Monday, January 23, 2017

9TH ANNUAL BROOKLYN FOLK FESTIVAL GOES ALL OUT WITH BIGGEST ARRAY OF BANDS, WORKSHOPS, CONTESTS, JAM SESSIONS, FILM PREMIERES, RECORD RELEASES, & ART INSTALLATIONS TO DATE

FESTIVAL PLANS AMBITIOUS PROGRAM INCLUDING THE LAST POETS, JERRON “BLIND BOY” PAXTON, WILLIE WATSON, JIM KWESKIN, ANNA & ELIZABETH, REV. BILLY AND THE STOP SHOPPING CHOIR, PETER STAMPFEL, THUNDERBIRD AMERICAN INDIAN DANCERS, ETC.

FESTIVAL, WHICH HAS SOLD OUT EVERY YEAR, INCLUDES PUERTO RICAN, IRISH, INDIAN, FRENCH, TURKISH, BALKAN, NATIVE AMERICAN MUSIC, BLUES, JUG BAND, OLD TIME, SONGWRITERS, AND MORE!

SPECIAL EVENTS:
+ 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF PUBLICATION OF “HARD HITTING SONGS FOR HARD HIT PEOPLE” BY WOODY GUTHRIE, ALAN LOMAX & PETE SEEGER W/ PANEL & PERFORMANCE
+ CLARENCE ASHLEY LIVE IN GREENWICH VILLAGE LP RELEASE (JALOPY RECORDS) & ONE ADDITIONAL RELEASE TBA
+ DOCUMENTARY FILM NYC PREMIERE: “SHAKE ‘EM ON DOWN” ABOUT BLUES LEGEND FRED MCDOWELL
+ BALLAD SINGING ART INSTALLATION
+ RETURN OF THE FAMOUS BANJO TOSS CONTEST!

TWO FULL STAGES ALLOWING FOR 40+ DIFFERENT PERFORMANCES

APRIL 28TH -30TH, 2017
@ ST. ANN’S CHURCH
157 MONTAGUE ST. BROOKLYN, NY
http://www.BrooklynFolkFest.com

Performer photos: http://nicklosseaton.blogspot.com/2017/01/2017-brooklyn-folk-fest-performer-photos.html

Spotify playlist of 2017 performers: https://open.spotify.com/user/129284346/playlist/58bK8Cg1qHI5GJkczN9cXa

Celebrating folk music from near and far, the ninth annual Brooklyn Folk Festival showcases over forty musical acts as well as workshops, film screenings, dances, contests, and, for the first time, a performance art installation. Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton (Brooklynite and mainstay of the festival) returns along with NPR Tiny Desk Concert alums Anna & Elizabeth, folk music legends Jim Kweskin (of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band, veteran of the Newport Folk Fest from in 1963-‘68) and Peter Stampfel (of the Holy Modal Rounders and the Fugs), Willie Watson (founding member of Old Crow Medicine Show), and hip hop progenitors The Last Poets.

This year the Brooklyn Folk Festival seeks to highlight the role of culture in social and political activist movements. Rev. Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir will deliver an activist sermon and post-religious, anti-consumerist gospel show.  Mat Callahan and Yvonne Moore will discuss and perform selections from the book “Hard Hitting Songs For Hard Hit People,” by Woody Guthrie, Alan Lomax and Pete Seeger, celebrating 50 years since its first publication.  The festival will also feature a “Topical Songs” performance with a number of performers addressing social issues. New York’s oldest Native American ensemble, the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, will also perform traditional Mohawk, Hopi and Winnebago songs and dances.

The festival will also feature the NYC premiere of the documentary “Shake ‘Em On Down,” about Blues Hall of Famer Mississippi Fred McDowell. It also marks the release of ‘Live in Greenwich Village’ by Clarence Ashley on Jalopy Records with another release pegged to the festival to be announced.

The festival has sold out every year and will remain at its home, St. Ann's and the Holy Trinity Church, in Brooklyn Heights, where its world-famous stained-glass windows will frame the stage. The Festival is produced by The Jalopy Theatre & School of Music, located in Red Hook, Brooklyn.  The three-day event has grown in attendance and scope each year, with 2016 marking the largest number of tickets sold to date as well as largest scope of performers. The festival’s partnership with St. Ann's allows for a main stage inside the church, room for food, drink and vendors, a second full stage, and additional rooms for workshops and film screenings.

Adding to the special events, the Festival features the World Famous Banjo Toss Contest (as featured in the Associated Press), a family-friendly square dance, a new Saturday night Salsa dance, a Sunday kid’s concert and several open jam sessions.  There will also be workshops in blues guitar, fiddle, and building instruments from found objects, among others.

Tickets went on sale yesterday while the full schedule is announced today:

Friday April 28th

Main Stage
8pm – Anne Waldman – Acclaimed poet will open the festival.
8:25pm – Ukrainian Village Voices – Rural Ukrainian vocal music
9pm – Jim Kweskin – Jug band, blues and folk songs
9:45pm – Thunderbird American Indian Dancers – Songs and dances from the Mohawk, Hopi, Winnebago and other traditions.
10:20pm – Anna & Elizabeth – Old time songs and ballads
11pm – Feral Foster – Original and folk songs
11:45pm – Tennessee Stiff Legs – Western swing band, from Tennessee! First time in NY!
Parish Hall Stage
8:45pm – Ethan Leinwand – Barrelhouse blues piano from St. Louis, MO
9:30pm – Cole Quest & the City Pickers – Bluegrass songs and tunes
10:15pm – The Freakniks – Original and traditional music, from LA, CA!
11pm – Skalopy – Jalopy’s in-house ska band!
Workshop Room
TBA

Saturday April 29th

Afternoon Concerts

Main Stage
Noon – Jalopy Jr. Recital
12:45pm – Fada – Traditional French music from the Occitan region
1:30pm – Martha Burns – Old time songs and ballads, from the mountains and range!
2:15pm – Brotherhood of the Jug Band Blues – Original and traditional jug band music!
3pm – Spitzer Space Telescope – original and traditional old-time fiddle tunes, English/Irish ballads and sea shanties.
3:45pm – Peter Stampfel & the Ether Frolic Mob – “Paleo Hillbilly Rock meets Great American Songbook and does dirty things together”
4:30 – Clarence Ashley: Jalopy Records Album Release & Tribute with Various Artists
5:15pm – Bill & the Belles – Oldtime, early Country and popular songs and tunes!
6pm – Amythyst Kiah – Traditional and original blues and folk songs from Johnson City, TN, first NY appearance!
Parish Hall Stage
Noon – Old Time Slow Jam
1:30pm – Ethan Leinwand – Barrelhouse blues piano from St. Louis, MO
2:15pm – The Hayrollers – Bluegrass songs and tunes!
3pm – Little Nora Brown and Friends (Highlighting the work of The Shlomo Foundation)
3:45 – Poorboy Krill – Blues and folk singer
4:45 – “Hard Hitting Songs for Hard Hit People” with Mat Callahan & Yvonne Moore – Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication or Lomax, Seeger and Guthrie influential and classic book!
5:30 – Ethan Leinwand – Barrelhouse blues piano from St. Louis, MO
6pm – Harmonica Contest – Who is the best harp player in NYC!?!? – Trip Henderson – Judge!
Workshop Room
1pm – Book Reading & Discussion: I Got A Song: A History of The Newport Folk Festival The first-ever history of the Newport Folk Festival, the book documents the trajectory of an American musical cornerstone over its 58 years – with author Rick Massimo.
2pm – DIY Instrument building with Zeke Leonard.  Build your own homemade instruments!  Kid friendly.
3pm –  Book Reading & Discussion: The Explosion of Deferred Dreams: Musical Renaissance and Social Revolution in San Francisco, 1965–1975, a critical re-examination of the interwoven political and musical happenings in the Sixties –  with author Mat Callahan.
4pm – FILM: The Mountain Music Project – Exploring similarities between Southern Appalachians music and that of the Nepali musician caste in the Himalayas, includes Q&A with filmmaker Tara Linhart.
5:30pm – Old time banjo workshop with Hilary Hawke – teaching the banjo music on the seminal album “High Atmosphere.”
6:30pm – Puppet show! with The Boxcutter Collective… presenting: “The Revolt of the Beavers,” a work-in-progress puppet show which received a 2017 Jim Henson Foundation Workshop Grant.

Evening Concerts

Main Stage
7:15pm – The Calamity Janes – Old time string band!
8pm – Jerron “Blindboy” Paxton – Blues, old time and folk songs on guitar, banjo and fiddle
8:45pm – Willie Watson – Folk songs and ballads on guitar and banjo
9:30pm – Rev. Billy and the Stop Shopping Choir – Wild anti-consumerist gospel choir and Earth loving evangelist sermonizing!
10:45pm – The Big Dixie Swingers – Western Swing, all the way from New Orleans! First NYC performance!
11:30 – Jackson Lynch – Blues, old time songs and fiddle music!
Parish Hall Stage
7pm – Main Squeeze Orchestra – All female accordion orchestra!
10:15pm – Salsa Dance with Willie Martinez and the NYC Salsa All Stars

Sunday April 30th

Afternoon Concerts

Main Stage
1:45pm –  The Jalopy Family Sing-A-Long with Emily Eagen and Friends
2:30pm – Deedle Deedle Dees – Fun kids music, with themes from history!!
3:15pm – Preachin’ in the Wilderness – Blues and folk songs
4pm – The Down Hill Strugglers with John Cohen – Old time string band
4:45pm – Meredith Axelrod – Blues and folk songs
5:30pm – Queen Esther – Traditional and original songs
6:15pm – Locust Honey String Band – String band, all the way from Tennessee!
Parish Hall Stage
2pm – Old Time Jam Session with Hilary Hawke
3:15pm – Gotham Jazzmen – Traditional Jazz
4:45pm – The Jalopy Choir – Singing Balkan vocal music!
5:30pm – Square Dance with the 5-Mile String Band – Alex Kramer calling!
6:30pm – TBA
Workshop Room
2pm – “Sing Like the Carter Family” – Learn to sing songs in 3-part harmony the way the original Carter Family did.  Taught by Martha Burns.
3pm – Topical and Protest Songs performance and workshop with Jan Bell
4pm – FILM: Shake ‘Em On Down – Documentary film about legendary blues musician Mississippi Fred McDowell, includes Q&A with filmmaker Scott Baretta.
5:30pm – 10pm – Special art installation and performance with Anna Roberts-Gevalt, Elizabeth LaPrelle and Tim Eriksen.

1PM SPECIAL EVENT: THE BANJO TOSS – Banjo Throwing Contest!

This event is held off-site.
Please assemble at the corner of Smith and 9th Street at 1pm, we will then have a parade to the banjo tossing arena!

Evening Concerts

Main Stage
7:15pm – Jay Gandhi – Indian classical and folk music
8pm – The Last Poets – Radical poetry with music, the roots of rap from NYC
8:45pm – Eva Salina & Peter Stan – Balkan music
9:30pm – Pat Conte – Blues, gospel and old time songs and tunes
10:15pm – Papa Vega’s Dream Shadows Orchestra
Parish Hall Stage
7:15pm – The Cat’s Meow – Irish fiddle and accordion music
8pm – The Horse-Eyed Men – Original and traditional songs
Workshop Room
5:30pm – 10pm – Special art installation and performance with Anna Roberts-Gevalt, Elizabeth LaPrelle and Tim Eriksen.

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