(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