 |
|
|
|
|
Slaid Cleaves. Grew up in Maine. Lives in Texas. Writes songs. Makes Records. Travels around. Tries to be good.
That’s how Slaid Cleaves’ official bio starts, and it tells most of his story. What it understates is that he has become one of Austin’s most gifted singer-songwriters – and all the work that it took to get there.
Cleaves’ career as a performer began as a busker, or street singer, on the streets of Cork, Ireland where he was attending a semester of college. After a stint with The Moxie Men, a rock band form Portland Maine, Cleaves moved to Austin, Texas in 1991, and promptly won the prestigious Kerrville New Folk competition the following year.
In 2000, Cleaves began to achieve national prominence with the release of Broke Down, which climbed the Americana charts. He recently released his first album of original songs in five years, Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away, which was eagerly anticipated and well received by fans and critics alike.
Official Website: www.Slaid.com
Song Samples: www.MySpace.com/SlaidCleaves
|
 |
Gurf Morlix is an acclaimed guitarist and producer with credits to his resume that include Lucinda Williams, Blaze Foley, Mary Gauthier and Slaid Cleaves - just part of a career that has spanned four decades.
In 2000, he made his first solo record, which marked an added career focus on songwriting. Since then, Morlix has released five more solo recordings, including 2009’s Last Exit to Happyland. In 2004, Morlix was added to the Austin Music Awards Hall of Fame.
Official Website & Song Samples: www.gurfmorlix.com/
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| Storyhillwith Rj Cowdery |
|
|
| SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17TH |
| PLEASE NOTE - This concert will take place at the new McConnell Arts Center of Worthington, 160 W. Dublin Granville Road - next to Thomas Worthington High School. |
| $20 advance | $23 door | $15 Students | $5 Youth |
| 8:00pm | Doors open at 7:30pm |
|
|
|
The duo Storyhill began in Bozeman, Montana, where Chris Cunningham and John Hermanson grew up and started performing together as teenagers. Both were musical from the get-go, singing with choirs, playing in bands and mastering many musical instruments. What began as a 7th grade experiment has made them close friends and lifelong musical collaborators.
With infectious melodies and captivating performances, Storyhill has become a favorite at clubs and theaters across the country and has earned high praise from fellow musicians and critics. Their latest CD is a perfect blend of Americana, folk and pop and recalls the early alt-country sounds of The Jayhawks.
Official Website & Song Samples: www.Storyhill.com
|
|
Due to unforeseen circumstances, Lucy Wainwright Roche will not be available to perform this weekend, but this gives us an opportunity to present a very special local talent who is making waves on the national scene.
Rj Cowdery is a Columbus-based artist who first developed a strong regional following in the 1990s and performed for Six String Concerts as part of our Homegrown show in 1997. Rj's past few years on the folk festival trail have been nothing short of extraordinary.
Cowdery has received major accolades at some of the most prestigious festivals in the U.S., including: 2008 Kerrville New Folk Winner, 2008 Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist, 2007 Mountain Stage NewSong Winner.
"Well-crafted songs, a natural yet confident stage presence, and a beautiful voice that perfectly complements her guitar playing" - Gar Ragland
Official Website & Song Samples: www.RjCowdery.com
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Amanda Walther and Sheila Carabine formed Dala shortly after meeting in a Scarborough, Ontario high school music class. The duo’s name was formed by combining the last two letters or their first names.
From high school to Toronto’s famed Massey Hall, Dala has come a long way in a short time. These two best friends have brought their signature style of harmony-driven acoustic pop music to audiences across Canada, earning four Canadian Folk Music Award nominations along the way.
Now bringing their talents south of the border, Dala was the only Canadian act invited to perform at the 50th anniversary of the Newport Folk Festival earlier this year.
Official Website: www.DalaGirls.com
Song Samples: www.MySpace.com/DalaGirls
|
|
David Tamulevich and Michael Hough are celebrating 35 years as Mustard’s Retreat, one of the Midwest’s best folk duos.
The pair met in 1974 and first sang together at an open-mike at Ark coffeehouse in Ann Arbor. They were immediately asked back for a showcase night, and within a couple of months were the "house band" at a local bookstore. Within a year, they were gigging full time at pubs, colleges, concerts and coffeehouses.
Through the years, Mustard’s Retreat has built a strong following of fans who adore their performances that range from silly to sincere, and their unsurpassed ability to connect with an audience. We’re excited to present the duo that singer/songwriter Garnet Rogers said, "represents everything that is best about folk music.”
"A pleasure to see and hear. Music to cure what ails you.” - Michigan Times
”Uplifting...joyful..the missing link between the traditional and the contemporary.” - Anne Saunders, programmer for the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival
Official Website & Song Samples: www.mustardsretreat.com
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Carrie Newcomer is one of contemporary folk’s leading performing songwriters.
Her career has spanned nearly 3 decades, beginning in the early ‘80s as part of the folk group Stone Soup before she branched out on her own in 1988 and steadily earning attention and respect. 2008 was an exceptional year for Newcomer, as she earned FolkWax Magazine awards for Artist of the Year and Album of the Year for her latest release The Geography of Light.
Newcomer sings about serious subjects with clarity and elegance, and a healthy measure of good humor and self-awareness, with a voice the Austin Statesman has called "as rich as Godiva chocolate." Her music resonates with Appalachian and classical influences, and is punctuated with adept guitar work and powerful but intimate vocals.
Official Website & Song Samples: www.CarrieNewcomer.com
|
|
Chuck E. Costa is a modern day troubadour with a dulcet voice and emotive lyrics.
Since earning a degree in philosophy from the University of Colorado, the native New Yorker returned to the East Coast where he has grown into a nationally-touring regular of the club, coffeehouse and festival circuits. Costa won the 2008 Rocky Mountain Folks Fest Showcase, and was named a top Emerging Artist from the 2009 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.
Official Website & Song Samples: www.chuckecosta.com/
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Individually, Jonathan Byrd and Diana Jones are talented. Together, they’re special. Byrd and Jones recorded an album as duo “Byrdjones” in 2007, digging deep into their Appalachian and gospel roots.
Diana Jones offers listeners a rare gift of original songs with uncommon depth and beauty infused with time-honored values of traditional American music.
Her musical style has been compared to Iris DeMent and Gillian Welch, and the Chicago Tribune says Jones “just may be the best American songwriter most people have never heard of.” Among other accolades, Jones was nominated for Emerging Artist of the Year and her song “Pony” was nominated for “Song of the Year” by the North American Folk Alliance in 2006.
Official Website: www.DianaJonesMusic.com
Song Samples: www.MySpace.com/DianaJonesMusic
Jonathan Byrd is a native North Carolinian who grew up singing in the Southern Baptist church where his father preached and his mother played piano.
After four years in the Navy, where he carried a guitar behind his bunk, he returned to home to play in rock bands. It was at an old-time fiddle festival in the mountains of southwest Virginia where his writing began to change. Assimilating the sounds of southern traditional music, Byrd wrote new songs in an ancient style.
Byrd has earned the respect of fellow musicians and critic alike, and was named a Kerrville New Folk winner in 2003.
Official Website: www.JonathanByrd.com
Song Samples: www.MySpace.com/JonathanByrd
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Harmonies. If you had to describe the music of Girlyman in one word, this would be it. The story doesn't end there, of course: the band blends modern acoustic, Americana, and folk-rock into a musical recipe The Village Voice has called "really good, really unexpected, and really different." The group’s wide range of instruments reflects an eclectic sound, and the band members switch off lead vocals and songwriting duties. But it’s the stunning three-part vocal blend that creates the Girlyman magic.
The trio of Nate Borofsky, Doris Muramatsu, and Ty Greenstein hails from Atlanta, though they formed the band while sharing an apartment in Brooklyn.
And the name? Muramatsu says, "It's great for us, provocative and playful. It makes people laugh. But it also hints at how we've never quite fit in. The name Girlyman lets us acknowledge that we're out of the mainstream, but without taking ourselves too seriously."
Official Website: www.girlyman.com
Song Samples: www.myspace.com/girlymanband
|
|
As the daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Suzzy Roche (of The Roches), perhaps music was in Lucy Wainwright Roche’s blood. When half-brother Rufus Wainwright invited Lucy to sing backup on his tour, she changed her focus from her career as an elementary school teacher to fulfill her destiny as a songwriter and performer.
Since then, she has made her own mark as a Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist winner in 2008 and Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk winner in 2009.
Official Website & Song Samples: www.MySpace.com/LWRLWR
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
One of the leading voices in American songwriting, Ellis Paul was a principle figure in the wave of singer/songwriters that emerged from the Boston folk scene, creating a movement that revitalized the national acoustic circuit with an urban, literate, folk pop style that helped renew interest in the genre in the 1990's.
Paul is a critically-acclaimed singer, songwriter, poet, and troubadour originally hailing from a potato farming family in northern Maine. He has earned thirteen Boston Music Awards, second only to multi-platinum act, Aerosmith. Ellis Paul has built a vast catalog of music which weds striking poetic imagery and philosophical introspection with hook-laden melodies.
Official Website: www.EllisPaul.com
Song Samples: www.MySpace.com/EllisPaul
|
|
Antje Duvekot (pronounced: Aunt-yuh Doo-va-kot) is one of the brightest singer-songwriters to rise out of Boston's competitive acoustic music scene.
Duvekot was born in Heidelberg, Germany and moved to the United States at the age of 13. She began recording music on her own at 16, producing limited-edition cassette tapes for her friends. At 18 she won the first open mic competition she entered, at the Sam Adams Brewpub in Philadelphia.
She has been honored with the Boston Music Award for Outstanding Folk Act and has won the grand prize in the rock category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.
Official Website: www.AntjeDuvekot.com
Song Samples: www.MySpace.com/AntjeDuvekot
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
The future of folk is in good hands. Our April show features two highlights from our 21st season, two young men recognized as top Emerging Artists by the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival - Joe Crookston and Chris O’Brien.
Joe Crookston's music and songwriting are deeply rooted in the grand celebration of life, death, ancestry and the interconnectedness of us all. His music draws from his rural Ohio roots and exudes a remarkable intergenerational, universal, and timeless quality.
His keen musicianship as guitarist, clawhammer banjo player, fiddler, singer and songwriter fuse contemporary and traditional elements, with his crafted writing style.
His release Fall Down as the Rain, was chosen by Performing Songwriter Magazine as a 2004 "Top-12-Do-It-Yourself" independent recording, and two of his songs recently won runner-up in the folk category in the prestigious National John Lennon Songwriting Contest.
Official Website: www.JoeCrookston.com
Song Samples: www.MySpace.com/JoeCrookston
Chris O’Brien follows in the footsteps of the Boston’s best. A family friend of Dar Williams, and protégé of of Ellis Paul and Mark Erelli, O’Brien has hit the scene running.
He was named one of Falcon Ridge Folk Festival’s “Emerging Artists”, was a finalist in the Mountain Stage song competition, and performed on A Prairie Home Companion’s “People in their Twenties” talent contest.
O’Brien’s debut CD Lighthouse has received critical and audience acclaim, and he recently released a live recording of his sold-out show at Boston’s famed Club Passim.
Official Website: www.ChrisOBrienMusic.com
Song Samples: www.MySpace.com/ChrisOBrien
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Lucy Kaplansky has an extraordinary feel for the range of human emotion.
Barely out of high school, Kaplansky left her native Chicago for New York City where she found a fertile community of songwriters and performers—Suzanne Vega, John Gorka, Bill Morrissey, Cliff Eberhardt, and others—and quickly became everyone’s favorite singing partner.
She gave up music for a period of time to study and practice Psychology, and uses her insights into the human condition to create songs with deep emotional impact.
Her latest project is a couple of tracks on the children's CD and storybook "Down at the Sea Hotel," a portion of the proceeds from which will benefit The Breast Cancer Fund.
"New York songwriter Lucy Kaplansky is becoming the troubador laureate of modern city folk." -- Boston Globe
Official Website: www.LucyKaplansky.com
Song Samples: www.MySpace.com/LucyKaplansky
You’re going to remember the first time you see Anthony da Costa.
Just 18 years old and a freshman at Columbia University, da Costa writes with a wisdom and performs with a presence beyond his years. In 2007, at 16, he became the youngest winner ever at the Falcon Ridge and Kerrville Folk Festivals. He was the subject of a New York Times feature when he was just 14, and earlier this year, da Costa was named one of the “Top 5 Up-and-Coming Young Singers” by MSNBC.com.
Don’t miss this one!
"It's obvious Anthony da Costa is going to be leading a new generation of singer/songwriters in the near future.” -- Neil Pearson, Fish Records, UK
Official Website: www.anthonydacosta.com
Song Samples: www.MySpace.com/AnthonyDaCosta
|
|
|
|
|
|
