host
Nicholas Hersh conductor
New Jersey Symphony
"Ale Pak" is a popular, clean, and family-friendly Marathi stand-up comedy special by well-known comedian Mandar Bhide. The show features relatable everyday observations, nostalgia, and lighthearted humor rooted in Maharashtrian culture.
Dunbar Repertory Company presents Ntozake Shange’s FOR COLORED GIRLS Who have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf, the groundbreaking “choreopoem” – a spellbinding collection of vivid prose and free verse narratives about and performed by Black women. Directed by Darrell Lawrence Willis, SR.
Amidst the chaos of the Iraq War, the Khachaturian family is trapped in a firefight between U.S. Marines and insurgents, and one Marine’s split-second decision devastates the family. Years later, haunted by his time in Iraq and aided by a New Yorker journalist, the Marine seeks to reconcile with the Khachaturian matriarch. Anchored by unforgettable performances from Boyd Holbrook (A Complete Unknown, Narcos, The Morning Show), Hiam Abbass (Succession), and Kenneth Branagh, Atonement is a powerfully human true story about the immeasurable costs of war, exploring universal questions about guilt, redemption, and the nature of forgiveness.
A group of dads building a movement to support their trans and gender expansive kids are forced to make an impossible choice amid a shifting political landscape: stay and fight or flee the country.
A haunting yet life-affirming film about reframing pain and the radical power of choice. It follows grieving mother Iris Haim as she mourns the loss of her son in the aftermath of October 7th and forms an unexpected bond with Dr. Edith Eger—a renowned psychologist, author, and Auschwitz survivor—whose hard-won wisdom guides her toward transformation.
(NEWTON, NJ) -- The Newton Theatre presents Puss N Boots featuring Norah Jones, Sasha Dobson, and Catherine Popper on Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 7:00pm.
(TEANECK, NJ) -- The Teaneck International Film Festival (TIFF) has named filmmaker Luchina Fisher the first recipient of the Sandi Klein Creative Woman in Film Award, a new annual honor celebrating an exceptional woman whose work reflects the creativity, curiosity, integrity and commitment to social impact that defined Klein's life and her nearly two decades with the festival. The award includes a $1,000 grant. Fisher will receive the inaugural award at the TIFF screening of her film, The Dads, on Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 2:30 pm at Teaneck Cinemas (503 Cedar Lane).
(EDISON, NJ) -- With a new dance studio year now underway for many dancers and families, registration is officially open for the LIT Tap Dance Experience, coming to Edison VFW Post 3117 on Sunday, November 8, 2026. Presented by Taplife Hero Foundation, LIT is a focused one-day tap dance experience built around technique, musicality, artistry, mentorship and community.
(FREEHOLD, NJ) -- Center Players presents It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play with four performances across two Sundays (November 8 and November 15, 2026). Performances are split between the American Hotel and Mattison Crossing.
(ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS, NJ) -- After its world premiere at Dances With Films LA (DWFLA), one of the nation's leading indie film festivals, Directors' Commentary will have its New Jersey Premiere at SModcastle Film Festival, hosted by filmmaker Kevin Smith. The film will screen on Sunday, November 8, 2026 at 12:00pm.
