Bill Kartalopoulos and Mark Newgarden are putting together a one-of-a-kind musical event taking place Sunday, June 7 @ the MoCCA Comic Arts Fest. It’s called Comic Strip Serenade, and it’ll have a slew of stellar musicians playing old songs based on vintage comic strips (Barney Google, Smokey Stover, Krazy Kat, and many, many more) featuring lyrics by Milt Gross, Rube Goldberg, Walt Kelly, and other cartooning legends.

Many of these comic strip songs were never recorded, never filmed, and most have never been publicly performed in the decades since their original publication. The event will also feature some later, post-war songs, including a selection from Broadway’s Li’l Abner and Walt Kelly’s memorable Pogo songs. The archival sheet music used for this special performance was provided courtesy of Newgarden’s legendary collection. The line-up of celebrated musicians bringing these unearthed gems back to life, will include Doug Skinner (The Regard of Flight), Peter Stampfel (The Holy Modal Rounders, the Fugs) and John Keen (Ragtime pianist extraordinaire).

Show starts at 9:00 pm, there’s a $10 cover charge. Jalopy is located at 315 Columbia Street in Brooklyn, NY (F or G train to Carroll St.).

Jerry Beck

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