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.
