Detroit: Twenty Minutes Apart

Detroit: Twenty Minutes Apart is a stage presentation that explores the neighborhood, family, and musical experiences of two musicians that grew up in very different neighborhoods, 20 minutes apart. One grew up in Detroit and the other in Plymouth, but they found commonality in art and music, forging a 30-year friendship.

The program includes both popular and original songs that shaped their experiences growing up in Detroit with stories woven throughout. Archival photos and film join with personal family photos to chronicle the gentrification of one neighborhood and the near-destruction of the other.

Performed over two parts, the program begins with contrasting experiences of growing up in Detroit and Plymouth, Michigan, focusing on family attitudes about race and experiences with police, drugs, worship, baseball, love, and diversity. It ends with Detroit’s 1967 Rebellion and the aftermath of the Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy assassinations. The second part of the program is set 20 years later, as Robert and Matt start families and work to establish careers as professional musicians. Detroit: Twenty Minutes Apart explores how art and music affected their lives and development, and how they eventually came to meet and find partnership in American Roots music.

Date: November 14, 2019
Partner: Boll Family YMCA
Location: 1401 Broadway St, Detroit, MI 48226
Coordinates: 42.33494, -83.04763

About the Artist

Robert B. Jones Sr. is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist celebrating the history, humor, and power of American roots Roots music. He has been featured at blues and folk venues and festivals in the US, Canada, and Europe. Robert is also a nationally recognized storyteller and published writer, contributing to essay collections and appearing at the National Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, TN. As an educator, Robert has performed his American Roots Music in Education (ARMIE) presentations for over 250,000 students over the past 30 years. He has pastored the Sweet Kingdom Missionary Baptist Church on Detroit’s East Side for 15 years. Robert is the co-founder, along with Matt Watroba, of Common Chords, a nonprofit program that builds bridges between communities using music, storytelling, and art.

Matt Watroba is a community singer, song leader, performer, radio host, songwriter, and educator. Matt is the producer and host of the WDET-Detroit Public Radio Folks Like Us program, the nationally syndicated Sing Out! Radio Magazine, and Folk Alley. This has helped shape a repertoire and presentation that is unique on stages across the state and country. He is committed to inspiring the world to sing, one town at a time. In 2019, Matt was inducted into the Folk DJ Hall of Fame at the Folk Alliance International conference in Montreal. Matt holds a BA in English Language & Literature, with a minor in Communication, Media, & Theatre Arts, from Eastern Michigan University.