Occasional Musical News

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 08 Oct 10 - 04:14 PM

Nova Scotians among folk music nominees

By STEPHEN COOKE Entertainment Reporter
Fri, Oct 8 - 4:53 AM

Amelia Curran is up for three Canadian Folk Music awards.

Nova Scotia singer-songwriters and Cape Breton fiddlers feature prominently among the nominees for the Canadian Folk Music Awards announced this week.

Halifax-based musicians Amelia Curran and Lennie Gallant are up for three categories each, while Chester's Old Man Luedecke picked up a pair of nominations.

Curran's Juno Award-winning album Hunter, Hunter is named in the contemporary album, solo artist and English songwriter of the year categories, while Gallant's If We Had a Fire earned him contemporary album and English songwriter of the year nominations. Gallant also has a French songwriter of the year award nomination for his CD Le coeur hante (The Haunted Heart).

Luedecke was also nominated for contemporary album and solo artist of the year for his latest release, My Hands Are on Fire and Other Love Songs.

Other Nova Scotia nominees include Rose Cousins' The Send Off for contemporary singer of the year, David Myles for solo artist of the year and roots musician Thom Swift and producer Charles Austin for producer of the year for Swift's Blue Sky Day CD.

Cape Breton's fiddle tradition was represented by Colin Grant in the instrumental solo artist of the year category, for his release Fun for the Whole Family, and Baddeck 18-year-old Rachel Davis in the young performer of the year category for her self-titled debut CD.

In 2009, Nova Scotia performers were honoured with a number of awards at the CFMAs in Ottawa, with Joel Plaskett receiving a pair of trophies, and Susan Crowe, folk-pop duo Madison Violet and ukulele maestro James Hill taking home one each.

The sixth annual Canadian Folk Music Awards Night Gala takes place at the Pantages Playhouse Theatre in Winnipeg on Saturday, Nov. 20.

For more on the awards and a complete list of nominees, go to bit.ly/cq7Sol.

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 14 Oct 10 - 07:11 PM

Joanie Baez reflects back on fifty years of stellar folk-singing, in the Vancouver Sun.



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Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 15 Oct 10 - 09:28 AM

"Freeport, Ill. — For 40 years, folk music icon Arlo Guthrie has brought his timeless stories and unforgettable classic tunes to audiences around the world. He will be bringing his brand of music to concert at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22 in the Monroe High School Performing Arts Center, Guthrie makes a stop in Monroe during his "Journey On" tour for an unforgettable performance. Guthrie's "Journey On" tour promises to cast a spell, charming audiences with an evening of hypnotic song. "

Full story here in the Journal-Standard.

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 19 Oct 10 - 11:14 AM

Folk-music ensemble keeps it fresh with latest re-alignment

Sparks with singer-guitarist Becky Joe Benson will perform with the New Christy Minstrels today at the Gallo Center in Modesto.
The Record Newspaper
By Tony Sauro
Record Staff Writer

October 19, 2010 12:01 AM

There's almost always something new about the New Christy Minstrels.

"Oh, if it was any better, we'd be the Rolling Stones," said Randy Sparks, who formed the all-acoustic folk-music ensemble 49 years ago and happily remains its self-styled "patriarch." "It's incredible. We get standing ovations every night. My group is at the top of its form.

"We've never had better voices. We've never had better people. We're putting new material in all the time, because people need to hear it and know we're still alive and progressive. I write new songs every day."

New Christy Minstrels
When: 7:30 p.m. today

Where: Gallo Center, 1001 I St., Modesto.

Admission: $15-$30

Information: [phone]
The eight-member group - following its latest re-alignment - mixes familiar Christy Minstrels tunes, folk standards and Sparks' polished repartee tonight at the Gallo Center in Modesto.

Sparks, a demanding leader and eternal optimist, also is feeling renewed after undergoing successful treatment for prostate cancer. His condition was diagnosed in 2009.

"I'm doing better than expected," said Sparks, 77, reflecting his usual youthful spirit during a phone conversation from an Oroville Motel 6 (the group's frugal tour trademark). "I'm absolutely healthy. I'm very durable. It's absolutely great that I'm still able to do this at my age."

His lone concession? The Minstrels now employ a touring roadie.


(Full article here at the Record).

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 19 Oct 10 - 12:02 PM

The Japanese have taught a robot woman to sing like a diva with life-like expressions and intonations.

Are folksingers next?


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Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 20 Oct 10 - 11:43 AM

Ngawang Choephel endured more than six years in a Chinese prison in his quest to prevent Tibetan folk songs from being lost forever.

More than dozen of these traditional songs are showcased in the filmmaker's documentary, "Tibet in Song," now showing in New York City.

Music tradition


Choephel was only two years old when he and his mother fled Chinese-ruled Tibet in 1968. Growing up in a refugee camp in India, he heard Tibetan songs from the older refugees.

Like folk music around the world, traditional Tibetan lyrics deal with almost every aspect of life: from work, family and social occasions to love and nature.

"Tibetan folk music originated directly from ordinary Tibetan people's mind," Choephel says. "It's a very pure form of oral tradition, of our Tibetan people's history, knowledge and beliefs."

After graduating from the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in Dharamasala in 1993, Choephel received a Fulbright scholarship to study musicology and filmmaking at Vermont's Middlebury College. The school's music library contained records of traditional songs from all over the world, but only one recording of Tibetan music, less than three minutes long.

So Choephel decided to collect Tibetan folk songs himself.

'Tibet in Song' won the special Jury Prize for Documentary at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
Preserving cultural history

He traveled to Tibet in 1995, and spent two months driving through the rural areas filming people singing before he was arrested by Chinese authorities.

"They thought that I was doing some kind of spy work, which I did not," he says.

Choephel was sentenced to 18 years in prison. But an international campaign - started by his mother, and joined by celebrities like Paul McCartney and several U.S. Senators - led to his release in 2002 after more than six years behind bars.

Prison, he says, is not a place one wants to go, but it is where one has the time to think. He learned folk songs from other prisoners, wrote lyrics in a notebook he made out of cigarette wrappers and even composed new songs.

"I composed the melody in prison and one of my prison mates, he's actually my hero, he wrote the lyrics," he says. "It is about his determination. He says that, 'No matter how bad enemies are to you, I'll never bow down my head. I'll never stop the fight.'"

'Tibet in Song'

When Choephel returned to the U.S. after his release, he decided to expand his project. His mission now was not only to collect traditional Tibetan music, but to produce a documentary film about it.

More than a dozen traditional folk songs are showcased in 'Tibet in Song.'
"There are about 17 songs," he says. "The story of this film is about the beauty of Tibetan music, the diversity of Tibetan music and the beauty of the Tibetan culture in general. The film also is about my story and what had happened to me. I filmed some of the footage in 1995 because before I was arrested I sent nine tapes to a friend of mine to India. And also we sent people back to Tibet in 2004 to capture more songs and interviews."

More importantly, Choephel says, "Tibet in Song" draws attention to what's happened in Tibet over the last 50 years.

"Except in some rural areas, there aren't many songs left," he says. "In the film we show how China saw this kind of music and the Tibetan culture as a threat. Tibet was never exposed to recorded music until China invaded Tibet in the late 1940s. So the first thing they did was they set up these loud speakers and they blasted Chinese propaganda music to brainwash Tibetan people. They took Tibetan folk melody and put Chinese communist lyrics. And they trained Tibetan singers to sing these songs."

Call to action

He hopes the film also inspires people. "'Tibet in Song' is also a call for action to the world and also to the Tibetan people to get involved, to save the Tibetan music before it's gone forever."

(VOA)

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 21 Nov 10 - 07:12 PM

he Winnipeg Folk Festival is giving you something to do this weekend besides shovelling snow.

Organizers are welcoming the national folk community to the city for three separate events, which began on Thursday.

ÒFor the next few days, we just might be the folk centre of the universe,Ó said Tamara Kater, Executive Director of the Winnipeg Folk Festival.

In celebration of Winnipeg hosting the 2010 Canadian Folk Music Awards, the Folk Festival is gathering a wide range of talent to perform year-round.

The 6th annual awards gala is tonight at the Pantages Playhouse Theatre. The day will start off with a film screening of ÒOne Warm LineÓ at Cinematheque, followed by a free workshop titled Songs About Working People at the Folk Exchange. An award nominee showcase was held last night to a thrilled crowd at the West End Cultural Centre.

The Western Folk Festivals Collective, which gathers 60 organizers from 15 festivals across Western Canada, will come together to Ôtalk shop.Õ The three-day event, which began on Thursday, is the largest gathering of folk-minded organizers held so far. The agenda covers a number of topics, including best practices in festival operations and board governance.

More details are available at WinnipegFolkFestival.ca.

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 22 Nov 10 - 01:13 PM

P.E.I. native Rose Cousins won Contemporary Singer of the Year at the Canadian Folk Music Awards ceremony Saturday night in Winnipeg.

Cousins, who now lives in Halifax, won based on her latest album The Send Off.

The awards were handed out at Winnipeg's Pantages Playhouse. The Canadian Folk Music Awards have been presented since 2005.

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 23 Nov 10 - 11:30 AM

The AP reports that prosecutors say they have evidence that Serbia's folk music diva Svetlana Raznatovic "has embezzled some —2.2 million ($3 million) from the sale of players from her late husband's football club, FK Obilic, to foreign teams.
The Balkan country's most popular folk singer, known as Ceca, also faces charges of illegal possession of firearms at her Belgrade home".

Raznatovic was married to a Serb warlord whose troops killed and pillaged homes of non-Serbs in the Balkan wars of the 1990s. Zeljko Raznatovic was gunned down in a Belgrade hotel in 2000, but Ceca allegedly maintained her husband's connections with Serbia's numerous crime bosses.

I guess it is hard to make a living doing folk music, and new solutions to this problem are always interesting, but this one seems a bit over the top.

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Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 04:02 PM

The Folk Music Society of New York announces its annual Weekend of Music February 11 to February 13. This is a friendly getaway filled with informal participatory music making; a weekend with music all around. You'll find instrumental jams, ballad singing, contemporary songs, traditional songs, and whatever! And, yes, there are also jigsaw puzzles and people out skiing, shopping, and hiking.

The Weekend is held at the Hudson Valley Resort and Spa in Kerhonkson, NY 12446, nestled in the Shawangunk Mountains, 100 miles north of New York City. More information, weekend and day rates, and a reservation form are available at www.folkmusicny.org. Reservations may also be made directly online at www.winterfolkwknd.eventbrite.com. Information by phone: [phone].

The Folk Music Society of New York, Inc. / New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club, an all volunteer organization, tries to maximize participation in traditional music by running events that are so much fun that no one can resist joining in. For more information on the web, go to www.folkmusicny.org.



Read more: http://centralnewyork.broadwayworld.com/article/The_Folk_Music_Society_Of_NY_Presents_Weekend_Of_Music_21113_20101201#ixzz16tca6Omg

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 04 Dec 10 - 05:27 PM

A Christmas concert by the Roche sisters in PA.

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 09 Dec 10 - 03:48 PM

Bill Staines, New Hampshire's own cowboy appearing on Saturday at the uNi Coffeehouse in Springfield, MA.


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Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 14 Dec 10 - 10:49 PM

Enter Susquehanna Folk Music Society's songwriting contest
Daily Record/Sunday News
Updated: 12/14/2010 01:32:39 PM EST
        

York, PA - Songwriters are invited to submit their songs on CD or cassette with a typed copy of the lyrics to Susquehanna Folk Music Society's Fourth Annual Songwriting Contest. Deadline is Feb. 12.

A panel of judges will select three finalists for a final competition, which will be held at the SFMS's free Spring Coffee House from 7 to 10 p.m. March 12 at Fort Hunter Barn, 5300 N. Front St., Harrisburg.

The finalists will perform their songs, and the audience will select the overall winner. Cash prizes will be awarded: $100 for first place, $50 for second place, and $25 for third place.

For details, rules and an entry form, call 652-6040 or visit www.sfmsfolk.org.

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 17 Dec 10 - 01:55 AM

From the Atlantic a deep essay on what makes songs sad or not. Interesting read.


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Subject: LIfetime Grammy for Kingston Trio
From: Amos
Date: 22 Dec 10 - 08:26 PM

The Kingston Trio will be receiving a lifetime achievement Grammy Award, says the San Diego Union. Two of the Trio members came from San Diego.

Subject: Phil Ochs: The Movie
From: Amos
Date: 04 Jan 11 - 02:25 AM

WSJ Reports:

"In the winter of 1962, folk-music great Pete Seeger took Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs to see the editors of Broadside, a mimeographed newspaper that became the paper of record for the Greenwich Village folk scene. As he listened to the two men play their songs, Mr. Seeger thought that they were the future superstars of folk music. He was half right.

Mr. Dylan, of course, became one of the great musicians in American history. Mr. Ochs, however, led a checkered life. A cornerstone of the Village folk scene, he wrote songs like "Here's to the State of Mississippi," "The Power and the Glory" and "I Ain't Marching Anymore," which rank among the most enduring protest songs of the 1960s. But his careerÑand lifeÑwere cut short just 14 years after that visit to Broadside when he committed suicide at age 35.

Mr. Ochs is the subject of a new documentary, "Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune," which opens Wednesday at the IFC Center. Effective and compelling, the film chronicles the highs and lows of the musician's life.

View Full Image
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First Run Features

Phil Ochs in a publicity shot for Elektra Records in 1965.
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"He was like Tom Paine with a guitar," said the film's director, Kenneth Bowser, in his West Village office. "Phil had a real love for the idea of America, that anyone could come from anywhere and achieve something that they aimed for."

Mr. Ochs was born in El Paso, Texas, but his family moved frequently; their stop in Far Rockaway, Queens, lasted several years. He went to military school in Virginia and played clarinet while idolizing the music of Elvis Presley and the films of John Wayne. His interest in left-wing politics and folk music began when he was a student at Ohio State University. Graced with a fragile but warm tenor, a knack for wordplay, biting wit and a charismatic stage presence, Mr. Ochs soon dropped out to move to Manhattan and join its burgeoning folk scene.

He made an immediate impact in the city with topical songs about the civil-rights movement and the Vietnam War. "He really wore his heart on his sleeve," said Mr. Bowser. "But he had an acid wit, and everyone was his target."

Mr. Ochs saved some of his most venomous attacks for his presumed allies on the left. His enduring "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" assaulted the pieties and comforts of many of that persuasion. In 1994, Mojo Nixon and ex-Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra recorded a cover version of the song, with lyrics updated to address the Clinton era, and Mr. Biafra appears in "There But for Fortune" to comment on the prescience of Mr. Ochs's words.

Mr. Ochs also ran afoul of folk-scene group-think by publicly supporting the troops in Vietnam, separating his attacks on the policy makers from his sympathy for the mostly working-class soldiers. Although Mr. Ochs championed Mr. Dylan when he electrified his sound, he did not get on the folk-rock bandwagon himself. Instead, Mr. Ochs opted for a more ambitious and grandiose sound. "The Pleasures of the Harbor" (A&M), his 1967 release featuring lush string arrangements and longer songs with more oblique lyrics, was his best-selling recording, but he never shook the folk-singer-with-protest-songs image.

After the war ended and tastes in music changed, Mr. Ochs, who had suffered vocal-cord damage while traveling in Africa in 1973, was plagued by severe bouts of depression and alcoholism. On April 9, 1976, he hanged himself.

Mr. Bowser, age 59, who has directed documentaries on the lives and work of the great filmmakers Preston Sturges, Frank Capra and John Ford, took to Mr. Ochs's music as a child on the Lower East Side and in Washington Heights in the 1960s. "I admired his complexity," Mr. Bowser said.

The project started seven years ago as a labor of love. Mr. Bowser worked with Michael Ochs, Phil's brother, who is a leading archivist of music photography. The two men put up their own money, and Michael Cohl, the former chairman of the concert presenter Live Nation, provided the rest. Phil Ochs had played at Mr. Cohl's first club, and Mr. Cohl has remained a fan.

For Michael Ochs, the location of the film's New York premiere marks a homecoming of sorts. "Phil lived at 178 Bleecker St. and 156 Prince St., and he loved movies," he said by phone from Los Angeles last week. "He was at the IFC when it was the Waverly Theater all the time.""

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 06 Jan 11 - 11:32 AM

Ron Olesko and the Hurdy Gurdy Folk Club are holding a logo contest!

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 09 Jan 11 - 09:40 PM

Whether it's the Beatles or Beethoven, people like music for the same reason they like eating or having sex: It makes the brain release a chemical that gives pleasure, a new study says.


The brain substance is involved both in anticipating a particularly thrilling musical moment and in feeling the rush from it, researchers found.

Previous work had already suggested a role for dopamine, a substance brain cells release to communicate with each other. But the new work, which scanned people's brains as they listened to music, shows it happening directly.

While dopamine normally helps us feel the pleasure of eating or having sex, it also helps produce euphoria from illegal drugs. It's active in particular circuits of the brain.

The tie to dopamine helps explain why music is so widely popular across cultures, Robert Zatorre and Valorie Salimpoor of McGill University in Montreal write in an article posted online Sunday by the journal Nature Neuroscience.

The study used only instrumental music, showing that voices aren't necessary to produce the dopamine response, Salimpoor said. It will take further work to study how voices might contribute to the pleasure effect, she said.

The researchers described brain-scanning experiments with eight volunteers who were chosen because they reliably felt chills from particular moments in some favorite pieces of music. That characteristic let the experimenters study how the brain handles both anticipation and arrival of a musical rush.

Results suggested that people who enjoy music but don't feel chills are also experiencing dopamine's effects, Zatorre said.

PET scans showed the participants' brains pumped out more dopamine in a region called the striatum when listening to favorite pieces of music than when hearing other pieces. Functional MRI scans showed where and when those releases happened.

Dopamine surged in one part of the striatum during the 15 seconds leading up to a thrilling moment, and a different part when that musical highlight finally arrived.

Zatorre said that makes sense: The area linked to anticipation connects with parts of the brain involved with making predictions and responding to the environment, while the area reacting to the peak moment itself is linked to the brain's limbic system, which is involved in emotion.

The study volunteers chose a wide range of music - from classical and jazz to punk, tango and even bagpipes. The most popular were Barber's Adagio for Strings, the second movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Debussy's Claire de Lune.

Since they already knew the musical pieces they listened to, it wasn't possible to tell whether the anticipation reaction came from memory or the natural feel people develop for how music unfolds, Zatorre said. That question is under study, too.

Dr. Gottfried Schlaug, an expert on music and the brain at Harvard Medical School, called the study "remarkable" for the combination of techniques it used.

While experts had indirect indications that music taps into the dopamine system, he said, the new work "really nails it."

Phys.org

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 25 Jan 11 - 10:29 PM

Promoters have announced August 26th to 28th, 2011 as the dates of the inaugural Bluestock Festival, which will be held at the Hunter Mountain Ski Center in Hunter, New York. The ambitious festival is the first of its kind in upstate New York, and is being put together by Radio Woodstock and Steve & Jeff Simon Presents.

The initial line-up for this first Bluestock Festival is pretty impressive, with blues legends Buddy Guy and Elvin Bishop announced as two of the event's three headliners (the third to be announced later). Tommy Castro and the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Revue will rock the audience, as will a number of leading lights on the contemporary blues scene, from Tab Benoit and Curtis Salgado to Reba Russell, Ronnie Baker Brooks, and Albert Cummings, among many more.

Music will be presented non-stop on two stages over the three days, and for night owls there will also be an after-festival "blues club" inside the lodge at Hunter Mountain for late-night jams. The festival will also offer camping, a mountain Skyride, craft vendors, and gourmet food and beverages. "BLUESTOCK is our vision of 'Woodstock meets The Blues Cruise.' Three days of non-stop world-class Blues entertainment in a magical outdoor setting," says Steve Simon, Founder of Steve & Jeff Simon Presents, in a press release about the event.

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 30 Jan 11 - 02:25 PM

The New York Times writes on the life of Alan Lomax.


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Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 10 Feb 11 - 09:28 AM

Bob Dylan will sing at the Grammies.

Subject: Musical News -- Jazz in Berkhamsted
From: Amos
Date: 12 Feb 11 - 10:00 AM

Darius and Dan Brubeck appeared together in Ronnie ScottÕs 50th Anniversary series playing a Brubeck programme and in December 2009, Darius performed with all three of his brothers - Chris, Dan and Matthew, at the Kennedy Center Gala when his father received a medal for his contribution to American culture. President and Mrs Obama were in the audience.

Darius will be accompanied by his regular musicians, including young British saxophonist Paul Greenwood, bass player Matt Ridley who since graduating from Trinity College of Music in 2005 has established himself as a much in demand talent on the UK Jazz scene, and South African London-based freelance drummer Wesley Gibbens.

Expect an evening of Brubeck classics, one or two rollicking numbers reflecting South African influences, a standard or two and some original compositions.

The Darius Brubeck Quartet will be at the Civic Centre, Berkhamsted on Sunday, February 27, 7.30pm.

Call 01442 824173 for tickets - Monday to Fridays 9am to 6pm, or pop into Perfect Pitch in Chesham.

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 05 Mar 11 - 09:06 PM

Wired covers various home audio editing tools for home studio work.

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 22 Mar 11 - 10:32 AM

Pop Sci features a therapeutic brain-controlled musical instrument.

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 01 Apr 11 - 01:12 PM

Hey!! FOLK MUSIC IS COOL AGAIN!!!


About time!

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 08 Apr 11 - 12:21 PM

Vietnamese Ban Choi music makes a comeback

HOI AN — Bai choi, 1,000-year-old folk music that is performed like a card game, is seeing a revival in the central ancient town of Hoi An.

It had disappeared for a while and in its new avatar is attracting foreign tourists and researchers.

One Swiss tourist lingered in Hoi An for a month though she had intended to stay for just two weeks.

At first she did not understand anything about bai choi but found it pleasing on the ear and eye.

She went on to register at a free bai choi class at the Hoi An Cultural Centre.

Soon, several foreign visitors too signed up for the class, mostly from Japan, Switzerland, Germany, Australia and France.

Luong Dang, 54, a bai choi singer who was bestowed the title of "Meritorious Artist" two years ago – the only one in Quang Nam Province to be thus honoured – says he taught a Japanese tourist to sing bai choi in 2005.

She promptly fell in love with the art despite not getting the hang of bai choi acting and how to use words. But what she lacked by way of understanding, she made up with diligence, not missing a single class.

Dang says it took her three visits to Hoi An to understand the profound meaning of each verse.

He also teaches bai choi to youngsters in Hoi An.

...


(VietNam News)

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 12 May 11 - 08:57 PM

According to this article music helps guard against some aspects of aging.

'Course WE knew that!

Subject: On "Passing the Music Down"
From: Amos
Date: 12 May 11 - 10:33 PM

NY Times on "the folk process":

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/books/review/childrens-books-about-folk-music.html

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: michaelr
Date: 13 May 11 - 01:07 AM

...music helps guard against some aspects of aging.

That's putting the egg before the chicken. What keeps us musicians young is refusing to grow up!

Thank you all for encouraging our behavior.

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 21 Jun 11 - 10:27 PM

John Roberts performs in New London on July 3. Not to be missed! John is a renowned singer of chanties and ballads, a first-rate performer well known and beloved by Getaway attendees for years.

Subject: San Fracisco Free Folk Festival this weekend
From: Amos
Date: 22 Jun 11 - 12:47 PM

Here's an article on the upcoming San Francisco Free Folk Festival.


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Subject: Willie Facing Hard Time?
From: Amos
Date: 08 Jul 11 - 01:39 PM

He's dealing with a strict judge and a draconian law covering marijuana in the honorable, but draconian, Stae of Texas.

Subject: Appalachian Folk Music Concert
From: Amos
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 05:57 PM

Appalachian Trail Museum to host Appalachian Folk Music Concert July 17
By Contributed
Published: July 13, 2011
È 0 Comments | Post a Comment
GARDNERS, PA --

Randy Heisley-Cato, a musician who specializes in playing southern Appalachian music, will perform at the Appalachian Trail Museum in Pine Grove Furnace State Park on Sunday, July 17, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Heisley-Cato plays the five-string banjo (claw hammer style), guitar, harmonica, hambone, and mountain dulcimer.

Throughout the summer, the Appalachian Trail Museum has offered programs that include:

    Story-telling, songs and activities for children
    Arts and crafts on the Appalachian Trail (photography, painting, handcrafts)
    Natural features of the Appalachian Trail
    Trail maintenance techniques
    Hiker skills and equipment - past and present
    Shelter building
    History of Appalachian Trail maintaining clubs
    Pioneer hiker profiles and why they are important
    First person hiking experiences and accomplishments

The programs are free, open to the public and held at the museum on Sundays at 1 p.m.

A complete list of programs is posted on the Appalachian Trail Museum website at www.atmuseum.org.

Located in a 200-year-old, restored grist mill in historic Pine Grove Furnace State Park and at the midway point of the 2,181-mile-long Appalachian Trail, the museum is across from the Pine Grove General Store on Pennsylvania Route 233 in Cumberland County. Pine Grove Furnace was named the State Park of the Year for 2010 by the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation.

Subject: Bob's Electric Anniversary (Newport 1965)
From: Amos
Date: 26 Jul 11 - 12:13 PM

The anniversary of Dylan going Electric at Newport, and scandalizing folk-pussies everywhere.

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Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Jul 11 - 12:44 PM

I wonder why they illustrated the article with a picture of Bob Marley.

Subject: 52 years of Newport Folk
From: Amos
Date: 28 Jul 11 - 09:31 AM

RI's Newport Folk Festival stays current at age 52

Subject: NEwport Folk Festival Still Swinging
From: Amos
Date: 29 Jul 11 - 11:40 AM

Even the Wall Street Journal digs Newport.

Subject: RE: Perfection On the Path to Mediocrity
From: Amos
Date: 18 Aug 11 - 12:06 PM

In this interesting opinion piece, the use of invisible electronic tweaks to make vocal and guitar pitches come out perfect instead of real is examined.

It strikes me this is a topic of interest especially to folkies, who are lovers of the simply human in music.


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Subject: There is No Language Like Song
From: Amos
Date: 17 Sep 11 - 11:18 AM

An article in the NY TYimes Op Ed section says there is no language like song, a sentiment with which I quite agree.

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 05 Oct 11 - 05:05 PM

IF you're just tired of stress and damnation, bad news and blues, grumps and codswallops....

try THIS clip on for size, and smile!


The full URL is:


http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=oXvJ8UquYoo&vq=large

Subject: Oldtown School of FOlk Music News
From: Amos
Date: 03 Nov 11 - 11:13 AM

November 2, 2011 (NEWS RELEASE) -- The Old Town School of Folk Music has celebrated various forms of music and other cultural expressions for more than five decades.


OLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK MUSIC:
"Keep a Song in Your Soul: The Black Roots of Vaudeville"

The Old Town School of Folk music is making its first foray into the world of theatre with its commission of the World Premiere of "Keep a Song in Your Soul: the Black Roots of Vaudevill." The show was developed by the Grammy Award winning Carolina Chocolate Drops, MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Award honoree Reginald R. Robinson, best known for his performances of Ragtime era music, and legendary Chicago tap icon Reggio "The Hoofer" McLaughlin, all of whom will perform in the show. Featuring more than 20 historic songs written and performed by African- Americans between 1830 -- 1930 on the Chitlin' Circuit, as well as original music and new arrangements of the classic songs by the creative team, the production explores Vaudeville's African-American heritage through music and dance to reclaim the spirit and substance of this rich taproot of American entertainment.

Set in the Great Migration era of 1910 - 1930, "Keep a Song in Your Soul: The Black Roots of Vaudeville" tells the story of a young woman who is lured from the rural South by the promise of a better life in a northern city, followed by her devoted boyfriend. There, the two encounter further challenges, finding the realities behind the city's false gleam.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Thursday, November 3, 8PM
Friday, November 4, 8PM
Saturday, November 5, 3PM & 8PM
Sunday, November 6, 7PM

Old Town School of Music
Gary and Laura Maurer Concert Hall
4544 N. Lincoln Ave
Chicago
Tickets: $45
Box Office: 773-728-6000 www.oldtownschool.org

Subject: Joan Baez to Sing for OWS
From: Amos
Date: 14 Nov 11 - 04:36 PM

Joan Baez plans to perform at Occupy Wall Street. A grand tradition rolls on.


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Subject: Singing: Secret to a Long Life
From: Amos
Date: 15 Nov 11 - 09:14 AM

The NPR story should make y'all feel stronger!

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Subject: News from the Old Town School of Folk
From: Amos
Date: 21 Nov 11 - 01:32 PM

The folks at the Old Town School of Folk Nusic, Art Thieme's alma mater, is getting a new building! Some nice pictures, too!.


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Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 21 Nov 11 - 02:58 PM

Grammy Hall of Fame has beren awarde, among others, to Harry Smith's widely influential "Anthology of American Folk Music" collection, A good day for folkies!

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: Amos
Date: 01 Dec 11 - 09:19 AM

Mudcat's own Don Meixne4r with his IRish singing team "The Flyin' Column" is keeping the art alive in the Auburn area.

Keep up the good work, mon!!

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: maeve
Date: 15 Jan 12 - 05:20 PM

Here's one, Amos:

Associated Press    Jan 15, 3:17 PM EST

Silenced musical treasures languish in Mich. vault

By JEFF KAROUB
Associated Press
Entombed Musical Treasures

Subject: RE: Occasional Musical News
From: maeve
Date: 15 Jan 12 - 05:26 PM

This link relates to the foregoing story, "Entombed Musical Instruments. it takes one to a page of photos relating to the story.

Instrument photos "Entombed Instruments" AP story