With a little help from a friend Folkie Greg Brown’s concert to help Liberty School

While Iowa and Maine may be separated geographically by about 1,100 miles, the two states do have much in common: agriculture as a big component of their economies, hardworking people, rural isolation, a prove-it-to-me mind-set.

Maybe that’s why revered singer-songwriter and notable Iowan Greg Brown feels comfortable here, making Maine a regular stop on his tours.

“It’s such a beautiful spot,” he said in an interview before a 1997 concert in Camden. “I’ve got a lot of friends here. It’s a home away from home in a lot of ways.”

One of Brown’s friends is Arnold Greenberg, former owner of Blue Hill’s famed Left Bank Cafe and now principal and founder of the Liberty School in that town. The two old friends will get together Thursday, May 2, when Brown will perform a 7:30 p.m. benefit concert for the Liberty School at the Grand Auditorium in Ellsworth.

Greenberg said Brown offered to do a show to benefit the school anytime he wanted.

“He’s a poet,” Greenberg said. “Greg touches people through his humor and his vulnerability. He’s a caring person, and that comes across in his performance.”

For those who don’t know, Brown is first and foremost a storyteller. Rolling Stone called him “a wicked sharp observer of the human condition.” The New York Times added, “Mr. Brown has a knowing way with everyday details.”

Brown, 52, has just released “Milk of the Moon,” his 15th album on Red House Records, the respected indie label he helped to found. Also expected out this year on that label is a tribute album with women artists covering Brown’s songs. Among those committed to the project are Lucinda Williams, Iris Dement, Lucy Kaplansky, Cheryl Wheeler, Ani DiFranco, Gillian Welch and Brown’s three daughters.

Another interesting recent project is “Down in the Valley,” also known as the “BarnAid CD,” a recording of a benefit concert in which Brown and other artists performed to save an old barn. He’s also an author and visual artist.

Perhaps it was inevitable that the two-time Grammy nominee would become a musician. He grew up in a musical and literary atmosphere.

His mother, a teacher, played electric guitar. His grandfather played the banjo, his grandmother was a poet and his father was a Pentecostal preacher. He learned to play piano, pump organ and guitar and picked up such influences as gospel, classical, hillbilly, rock ‘n’ roll, country and blues.

He headed for Greenwich Village at 18. After stops in Portland, Ore., Los Angeles and Las Vegas, he returned home to Iowa, where he honed his craft at Midwest clubs and coffeehouses. His big break came when he was featured on National Public Radio’s “Prairie Home Companion” for several years.

His songs have been covered by other artists, including Willie Nelson, Carlos Santana, Shawn Colvin and Mary-Chapin Carpenter. Brown enjoys this high compliment.

“I’ve always thought the mark of a good song is if several people can do a song several different ways,” he has said. “When people record my songs, it makes me feel good.”

Although commercial radio airplay largely has eluded Brown, he has been a critical darling throughout his 30-plus-year career. Yet he takes such praise with a grain of salt.

“Especially in folk music, the critics tend to be a little too easy on everybody,” Brown said. “The friends I value most are those who will tell me if a song isn’t working. That criticism is valuable to me as a writer.”

Although he’s building a house in Iowa’s Van Buren County, Brown still will go out for several short tours and folk festivals this year.

“Performing is, in a way, what it’s all about,” he said. “Where the music comes alive for me is when I’m playing it for people.”

Tickets for the Greg Brown concert are available at The Grand box office (667-9500) and also at the Grasshopper Shop in Ellsworth and Bangor, the Green Store in Belfast, Blue Hill Food Co-op and the Liberty School.