POKEY LAFARGE JOINS BROOKLYN FOLK FESTIVAL LINEUP FOR APRIL 8 PERFORMANCE

10TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL TO LAUNCH APRIL 6 AT ST. ANN’S CHURCH IN BROOKLYN HEIGHTS

Pokey LaFarge will join the Brooklyn Folk Festival’s 10th annual iteration, performing April 8 at St. Ann’s Church. He joins a lineup that features The East River String Band with R. Crumb, Spirit Family Reunion, Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton, Innov Gnawa, Radio Jarocho, and Elizabeth Mitchell & Suni Paz. A St. Louisian, LaFarge has performed on PBS’ American Epic, TBS’ Conan, NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert, The Late Show with David Letterman, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, NPR’s A Prairie Home Companion, and RFD’s Marty Stuart Show. Pokey has played with the likes of Jack White, The Raconteurs, Wanda Jackson, and Old Crow Medicine Show. He has performed at Newport Folk Festival, Red Rocks, Radio City Music Hall, Third Man Records, and Stagecoach. He is a Rounder Records recording artist.

Dear America artwork

 Amanda Palmer by Kambriel

 Elvis Perkins by Huger Foote

Regina Spektor by Shervin Lainez

Dear American performer bios

Regina Spector is Russian-born, American musician Regina Spektor is an internationally known, Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter. 

Susan Minot is the author of Monkeys, Lust & Other Stories, Folly, Evening, Rapture, a poetry collection Poems 4 A.M. and, most recently, Thirty Girls about children abducted by the LRA in Uganda and how women struggle to cope with trauma. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, O Henry Prize Stories, Granta. New York Times, McSweeney's and Vogue.  She wrote the screenplay for Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Stealing Beauty” and the film "Evening" was adapted from her novel.

Amanda Palmer is a performer, songwriter, and New York Times best selling author. She first came to prominence as the piano-playing songwriting half of the internationally acclaimed punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls.

John Forte is a Grammy-nominated recording artist, filmmaker and activist. First recognized for his work with multi-platinum hip hop group The Fugees, Forté's felony conviction and eventual Presidential commutation cemented Forté's commitment to reforming America's broken criminal justice system.” Forté has released several solo and collaborative projects to-date including, Music Supervisor Brooklyn D.A. (CBS/television), Created inaugural anthem for the Brooklyn Nets (NBA), The Russian Winter (feature film/documentary), Schools Not Prisons Tour.

A.M. Homes is the author of numerous books including, May We Be Forgiven, and The Mistress’s Daughter and teaches at Princeton University.

Anand Giridharadas is a former columnist and correspondent for The New York Times. Most recently, he is the author of The True America: Murder and Mercy in Texas, about a Muslim immigrant’s campaign to spare the life of the Death Row sentenced white supremacist who tried to kill him.  The book has been optioned to be directed Kathryn Bigelow.  In 2011, he published India Calling: An Intimate Portrait of a Nation’s Remaking, about returning to the India his parents left.

 

Maria Popova is a reader and a writer, and writes about what she reads on Brain Pickings (brainpickings.org), which is included in the Library of Congress archive of culturally valuable materials. She has also written for The New York Times, Wired UK, and The Atlantic, among others, and is an MIT Fellow. 

 

Julia Bullock is a versatile soprano. This season, she debuts with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Baltimore Symphony. She also appears as Anne Trulove in The Rake's Progress at The Festival International in Aix-en-Provence and Kitty Oppenheimer in the BBC Symphony’s production and recording of Dr. Atomic, conducted by John Adams.  She has appeared​ as a soloist with orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic,​ New World Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and San Francisco Symphony. 

Ekow Yankah is a law professor whose work focuses on questions of criminal and political theory and punishment.  He has written for publications spanning The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Huffington Post, among others and has been a regular commentator on criminal law issues on television and radio including MSNBC, BBC International.

Mark Warren was raised and educated in southeast Texas, where he worked in Democratic politics, until he realized how that whole situation was playing out and relocated to New York City, where he worked in magazines - first Harper's, then Esquire, where he would stay for 28 years, 19 of them as executive editor. In that time, he had the privilege to work with some of the greatest writers ever. And he wrote a little, too.

Matthieu Aikins is the Schell Fellow at the Nation Institute. He has been reporting from South Asia and the Middle East since 2008. His writing has appeared in US, Canadian, British, and French publications such as Harper's Magazine, Rolling Stone, the New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, and The Atlantic among others.

2017 Brooklyn Folk Fest preview video

Brooklyn Folk Fest poster

PETER MULVEY PLOTS ‘ARE YOU LISTENING?’ TOUR AS ALBUM TO BE RELEASED MARCH 24 ON RIGHTEOUS BABE RECORDS INCLUDES SHOWS IN LA, NYC, DC, ALASKA

ALBUM PRODUCER ANI DIFRANCO WEIGHS IN ON MULVEY “GOODNESS”

NPR’S FOLK ALLEY TAPES VIDEO SESSION

MULVEY RAISES OVER $8K FOR RESISTANCE EFFORTS VIA 12-HOUR CONCERT WITH ~100 SONGS PLAYED, NO REPEATS

Million-plus mile troubadour Peter Mulvey’s producer Ani DiFranco has weighed in on Mulvey’s new album ‘Are You Listening?,’ out March 24 on her Righteous Babe Records. She says, "Mulvey has been honing his craft for many a decade and it shows. He can play some badass guitar, sing to touch your heart, and write a song that will knock you down, and by knock you down, I mean lift you up." Of ‘Are You Listening?’ she says, "This record is pure, timeless Mulvey goodness. Supported by a spare but badass backing band, the sound here is organic and real and unaffected by the whims of fashion.”

Mulvey is launching a tour that’s set to hit New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Alaska, among other spots. He recently taped a video session with NPR’s Folk Alley.

Last month, Mulvey raised approximately $8,500 for a variety of non-profits during a 12-hour Concert Window show that saw him play around 100 songs with none repeated. Beneficiaries are the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Planned Parenthood, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Relief International, and Public Allies.

Peter Mulvey Tour Dates

February 15 - Tales from the Tavern - Santa Ynez, CA (w/ Heather Maloney)                 

February 16 - Brick 15 - Del Mar, CA (w/ Heather Maloney)

February 18 - Hotel Café - Los Angeles, CA (w/ Heather Maloney)

February 19 - Freight & Salvage Coffeehouse - Berkeley, CA (w/ Heather Maloney)

February 22 - North Star Theatre - Cordova, AK                

February 23 - Bunnell Street Arts Center - Homer, AK                  

February 24 - Latitude 62 - Talkeetna, AK                      

February 25 – TapRoot - Anchorage, AK (w/ w/ Heather Maloney, Anna Tivel)             

February 26 - Vagabond Blues - Palmer, AK (w/ Heather Maloney, Anna Tivel)   

March 9 - The Walnut Room - Denver, CO             

March 10 - Friends House Concerts - Colorado Springs, CO                      

March 11 - Old San Ysidro Church - Corrales, NM            

March 12 - Kitchen Sink Studio - Santa Fe, NM                 

March 17 - The Etude Sessions @ Paradigm - Sheboygan, WI                    

March 18 - Lost Moth Gallery - Egg Harbor, WI                

March 19 - Cafe Carpe - Fort Atkinson, WI            

March 24 - Rockwood Music Hall Stage 2 - New York, NY
March 25 - Philadelphia Folksong Society - Philadelphia, PA         

March 26 - Jammin Java - Vienna, VA                     

April 1 - Beal House - Kingston, MA                      

April 2 - Nelson Odeon - North Cazenovia, NY                  

April 6 - Club Passim - Cambridge, MA                  

April 7 - Club Passim - Cambridge, MA                  

April 8 - Club Passim - Cambridge, MA

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.

2017 Brooklyn Folk Fest performer photos

Click for high res

 Above: Anna & Elizabeth

Above: Downhill Strugglers with John Cohen

Above: Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton

Above: Rev. Billy & The Stop Shopping Choir

Above: The Last Poets

Above: Peter Stampfel & Friends

Above: Thunderbird American Indian Dancers

Above: Willie Watson

FOLKIES TO HURL BANJOS INTO GOWANUS CANAL AT BROOKLYN FOLK FEST

APRIL 10 COMPETITION MERGES MUSIC, SPORTS, MURKY WATER

When the Brooklyn Folk Festival returns to St. Anne's Church in April, it'll include what's become one of the annual event's most popular traditions: the legendary banjo toss.

"The banjo toss is a world famous epic event, looked forward to by millions desperate for catharsis!," jokes festival founder and producer Eli Smith, who first launched the first Brooklyn Folk Festival in 2009. A longtime banjo player himself, Smith also performs with the Down Hill Strugglers, an old-time string band that will perform at the Brooklyn Folk Festival with special guest John Cohen.

Hailed by The Associated Press for giving "new meaning to the term heavy metal," the banjo toss takes place at the Gowanus Canal, a waterway that once served as a major transportation route for Brooklyn's factories, tanneries and mills. Taking place on Sunday, April 10th — the final afternoon of the three-day festival, most of which takes place at St. Anne's Church on Montague Street — the event brings dozens of competitors to the canal's shoreline in South Brooklyn, with all participants taking turns throwing a banjo into the murky water. The farthest toss wins, with last year's prize-winning throw measuring a whopping 85 feet. Winners take home a free banjo.

Here's a video recap of the 2015 festival that includes footage of the banjo toss.

The banjo toss also brings some needed attention to the Gowanus Canal, whose once-busy waters have become the source of pollution over the past half-century. In the years immediately following World War I, it was America's busiest commercial canal, with more than six million tons of cargo being shipped along its waters every year. With all that activity came a severe level of contamination, though. There isn't much recreation alongside the canal these days, making the banjo toss all the more unique.  Rubber gloves are provided for contestants.

This year's banjo toss will take place at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 10th, with all competitors and onlookers encouraged to meet at the intersection of Smith and 9th Street before parading with a live banjo toss jug band band to the so-called "banjo tossing arena."

2016 Brooklyn Folk Fest poster

Civil Rights Activist Mattie Jones To Appear at 8th Annual Brooklyn Folk Festival

Social activist and civil rights champion Mattie Jones will lead songs at
the 8th Annual Brooklyn Folk Festival on Sunday, April 10th, teaching historic
Freedom Songs from the Civil Rights Movement.

Here is a video of Mattie Jones singing.

A lifelong champion of freedom and equal rights, Jones began her
career of activism in the 1950s, when she marched alongside Martin
Luther King Jr. During the decades that followed, she was a tireless
participant in the Civil Rights Movement, taking part in many
non-violent protests and working hard to eradicate segregation.
Arrested dozens of times for civil disobedience, she often leaned on
Freedom Songs — anthems and hymn-like songs that were inspired by old
African-American spirituals — to keep her and fellow activists determined and encouraged
during times of struggle.

She continues to advocate for victims of racist policies and
practices, working in leadership roles with organizations like the
Kentucky Alliance Against Racial & Political Repression and New York
City's Fellowship of Reconciliation. With a lifetime of lessons and
music gleaned from her civil rights work, she is uniquely qualified to
educate the public about social change and racial inequity — issues
that remain as important in today's world as they did in Jones' youth.

"Mattie Jones has lived an incredible life of social activism in the
struggle for civil rights and human rights in America," says Brooklyn
Folk Festival producer Eli Smith. "Arrested more than 50 times for
acts of civil disobedience, she has shown by example the way that
social change is really made. Ms. Jones is also a wonderful singer and
keeper of the freedom songs of the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th
century. She would like to impart the songs and lessons from her life
of activism to young people."

Founded in 2008 to help showcase the folk music of New York City and
beyond, the Brooklyn Folk Festival is expanding its reach in 2016,
with the added goal of highlighting the roles of culture and music in
social and political activist movements. Held at St. Ann's Church at
157 Montague Street, the three-day event will also include workshops,
puppet shows and dozens of music performances. Mattie Jones'
performance is scheduled for 3:45 p.m on Sunday, April 10th, at Parish
Hall.

SILVER CITY BOUND SET COURSE TO CROSS GENRES WITH NEW EP 'TAKE MY PICTURE' OUT MARCH 4

NYC’s Silver City Bound will release their new EP, Take My Picture, on March 4th. Occupying a unique intersection where folk, indie rock, Zydeco, and North American roots music meet, the musicians take a left-of-center approach to their sound. Vocalist and songwriter Sam Reider, who was trained as a jazz pianist, plays the accordion, for starters. He and guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Justin Poindexter lead the band and are joined by bassist Noah Garabedian, drummer Will Clark. The band's Diner in the Sky was named the Best Americana Album of 2015 by the Independent Music Awards.

Formerly known as the Amigos, Silver City Bound have earned accolades for their "sprightly picture of folk, country, mariachi and more" (The New Yorker), a sound that the Huffington Post calls "Americana at its best." Along the way, they've performed at Lincoln Center, The Philadelphia Folk Festival, Folk Alliance, as well on bills with the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Amy Helm and Sam Bush. Equally at home in indie rock dive bars and cultural institutions and inspired by the diversity of sounds in NYC, they're a breath of fresh air, stirring unexpected instruments and wide-ranging influences into their own mixing pot. Named for a Lead Belly song, the band will play an EP release show March 4 at Brooklyn’s Barbes.

Take My Picture casts a wide net, from the Jayhawks-worthy harmonies of opening track "Take My Picture" to the soulful twang of "Do Right," a cover of Aretha Franklin's "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man." Fueled by the blend of Reider and Poindexter's voices, the band recalls the classic sounds of Flying Burrito Brothers while also uncovering new ground, a move that puts them more in line with modern-day Americana bands like the Felice Brothers.

Brooklyn Folk Fest 2016 artwork

 Above: Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton

  above: Spirit Family Reunion

 above: Radio Jarocho

 Above: Mattie Jones

 Above: Gaida

 above: East River String Band

LEAD BELLY FEST ADDS SPECIAL GUEST KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD TO THE FEB. 4 CARNEGIE HALL SHOW

OTHER NEW ADDITIONS TO THE LINEUP INCLUDE: HITMAKER, EDGAR WINTER; AMERICAN SONGSTER, DOM FLEMONS; NYC PIANIST, JOHN DAVIS; NYC’S VERY OWN MARKY RAMONE, & NEW YORK STATE-RENOWNED BLUESMAN, GUY DAVIS.

Lead Belly Fest – the Carnegie Hall all-star celebration of the music and influence of Huddle "Lead Belly” Ledbetter on February 4, headlined by five-time GRAMMY Award winner BUDDY GUY along with the legendary Animals’ frontman ERIC “House of the Rising Sun" BURDON – today announced additions to the lineup. These include special guest multi-million seller, and GRAMMY-nominated blues rock guitarist, KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD; American songster, DOM FLEMONS; “Free Ride” singer EDGAR WINTER; New York state bluesman and Pete Seeger cohort GUY DAVIS; also now on the bill are renowned pianist JOHN DAVIS; and NYC’s very own MARKY RAMONE. 

A Spotify playlist of the artists performing at Lead Belly Fest is here.

Photos of artists performing at Lead Belly Fest are here.

+ Born in Shreveport, the same town where Lead Belly was born, Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s provenance virtually destined him to become a great bluesman. Twenty years into his recording career he continues to create genre-defining blues-infused rock n' roll. Shepherd has built an enviable resume as an accomplished recording artist, a riveting live performer and one of the most talented and distinctive guitarists of his generation. He has been dubbed “the guitarists’ guitarist”. Shepherd has sold millions of albums worldwide, received five GRAMMY® nominations, two Billboard Music Awards, as well as a pair of Orville H. Gibson awards, the Blues Foundation's Keeping The Blues Alive award and two Blues Music awards. He's had seven #1 blues albums and a string of #1 mainstream rock singles. As part of his GRAMMY Award-nominated CD/DVD ‘10 Days Out: Blues from the Backroads’, he jammed with fellow blues musicians at Lead Belly’s grave.

+ Dom Flemons is the "American Songster," pulling from traditions of old-time folk music to create new sounds. Having performed music professionally since 2005, he has played live for over one million people just within the past three years. As part of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, which he co-founded with Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson, he has played at a variety of festivals spanning from the Newport Folk Festival to Bonnaroo, in addition to renowned venues such as the Grand Ole Opry and such radio shows at NPR Fresh Air. Flemons was both host and performer at the recent Lead Belly 125 tribute concert at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC.

+ From Edgar Winter’s critically acclaimed 1970 debut release, Entrance, he has demonstrated his unique style and ability to cross the genre lines and do the unexpected. His early recording of "Tobacco Road" is a powerful, emotionally devastating masterpiece that propelled him into the national spotlight. With over 20 albums and numerous collaborative efforts to his credit, Edgar Winter has appeared in the film "Netherworld", and the TV shows The Late Show with David Letterman, and Jimmy Kimmel Live.

+  Guy Davis is an artist who has excelled in many disciplines; he is a musician, composer, actor, director, and writer. He has received accolades and praise for his performance off-Broadway as the legendary Robert Johnson in “Robert Johnson: Trick The Devil,” winning the Blues Foundation's "Keeping the Blues Alive Award”.  Likewise, he received rave reviews for his appearance on Broadway in “Finian's Rainbow”, playing the part originally played by the legendary Sonny Terry.  He has been nominated for nearly a dozen Blues Awards and has performed on such shows as Prairie Home Companion, Late Show With David Letterman and Late Night With Conan O'Brien. Most recently, he is nominated for two 2016 Blues Music Awards. A friend of Pete Seeger’s, the two used to perform “Midnight Special” in concert frequently. 

+ With his latest Newport Classic recording, Halley’s Comet: Around the Piano with Mark Twain & John Davis, pianist John Davis pays musical tribute to our country’s most celebrated and influential author whose career, like Davis’s, lies at the intersection of white and black culture and high and low culture in American society. The Twain-related works included on the CD, “played powerfully and with a rich palette” according to The New York Times, further Davis’ effort to define, excavate, and disseminate a previously-unacknowledged American roots music initiated by two earlier hit recordings on Newport Classic.

+ Marky Ramone is a New York original, best known for the 15 years he spent drumming for Rock & Roll Hall of Famers and MTV’s Lifetime Achievement Award winners The Ramones. He has also been a member of Richard Hell & the Voidoids, ayne County and The Backstreet Boys, and presently fronts Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg.

LEAD BELLY FEST AT CARNEGIE HALL FEBRUARY 4, 2016

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PERFORMERS TO HONOR LONG-TIME NEW YORKER & ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE LEAD BELLY TO INCLUDE 5-TIME GRAMMY WINNER BUDDY GUY; ERIC BURDON OF THE ANIMALS; & MANY MORE

CONCERT PROCEEDS GO TO NON-PROFITS THE ASSOCIATION TO BENEFIT CHILDREN AND PROJECT ALS

“No Lead Belly, no Beatles.” – George Harrison

“Lead Belly wasn’t an influence, he was the influence.” – Van Morrison

Lead Belly Fest presents its first US performance at Carnegie Hall on February 4, 2016, a multi-artist, immersive tribute featuring five-time GRAMMY Award winner Buddy Guy and Eric Burdon (the Animals), among others.

Lead Belly gave his final performance in 1949 at Carnegie Hall shortly before he died of ALS on 6^th December of that year. Tom Paley of the New Lost City Ramblers performed at that 1949 concert and is the last man alive to have played with Lead Belly. Paley will return to the Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall February 4.

Other performers include three-time GRAMMY winner Tom Chapin; Blues Music Award nominee Nick Moss with Michael Ledbetter, who is Lead Belly’s first cousin twice removed; two-time British Blues Award winner Laurence Jones; Josh White, Jr., (son of legendary folk singer Josh White who sang at Lead Belly’s funeral); Hot 100 Singles charting artist Ali Isabella, the “high-octane” (UNCUT) Walter Trout; NYC Blues Hall of Famer Sari Schorr; NYC’s very own Dana Fuchs; and NYC folk and blues artist and Village Voice cover story subject Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton; all playing with a house band led by Jon Cobert.

Lead Belly Fest sold out Royal Albert Hall this past June in a concert headlined by Van Morrison and received rave reviews:

“The stars came out to pay tribute in an incredible ensemble of talent. ‘Lead Belly Fest’ was, more than just a concert – it was a happening: without doubt one of the most diverse and authentic productions that this venerable hall has witnessed in many a year…”

- The London Times

A commemorative plaque to celebrate the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s longtime residence at 414 E. 10th Street, which became a hub of the folk revival, will be unveiled by a special guest at a ceremony to be announced in January.

Inspired by Lead Belly’s love of children, proceeds from the concert will go to NYC’s Association to Benefit Children (ABC). The Association to Benefit Children (ABC) is dedicated to bringing joy and warmth to disadvantaged children and their families through compassionate, sustainable, comprehensive and integrated services, designed to permanently break the cycles of abuse, neglect, sickness and homelessness.

ABC’s humane and innovative programs today include early childhood education for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, educational advocacy, housing assistance, mental health services, family support and preservation, crisis intervention, therapeutic out-of-school and summer day camp programs, youth leadership development and mentoring.

Project A.L.S. was founded in 1998, as a non-profit 501(c)3, when Jenifer Estess, a 35-year-old New York theater and film producer, was diagnosed with ALS. Told at the time of diagnosis to “max out her credit cards and eat junk food,” Jenifer instead committed her efforts to making a difference for people with ALS—and producing treatments and a cure.

Project A.L.S. identifies and funds the most promising scientific research that will lead to the first effective treatments and a cure for ALS. The new paradigm for brain disease research, Project A.L.S. recruits the world’s best scientists and doctors to work together rationally and aggressively toward a better understanding of the ALS disease process and, in parallel, better therapeutic strategies.

Tickets go on sale today and start at $40 at carnegiehall.org, CarnegieCharge 212-247-7800, Box Office at 57th and Seventh.

CITY WINERY TO HOST LEAD BELLY FEST DECEMBER 8 WITH WALTER TROUT, TOM CHAPIN & JON COBERT, DANA FUCHS, AND MORE

CONCERT TRIBUTE TO LEAD BELLY PREVIEWS FEB 4, 2016 CARNEGIE HALL EXTRAVAGANZA

CHARITY CONCERT TO RAISE FUNDS FOR NYC’S ASSOCIATION TO BENEFIT CHILDREN (ABC), PROJECT ALS, AND SHOOTING STAR CHASE

“The stars came out to pay tribute in an incredible ensemble of talent. ‘Lead Belly Fest’ was, more than just a concert – it was a happening: without doubt one of the most diverse and authentic productions that this venerable hall has witnessed in many a year…” - The London Times

Lead Belly Fest will make its American debut after a sold out show at Royal Albert Hall this summer as Walter Trout, Dana Fuchs, Sari, Ali Isabella, and Tom Chapin & Jon Cobert take the City Winery stage December 8 to pay tribute to the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. This show will preview a larger concert at Carnegie Hall, which will take place in 2016. Click here for a playlist of artists performing at City Winery’s Lead Belly Fest.

+ Revitalized after a liver transplant, the “high octane” (UNCUT) Walter Trout is a veteran of Canned Heat and John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Guitar World premiered his new song “Almost Gone” from his recent release ‘Battle Scars.’ Trout previously performed at Royal Albert Hall’s inaugural Lead Belly Fest this summer.

+ Tom Chapin and Jon Cobert will perform together. The NY Times has called three-time GRAMMY winner Chapin “one of the great personalities in contemporary folk music,” continuing, “Warm spirit, infectious humor, and sensitive satiric songs.” Jon Cobert has recorded and played with John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, and Al Green.

+ Just 19 years of age, Ali Isabella has already captivated the world, with singles in the top 20 on both the Hotdisc chart in the UK and on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales Chart. She reached #1 on the Billboard Country Hot Single Sales chart as well, appearing on FOX 5 Morning TV show Good Day New York and on FUSE News TV and opening at Wembley Arena in London for Reba McEntire and Lonestar.

+ New Yorker Dana Fuchs’ latest album ‘Songs From the Road’ was recorded at NYC’s Highline Ballroom. A live show by the Dana Fuchs Band is an assault on all the senses. UK’s Classic Rock Magazine, who famously declared Dana’s voice as “juke-joint dirty and illicit, evoking Janis Joplin, Mick Jagger and a cigarette butt bobbing in a glass of bourbon.”

+ New York Blues Hall of Fame singer and songwriter Sari is a tornado with blues in her blood. She took the international blues scene by storm as the powerhouse lead vocalist for Blues Hall of Fame guitarist Joe Louis Walker. Sari has appeared on CONAN. Most notable is her work on “Toast to Freedom” for Amnesty International, where she collaborated with many musical legends including Warren Haynes, Levon Helm, Keb Mo’, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithful, Rosanne Cash, Donald Fagan, Eric Burdon, and Carly Simon.

Inspired by Lead Belly’s love of children, proceeds from the concert will go to NYC’s Association to Benefit Children (ABC). The Association to Benefit Children (ABC) is dedicated to bringing joy and warmth to disadvantaged children and their families through compassionate, sustainable, comprehensive and integrated services, designed to permanently break the cycles of abuse, neglect, sickness and homelessness.

ABC’s humane and innovative programs today include early childhood education for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, educational advocacy, housing assistance, mental health services, family support and preservation, crisis intervention, therapeutic out-of-school and summer day camp programs, youth leadership development and mentoring.

Project A.L.S. was founded in 1998, as a non-profit 501(c)3, when Jenifer Estess, a 35-year-old New York theater and film producer, was diagnosed with ALS. Told at the time of diagnosis to “max out her credit cards and eat junk food,” Jenifer instead committed her efforts to making a difference for people with ALS—and producing treatments and a cure.

Project A.L.S. identifies and funds the most promising scientific research that will lead to the first effective treatments and a cure for ALS. The new paradigm for brain disease research, Project A.L.S. recruits the world’s best scientists and doctors to work together rationally and aggressively toward a better understanding of the ALS disease process and, in parallel, better therapeutic strategies.

Shooting Star Chase is a leading children’s hospice charity caring for babies, children and young people with life-limiting conditions, and their families. Whether lives are measured in days, weeks, months or years, Shooting Star is there to make every moment count. It supports families from diagnosis to end of life and throughout bereavement with a range of nursing, practical, emotional and medical care.

WHO: Walter Trout, Tom Chapin & Jon Cobert, Dana Fuchs, Sari, Ali Isabella

WHAT: Lead Belly Fest at City Winery

WHEN: 10pm, December 8, 2015

WHERE: City Winery, 155 Varick St, NYC

TICKETS: $22-30 via City Winery or here

BLUES FOR CHRISTMAS: A FESTIVAL OF THE BLUES AND THE HOLIDAYS TAKES PLACE DECEMBER 12 AT ROULETTE FEATURING POPA CHUBBY, MICHAEL HILL’S BLUES MOB WITH SPECIAL GUEST VERNON REID, JEFFREY GAINES, JESSE TERRY

Brooklyn Music Shop will present Blues for Christmas: A Festival of the Blues and the Holidays December 12 at Roulette. Here’s a playlist of the artists performing.

+ NYC native guitar wild man Popa Chubby, who recently celebrated his twenty-fifth anniversary as a performer. An imposing figure with a shaven head, tattooed arms, a goatee and a performance style he describes as “the Stooges meets Buddy Guy, Motörhead meets Muddy Waters, and Jimi Hendrix meets Robert Johnson.”

+ Michael Hill is a 2011 inductee into the New York Blues Hall of Fame as a Master Blues Artist. Living Blues Magazine says, “Mixing blues, funk, soul and pop stylings with lyrics that reflect urban life, Hill has produced an atmospheric and evocative statement rife with social consciousness and personal angst. An admirable contribution to modern blues by one of its most talented songwriters and guitarists.” New York rock legend Vernon Reid of Living Colour and the Black Rock Coalition will perform as a special guest.

+ Of Jeffrey Gaines, Paste said, “Gaines possesses a raspy, soulful voice and a knack for soul-searching, gut-check lyrics.” He has also earned praise from Rolling Stone, Billboard, Associated Press, Washington Post, and more.

+ Jesse Terry has appeared at Bonnaroo and the Philadelphia Folk Festival and is a singer/songwriter with an uncanny ability to weave tales of travel and homecoming, of sorrow and of redemption, into songs that are simultaneously timeless and fresh. Terry’s music reflects an amalgam of influences, from Nashville to Laurel Canyon. His melodic and lyrically-driven Americana fits naturally on a playlist between cuts from Josh Ritter, Jackson Browne, Ryan Adams and Neil Young.

WHO: Popa Chubby, Michael Hill's Blues Mob, Jeffrey Gaines & Jesse Terry, and special guest Vernon Reid
WHAT: Blues For Christmas: A Festival of Blues and the Holidays
WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Roulette Theater, 509 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn (@ 3rd Ave.)
TICKETS: $35, http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2412846

TED DROZDOWSKI MAKES UNCONVENTIONAL PSYCH-ROCK WITH UNCONVENTIONAL GUITARS ON 'LOVE & LIFE'

MUSIC CITY ROOTS SYNDICATED RADIO SHOW CONFIRMED OCT 28 AS ALL MUSIC STREAMS FULL ALBUM

Ted Drozdowski knows his guitars.

A veteran rock musician and road warrior who doubles as a journalist for Guitar World and Premiere Guitar, he fills his newest album, 'Love & Life,' with more than a dozen acoustic and electric guitars. Also included on Ted Drozdowski’s Scissormen’s ‘Love & Life’ record, which hits stores this Friday, are a handful of custom-made axes that are as unique as the music itself. The band plays NYC’s Shrine tomorrow and Brooklyn’s Grand Victory on Monday as All Music is streaming all of ‘Love & Life’: http://www.allmusic.com/blog/post/album-premiere-ted-drozdowskis-scissormen-love-life

"I like to play unconventional roots music on unconventional instruments," says Drozdowski, who has driven more than 1,000,000 miles during his tour dates with a series of bands, including his current project, Ted Drozdowski’s Scissormen. Along the way, he's carved out a reputation as "both an innovator and interpreter all at the same time" (Pop Matters).

Rooted in electric blues and psychedelic music, 'Love & Life' features guitars like 'Jo Diddley,' a 1960s Eiphone Hollowbody that Drozdowski rescued by ripping off the headstock, securing it back onto the instrument "with industrial glue at a slight-yet-intonation-proof angle," and removed the pickups. The resulting instrument, whose name is a tip-of-the-hat to blues great Bo Diddley, can be heard on "Can't Be Satisfied."

Also along for the ride is Drozdowski's "signature model" Fender Esquire, which features the autographs of friends, tour mates and influences including Dick Dale, Ike Turner and Billy Gibbons. Drozdowski customized the guitar by adding jumbo frets and a pair of late '60s Les Paul pickups. It's heavy, like his music, and he's toured with it since the '80s. "I've even let somebody breathe fire across the neck while I was playing it — in Mississippi, of course," he adds.

And then there's the so-called "Lobster Pot" guitar, which was gifted to Drozdowski by East Nashville artist Mike Windy. Again, Drozdowski modified the guitar a bit, adding a Mexican single-coil pickup — "the cheaper and gnarlier, the better" — and securing it with electric tape. The result is an instrument with "a huge, cutting sound," making it the perfect ax for Drozdowski's arsenal. It also befits Drozdowski’s time spent in the Boston music scene before moving to Nashville.

All three of those guitars will hit the road with Ted Drozdowski’s Scissormen this year. The band's upcoming tour includes a high-profile performance at the Music City Roots syndicated radio broadcast in Franklin, Tennessee October 28.

Ted Drozdowski’s Scissormen Tour Dates

July 30 – New York, NY – Shrine World Music Venue
July 31 – Somerville, MA – Johnny D’s
August 1 – Lowell, MA – The Back Page Café
August 2 – Middletown, CT – The Cypress Restaurant
August 3 – Brooklyn, NY – Grand Victory
August 9 – Nashville, TN – The Bluebird Café
August 15 – E. Nashville, TN – The 5 Spot
August 28 – Winona, MN – Broken World Records
August 29 – Minneapolis, MN – Hell’s Kitchen Brunch
September 1 – Indianapolis, IN – The Slippery Noodle
September 2 – Kansas City, MO – B.B.’s Lawnside Barbecue
September 3 – Lincoln, NE – The Zoo Bar
September 4 – Fort Collins, CO – Avogadro’s Number
September 5-6 – Denver, CO – Ziggie’s Live Music
October 28 - Nashville, TN - Music City Roots

KRISTIN ANDREASSEN CONFIRMS FULL SCHEDULE OF RADIO TAPINGS AND SESSIONS BEFORE RELEASE OF ‘GONDOLIER’ AS TOUR LAUNCHES

A month and a half before the release of ‘Gondolier,’ Kristin Andreassen has a full slate of radio sessions and taping, both local and nationally syndicated. She is also announcing a series of tour dates, both headlining and supporting. ‘Gondolier’ features Aoife O’Donovan and Chris Eldridge (Punch Brothers) and combines her trad-folk background with her indie rock sensibility, which she earns by singing backup onstage for Lucius and on record for Sufjan Stevens. CMT Edge has called ‘Gondolier’ a “delicate beauty.”

Kristin Andreassen Early Radio Activity:

1/8   New York, NY- WFUV: studio session

1/12 Saranac Lake NY- Folk Alley:  studio Session

1/14 Baltimore, MD- WRNR Voices of the Bay    

1/18 Morgantown, WV- Mountain Stage taping

1/19 Lexington, KY- Woodsongs taping

1/20 Knoxville, TN- WDVX Blue Plate Special

1/21 Nashville, TN- Music City Roots

1/23 Louisville, TN-WFPK Live Lunch

Kristin Andreassen Tour Dates:

1/13 New York, NY - Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 1

1/14 Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Street House Concerts

1/15 Washington, D.C. – House Concert

1/16 Raleigh, NC Duke Energy - Center/Fletcher Theater (w/ Aoife O’Donovan)

1/31 Olivebridge, NY - The Winter Hoot

3/3   Northampton, MA - The Parlor Room

3/4   Cambridge, MA - Club Passim

3/7   Katonah, NY - Caramoor Center for Music & the Arts

3/10 New York, NY - Joe's Pub