Name: Live Music: FARMER, HARAN, & RUSNOCK
Start: 2026-02-28T19:00:00-05:00
Location: Alla Spina at HiWay

FARMER, HARAN, & RUSNOCK features local musicians Eric Ian Farmer (voice/acoustic guitar), Murali Haran (tabla), Sophie Augusta Rusnock (harp), and special guest vocalist Frances Blanchette.
Murali Haran, tabla player from India and statistics professor, brings with him a performance background that has been almost exclusively in South Asian classical music.
Sophie Augusta Rusnock, pedal harp player from Canada and traveling pharmacist, brings with her a background largely in European classical and folk music.
Frances Blanchette, educator and linguist from Massachusetts, will season the performance with a cameo on vocals.
FARMER, HARAN, & RUSNOCK draw largely from the catalog of Eric Ian Farmer, Centre County-born singer/songwriter and educator, alongside group-crafted originals as well as interpretations of pop and folk songs.
ABOUT ERIC IAN FARMER
Born in State College, Pennsylvania and raised in North Carolina, Eric Ian Farmer, a Black man with Blackfeet and Cherokee heritage, has returned to his birthplace sharing his songs about relationships, social awareness, and finding one's path in life while keeping alive classics by artists like Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding, and Bill Withers. Eric learned the practice of becoming one with a song from Bonnie Carter and David Williams, singers in the church of his childhood just across the North Carolina state line in Danville, Virginia. A bass in tenor's clothing, Eric also draws inspiration as a singer from popular artists like Bobby McFerrin, Stevie Wonder, and Jimmy Hayes (The Persuasions). And his guitar playing is inspired by the percussive stylings of rock legend Bo Diddley.
Eric has opened or played pre-shows for the Soweto Gospel Choir, Bettye LaVette, Charly Lowry, Luciane Dom, and Rusted Root; performed at Musikfest (Bethlehem PA); and served on the faculty at Folk College (Juniata College, Huntingdon PA).
Eric completed his doctorate in Penn State University's College of Education. You sometimes can find him in classrooms singing songs and talking with young folks about songwriting and issues related to identity.