10 YEARS OF THE BROOKLYN FOLK FESTIVAL! PRESENTED BY THE JALOPY THEATRE, MOST AMBITIOUS FESTIVAL YET FEATURES 60+ DIFFERENT PERFORMANCES, WORKSHOPS, CONTESTS, JAM SESSIONS, FILM PREMIERS, RECORD RELEASES & EVENTS!

January 10, 2018

LINEUP INCLUDES R. CRUMB, JERRON “BLIND BOY” PAXTON, SPIRIT FAMILY REUNION, WOMEN’S RAGA MASSIVE, BRUCE MOLSKY’S MOUNTAIN DRIFTERS, ELIZABETH MITCHELL AND SUNI PAZ, INNOV GNAWA, AND MORE! 40+ BANDS.

FESTIVAL WHICH HAS SOLD OUT EVERY YEAR INCLUDES BLUES, JUG BAND, OLD TIME, BLUEGRASS, SONGWRITERS, MOROCCAN, PERUVIAN, PUERTO RICAN, IRISH, INDIAN, TURKISH, SPANISH, BALKAN, ITALIAN, MEXICAN, DOMINICAN MUSIC, KIDS MUSIC, AND MORE!

BROOKLYN FOLK FESTIVAL BECOMES NON-PROFIT, ENTERS 2ND DECADE

April 6^th -8^th, 2018

St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church

157 Montague St. Brooklyn, NY

http://www.BrooklynFolkFest.com

Presented by the Jalopy Theatre & School of Music

“Diverse, spontaneous, counter-cultural, and trenchant… One of the most vital and spiritually sound folk-music events in the country.”

- The New Yorker

The 10^th annual Brooklyn Folk Festival will feature festival favorites Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton (Brooklynite and mainstay of the festival), R. Crumb with The East River String Band, NPR Tiny Desk alums Spirit Family Reunion, and folk music legend John Cohen with the Down Hill Strugglers. The festival also includes Indian Classical Music from the Women’s Raga Massive, old time string band music from Bruce Molsky’s Mountain Drifters, a performance for children by Elizabeth Mitchell and Suni Paz, celebrating the release of their new Smithsonian Folkways album, Grammy-nominated Moroccan band Innov Gnawa (who have performed at Coachella and Lincoln Center), and much more!

Photos, poster, more information, Spotify playlist, etc., click here.

This year the festival brings home many favorite performers from its decade long history, along with exciting new underground-grassroots folk and traditional groups from New York City and around the nation. Celebrating folk music from near and far, the Brooklyn Folk Festival will showcase over forty musical acts as well as workshops, film screenings, dances and contests in its most ambitious iteration to date.

In addition to musical performances, the festival will also feature the NYC premiere of the documentary “Linefork,” about living legend Kentucky banjo player Lee Sexton, “How They Got Over” about the golden age of Black gospel quartets and a 50^th anniversary screening of counter-cultural cult classic film “Gold” with rare Q&A with the director. It also marks the release of the new album on the Smithsonian Folkways label from Elizabeth Mitchell and Suni Paz.

Performers at the 10^th Annual Brooklyn Folk Festival include:

Jerron Paxton

Spirit Family Reunion

Elizabeth Mitchell & Suni Paz

East River String Band with R. Crumb

Bruce Molsky’s Mountain Drifters

Innov Gnawa

Women’s Raga Massive

Thomas McCarthy

Bulla en el Barrio

Radio Jarocho 

Brotherhood of the Jug Band Blues

Clifton Hicks

The Birdman of Rome

Feral Foster

Suzy & Eric Thompson

The Down Hill Strugglers with John Cohen

Mamie Minch & Tamar Korn

Steel City Jug Slammers

Piedmont Bluz

The HickHoppers

The Horse-Eyed Men

Eva Salina & Peter Stan

The Hayrollers

The Crimson Ragdolls

Wyndham Baird

Pat Conte

Little Nora Brown

The 10th annual festival has sold out every year and will remain at its home, St. Ann 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 newly non-profit Jalopy Theatre & School of Music, located in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The three-day event has grown in attendance and scope each year. The festival’s partnership with St. Ann's allows for a main stage inside the church, room for food, drink and vendors, plus a second stage and additional rooms for workshops and film screenings.

Adding to the festivities, the Festival features the World Famous Banjo Toss, banjo throwing contest (as featured in Associated Press), a family-friendly square dance, a Saturday night Salsa dance, a Sunday kid’s concert with Elizabeth Mitchell & Suni Paz and several open jam sessions. There will also be group singing sessions and workshops in blues guitar, old time banjo playing, fiddle and more, along with jam sessions.

"This 10th annual Brooklyn Folk Festival promises to be a truly special event as we expand the scope of the programming and welcome home favorite performers from the history of the festival," Eli Smith, founder and host of the Festival, said. "This year we expect a powerful array of sounds, with music from a huge diversity of genres including blues, old time music, traditional music from Morocco, Mexico, the Balkans, Ireland, Puerto Rico, India and elsewhere, trad jazz, song writers, jug band music and more!”

St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church is a National Historic Landmark, built in 1844. An important example of Gothic Revival architecture in America, the richly ornamented church is notable for its elaborately vaulted roof and window tracery. Before it was removed in 1906, its spire was the most visible landmark in Brooklyn and was used by ship captains to navigate the harbor. The Festival will take place in the main hall of the church, with workshops, film screenings and the square dance in the side hall and upstairs rooms. Food, drink and retail vendors will be on site.

The performances are separated into day passes, evening shows, and a full-festival three-day pass.

Tickets went on sale this morning at www.brooklynfolkfest.com/tickets

* The venue has seating for everyone.  Seating assignments are on a first come first serve basis.

* These prices do not include service fees.

* All events including workshops and film screenings are included in ticket price.

* St. Ann's Church and Parish Hall are wheelchair accessible.  If you are in a wheelchair and would like to take a workshop please email Lynette Wiley.

“EBULLIANT” (BLUEGRASS SITUATION) NYC-BASED AMERICANA BAND SILVER CITY BOUND TO TOUR IN TURKEY AND AZERBAIJAN FOR CROSS-CULTURAL COLLABORATION, BENEFIT FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES

NYC BON VOYAGE CONCERT MAY 11 AT BARBES

“TAKE MY PICTURE” MUSIC VIDEO TO PREMIERE MAY 5 AS EP HITS BANDCAMP’S TOP TEN AMERICANA ALBUMS CHART

“Silver City Bound has their own loose-limbed charm...serving up a sprightly mixture of folk, country, mariachi, and more." - The New Yorker

“New York’s Silver City Bound play a fun, eclectic brand of Americana that blends in folk, zydeco and a bit of indie rock.” – Pop Matters

"Love the whole spirit of it." -Bob Harris, BBC

Following the recent and heralded release of its EP ‘Take My Picture,’ which reached the top ten of Bandcamp’s Americana chart, Silver City Bound will be traveling to Azerbaijan to do concerts and workshops on behalf of the U.S. Department of State's Arts Envoy Program. While in Azerbaijan, the band will collaborate with local musicians and perform at high profile festival America Days.

On their way to Azerbaijan, the band will stop in Istanbul, Turkey to collaborate with Country For Syria May 14 and 15. Based in Istanbul, Country For Syria is comprised of American, Turkish, and Syrian musicians who play a mix of American and Arabic folk music and do performances and collaborations with Syrian refugees all over Turkey. Like Silver City Bound, an accordion is featured prominently in the band.

The proceeds will go to Istanbul & I, an organization that is focused on helping refugees in Istanbul from various countries build a positive relationship with the city and sponsoring creative projects.

Silver City Bound's intent is both to raise money and awareness for the Syrian refugee crisis as well as to show strength and solidarity with other young artists living and working in Istanbul. Together, they will celebrate the positive cultural power of music and hopefully plant the seeds for further collaborative work. Silver City Bound's mission is to promote cross-cultural collaboration and dialogue through American roots music.

A kick-off concert at Barbes in Brooklyn is planned at 9 pm on May 11, the site of the band’s overflowing EP release show. On May 5, a new music video for title track “Take My Picture” will be premiered.

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.

Music Maker Relief Foundation clips

NPR Weekend Edition (December 27, 2014)



Tavis Smiley Radio interview (October 3, 2014)


The New Yorker Taj Mahal's Music Maker playlist (August 6, 2014)

BILLBOARD STREAMS NEW CD BY “LEGENDARY” IRONING BOARD SAM, HOT OFF OF LINCOLN CENTER PERFORMANCE

SAM REMEMBERS PLAYING WITH HENDRIX

Billboard is premiering a full album stream of Ironing Board Sam’s new album ‘Ironing Board and the Sticks,’ calling the keyboard man “legendary."

Recorded with two young French musicians, the album presents some newly improvised songs along with blues classics. Sam earned a standing ovation at Lincoln Center Out of Doors over the weekend and was the subject of a New Yorker illustration last week.

Sam recently recalled how Jimi Hendrix sat in with him and inspired him to push his showmanship to new heights, saying, “We used to play shows together; you know, he made my show greater than his show. He had a nine piece band playin’ downstairs, and he heard me and my drummer playing upstairs; I was playing the button board, and I had it so I could sit down behind it and play it like a big organ. All the other musicians would come listen to us when the finished their sets, and then one night I noticed the crowd got extra, extra hot. I looked over my left shoulder--on my left they had a jukebox, like an old-time jukebox about six feet tall--and Jimi was on top of the jukebox playing his guitar behind his head. He sort of had to crouch because of the ceiling, but I said oh my, he’s making my show better than his. After I saw that, I knew I had to do something else so I started carrying my button board into the crowd so I could get some attention back on my show! That really started a trend for me, because nobody was carrying their keyboard into the audience then.”

Sam earned his nickname by mounting his keyboard on an ironing board with a strap that allowed him to walk the stage while playing, much as he did at Lincoln Center on Sunday, where fellow Music Maker Relief Foundation artists Dom Flemons, Beverly “Guitar” Watkins, and Albert White joined him on stage.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Music Maker Relief Foundation. Next up is a new book “We are the Music Makers” (out September 15), a 2CD set of the same title (September 30), and a Homecoming festival October 3-4 in Hillsborough, NC.

NPR FRESH AIR HOSTS 38-MINUTE PERFORMANCE/CHAT WITH AMERICAN SONGSTER DOM FLEMONS AS NEW YORKER ILLUSTRATION RUNS

NEW TOUR DATES ADDED

Terry Gross’s 38-minute in-depth interview with the American Songster Dom Flemons aired last week on NPR’s Fresh Air.

Meanwhile, the New Yorker ran an illustration of Dom Flemons alongside those of Beverly “Guitar” Watkins and Ironing Board Sam, each of whom will perform Sunday at Lincoln Center Out of Doors as part of Americana Fest NYC. See the illustration here.

Gross says, “It is so much fun to hear that and so educational, too.”

Flemons talks about adapting songs from the banjo to the guitar and vice versa, how oldies got him into old time music, the influence of the elder folk and blues artists of Music Maker Relief Foundation, how rhythm and blues and country music and Broadway connect on “Have I Stayed Away Too Long,” the lonesome feeling of being on the road, cutting excess verses from original songs, the largest banjo Terry Gross had ever seen (which Dom nicknamed “Big Head Joe”), how hokum music uses double entendres, playing esoteric instruments like the bass drum, quills, bones and an extra-large banjo, and finding fresh material to interpret from some of his favorite artists.

Dom also impresses with impressions of influences on him, including Paul Simon, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Jim Croce, ‘Freewheelin’-era Bob Dylan, ‘Nashville Skyline’ Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, and Van Morrison.

He also discusses the impact of Pete Seeger, who passed away the night before Flemons started recording the album ‘Prospect Hill,’ saying, “Pete’s been an essential part of my life as a lover of folk music” and talking about his influence as a banjo player.

Dom Flemons Tour Dates

August 8 – Fall River, MA – Narrows Center for the Arts
August 10 – New York, NY – Lincoln Center Out-Of-Doors
August 15 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Caffe Lena
September 10 - Tulsa, OK - Cain’s Ballroom *
September 11 - Kansas City, MO - Knuckleheads Saloon *
September 12 - St Louis, MO - Old Rock House (outside) *
September 13 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge *
September 15 - Charleston, IL - Dvorak Concert Hall at Doudna Fine Arts Center *
September 16 - Middletown, OH - Finkelman Auditorium at Miami University *
September 17 – Carbondale, IL – Hangar 9 *
September 18 - Bloomington, IL - The Castle Theatre *
September 19 - Chicago, IL - Old Town School of Folk Music *
September 20 - Stoughton, WI - Stoughton Opera House *
September 21 - Minneapolis, MN - The Cedar Cultural Center *
September 23 - Iowa City, IA - The Englert Theatre *
September 24 - Columbia, MO - The Blue Note *
September 27 – Peninsula, OH – G.A.R. Hall **
September 28 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe **
September 30 – Lancaster, PA – Tellus 360 **
October 1 – Washington, D.C. – The Hamilton **
October 3 – Arden, DE – Arden Gild Hall **
October 4 – New York, NY – Madison Square Park
October 5 – Providence, RI – Columbus Theatre **
October 7 – Philadelphia, PA – Tin Angel **
October 8 – Hamden, CT – The Outer Space Ballroom **
October 9 – Northampton, MA – Iron Horse **
October 10 – Cambridge, MA – Club Passim **
October 15 – Rocky Mount, VA – Harvester Performance Center **

* Central Time Tour with Pokey LaFarge; Joel Savoy, Jesse Lége & The Cajun Country Revival; The Tillers; and The Loot Rock Gang
** With Grace and Tony

ON WAVE OF ACCLAIM FOR SOLO ALBUM 'RED COATS' (END UP RECORDS), FORMER RAINER MARIA SINGER/BASSIST CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS PLANS TOUR

Former Rainer Maria singer/bassist Caithlin De Marrais has earned acclaim for her solo album 'Red Coats,' out next week on End Up Records, and is planning a tour.

"Beguiling." – The New Yorker

"Sparse, elegiac pop." – New York Times

"It reduces her old band’s emo-rock blare to a quieter roar, surrounding de Marrais’ uncommonly expressive singing with tense little clicks and buzzes, slyly destabilizing where Rainer Maria once aimed to knock off socks." – Village Voice

"A crawl of brittle guitar on 'Birds,' a shivering synth on 'City Girl,' de Marrais' shyly pretty voice -- are given a chance to gleam, as they cluster shyly around her more forceful, composed bass lines." - SPIN

"Most tracks meld lush strings with catchy pop hooks that bring to mind the best of Rainer Maria." –New York Post

CAITHLIN DE MARRAIS TOUR DATES

12/02 - Brooklyn, NY @ Glasslands Gallery
12/03 - Philadelphia, PA @ North Star Bar
12/04 - Allston, MA @ Great Scott
01/18 - Riverside, CA @ The Barn at UC Riverside
01/19 - West Hollywood, CA @ The Troubadour
01/20 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill

Caithlin De Marrais shreds vocal cords in homage to Patti Smith, Scorsese

Caithlin De Marrais (formerly bassist/singer from Rainer Maria) totally shredded her vocal cords recording "Hot Day," an homage to Patti Smith's Horses and 1970s era crime films. Caithlin says, "Tears were streaming down my face during tracking. There was a feeling of desperation in the lyrics and I was reckless in a way I hadn't been since the early days of Rainer Maria when I would regularly lose my voice on tour." I love the scorching fuzz bass and her all-out belting.

Check out "Hot Day" on MTV Hive.

Hear the entire album streaming at Magnet's website.

"The primal yell in there is about running away from responsibility," Caithlin continues, "'Horses' was destined to be in my record collection. I loved Mapplethorpe, Blondie, Talking Heads and hanging out in the Village as a teenager. Now I relate to 'Horses' totally differently. It sounds old and wise to me, like a force of nature that won't be silenced."

Simultaneously "Hot Day" was influenced by soundtracks to 1970s era crime dramas "The French Connection," "Taxi Driver," and "Dirty Harry." Caithlin's Wurlitzer and Ray Saperstein's cornet pay homage to those moody, dark masterpieces.

New Yorkers: Caithlin is playing tonight at Union Hall at 10pm. Please let me know if you'd like to be on the guest list.

Advance praise for the new album:

"The former Rainer Maria frontwoman has a new solo album coming next month, Red Coats, and it reduces her old band’s emo-rock blare to a quieter roar, surrounding De Marrais’ uncommonly expressive singing with tense little clicks and buzzes, slyly destabilizing where Rainer Maria once aimed to knock off socks." -- The Village Voice

"Beguiling." – The New Yorker