Ledward Kaapana & Mike Kaawa

Old Town School of Folk Music, Fri 4/27 at 8:00 pm

"Led continues to stretch the boundaries of Slack Key guitar, dazzling audiences worldwide with his freeboard improvisations, wide-ranging vocals, and kolohe (rascally) sense of humor."



When my daughter was a baby we lived in a small, streetside one bedroom apartment on a busy corner in Brooklyn. To help her sleep at bedtime, I'd play a Led Kaapana CD. She would relax and sleep. And so did I. But not until the last note fell beautifully from the air.

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Del McCoury Band plus Steep Canyon Rangers
Fri, 4/20 at 7pm and 10pm, 4544 N Lincoln Ave

This is an awesome double bill for hardcore bluegrass lovers. Arguably the DMB is the best in bluegrass at this time. Offering a direct link to Bill Monroe through former Blue Grass Boy and family patriarch Del, the Band features the McCoury sons on banjo and mandolin respectively. They are virtuosi in every way.

Steep Canyon Rangers are another one of my favorite new generation string bands from the Carolinas (others include Uncle Earl, the Avett Brothers and King Wilkie). SCR fall into a more traditionalist lineage making them a hot-picking complement to the McCoury family juggernaut.

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The Old Town School Folk & Roots Festival
Sat July 14 & Sun Jun 15

For Americana and folk fans this year's Saturday line up is pretty much unbeatable. Headliners The Knitters are a roots rock powerhouse featuring members of X plus songwriter-guitarist Dave Alvin. Before them is Bettye LaVette, a soul singer who remained under the radar until the past couple of years. The next earlier slot is held by Uncle Earl, which you may recall is one of my absolute favorite contemporary Appalachian folk/bluegrass groups.

Sunday features African, Brazilian and Mexican folk artists plus the Midwest Invitational Fiddle Contest to kick off the day's festivities. To many the juxtaposition of bluegrass with Afro-Latin folkloric ensembles would appear jarringly out of sorts; but if you look at American mountain music as an authentic expression of indigenous culture then you won't bat an eye.

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JamBase | Robert Earl Keen

Joe's [Official Venue Website]

940 W.Weed

Chicago, IL 60601

Phone: 312.337.3486

Map to Venue: Google :: Yahoo!



"The road goes on forever and the party never ends ..." is one of those lyrics that never grows old. REK is a Texas songwriter who has never gained the national following of, say, a Jimmy Buffett. But songsmiths from coast to coast know a great tune when they hear one. And once you've heard some of Keen's country-fueled three-minute stories, you're hooked.

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Telluride Bluegrass Fest

June 21 - 24, 2007 in Telluride, Colorado

I've always wanted to check out this great, big bluegrass festival in the Rockies. Last weekend I found a vinyl LP on Flying Fish from the 1977 Telluride festival featuring Sam Bush, Vince Gill, Ray Bonneville and John Hartford.



The lineup includes some rock bands. But it's overall a few spectacular days featuring the best of the best in acoustic music. Emmylou Harris, Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas, Edgar Meyer, Darol Anger, Alison Krauss, Peter Rowan, Bryan Sutton, Chris Thile, Mike Marshall, Tony Rice, John Cowan and many more are scheduled to perform.



Tickets are on sale here.

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Petition to Nominate Pete Seeger for Nobel Peace Prize
- The Back Porch News
Now, I know you may be wondering why I'd post such a wild, wide-eyed photo since some would misconstrue the seriousness of supporting this effort. The image struck me, however, as a singular instant in which Pete's commitment to his music, human rights and the Muse erupted from his very soul. For all reasons in his long, illustrious career and life, Pete Seeger deserves global recognition.



Link directly to the online petition here.

Events Commemorating the New Steve Goodman Biography
A new biography of the beloved singer-songwriter Steve Goodman is due for national release at the end of the month. The author, Clay Eals, researched Goodman's life for eight years. He will be making in-person events at the Old Town School of Folk Music in May as well. Pre-orders are available here.



Quotes from notable supporters:
Wry, unpretentious and uplifting, Steve Goodman had a special presence with an audience. As this book recounts, he opened 200 shows for me, often for crowds of 10,000 or more. He was just one guy with a guitar, but in 30 seconds he would have them. It was amazing to see, and this biography captures every incredible detail.
- Steve Martin

Clay Eals skillfully narrates the Dickensian life of Steve Goodman, one of the most exciting and refreshing acoustic performers to grace a stage. Meticulously detailed and carefully documented, this biography reads like a riveting novel. Goodman's spirit and charm leap from its pages.
- Rich Warren, host of "The Midnight Special," WFMT-FM, Chicago

NPR : Open Mic

NPR : Open Mic
"Since it began in 2003, NPR's Open Mic from All Songs Considered has been an online showcase for nearly 800 independent, unsigned or self-produced bands. It's a virtual stage for aspiring musicians to reach a larger audience with their work and a place to discover music you likely won't hear anywhere else. Once-unkown artists like Sufjan Stevens and Regina Spektor were first heard on Open Mic."

- How to submit your recording for the NPR Open Mic
- Subscribe to the NPR Open Mic podcast

That's me on the left and ... guess who? ... That's right ... Peter Frampton!

• • • Sound Clip Joint • • •
Ken Cashion Plays Some Mighty Fine Ukelele

Jim Polaski found this homemade site of old time tunes and American standards for "uke." Lots of MP3s, too.

Greg Reish Recital MP3s



Greg Reish has posted free MP3 files from his recital at Roosevelt University's Ganz Hall. Follow this link to hear the tracks. The sound quality is superb. You can right click (option+click on a Mac) to save each file and make your own Greg Reish "Live" album. Then you can listen to turn-of-the-20th-century music on your turn-of-the-21st-century music player!

Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project

Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project



There is an amazing collection of Edison cylinder recordings preserved as MP3s on this site. My new favorite section is ... no drum roll necessary ... the fiddle tunes collection.

The performances date from roughly 1902 through the first World War, and the sound quality is surprisingly easy on the ears. Keep in mind, these recordings pre-date scratchy 78s by two decades!

It's a miracle they've survived at all. Many of the performances are phenomenal with surprisingly non-traditional brass band arrangements leading into the fiddle soloists' breaks.

I highly recommend you browse the collection for jazz, marches, minstrel music, hymns, spirituals and more.

~ F.Y.I. ~
The Farmer's Market Musicians have been invited to perform at a St. Patrick's Day event at Maguire Hall, next door to St. Catherine-St. Lucy church on Austin Ave at Washington. Plans are still being hatched. Stay tuned.

2007 Chicago Maritime Festival



Saturday, Feb 24 at the Chicago History Museum
1601 North Clark Street

CD Release Show!
“Stuck in the 60s...Cooler Near the Lake” by Natural Bob & Micky Holdsworth

• Friday February 16, 2007 at 9:00 pm (doors open 8:00)
• Hammerhed Lounge (in Cigars & Stripes)
• 6715 W. Ogden Ave. in Berwyn about 1 block east of Oak Park Ave.

Special guest performances by Lila Holdsworth, Kate Early, Jim & Mary Grosso, Bob Lopardo & Lou Nutini and probably others.

Says Natural Bob, "Hammerhed is your typical folk club. A reputed biker bar, the place is also rumored to be haunted. It’s our favorite local haunt; [it's a] cozy, friendly, well ventilated room [with] excellent nachos and good ale on tap."

"SONGS OF LOVE & DEATH"
Greg Reish
A SOLO RECITAL OF AMERICAN FOLK & ROOTS MUSIC
Ballads, Parlor Songs, Old-Time & Bluegrass with Guitar & Banjo

ROOSEVELT UNIVERSITY GANZ HALL
Auditorium Building, 7th Floor
430 South Michigan Ave (corner of Congress Pkwy)
- Yahoo! Map Here

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2007
- 7:30 PM
- FREE ADMISSION

Steeleye Span - A Lark in the Morning

From 1970 (and you can surely tell by the fashion choices made). Opens with a great electric dulcimer motif. Harkens back to that short window of time when Celtic folk met rock.

Big Bear Fan on a little scooter

That's Oak Park's own Mike Baldwin on that manly vehicle. Go, Mike, go!

Goin' Down Slow (Blues)

I recognize Norman Blake, Sam Bush, Tut Taylor and Vassar Clements (that's Mike Compton singing and picking the tenor guitar). The guy who posted this on YouTube provides complete credits. It's from a 11/18/2000 concert featuring a reunion of John Hartford's Aero-Plain Band. A DVD of the complete concert is available from Tut Taylor's Web site at http://webpages.charter.net/tutbro/. Who says bluegrassers can't play the blues?!?!

Good news for music lovers who kept their vinyl LP collection - Yahoo! News

Good news for music lovers who kept their vinyl LP collection - Yahoo! News: "A lot of music lovers have stashes of vinyl LPs that may be forgotten in the iPod era. Now Ion Audio has a simple way to convert those albums to digital files that can be listened to in iPods and other MP3 players. Its USB Turntable/CD player connects to your PC and records the albums as they play.

The turntable (model iTTCD10, due in June for $399) works like a standard turntable. And you can listen as the album is transferred to the PC. "