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Vienna Carroll & The Folk at The Bitter End

Friday, February 20, 2026,
6:30 – 8:00 pm,
The Bitter End,
147 Bleeker St., Greenwich Village, NYC • Map

Vienna Carroll and The Folk

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Feb 5, 2026

Black History Month Love Experience: Vienna Carroll & The Folk Return to The Bitter End

Friday, February 20, 2026 | 6:30 PM

Joyous, Genre-Bending Celebration of Funky Black Folk music and storytelling

New York, NY — Vienna Carroll & The Folk return to the legendary Bitter End on Friday, February 20, 2026 at 6:30 PM, to serve up a toe-tapping good time with a vintage gospel-funk groove in the spirit of Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

Backed by an all-star lineup of veteran musicians, Carroll delivers a joyful blend of blues, gospel, funk, and folk with politically-charged storytelling and an electrifying stage presence. Her music is deeply rooted in Black history while remaining boldly relevant and forward-looking.

The Folk features:

  • Keith Johnston (Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, Jon Hendricks) – guitar
  • Stanley Banks (George Benson) – bass
  • Washboard XT / Newman Taylor Baker (Matthew Shipp, McCoy Tyner, Henry Grimes) – washboard
  • Special guest David Joyce – trumpet

As New York Music Daily notes, Carroll is known for “politically-charged reinventions of classic blues and gospel themes,” while Neon Jazz host Joe Dimino calls her a “Harlem-based vocal powerhouse.”

🎟️ Tickets: $20, available now at bitterend.com
Seating is limited; early arrival is encouraged.

Venue:
The Bitter End
147 Bleecker Street
New York, NY

Event Details:
Friday, February 20, 2026
6:30 PM | Doors open at 6:00 PM

PRESS RELEASE

Media & Press Inquiries:
viennacarrollmusic@gmail.com | 646-763-4587

Press Kit:

viennacarrollmusic.com/press-kit

60 second clip of This Train Is Bound For Glory

https://youtu.be/hk5xZ01LVCk Watch the previous show!

Jazz – America’s Classic Music

This month I’m celebrating America’s classic music – Jazz – with a newly refurbished jazz page!  I am blessed an honored to be  joined by Michael Howell and Bruce Edwards on guitar in bringing you some of the standard jazz tunes by Duke Ellington, Cole Porter and others.  I hope you enjoy them and thanks for listening.

 

 

What For? Why Not?

Friday, April 7, 2017,
8pm,
Triskelion Arts at Muriel Schulman Theater, 
106 Calyer Street, 
Brooklyn, NY 11222,
G to Nassau Ave (walk 3 blks north to Calyer & 3 blks west to #106) • map

Vienna Carroll & Keith Johnston in What For? Why Not? FestivalThe “What For? Why Not?” series combines two artists from different disciplines juxtaposing dance, music, spoken word, and visual art. 
Patti Bradshaw (dance) / Vienna Carroll & Keith Johnston (music)
Act 1: Choreographer and puppeteer Patti Bradshaw shares the evening with singing storyteller duo, Vienna Carroll and Keith Johnston. Bradshaw’s Flowers in Space uses dance, puppetry, and slide projections in a solo for dancer Valerie Striar inspired by the turn of the twentieth-century painter, poet, set designer, and subtle social commentator Florine Stettheimer, (1871-1944).
Act 2: In Folk First: Black Roots Music, Carroll as griot and Johnston as guitarist celebrate the spirituals, work songs, prison blues, and sea shanties of antebellum African Americans, and their links to contemporary artists like Biggie Smalls and Pharrell Williams.

U.S. Colored Troops: Black Sailors and Soldiers

Dalyce Newby- Black Sailor in the Civil War
Dalyce Newby- Black Sailor in the Civil War

Sun. January 29: 1pm & 3 pm (two 30-minute shows)
Sunday Stories: A Civil War Series (Play 6 of 7)
“U.S. Colored Troops: Black Sailors and Soldiers“
Hudson River Museum
511 Warburton Avenue
Yonkers, NY directions/map
Weds. hours: Noon – 5pm; 914-963-4550, hrm.org.
Adults  $6; Seniors (62+): $4; Members Free

With Storyteller and Singer Vienna Carroll 


This  presentation, told through story and song, is part of a series about “The Westchester Hills Community & The Civil War” inspired by the Red Grooms Civil War exhibit at the Hudson River Museum. Learn more about the grand history of the African American experience in the Civil War through the human story of the resilient and heroic African American community–The Hills Community–in Westchester County, NY. Perfect for all children and adults living in Westchester County and the greater New York City area.

This Sunday afternoon come explore:
· the larger-than-life, walk-through scenes created by Red Grooms;
· experience the Multimedia Play; and,
· Docent Tours of exhibit Red Grooms: The Blue and The Gray 

Thank you to Dr Edythe Ann Quinn for bringing The Hills community ancestors out of the shadows through her book Freedom Journey: Black Civil War Soldiers and The Hills Community, Westchester County, New York by historian/author Dr. Edythe Ann Quinn. Read first chapter.

Download flyer of all seven shows in this series The Union & the Confederacy in Westchester: African Americans and the Civil War

Lady Spies and the Slave Grapevine

Sun. November 13: 1pm & 3 pm (two 25-minute shows)
Sunday Stories: A Civil War Series (Play 4 of 7)
“Lady Spies and the Slave Grapevine”
Hudson River Museum
511 Warburton Avenue
Yonkers, NY directions/map
Weds. hours: Noon – 5pm; 914-963-4550, hrm.org.
Adults  $6; Seniors (62+): $4; Members Free

Mary Elizabeth Bowser
Mary Elizabeth Bowser

Lady Spies and the Slave Grapevine
With Storyteller Vienna Carroll and Performer Keith Johnston

A formerly enslaved fugitive from Maryland describes her life as the lady’s maid of a secret Union sympathizer to her new friends in The Hills.
Q&A follows.

This  presentation, told through story and song, is part of a series about “The Westchester Hills Community & The Civil War” inspired by the Red Grooms Civil War exhibit at the Hudson River Museum. Learn more about the grand history of the African American experience in the Civil War through the human story of the resilient and heroic African American community–The Hills Community–in Westchester County, NY. Perfect for all children and adults living in Westchester County and the greater New York City area.

Mary Elizabeth Bowser, Union Spy, headstoneThis Sunday afternoon come explore:
· the larger-than-life, walk-through scenes created by Red Grooms;
· experience the Multimedia Play; and,
· Docent Tours of exhibit Red Grooms: The Blue and The Gray 

Thank you to Dr Edythe Ann Quinn for bringing The Hills community ancestors out of the shadows through her book Freedom Journey: Black Civil War Soldiers and The Hills Community, Westchester County, New York by historian/author Dr. Edythe Ann Quinn. Read first chapter.

Download flyer of all seven shows in this series The Union & the Confederacy in Westchester: African Americans and the Civil War