Light of Day WinterFest 2026 Opens with Songwriters on the River at City Winery
The Light of Day Foundation has long turned music into a force for good, and its deep roots in the New York/New Jersey music community were on full display at the soft kickoff to WinterFest 2026. On Wednesday, January 14, City Winery in New York City hosted “Songwriters on the River”, an intimate acoustic evening that set the tone for the weeks of Light of Day events to follow in the region and beyond.
Featuring a deep bench of songwriters including Willie Nile, John Easdale and Peter Wood, Brian Dunne, Joe D’Urso, Amanda Cross and Derek Cruz, Danielia Cotton, Glenn Burtnick, James Maddock, Paul Collins, and Will Dailey, the night felt less like a formal concert and more like a family gathering. Great food and drink, powerful songs, and shared stories filled the room, all in support of the ongoing fight to fund research and raise awareness for Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and PSP.
That sense of community came through in the moments between songs as much as the performances themselves. Joe D’Urso got the room laughing while sharing a backstage story from Brian Dunne about his first concert as a kid at the Beacon Theatre, a show Joe also happened to be part of. D’Urso followed it by recalling his own first concert at age eight, seeing Paul Anka, who he thought was ancient at the time, before joking that he may now be Brian’s Paul Anka. Later, when Glenn Burtnick broke a guitar string mid set, Paul Collins immediately offered him a guitar. Burtnick only realized after taking it that it was right handed. Undeterred, the famously left handed guitarist adjusted on the fly and finished his set without missing a beat. It was a perfect snapshot of what Light of Day is all about: musicians lifting each other up, great songs shared in a close room, and a community united around a cause bigger than the music itself.
