LAKE PLACID – The Lake Placid Center for the Arts presents local musicians Dan Berggren and Alex Smith in “Bridging the Years.”

Despite their 40-year age difference, Dan and Alex are united in their passion of folk traditions and songs that grow from the mountains. The performance will take place on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Tickets are available by calling the box office at 518-523-2512 or online at www.lakeplacidarts.org.

The similarities between Berggren and Smith far out-number their 40-year age difference: both were raised in small Adirondack towns, studied at St. Lawrence University, and they continue to keep a keen ear on local stories and write songs that reach far beyond the Blue Line.

Both are featured in the Emmy-winning PBS documentary on Adirondack music, “Songs to Keep.”

—

Dan Berggren

The 40-year folk veteran held various jobs before devoting his life to music full-time: working in the Adirondack woods with a forest ranger and surveyor, radio producer in Europe, professor of audio and radio studies at SUNY Fredonia, and owner of Sleeping Giant Records which has produced 15 albums over the past three decades.

Berggren is a tradition-based songsmith who writes with honesty, humor and a strong sense of place. His songs explore the many dimensions of home, hardworking folks, taking care of our planet and each other. Dan’s roots are firmly in the Adirondacks where he was raised but his music has branched out across many borders. The award-winning musician and educator has entertained audiences throughout New York state and overseas in Eastern Europe and Central Africa.

David Malachowski of Times Union Albany says, “Berggren is old-school folk in the best of ways, simple, solid and sure.”

—

Alex Smith

The son of a boat builder/writer/banjo player and a historian, Smith was immersed in folk tradition from a very young age. Growing up in Long Lake, he began writing and playing traditional folk songs at the age of 12 or 13, and has not stopped since. The community Smith grew up in is steeped in tradition, and also offers plenty of material for contemporary songs.

It is the work of Canadian artist Stan Rogers that Smith considers to be his greatest influence. His idea of promoting a sense of pride in the traditions of one’s culture, while at the same time speaking about the issues presented to it in modern times, is the backbone of Smith’s music. He tours and records extensively both solo and with his band The River Brothers, and signed in 2012 with Wepecket Island Records for his third album “Hamilton County.”