These folk songs are all true stories.
One is about a young fighter pilot in a plane that goes down behind enemy lines. Another is about a Florida woman who donates a kidney to a toddler she’s never met. Another is about a homeless orphan who was blocked for decades from learning the truth of his American Indian ancestry. And another is about an impoverished Somali refugee who came to America, became a nurse and now cares for patients at the Mayo Clinic.
The folk duo Curtis & Loretta, a married couple who hail from Minneapolis, will bring songs of everyday challenges and extraordinary heroism to Ridgefield’s Old Liberty Theater at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday. Their new album is called “When There’s Good to Be Done,” and it features 12 songs of hope, courage and determination written by Loretta Simonet, who sings in an alto that’s been described as “almost operatic” and plays guitar, Celtic harp, celeste, mandolin, kazoo and shaker. Curtis Teague sings and plays guitar, mandolin, mandocello, clawhammer banjo, ukulele and harmonica.
The way Simonet met Teague is one of those magically unlikely connections: A recent college graduate in 1977, she was sitting on a beach in Santa Cruz, Calif., nervously strumming her guitar, getting ready for a variety show. A nearby Texas accent announced: “Hey, I play guitar!” and down sat Teague. Their voices meshed beautifully, they discovered, and the duo debuted at that night’s variety show.
They’ve been performing as Curtis & Loretta ever since, and have shared stages with folk-music royalty such as Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Holly Near and Claudia Schmidt. The duo wed in 1987.