(1) The Philadelphia Folk Festival- On a day not at all like today (that is it was much warmer and I was not huddling for warmth by a fire for most of the day) almost exactly 4 months ago we began our expedition to Philadelphia to attend the annual three day long music festival.  The first night (August 19th) we attended a concert that was free to all campers.  Audra Mae, Cadillac Sky, Glossary, and Hoots and Hellmouth performed that night.  I found the performances by Glossary and Hoots and Hellmouth to be the most captivating for me.  Glossary was an interesting group because they brought the rock music scene to folk fest, which is something that you don't really see every day.  Hoots and Hellmouth was very  upbeat and had a wildly entertaining lead singer/guitar player with crazy red hair who danced around the stage as he performed.  The performance was interrupted by a power outage at which point the lead singer tried his best to project and remain entertaining for a very confused and apprehensive crowd.

Hoots and Hellmouth

The next day I wasn't able to make it to many workshops, however, I was able to catch a performance by Erin McKeown at the camp stage at 1 p.m.  Her music was simple and yet it was clear that she is a very talented guitar player.  She invited Natalia Zuckerman to perform with he for part of the session and the two of them put on a very impressive performance.  That afternoon I saw Annie and the Beekeepers, A.A. Bondy, and the Sweetback Sisters perform.  I missed 2 acts in the middle in order to grab a bite to eat.  A.A. Bondy proved to be an interesting performer.  His lyrics were very complex and often depressing.  For whatever reason, I found the slow soothing sounds to be relaxing and even a bit reflective.

Erin McKeown and Natalia Zukerman

Satuday's evening concert consisted of performances by Djarara, Blame Sally, Vienna Teng, Jah Levi and the Higher Reasoning, Bonnie "Prince" Billy and the Cairo Gang, and finally Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams.  Djarara was a large Haitian-American group that performed using various sized horns and chant-like vocals.  Blame Sally was an all-female group that had a really nice sound to it- however their performance didn't stand out much to me.  Vienna Teng was the highlight of the evening performance for me.  Upon entering the stage, I expected to find the her voice had some kind of Asian influence or accent being that she was a Chinese-American.  However, as the first word escaped her lips I had to do a double take.  She had a beautiful clear voice with no hint of an accent whatsoever.  She also proved to be a wonderful songwriter and pianist.  My admiration for her was solidified after the first song- "Harbor", a lovely piece constructed with beautiful lyrics and a piano accompaniment that was played with majestic grace.  Ja Levi and the Higher Reasoning was a Regge Jam Band, which proved to be a very interesting change of pace.  Bonnie "Prince" was a musician unlike any other I've ever seen.  He was creepy beyond description and a perverted lyricist.  One lyric that sticks out in my mind is "The smell of your box on my mustache or a crossword on our mind."  To finish the deal he was also exceedingly creepy looking with a piercing eyes and a large bushy blonde mustache.  By the end of his performance, however, I began feeling bad for him because the crowd responded very rudely to his strange lyrics and creepy persona.  One guy shouted at him to "get off the stage" during the performance.  Instead of being discouraged Bonnie "Prince" simply retorted that making this music was how he and the band chose to "get off."  My dad made a good point, it takes someone very artistic (perhaps in a kind of psychopathic sense, there's no way to know for sure) to stray that far from the norm and not care what anyone thinks.  Finally Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams closed the afternoon program.  They were a very eccentric cast of characters with a calm lyrical style of music.

Vienna Teng

On Saturday we attended workshop at 11 a.m. run by a number of different female performers- Natalia Zukerman, Susan Warner, Trina Halmlin, Shannon Whitworth, Treasa Levasseur, and Erin McKeown.  All of these women put on really great performances and it is obvious that they were all having a really good time playing together.  I find that often times these kinds of workshops end up being simply a rotation of performances which each artist taking his or her own turn.  What was nice about this group, however, was that they each took turns but were able to incorporate the other artists into their songs as well.  Two things that really stuck out to me were the amazing harmonica stylings of Trina Hamlin as well as the impressive guitar riffs performed by Natalia Zukerman.  At noon we migrated over to another stage to see a performance by Malinky- a Scottish Folk band.  They had a very sweet sound that was surprisingly different from the Irish groups I am used to hearing.  I think the key element that was different was the lack of a woodwind instrument- namely an irish flute of some sort.  For some reason the irish flute is kind the highlight of a celtic group for me and so, although they put on a great performance, I felt like there was something missing.  In addition, seeing as they were performing traditional scottish tunes, they proved to be a bit repetitive.  Our last workshop came together at 2 p.m.  I attended it mainly to see the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band.  I thoroughly enjoyed the performance.  It was great dancing music and a number of couples got up to dance throughout the performance.  I was also happy to hear a few jazz numbers that I recognized.  The most alluring aspect of this group would have to be the trumpet player.  He had a very wide range and performed with apparent ease.  We caught the tail end of the afternoon performance that took place from 4-6 p.m.  The second act, which we caught, was a performance by Jeff Tweedy of the band Wilco.  He had a sweet sounding voice, although the songs sounded very similar to one another and lacked substance making them slightly dull.

Women's Workshop/ Malinky/Harlem Jazz Band

Saturday evening was a concert from 730 until midnight.  The closing act, Mike Cross, was sick so they had to call in a replacement.  The first performance was by Chris Smither and the Motivators.  After that Erin Mckeown took the stage joined by the ladies who had performed with her earlier on in the day.  The women played a few songs together and then Erin finished the set off on her own,  Next, Jesse McReynolds performed as a replacement for Mike Cross.  His music had a country bluegrass feel to it.  It was nice, but nothing super special.  After that the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band performed again.  This performance wasn't quite as enjoyable for me seeing as there was no trumpet this time around, although the lead singer was very amusing because she would kind of flirt with the audience during her performance.  The final act was a man who I grew up listening to form my parents- Taj Mahal.  He performed the song that I associate him with, Fishing Blues.  His performance was a really great way to close the first evening concert.

Taj Mahal

Sunday turned out to be a pretty crummy rainy day.  As a result, it took us some time to get ourselves together in order to attend workshops.  All around the campsites and stages there was a rainbow of color as people in varies ponchos and raincoats tried to stay dry while still being able to enjoy the music.  At 11 a.m. we attended a workshop featuring That 1 Guy.  What guy you might ask.  Well you must know That 1 Guy.  Very amusing choice for a band name.  He was in fact one guy making some very interesting music and sound effects a homemade instrument that resembles a thick metal tubing bent almost in the shape of a messy P.  The tubing is then attached by a wire to a small drum with a base petal attached to it.  His physical appearance went well with his eccentric musical style.  At 11:55 a.m. we caught Nudie and the Turks and Amelia Curran at the camp stage.  Nudie and the Turks, a very intriguing band name, proved to be less unusual than expected.  Their music had kind of a Country Western feel to it.  Amelia Curran was a singer song writer with a slow acoustic style.  She had a nice voice but the songs lacked excitement and visible emotion much of the time.  She was a very good lyricist, however.  After I attended a performance by Cheers Elephant at the Lobby/Dance stage.  I was drawn to go see them because of a very interesting description I found in the weekend program booklet.  They were described to have a "British sound", which was something I really wanted to see.  In addition, they were a local Philadelphia band and very young in comparison to most of the other performers I had seen at the festival.  I was thoroughly impressed with their performance.  I found them to be kind of a cross between Bob Dylan and The Beatles, among others.  They had a surprisingly cohesive sound considering that they were such a young group that couldn't have had years upon years to prepare their musical arrangements.  One thing that stuck out in their performance was the boy who played the tambourine and ran around the stage throwing his head back and forth.  It seemed to me that the main appeal of Mr. tambourine man was simply to entertain the audience.  All in all, I was utterly impressed with their performance.  I purchased a copy of their CD from 2008 entitled Cheers Elephant and I continue to listen to it on occasion.  They were followed by a performance of "Whirled Music" by Ken Ulansey.  Ulansey and his ensemble played a wide variety of music from all over the world.  The most memorable number included a performance by women from a belly dancing organization with choreography that accompanied the music.

                 Rain Attire/That 1 Guy/Cheers Elephant

The Sunday Evening Concert began at 4 p.m. and drew to a close at 9:30 p.m.  It was probably my least favorite of the evening performances, although I did enjoy the closing act.  Due to the fact that the concert ran through any reasonable dinner time we missed a bit of the concert in order to get some food in our systems.  In addition, my sister and I returned the the Lobby/Dance stage at 6:30 p.m. for the final opportunity to dance.  The dance stage performers were Clay Ross and Matuto.  They did a wonderful job encouraging the audience to dance and have a good time.  Their music alone had the ability to draw people to the dance floor with their feet tapping.  It had a jazzy ethnic feel to it featuring percussion, guitar, bass, and fiddle.  For me, the  highlights of the main concert were Iain Matthews, Susan Werner with Natalia Zukerman and Trina Hamlin, Malinky, and Richard Thompson.  Richard Thompson was especially enjoyable for me because I grew up listening to him because he is a favorite musician of my parents.  Seeing him live gave me more insight into how talented he is as a musician.  He was a gifted guitar player and this was evident in the complex arrangements that he played, often times mimicking the vocal arrangements but slightly delayed.  In addition, he has a unique voice that gives his music a kind of unique edge.  At the end of his set Thompson invited Iain Matthews to join him and they performed a few songs together.  It was a great way to end a wonderful weekend of music and festivities.

Clay Ross and Matuto/Richard Thompson

  

It is the end of December- it is finally winter break for me and that means that for the first time in a very long time I finally have free time.  That being said, it seems that I have a whole lot of catching up to do as far as musical coverage is concerned here.  The past few months have been chock full of opportunities for me to attend musical performances.  I hope my memory serves me well as I attempt to start from the very beginning.

“A Grand Old Piano”

In July 2010 a 1956 piano was returned to Rockwell Hall Auditorium completely refurbished and is now considered a world-class concert instrument.

The piano, a Mason and Hamlin Concert Grand, was purchased in 1956 and originally lived in Albright Knox Hall next to the Albright Knox Art Gallery.

In 2005 plans began being made to possibly invest in trying to restore the piano to its original condition.

The fund raising for the project began in 2008 with the help of the 88-Key People Campaign and Ted Turkle, director of the SUNY Research Foundation.

The project really took off in early 2009 when the piano was sent to Nathan Baldwin in Pennsylvania.  Baldwin worked on refinishing the case and replacing various internal parts of the piano.

In Fall 2009 the piano was then delivered to Graham Howes, a piano technician for Buffalo State College.  He installed new strings and ensured that all other aspects of the piano were intact.    

The finished piano is currently located in Rockwell Hall Auditorium.  In 2012 a new 4 million dollar recital hall will have been completed on the third floor of Rockwell Hall.  “The Mason and Hamlin along with other instruments we plan to purchase will service that recital hall,” explained Dr. Bradley Fuster, Buffalo State Music Department chair.

Dr. Bryan Boyce, Assistant Professor of Piano at Buffalo State and a very talented musician, performed a faculty recital on the newly refurbished piano on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.

The recital consisted of a variety of classical pieces as well as the world premier of a brand new composition entitled “Redshift” by Jose Tomás Henriques, an Assistant Professor at Buffalo State.

“I chose a program that would show off the wide range of colors and dynamics that the instrument is capable of,” Boyce explained.  He said, “the recital billed as the unveiling of the instrument- as the first one to perform on it.”

Boyce was also very active in the refurbishing of the piano.  “I was certainly the one spearheading this and pushing it to happen,” he said.

Boyce explained what it took to be able to see the project through.  “We fund raised for a year and a half through the 88 Key People Campaign.  That money and the money from the Research Foundation made this all possible,” he said.

There is a plaque located in the lobby outside of the Rockwell Hall Auditorium.  It acknowledges all those who were involved in the refurbishing process.

The students are also excited at the prospect of having a new concert quality piano available to them.  “It helps the department as a whole by giving us better material to work with,” explained Amanda Stallone, a sophomore piano student and music major.

The piano will be available for student concerts, faculty concerts, and guest artist recitals for years to come.  In fact, this past Sunday, Clair Huangci performed an all Chopin piano recital on the refurbished Mason and Hamlin. 

There will certainly be many more wonderful performances in the future that feature this grand piano.

The Buffalo State Music Department is also looking at possibly refurbishing a couple of other grand pianos in the near future.

Ok, so I haven't made a post in over a month- welcome to my life in college.  A friend of mine gave me the idea that while I'm busy at college I could simply post some of the articles that I write for the school newspaper.  I'm gonna post the unedited versions, that way you can really get a sense of what I wanted to say rather than what the paper wanted me to say.  Most of these will probably be music related, however, not all of them, so bear with me.  I hope that this will suffice until I am able to catch up with writing about events such as the Philadelphia Folk Festival, the Jason Mraz performance, and the Irish Festival that I recently attended :-).  Anyway, until then, enjoy my campus-related articles.  

The final performance that I would like to describe to you took place on August 15, 2010 from 2-4:30 p.m. at Bayard Cutting Arboretum.  It was an outdoor concert performed by Ahmad Ali and friends.
I have always enjoyed attending concerts at the Arboretum because it is a nice, relaxing atmosphere.  It was a really great day- not too sunny with a little bit of wind to keep it just cool enough.  
I thought the performance itself was also fantastic.  Ali and friends had a very interesting sound that was kind of a cross between jazz and blues styles of music.  It was also nice to hear a few recognizable tunes.  I think it is important for a group that performs mainly covers to mix in some well known songs so that the audience can really participate.  
I enjoyed the music enough to purchase a $5 CD during the performance.  I was kind of disappointed with the CD when I listened to it later because it was much slower paced and very instrumentally based.  Ahmad Ali's very cool blues/jazz voice was a large part of what made his live performance so appealing.  My disappointment may be in part due to the fact that I bought the $5 CD with only 8 songs rather than the $10 one with 12.
CD aside, however, I found the concert to be both fun and entertaining.


So, the decision has been made- I will be attending the Philadelphia Folk Festival.  I will be leaving on thursday and I will try to keep a running set of notes as before.  When I will get to actually posting is a whole other story however, considering that I have 3 days to get ready to leave for school after I return.  I will do my best though, wish me luck :-).

On August 8th, 2010 the DingamaBogs performed at the Bogner/Moore estate on Eatons Neck for a Northport Chorale Benefit Concert.  They are a traditional folk/alternative music group that has been performing together for over 20 years, and two of them just so happen to be my parents :-).  This versatile trio of musicians perform using a variety of instruments including guitar, autoharp, banjo, recorders, clarinet, harmonica, and various others.  Their most distinct quality in my opinion is the unique way that they blend beautiful vocal 3-part harmonies.  Their repertoire consists of a very diverse mixture of songs ranging from traditional folk tunes to The Beatles to more contemporary artists such as R.E.M., Jonatha Brooke, and Tom Waits.
The party itself was a great venue for the DingamaBogs because most of the people seemed to appreciate the kind of music that they played.  The audience consisted of mostly older folk but there was also a somewhat diverse age range.  For some people, this type of music is kind of an acquired taste.  As someone who enjoys folk music, it was refreshing to see people really enjoying the concert and showing their appreciation by offering praise to the musicians at the end.
Over the years, I have listened to a lot of the same songs being performed by them, but I find that they never really get old.  Of all the music that this group could cover- this program really suits them.  For me, it's really nice to hear some new songs being thrown into the mix because it's interesting to see the group's interpretation of each song.  It's also nice to see an already diverse repertoire expanding its horizons even further.
The day was beautiful, the performance was fabulous, and the food was terrific.  All in all it was really a wonderful and successful event.

Okay, I'm gonna back track a little to some concerts that I attended earlier on in the summer.  This is tapping pretty deep in my memory, so bare with me.

On June 29th, 2010 I traveled to the Broadway Bar in Amityville, New York to attend a battle of the bands competition.  It was mainly metal music, which is kind of out of my element, but I actually really enjoyed it.  Some of the stuff was a bit heavy for my taste but there's something nice about having a balance of heavy music in combination with some more lyrical and melodic phrases.  The battle of the bands consisted of about 7 or 8 bands competing for the big win.  I made it to the bar only in time to see the last 3 bands perform.  
The first band was Kristy's Corner Store (http://www.myspace.com/kristyscornerstore).   They were really very good in my opinion, however I would hardly classify them as metal.  They fit more in the rock category.  The lead singer had a wonderful voice and that blended very well the other instruments.  Just coming into the bar not knowing what to expect, I must say that I was impressed by how well they performed.  That doesn't change the fact that I feel as if they really didn't fit in well with the rest of the performing groups.
The second band was an older group of men.  I honestly for the life of me cannot remember the band name.  There is also a definite chance that I never knew the band name to begin with.  Anyway, this band was my least favorite of the three that I saw.  The entire time the lead singer was screaming I kept  feeling like he was gonna bust an artery or something.  Maybe it was just because of how old he was, but I also think that part of it was a pained expression on his face.  On top of that- I didn't find them very enjoyable to listen to.  Granted, metal music is not really a genre that I am very accustomed to listening to and perhaps that is why I found them much too heavy.  For me I want to at least be able to hear that real words are being sung.  It also helps for there to be some kind of melodic organization.
The final group that performed was Psykosis (http://www.myspace.com/walkingplagueband).  This band originates from my neck of the woods and they were the reason that I attended the concert in the first place.  I was very impressed with their performance.  They definitely exemplified my definition of metal.  Their drummer was sublime and apparently picked up on the songs with little to no practice.  The songs had great beats which made them very danceable.  The guitarists were very talented and created a nice melodic base and on occasion I could even hear the words.  Most importantly, Psykosis was the most successful when it came to audience participation.  It probably helped that most of the audience was there specifically to see them.  Whatever the reason, the audience was at their loudest and the most involved during the Psykosis performance.  Many of the audience members also proudly donned Psykosis t-shirts.  Throughout the course of their performance one of the guitar players, JD McGibney, climbed off the stage and began walking around among the audience members while continuing to play.  This allowed the audience to really interact with the performers and feel like they were really a part of the show.  Toward the end of the performance a few of the band members became too hot apparently and stripped themselves of their t-shirts.  
In the end Kristy's Corner Store ended up winning the battle of the bands.  As talented as they were, I had been under the impression that it was supposed to be more of a metal competition than a rock competition.  All in all, however, I really enjoyed the concert.  More than anything else, it allowed me to broaden my horizons a bit and remove myself from my musical comfort zone.

Success! It only took a few months, but I finally finished writing about my first event. I'm not sure what is next on the agenda because I may or may not to attending the Philadelphia Folk Festival that is happening August 20-22 (http://www.pfs.org/PFF.php). Beyond that I have some really great news- I have just received tickets to attend two concerts in Buffalo with my lovely roommate. The first concert will be Jason Mraz performing at SUNYAB Baird Point Amphitheater on September 15th at 7 p.m. (http://jasonmraz.com/#/tour/). The second performance will be Ani Difranco in Asbury Hall at Babeville on November 2nd at 7 p.m. (http://www.righteousbabe.com/tour/index.asp#ani). I cannot wait!

The final performance on Sunday night was the most bland in my opinion. It began at 3:30 p.m. and was MCed by Bill Spence and Roger the Jester. This comic couple made jokes, told stories, and most importantly announced the list of lost and found items. The concert consisted of performances by Joe Hickerson, Tony Barrand, Becky Tracy and Keith Murphy, Alan Kaufman and the A-Ks, Cathy Barton and Dave Para, Susan Trump, and AJ Bodner and Lisa DiSavino. It was hard for me to decide the concert highlight. My parents seemed to particularly enjoy the performance by Tony Barrand. I feel like there was kind of a generational gap in this final performance.

Before the end of the concert the MCs made sure that they took the traditional sleeping audience picture, hoping that everyone would actively (or in this case- inactively) participate. My family and I took our own traditional picture in front of the Old Songs Trailer that was parked within the fair grounds.

Sunday 6/27/10 (3:30 p.m.) Today I promised myself that I would go to a workshop in every time slot possible. It was almost a success, however, I missed the first time slot from 9- 10:30 because we were still eating breakfast at the tent.

- At 10:45 a.m. we went to see the Mime and Juggling stylings of Roger the Jester. We have been going to see Roger since we were little kids and even now that we are older he is still able to make us laugh and put a smile on our face. The children were a bit unruly and they kept telling him to throw things out the window. It came to the point that he just started actually throwing things. It was pretty amusing even from the perspective of a young adult. The thing that really touched me about his performance this year, however, was that at the end of the show he made a speech about the importance of laughter and he got tears in his eyes. We made a point to speak to him after the show and he told us that he was thinking about when he travelled to Haiti. He was able to help these children and adults who had seen such hard times by making them smile or laugh. it must have been an amazing experience for him, and I can see why he would be so affected by it, even now.

- At 12:00 my little sister and I went to visit Buffalo's own Babik again. They were putting on a family show. It turned out to be a little less family oriented than I had expected. There was a bit of audience participation toward the beginning of the performance. The band members asked us to join hand in a circle (a bit difficult being that we were underneath a rectangular tent) and as the music played we danced and rotated the circle. It was less organized than it could've been, but it was fun all the same. The real, however, began when slightly inappropriate things began occurring. It started out innocent enough with the Shaving Cream song. This song is a narrative that alway ends with a SH before the chorus, giving the illusion that the lyrics would include the word SHit. Later on in the workshop, however, Stewart Fuchs made a joke that seemed less than family oriented. His microphone would not stay up so without hesitation he simply stated "This microphone stand need viagra or something." He followed it up by explaining that this is a family show and thats how some family's are made." I couldn't help but laugh at the irony. All in all, a very nice workshop, and it was wonderful to get to see Babik perform one last time.

-At 1:15 we attended a Celtic Soiree in which Matt and Shannon Heaton collaborated with Paul McKenna Band. It was a wonderful combination of Irish and Scottish folk performances. The groups played both separately and in combination with one another. Personally, I really enjoyed the sound of both groups playing together. I was also very impressed by it because it seemed as if it hadn't been rehearsed. If that were the case, with little to no preparation, they had managed to pull off a wonderful performance.

-The last workshop I attended was entitled "The Last Great Contra Dance of the 2010 Festival." I had wanted to dance the entire festival and this would be my last chance. I took turns dancing with my mother and sister and, for whatever reason, I was the man. It turned out great though. I really enjoy dancing, even if it is not my strongest form of artistic expression. Each dance was explained to us and we went through the motions slowly. Then, as we got used to it, the band began to play and we would begin to go faster. After a while I was glad that I had chosen to be the man because that meant that I could lead and go at my own pace. All in all, I don't think that I made too big of a fool of myself. I also really enjoyed getting to know all of the people that were dancing with. Many of them, I was happy to find, were sometimes as oblivious to what what we were doing as I was. At one point during the workshop it began to downpour and everyone clapped and cheered (at this point we were all hot a sweaty). I left feeling hot and sore, but also somehow accomplished.

-After the last dance I returned to the tent to pack it up before going to the concert at 3:45.

Saturday 6/26/10 (12 a.m.) Out of all of the evening performances that I experienced during the trip this Saturday night performance was by far my favorite. The M.C. was John Roberts- a wildly amusing English Folk singer and one hell of an entertainer. In between numbers he sang some hilarious, and often only mildly offensive folk songs. My personal favorite among these songs was a silly piece involving the narrator's rear end. This evening's concert consisted of performances by Tim Eriksen, Moscow Nights, Debra Cowin, Babik, Gadelle, Brian Peters, Matt and Shannon Heaton, and Kim and Reggie Harris.

- Tim Eriksen had a singing style much like that of Elizabeth LaPrelle and, likewise, he specialized in performing traditional ballads. He was a very talent musician- playing the guitar, fiddle, and banjo. I was intrigued to learn that he had a history as both an ethnomusicologist and a teacher. Throughout the festival he lead a number of shape note workshops.

- Moscow Nights proved to be an extremely interesting group of musicians. Originating in Russia, this group performed mostly Russian folk music. They performed most of their songs accompanied by an accordion and both a soprano and bass balalaika. The balalaikas were pretty amazing instruments and the performance was filled with beautiful pieces of Russian culture.

- Debra Cowan's performance was a very nice interpretation of traditional folk tunes. She had a very clear voice and was not afraid to perform pieced a cappella. She also sometimes played guitar as she sang.

- This was the third time I had seen Babik perform and it certainly would not be my last. During my second semester at Buffalo State Babik had put on a performance in collaboration with the Buffalo Philharmonic. It was absolutely amazing, so of course, I had pretty high standards for them going into tho this. Luckily, they did not disappoint. The performance was fun and energetic. Besides being brilliant gypsy jazz style musicians, the group is also comprised to two very talented singers. Two of the songs stood out as particularly humorous and fun. The first was a number in which the band members tried to portray a war-like setting by combining a few well-known songs together in fun and interesting ways. The second was a song entitled the Sheik of Araby during which Stewart Fuchs played a funny sounding instrument which resembled a small section of piping. It was not at all surprising that this group turned out to be the highlight of the evening for me.

- Gadelle was a wonderful group comprised of four women. They were a traditional French-Acadian group made up of extremely talented instrumentalists. More impressive, however, was the fact that they were also all very talented dancers. Throughout the entire performance fiddle/harmonica player Louise Arsenault kept he feet tapping in order provide a wonderful percussive accompaniment. Then, to top it all off, toward the end of the performance the women stood up with their instruments and began to step dance, all the while continuing to play. I was extremely impressed, if not slightly jealous. I am a failure when it comes to multi-tasking and this group went above an beyond simply multi-tasking. Gadelle's performance was wonderfully entertaining in more than one artistic field.

- Brian Peters was an traditional English Folk performer. His interesting english-accented voice gave him a unique musical sound. He also had an interesting personality when relating to the audience, the kind that makes you stop for a second and think- "Did he really just say that?" Many of the songs that he performed were very repetitive, but we like that here at folk fest. It allowed for a lot of audience participation which is always a plus (especially when everyone can sing well and keep a beat :-D).

- Matt and Shannon Heaton put on a beautiful performance of traditional Irish music. Shannon played beautifully on both the flute and whistle. Meanwhile, Matt often played guitar and they both did their share of singing. I enjoyed the pieces that they performed and, much like Paul McKenna Band, I was arrested by the beautiful sounds of the flute and whistle.

- Out of sheer exhaustion my camping cronies and I retired to the tent during the final act- Kim and Reggie Harris. What I was able to hear of their performance, however, was very interesting. It was a folky kind of a gospel/jazz blend.

- It has been a wonderful night of performances and we're all excited to see what tomorrow will have in store.

Saturday 6/26/10 (4:30 p.m.) Today was a pretty long day for me considering that I usually don't wake up until well after 10 during the summer. We woke up nice and early this morning to ensure that we would be able to attend workshops starting at 10.- At 10 a.m. I attended a Gypsy Jazz Guitar workshop lead by Stewart Fuchs and Joshua Assad of Babik. I hadn't brought a guitar along but I enjoyed the workshop all the same. Joshua and Stewart showed a large group of guitar players the correct way to strum a guitar within the gypsy jazz style of playing. This style is kind of a reverse of the way that guitar players usually play. They explained that the 2nd and 4th beats must be accented, however, the length of the notes should not be compromised during the process.

- At 11:15 a.m. we travelled over to the main stage where we were able to catch another performance by Paul McKenna group, whom we had seen the previous night. Seeing as they only have one album out at the moment, they had to repeat a few tunes. This turned out to be not quite so bad, however, because many of the audience members were able to sing along.

- At 3 p.m. we returned to the main stage to watch a kind of pre-concert performance by Babik. At this point it had been raining for a while and many of the audience members were either wet or sporting brightly colored umbrellas. It was difficult to truly enjoy the performance because of the crummy weather in combination with the fact that the sound systems are not used to their full potential during the day. Luckily, we would be able to see them perform again tonight on the main stage with the full effect of the sound systems.

Friday 6/25/10 (5 p.m.) We arrived at the Old Songs Festival at a little before 9 a.m. this morning and set up camp. We are all exhausted, considering that we left at around 4:30 this morning. Besides workshops, the first concert begins tonight at 7. I am looking forward to attending.

Friday 6/25/10 (12 a.m.) This first performance has proven to be extremely interesting. The M.C. was George Ward- a performer/composer of traditional folk songs. The evening consisted of performances by Billy Jonas, Sally Rogers and Howie Bursen, the James Keelaghan Trio, the Tennessee Mafia Jug Band, the Paul McKenna Band, Joe and Jesse Bruchac, Madcat and Kane, and Elizabeth LaPrelle and the Fruit Dodgers.

- The first performance that we were able to see was that of Sally Rogers and Howie Bursen. They have been married for 28 years and they come together to create a very nice traditional folk sound. Sally Rogers sang and played guitar, banjo, and mountain dulcimer. Howie also sang and played both the banjo and the guitar. In the past, I have seen Sally Rogers perform solo. After hearing her perform with Howie, however, I found that the combination of their two voices and musical talents has proven even more auditorily pleasing.

- The next performer- James Keelaghan, shares a connection with me personally because he has had a successful career as a music journalist. He and his Trio proved to be remarkable storytellers through the folk music medium.

- The Tennessee Mafia Jug Band was a unique group of performers at the festival this year. There was a very strong country feel to their music. The songs they played reminded me a great deal of the cowboy tunes that I learned about this past semester in my History of Popular Music class. I do not claim to be the biggest fan of Country music, however, I can't help but appreciate a group of musicians who perform using jugs and washboards as instruments.

Personally, I got a kick out of the fact that every time little Lester Armistead reached a high harmony when he sang he would come up on his tip toes.

- Joe and Jesse Brochac put on a very interesting performance. Both are of Native American decent and together they performed songs from the Native American culture. Jesse Brochac played a wind instrument with a very natural sound in order to display the Native American connection to natural elements such as wind. Through music they also explained aspects of the Native American culture such as marriage rituals.

- The highlight of the performance by Madcat and Kane was certainly Madcat and his amazing harmonica playing. Madcat and Kane combined to create a very blues oriented type of a sound. Both sang and Kane played blues guitar. They were very impressive as instrumentalists but I felt that their vocals left something to be desired. Perhaps it is simply the nature of the genre but I kind of felt that Kane in particular did not explore a very large vocal range and it gave her vocals more of a percussive feel than a harmonic one.

- Elizabeth LaPrelle and the Fruit Dodgers performed old-time tunes and Appalachian ballads. Elizabeth had a very unique sounding voice that made it sound almost as if she were half yodeling when she sang. I enjoyed the tunes but had a little trouble getting used to the unusual sound of her voice. In addition to singing, Elizabeth also played the fiddle. The group was mostly comprised of members of her family.

* For me, the Paul McKenna Band performance was the biggest highlight of the evening. This group travelled from Scotland and is currently touring in the United States. I enjoyed the sound of the flute and penny whistle, played by Sean Gray, in combination with the uplifting sounds of the fiddle, played by Rhairidh MacMillan. In addition, there is something sweet about vocals with a Scottish accent mixed in (Paul McKenna). All of the band members worked together to create a sweet Scottish sound that resembled a fresh new approach to a traditional style of music.

I'm heading up to Altamont for the Old Songs festival tomorrow. I won't have internet for the weekend so I'll have to go old fashion. I'll make my next post when i can after I return home.

As of right now it seems that my first concert opportunity won't be until June 25th- June 27th at which point I will be attending the Old Songs Music Festival in Altamont, New York (visit http://www.oldsongs.org/festival/index.html for more info). I'm not sure what my situation is going to be concerning internet considering that I will probably be tent camping. Either way I'll be sure to take lots of notes :-). I look forward to having at chance to really begin writing.

Introduction:

As a college student pursuing a future in journalism it is hard for me to imagine where I will end up in the next few years. It is my dream to become a music journalist for some magazine or print newspaper. This dream will be quite challenging to reach considering the current status of the print news industry. Although my future is unclear, one thing that I understand is the present. I am creating this blog in the hope that I can make a difference with my writing in the here and now. I will strive to bring the beauty of music into a literary form. One thing I love about music is the fact that writing about it will always be a challenge. This is because I will never be able to fully describe the beauty of music in words. The English language, as wonderful as it is, is far too limited. It is my job to try and find the combination of words that best describes my personal aesthetic interpretation of musical performances. I will eagerly take on this challenge and enjoy every minute of it. I hope that you enjoy joining me on my journey as I explore the beauty of the musical world in combination with the beauty of the English language. :-) Enjoy.