We can all thank senior Tim Allen for bringing the pop-folk husband and wife duo The Grey Havens to the Dawn Theater again this Saturday. The show is free for Hillsdale College students and begins at 8:00 p.m. at the Dawn Theater.
Last year, front man Dave Radford announced a tour and asked fans for suggestions of cities or venues to add to the list. Tim Allen jumped on the opportunity and emailed Radford about coming to Hillsdale.
“He responded within an hour,” Allen said. Now, he said, the Dawn Theater is their favorite venue.
This year, campus ministry Intervarsity is hosting the live show.
“While The Grey Havens explores Christian themes in their music, they sound nothing like ‘mainstream Christian music,’” Allen said. “They have a folksy feel with jazz undertones.”
Allen hopes the concert will be an invitation for students uninvolved with student ministry on campus to take another look at Intervarsity. “Who doesn’t like live music?” he added.
Inspired by authors C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, the duo focuses on bringing a narrative into every song they record. In Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, the Grey Havens is a harbor town and a refuge for the Elves. The duo’s namesake recalls the magic of fantasy and a story’s ability to carry listeners to a different realm.
“Lewis noted that stories have the power to steal past the watchful dragons of the human heart,” Radford explains on the website. “People like stories because they like watching relationships unfold and develop.”
In high school, Dave Radford made it into the Top 20 in American Idol. He met Licia, his wife, while performing as a solo artist and their relationship blossomed after they began performing together.
“And they’re very good live,” Allen said.
