By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times
Rounder Records is known for its roster of super-talented singer/songwriters including Billy Strings, Dawes, Dr. John, Mipso and the duo of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. It also includes many topflight female singer-songwriters such as Samantha Fish, Sarah Jarosz, Katie Pruitt, Sierra Ferrell and the Indigo Girls.
Many of these acts are touring around North America now including Jarosz, who will be performing on February 25 at the Keswick Theater (291 North Keswick Avenue, Glenside, www.keswicktheatre.com) as part of the “Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn & Sarah Jarosz: Together In Concert Tour.”
The tour will feature all three GRAMMY® Award-winning artists uniting on stage for a singular evening of songs and stories from across their remarkable catalogues. The journey started on January 20 at Scottsdale, AZ’s Highland Church (as part of the annual Arizona Musicfest) and will continue through early March.
Highlights include performances at such historic concert venues as San Francisco, CA’s Palace of Fine Arts, Washington, DC’s Warner Theatre, Red Bank, NJ’s Count Basie Center for the Arts), and Boston, MA’s The Wilbur, as well as an eagerly anticipated visit to Alaska for shows at Anchorage’s Alaska Center for the Performing Arts and Fairbanks’ Hering Auditorium.
“Shawn Colvin, Marc Cohn & Sarah Jarosz: Together In Concert” marks the coming together of three extraordinary singer-songwriters, each of whom has proven a generational talent across more than three decades. The collective concert performances will showcase each artist’s unique gifts – Colvin’s distinctive fingerpicking, Cohn’s signature piano, and Jarosz’s stunning mastery of stringed instruments – with unprecedented new vocal and musical arrangements.
“Originally, it was supposed to be a tour with Marc, Shawn and Croz (the recently deceased David Crosby),” said Jarosz, during a recent phone interview from a tour stop in Ferndale, California.
“COVID came and forced postponement of the tour. Then, Croz decided that he didn’t want to go on the road post-COVID because the road was too hard on his body.
“They contacted me. We did three shows in the fall of 2021 at the Ryman in Nashville. The shows went really well and a tour was planned.
“I had done some shows before with Shawn. She also sang harmony on my single ‘Follow Me Down.’ Prior to this, I had not had the pleasure to perform with Marc.”
With her captivating voice and richly detailed songwriting, Jarosz has emerged as one of the most compelling musicians of her generation. A four-time GRAMMY® Award-winner at the age of 30, the Texas native started singing as a young girl and became an accomplished multi-instrumentalist by her early teens.
“I’ve been around music for as long as I can remember,” said Jarosz. “I’ve been singing my whole life — ever since I was a little girl growing up in Wimberley, Texas.”
Jarosz as earned her credibility in the world where contemporary folk, Americana and roots music intersect. She is a talented multi-instrumentalist (mandolin, octave mandolin, guitar, and banjo), an expressive and distinctive vocalist, and an accomplished songwriter.
“Mandolin was the first instrument I picked up,” said Jarosz. “My parents were huge music lovers. I’ve been singing ever since I was really young. When I picked up mandolin when I was nine and I got obsessed with it. Later, I also started playing guitar and banjo. I had heard mandolin on records from my dad’s collection and always liked the sound.
“I saw a music video for Nickel Creek at CMT and that made me really want to get a mandolin. A family friend lent me a mandolin to play. I liked it so much that my parents bought it from them and gave it to me as a Christmas present.
“Early on, it was bluegrass. I went to a weekly bluegrass jam in Wimberley. I fell in love with the people, the community and the music. It took me a year or two to get proficient on mandolin — being obsessed and practicing non-stop. My earliest influences were Nickel Creek, Tim O’Brien and Gilliam Welch.
“I made my first album when I was still in high school. I signed with Sugar Hill when I was 16 and made my first album when I was 17. I kept making albums and going to school. Then, I graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music.”
After releasing her full-length debut album, “Song Up in Her Head,” when she was 18, Jarosz followed with critically acclaimed albums such as “Follow Me Down, “Build Me Up From Bones” and “Undercurrent,” while also teaming with Sara Watkins and Aoife O’Donovan to form the GRAMMY® Award-winning folk trio “I’m With Her.”
Released in 2020, Jarosz’ fifth studio album, “World On The Ground,” won the GRAMMY® Award for “Best Americana Album.”
In 2021, she released “Blue Heron Suite,” a GRAMMY® Award-nominated song cycle which Jarosz composed after being named as the second-ever recipient of the FreshGrass Composition Commission (given annually to artists whose work reflects the FreshGrass mission to preserve and support innovative grassroots music).
Now, she is out on an all-star tour with Colvin and Cohn.
“It’s almost songwriters-in-the-round,” said Jarosz. “We’re all onstage at the same time and we’re very involved in each other’s songs. We all play on all the tracks.
“We had one day of rehearsal prior to the tour – and it was the day that David Crosby passed away. We had to take time to process that. It was very emotional. It’s good to be together. We all loved him so much.”
Video link for Sarah Jarosz — https://youtu.be/eu8hn0Qo-XM.
The show on February 25 at the Keswick Theater will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $49 and $85.
Jamey’s House of Music (32 South Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, 215-477-9985, www.jameyshouseofmusic.com) is a sure thing if you’re looking to hear some top quality live blues music this weekend.
The popular Delaware County venue is a prime destination to hear folk, jazz and blues music every Thursday through Sunday.
The “Thursday Night Jazz Jam” and the “Sunday Blues Brunch & Jam” are regular features on Jamey’s calendar while Friday and Saturday night shows feature national and regional acts.
Jamey’s features a popular “Guest Singer Series” on Thursday featuring many of the best singers in the region performing a set from 7-8 p.m. with the backing of the Dave Reiter Trio and occasional guest musicians.
The Dave Reiter Trio lays down the backing for some out of this world jazz to happen, and you never know who might show up to join in. Reiter is a long-time jazz pro and is equally at home on the seven-string guitar, Nord keyboard or the venue’s top of the line Hammond organ setup. Bill Marconi is on drums; his name is known to jazz aficionados around the world. Holding down the bottom is first-call Philly bassist, George Livanos.
The “Guest Singer” for February 23 is Starlene Bey.
Bey is sassy and soulful with a smooth sensual and humorous storytelling style which gives a unique dynamic to her performance of jazz, blues and her first love, gospel.
The Friday and Saturday shows will feature Maro DēLo on February 25 and Farrow on February 25.
DēLo, who grew up in Bucks County in a musical family, is a talented musician whose soulful music who has the power to connect deeply with fans.
“I got into music from a very young age,” said DēLo. “My father Tom was a musician who played bass, percussion and drums in various bands. His mom Tina is a graphic artist who has done a lot of artwork for her son’s music projects.
“I got a guitar when I was around six and my passion for music blossomed from there. I went to music camp for several years and played rhythm guitar in cover bands in middle school and high school. When I was around 17-18, I met some music producers – Jimi K. Bones and Neff Jones.”
DēLo used websites such as TikTok to start putting his music out.
“My first studio recording was done in late January 2018 – a song called ‘Girl Next Door’,” said DēLo. “I’ve since taken it down because I have plans to revamp the song. I kept putting out songs here and there – including four singles last year.
“My new song is called ‘Dreams,’ which I wrote and produced with David Ivory. He’s the owner of Ivory Productions in Gwynedd Valley with a great studio. It’s been my safe haven for three years.
“David is really talented and really smart in what he does. He produces my songs without changing them and makes them better. He sees me like an equal. There is no ego involved in our work. It’s effortless when we work together. David is like a second dad to me.”
DēLo draws finds influences for his songs from his blues and classic rock background. He released his debut EP late last year.
“I put my ‘Shades of Blue’ EP out last October,” said DēLo. “The EP took eight months to produce. I did it with Jimi K. Bones. But, later I retracted it. Some of the songs weren’t really moving in the direction I’m moving.
“You could describe my genre as pop-rock-soul. My current influences are John Mayer, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Giveon, Shawn Mendes and Train. My songs are about love, life and music and I’m writing all the time.”
DēLo’s goal is to create a sense of community and healing through his music.
Video link for Maro DēLo — https://youtu.be/yawow6-EpRM.
The show on February 24 will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.
Fans will have a hard time staying in their seats when Farrow perform on February 25.
Farrow is a rock-and-soul band from Buffalo, New York, featuring thought provoking lyrics and infectious melodies. This diverse group of musicians creates songs that make you move to the movement.
Led by producer/bass player André Pilette and singer/lyricist Michael Farrow, the band features Tim Webb on drums, Michael Ruopoli on percussion, Cory Clancy on guitar, Rufus “Breezy” Cole Jr. on keys, and Danielle Johnson on backing vocals.
The show on February 25 will start at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.
Grace Pettis, who will share the bill with Ruthie Foster on March 1 at the Ardmore Music Hall (23 East Lancaster Avenue, Ardmore, www.ardmoremusic.com), is another talented modern musician who grew up with music from a very young age.
Her father is Pierce Pettis, a singer-songwriter-guitarist who was heavily involved in the “Fast Folk movement” in New York in the 1980s alongside artists such as Shawn Colvin and Suzanne Vega. In 1984, Pierce Pettis released his first independent solo album, “Moments.”
From when she was very young, Grace Pettis received parental guidance express herself musically. Writing and playing music were traits she inherited from her parents — poetry scholar Dr. Margaret Mills Harper and her father (who were divorced by the time she was a small child).
Pettis was raised in two very diverse southern environments — the Atlanta suburbs of Atlanta and the backwoods of Mentone, Alabama. Her father was touring almost non-stop, and he left albums for her to listen to while he was on the road.
“My dad wanted me to have a normal life,” said Pettis. “When my parents split up, they didn’t want any of us – my brothers Geroge and Rayvon and me – to be singer/songwriters. But you know, kids want to do the opposite of what their parents want.
“I started playing guitar and was doing open mics. I played some songs for Billy Crockett and that was a good start.”
Billy Crockett is a performing songwriter, music producer, recording artist, and the creative director of Blue Rock Studio in the Texas Hill Country.
“Billy produced my first two albums – ‘Grace Pettis’ in 2009 and ‘Two Birds’ in 2012. We did them in Wimberley, Texas at his Blue Rock Studio.”
Pettis is the winner of many of the nation’s most prestigious songwriting contests, including NPR’s Mountain Stage New Song Contest, and has received grants from the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation. Her songs have been recorded by other esteemed artists, including Sara Hickman and Ruthie Foster. She also holds down duties as a member (along with Rebecca Loebe and BettySoo) of the Americana/folk-pop trio Nobody’s Girl.
In 2020, Pettis signed with MPress Records, the label owned by singer/songwriter/music pioneer Rachael Sage
“I had a label that wanted to pay me to make a record,” said Pettis. “We all brought a lot of energy to the moment. Rachael is inspirational.”
Pettis’ debut album for MPress is titled “Working Woman.”
According to Pettis, “I thought a lot about what to call this album. I tossed around a lot of different titles, pulled from lines I liked or themes the record seemed to have. But in the end, it really had to be called ‘Working Woman’ because the album, like the song, is not subtle.
“It’s about recognizing and honoring the work that women do in every space in our society. It’s about claiming our own power and place in the world. This record is about the work women do and valuing that work.”
Produced by lauded singer-songwriter Mary Bragg and mixed by 2x Grammy® award winner Shani Gandhi (Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical), the record features an all-female/non-binary band. The rest of the album credits are female/non-binary as well: co-writers, engineers, photographer, and graphic designer included.
Guest contributions come from Indigo Girls (“Landon”), Ruthie Foster (“Pick Me Up”), Dar Williams (“Any Kind of Girl”), The Watson Twins (“Never Get It Back”), Gina Chavez (“Mean Something”) and Mary Bragg (“Paper Boat”).
Explaining her conscious choice to work with an all-female/non-binary creative team for Working Woman, Pettis said, “As a feminist, I can’t complain that the industry is unfair to women if I’m not actively working on whatever level I’m at to change it for others. I don’t feel the need to cloak my own feminism in metaphors anymore or sidle up to it with a wink so I don’t offend anyone. Here in the U.S., women make up something like 22% of chart-topping artists, across all genres. We are 2% of the producers credited on those charts, and just about 12% of the songwriters. Less than 1% of chart-topping songs are written without men. Meaning, we are literally not hearing women. The fact is — women like me work our tails off. We have to — to carve out our place in the world. It’s past time to recognize and honor women’s contributions. This is our time, and we will make the rules. We are not asking for respect anymore. Now, we are demanding it.”
“Working Woman” was recorded at the legendary Sound Emporium Studio in Nashville.
“Making ‘Working Woman’ was such a specific process – so intentional from start to finish,” said Pettis. “Some of the songs were brand new and some were years and years old. Some we left out because the co-writers were men. The female experience is the human experience. My next record will be really different.”
Video link for Grace Pettis — https://youtu.be/kYp3noxMaRo.
The show at the Ardmore Music Hall on March 1 will start at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25, $45 and $49.
Other upcoming shows at the Ardmore Music Hall are More Ft. Tom Hamilton on February 24, Rebirth Brass Band on February 25 and Charlie Phipps on February 26.
Fortunately for area theater fans, they will have an opportunity to see an American premiere of a new play now through March 5.
Inis Nua Theatre Company (inisnuatheatre.org) is presenting the first Mainstage production of its 19th season with the American premiere of “Meet Me at Dawn,” which stars Philadelphia actors Hannah Gold and Jackie Soro.
The show is a queer love story of two women in their thirties that is filled with tenderness, humor and unanswered questions — with a supernatural twist.
From award-winning Scottish writer Zinnie Harris, “Meet Me at Dawn” is a tender, lyrical fable exploring the mystery of grief and the triumph of everyday love. For those new to the Scottish playwright, Harris is an award-winning and very well-known playwright in the U.K., but who is new to many American audiences.
The Inis Nua production is directed by acclaimed Philadelphia director Sam Tower, who has worked in in the area as a freelance director, arts administrator, and consultant for the performing arts since 2010.
Tower has dedicated her career to serving women, queer people, children and families with arts and culture programming. She is most passionate about staging new works, devised and ensemble-driven process, performance for young people and families, and the power of live theatre, music and dance to connect communities.
“Meet Me at Dawn” was first presented at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, as part of the Edinburgh International Festival in August 2017. The show has received acclaim internationally. Broadway World UK called it, “Beautifully written … Harris’ retelling dazzles in its simplicity.”
“They reached out to me about doing this play,” said Tower, during a recent phone interview from her Philadelphia home. “I often work in original directing and it’s fun that I’m doing a published play. A play has to be interesting to me and this play is very interesting.”
For the set, the play takes place on a mysterious island, following a boating accident. The dream-space comes to life through Jill Keys’ set design and J. Bean Schwab’s props. Two women wash up on a distant shore following a violent boating accident. Dazed by their experience, they look for a path home. But they discover that this unfamiliar land is not what it seems – and that, though they may be together, they have never been further apart. From award-winning Scottish writer Zinnie Harris, “Meet Me at Dawn” is a tender, lyrical fable exploring the mystery of grief and the triumph of everyday love.
According to Tower, “What I love most about Zinnie Harris is how she writes her two characters as gorgeously human and flawed. Anyone who has experienced a romantic partnership will see themselves in Helen and Robyn.
“They are two women who know each other so deeply, who know each other’s habits and tells, but are still mystified by the puzzle of figuring each other out. Telling the queer love story of two women in their thirties that’s filled with tenderness, humor, unanswered questions, with a supernatural twist – that’s not an opportunity that comes along often for me as a director.”
For this production, Tower will work with two Philadelphia actors making their Inis Nua debut. The show stars Hannah Gold as Robyn and Jackie Soro as Helen.
Gold has performed with the Wilma Theater (Don Juan Comes Home from Iraq, The Real Thing), People’s Light (The Secret Garden), InterAct (Death of a Driver, Microcrisis), Shakespeare in Clark Park (Coriolanus, The Tempest), EgoPo (Lydie Breeze), Mauckingbird (Tartuffe), Ninth Planet and others. She earned her BA at Vassar College followed by an MFA at Temple University.
Soro is a Philadelphia-based artist, singer, and collaborative theater-maker. Her recent projects as a creator-performer include the Late Night Snacks queer cabaret festival as Co-Directing director, Emily Bate’s Wig Wag, the two most recent iterations of This Is the Week That Is as a contributor and cast member at 1812 Productions, The Bearded Ladies Cabaret’s Love Notes film series, and Team Sunshine’s Your Optimism is Not Required.
“I think the people we cast just made sense to me,” said Tower. “They have good chemistry and they’re doing well with the dialects. It’s set on a beach in Scotland, and they will be using Scottish accents.
“This show can transcend genres. It’s a contemporary story – with contemporary clothing and language. It premiered in 2017.
“The way Zinnie Harris has approached her work is to write from her own experience as a woman – how she sees this world as a woman. This show is a play about a close loss – the loss of a partner. It’s a play about death.
“What I like is that the actors are queer but that is not the main focus. The main focus is their relationship and the madness of grief and loss.
“It would function pretty much the same if it were hetero. It is an exploration of grief and the way we cope with it.”
“Meet Me at Dawn” is running now through March 5 at the Louis Bluver Theatre at The Theatres at the Drake (302 South Hicks Street, Philadelphia). Tickets are $30 for general admission and $15 for seniors, students, and theatre industry professionals.
This is a great time to catch live theater in the Delaware Valley.
“1776: The Musical,” which is co-produced with the Kimmel Cultural Campus and the Shubert Organization, is having its Philadelphia premiere wrapping up a two-week run at the Forrest Theatre (1114 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, www.kimmelculturalcampus.org) with shows now through February 26.
Following its premiere engagements, the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University and on Broadway at Roundabout Theatre Company, the tour of “1776: The Musical” will make limited engagement stops at major cities across North America, starting in Philadelphia.
A glorious multiracial cast of female, transgender, and nonbinary actors portrays the fiery founders of this country, putting history in the hands of the humans who were left out the first time around. This Tony Award-winning Best Musical is tuneful, witty, and constantly surprising, especially in this “bold and exuberant” (Variety) new production from directors Jeffrey L. Page (Philadelphia Theatre Company; Broadway’s Violet) and Diane Paulus (Waitress).
The year 1776 is a pivotal year in the history of the United States of America. So much so, that the story has been made into a book, a film (which came out in 1972) and a stage musical.
Now the classic tale has been re-imagined with different actors taking on the role of our founding fathers, new musical arrangements, new looks for the stage in terms of lighting, but the same old words and text that made the show famous in the first place.
The story spans a three-week period leading up to July 4th where members of congress debate on how to break away from the British Empire, with topics ranging from prosperity to slavery to religion. It features historical figures such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and the Continental Congress’ custodian, Andrew McNair.
This “1776” takes place primarily in the Chamber of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia as these colonial representatives argue about breaking ties with England and constructing what would eventually be a clearly imperfect union.
The show has a large roster of America’s historical figures including John Adams, Abigail Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Martha Jefferson, and John Hancock. Delaware is represented by John Dickinson, George Read and Caesar Rodney.
Video link for “1776: The Musical” — https://youtu.be/Kb1jOtaxz14.
“1776: The Musical” will run now through February 26 at the Forrest Theatre. Ticket prices start at $58.
Philadelphia Theatre Company (www.philatheatreco.org) continues its season with a Philadelphia premiere of “Empathitrax,” an eerie and comical exploration of the consequences of one pharmacological breakthrough in the romantic life of one couple. The play is written by East Falls native Ana Nogueria, whose play “Which Way to the Stage” recently opened to critical acclaim Off-Broadway and has also appeared as an actress on The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries.”
“Empathitrax,” which is being presented at PTC’s home at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre (480 South Broad Street, Philadelphia), marks Nogueria’s Philadelphia debut and is brought to life by a team of Philadelphia artists and creatives.
The production is directed by Nell Bang-Jensen, the Artistic Director of Theatre Horizon, who previously directed PTC’s well-received virtual production of “The Wolves.” It is running now through March 5.
“Empathitrax” is a fascinating, funny, and deeply human play that asks universal questions about romance and companionship,
The futuristic play is a searing, darkly funny sci-fi story of a young couple who turn to a breakthrough in pharmacology to save their fractured relationship.
The couple at the center of the story, known as Her and Him, are played by Claire Inie-Richards and Makoto Hirano. They are joined by Matteo Scammell as pharmaceutical sales rep Joe and Him’s bro-ish friend Matty D.
“Empathitrax” will run from February 10-March 5. Ticket prices start at $25.
The Candlelight Theatre (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware, 302- 475-2313, www.candlelighttheatredelaware.org) is in the final weekend of the run of its current mainstage production – “Sister Act.”
“Sister Act” is a musical based on the hit 1992 film of the same name with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater, book by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner, and additional material by Douglas Carter Beane. After having a regional premiere in 2006 in Pasadena, California, the original West End production opened on June 2, 2009, at the London Palladium, starring Patina Miller and produced by Stage Entertainment and Whoopi Goldberg. Subsequent productions have been seen on Broadway and in many countries around the world.
The show, which runs each week from Friday through Sunday, will run through February 26.
Tickets, which include dinner, dessert, beverages and free parking, are $69.
Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 North High Street, West Chester, www.uptownwestchester.org) is looking at rock music’s past this weekend with a trio of concerts by tribute acts.
On February 23, it will be time for The Linda Ronstadt Experience.
American Idol Star Tristan McIntosh creates a stunning portrayal of Linda Ronstadt in the prime of her career. Supported by a superb backing band, McIntosh’s impressive vocal talent and stage presence will transport the audience you to a time when Linda Ronstadt ruled the airwaves.
The Linda Ronstadt Experience takes listeners on a musical journey of chart-topping smash hits such as “You’re No Good,” “When Will I Be Loved,” “That’ll Be The Day,” “Blue Bayou,” and many more classic hits by Jackson Brown, Elvis Costello, Tom Petty, Neil Young, Warren Zevon and Little Feat.
Video link for The Linda Ronstadt Experience — https://youtu.be/qFq-rFRumNI.
The show will start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $40.
On February 24, Sugar Mountain — Celebrating the Genius of Neil Young visits the Uptown! Knauer for one night.
Sugar Mountain brings together an ensemble of veteran musicians from the New Jersey music scene who faithfully replicate the songs of one of our era’s most prolific and beloved singer/songwriters, Neil Young.
Young’s career spans an amazing five plus decades, from the seminal country rock sounds of Buffalo Springfield and super group Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to garage band Crazy Horse and countless genre bending solo releases, spanning everything from folk, country, electronic and hard rock to rockabilly.
Sugar Mountain brings to life the Neil Young concert experience, covering all of the best-known songs, hits and deep cuts.
Video link for Sugar Mountain – https://youtu.be/E6L4U-Kxd4o.
The show will start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $40.
On February 25, wear white, break out your platform shows and be prepared to get out of your seat when the Dancing Dream ABBA Tribute Band takes the stage at the Uptown!.
ABBA, the greatest pop supergroup from Sweden, ruled the music world in the 70′ and it still holds the title of one of the best pop groups in the world. Dancing Dream from New York City pays tribute to the legendary Swedish group – playing the hits and honoring their legacy.
Every show features the best hits such as “Mamma Mia,” “Dancing Queen,” “Take a Chance,” “Fernando” and many more. The New York City based touring tribute act was founded by two European singers in 2009 in hopes of transporting nostalgic audiences back to the happy and groovy times of the 70s.
Dancing Dream has toured Florida with performances in theaters, colleges and popular clubs as well as outdoor concerts and Scandinavian festivals in California, North Dakota, New York and New Jersey. They also perform often in New York casinos (Empire Casino and Resorts World Casino) and famous clubs (BB King’s) in Times Square NYC.
Video link for Dancing Dream — https://youtu.be/Z_TJXN5Bbr0.
The show will start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $45.
Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square, 484-732-8295, http://www.kennettflash.org) is hosting Sunny War on February 14 and Jazz Jam featuring Jeff Piscitello on February 24.