David Yonke

Mar 5, 2025 | toledofreepress.com | David Yonke

TOLEDO – What started out as a friend playing a concert in Rob Krain’s backyard in the Old West End has evolved into an ongoing series of intimate shows featuring a mix of local musicians and national touring artists. “This has been a snowball rolling downhill,” Krain said after a February concert by Nashville-based singer-songwriter Crys Matthews. “I’ve always been a music fan, and I have friends in the music community.

Feb 27, 2025 | toledofreepress.com | David Yonke

MAUMEE – Fortunately, things haven’t gone exactly as planned for Acoustics for Autism; it’s grown exponentially. Originally slated to be a one-time benefit concert in Uptown Maumee, the event has snowballed into what organizer Nicole Khoury describes as a “community Lollapalooza.”Khoury explained that “the goal was just to get a good group of people together to raise money so that parents’ out-of-pocket expenses would be less burdensome for autism spectrum disorders.

Jan 15, 2025 | toledofreepress.com | David Yonke |Peter Mulvey performs

TOLEDO – Peter Mulvey doesn’t want to win arguments; he just wants to tell stories that make people pause and ponder. And laugh. There’s no end to the stories Mulvey can tell, from space travel and the environment to religion and social justice. The singer-songwriter, who will be in concert Jan. 18 at the Flamb-OYE-nce Community House in Toledo’s Old West End, is a deep thinker and keen observer who holds a mirror up to society.

Dec 9, 2024 | toledofreepress.com | David Yonke

BOWLING GREEN – When Carl Stone steps into the spotlight, dressed all in black with black-rimmed glasses and a black fedora, he appears to be a quiet, unassuming, cool jazz cat. You wouldn’t think of him as a disrupter, but beneath his stoic exterior, that’s exactly what he is. Stone is a 71-year-old artist and composer who, since the 1970s, has been using digital samples and computers to create songs that defy words and musical definitions. In concert Dec.

Dec 3, 2024 | toledofreepress.com | David Yonke

Story and photos by Dave YonkeTOLEDO – Even though she’s been a professional singer for 62 years, Jean Holden still gets butterflies before a concert. “I’m always nervous. It’s good to be a little nervous. It keeps you on your toes,” Holden said in a recent interview. “It’s good to not be cocky, to not be too self-assured.”Once she picks up the mic and begins to sing, however, the butterflies disappear, and it becomes clear why Holden is widely known as Toledo’s First Lady of Song.