For singer-songwriter Shlomo Franklin, returning to Sullivan County means more than coming back to perform. It means reconnecting with the landscapes, people, and experiences that shaped his music.
The Bethel native and Nashville-based folk artist will perform Thursday night at the Tusten Theatre in Narrowsburg as part of “Here & There,” a collaborative concert series presented by the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance and Radio Catskill. The evening brings together Franklin and Irish-born Western Catskills musician AILÍSE for a performance centered on songwriting, storytelling, and a shared connection to place.
Franklin said the trip back home often begins with the drive itself.
“I drive the back way,” he said. “It brings me through Pennsylvania, and the closer I get to home, the prettier the landscape gets.”
He said the familiar creeks, barns, and roads of the region remain a powerful source of inspiration.
“I’m so happy to be home. I love it so much. I miss it all the time,” Franklin said.
Franklin grew up on a small dairy farm in Bethel in a highly sheltered environment, an upbringing he says influenced his relationship with music. He described being raised in a religious household that was largely disconnected from popular culture, with little exposure to music beyond what he heard on Radio Catskill in the car.
Music became a way to understand the wider world.
“Music for me was sort of like a rebellion and also just a way for me to synthesize the outside world and make sense of the world,” he said.
The Catskills also continue to shape his songwriting, from the region’s landscapes to the people he encountered while playing local open mics in places like Rock Hill and Monticello.
Franklin’s latest album, “Land of Hopes and Schemes,” released in June, explores themes of community, connection, and the divide between online conversations and everyday interactions.
While touring around the time of the election, Franklin said he noticed a contrast between the political arguments he saw online and the people he met at shows across the country.
“On the ground, I would play all different shows and all different kinds of crowds and all different people, and I wasn’t seeing that,” he said. “All I was seeing was the best people who wanted the best for their neighbors.”
The album addresses those themes without focusing on political opponents or assigning blame. Franklin described it as a record about unity and the people he has met along the way.
He sees folk music as a continuation of a long tradition of bringing people together through shared stories.
“Folk music is still music of the people,” Franklin said.
Franklin describes his approach to music as “stubbornly trendless,” a phrase he uses to describe his focus on authenticity rather than chasing changing industry trends.
He said artists can feel pressure to follow what is popular, but he prefers to write songs that reflect his own experiences and emotions.
“I write what songs come out of my heart and how I feel, and I don’t worry about anything else,” he said.
Image: Shlomo Franklin will perform Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Tusten Theatre in Narrowsburg. The event is part of the ongoing live music collaboration between the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance and Radio Catskill. (Shlomo Franklin)