Three-time Grammy winner Shawn Colvin is set to headline the 18th annual RiverFeast benefit concert on Saturday, Nov. 14, at Blue Ocean Music Hall in Salisbury, with the evening raising money for the Greater Boston Food Bank. The show arrives as the food bank's own 2026 report shows Massachusetts households facing hunger at record levels, giving this year's fundraiser added weight.
According to Boston.com, the evening will include a cocktail reception and silent auction, and Nashville-based blues-rock singer and songwriter Liam St. John will open the show. The outlet reports that St. John, known for blues, rock, and Americana influences, first drew national attention as a contestant on NBC's The Voice. The concert is organized by 92.5 the River, per the same outlet.
Organizers say the evening will include a cocktail reception and silent auction. The venue, Blue Ocean Music Hall, is located at 4 Ocean Front North in Salisbury.
Ticket Prices Vary Slightly Between Listings
Ticket pricing differs depending on where fans look. Boston.com lists tickets at $100 per person for general admission and $135 for VIP. Blue Ocean Music Hall's own calendar, meanwhile, lists reserved seating at $100 with an additional $3 day-of-show charge. The listings agree on the $100 price, though the exact seating categories aren't identical.
Colvin's résumé gives the benefit some serious star power. Her 1989 debut album, “Steady On,” earned the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album, and in 1998 she won Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year for her Top 10 hit “Sunny Came Home,” from the platinum-selling album A Few Small Repairs, according to Boston.com. Over a career spanning more than three decades, Colvin has released 13 acclaimed albums and received the Americana Music Association's 2016 Lifetime Achievement Trailblazer Award.
Liv Lowe said Colvin's appearance makes RiverFeast one of 92.5 the River's most important events of the year, according to Boston.com. Lowe added that the concert supports families struggling with food insecurity across the region through an evening of music. Last year's RiverFeast page had named Guster's Ryan Miller as a featured performer, according to theriverboston.com.
Food Insecurity Has More Than Doubled Since 2019
The stakes behind the fundraiser are laid out starkly in the food bank's own research. Massachusetts households experienced food insecurity at a record 40 percent, or roughly 1.1 million households, in 2025, more than double the rate reported in 2019, according to Boston.com's reporting on the 2026 Massachusetts Food Access Report. One in four households experienced very low food security, per the same report.
The Greater Boston Food Bank describes itself as the largest hunger-relief organization in New England, working with more than 600 community-based food pantries, meal programs, and other partners across 190 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts. The organization says it provides food access to about 600,000 people per month and distributed 107 million pounds of food last year, per Boston.com.
The 2026 Massachusetts Food Access Report, drawing on a survey of more than 3,000 Massachusetts adults conducted online from November 2024 through March 2025 in collaboration with Mass General Brigham, also estimates that up to $1.6 billion in healthcare spending for emergency room and inpatient hospitalization among MassHealth enrollees may be related to food insecurity, according to the report published at foodaccessreport.gbfb.org. The Greater Boston Food Bank has noted that while the rates in this report run higher than those last reported by the USDA in 2023, they are comparable to findings from other online studies using similar methods conducted in 2024.
