Hard Luck Café Concert at Huntington’s Cinema Arts Centre, Nov. 17, 2016

Kalinec & Kj, a singer-songwriter duo with roots in Texas and Pennsylvania, is the featured act during the monthly Hard Luck Café series at the Cinema Arts Centre (423 Park Avenue, Huntington) on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. The 8:30 p.m. concert in the Cinema’s Sky Room will be preceded by an open mic at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are  $15 ($10 for Cinema Arts Centre and Folk Music Society of Huntington members) and will be available at the door.  For more information, visit www.fmsh.org or call (631) 425-2925.

Texan Brian Kalinec and Pennsylvanian Kj Reimensnyder-Wagner met by chance during one of Kalinec’s shows in East Texas in 2013 when Reimensnyder-Wagner happened to be in nearby Shreveport, Louisiana, where she was conducting a seminar in educational songwriting. Later that year, when she came down to Texas on a trip, they had a chance to play a few songs together. Their impressive combined sound – songs, voices and musicianship –c convinced them that they should perform shows as a duo. They began to do so the following year.

Swedish reviewer Staffan Soldy of Rootsy calls Kalinec “a combination of Woody Guthrie, John Steinbeck, James Taylor, and Rodney Crowell in the stories he tells.” Kalinec has been recognized in both the U.S. and Europe for both his songwriting and musicianship – winning the Songwriter Serenade in Texas and the Big Top Chautauqua in Wisconsin, placing second in the prestigious Woody Guthrie Songwriting Competition, and being named a finalist in the UK Songwriting Contest. He has performed at venerable festivals and venues in the U.S. and tours regularly in the UK. He and his wife Pam own Berkalin Records, whose roster features many well-respected singer-songwriters.