Based in the rural Swedish tradition but with a contemporary attitude and an almost telepathic intensity, the acoustic musical trio Väsen comes to Central Pennsylvania for a Susquehanna Folk Music Society concert on Sunday, February 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of York, 925 S. George Street.

Väsen is a unique ensemble that transcends barriers and delights listeners with their music and personality. It consists of three great Swedish musicians: Olov Johansson on the nyckelharpa (a keyed fiddle unique to Sweden), Mikael Marin on viola, and Roger Tallroth on guitar. Together they create more electricity on their acoustic instruments than most rock bands can generate with their amps turned all the way up. John Paul Jones of the rock band Led Zeppelin has said, “In Sweden you have Väsen. It’s a traditional folk band based on the Nyckelharpa — and it’s really good music, very exciting, you must listen, it’s fantastic music.”

In 1990 Olov Johansson became the first world champion of the nyckelharpa. Of the tens of thousands of nyckelharpa players now in Sweden, he is regarded as one of the country’s most prominent players. Apart from his association with Väsen, Johannson has also played and made recordings with groups such as Kronos Quartet and the Nyckelharpa Orchestra. Mikael Marin is a violist who isn’t satisfied with merely playing “second fiddle.” His influences are literally unlimited in their scope, and oscillate between Schöenberg and the Beatles. He became a national fiddler in 1983, and was chosen to play in a world orchestra under the direction of Leonard Bernstein in 1989. Roger Tallroth, with his specially tuned guitar (A-D-A-D-A-D), has developed a distinctive sound of his own. In addition to the guitar, he plays the Swedish bouzoki and octave mandolin. During a National Public Radio “All Things Considered” story on Väsen, it was noted that “The absurdly broad term ‘world music’ is rendered useless in the face of these musicians who play with such genuine passion and glee that everything on the globe seems to disappear except their hometown fires. This is ‘local music’ in the best sense of the word—believable, human-scaled and fluent in the international language of musical interplay.”

Vasen carries its virtuosic acoustic interplay to new levels with a contemporary energy and attitude that is rarely found in acoustic bands. The combination of nyckelharpa and viola is propelled by guitar with tunes that are irresistible and unforgettable. This is acoustic ensemble playing at its best, with sounds that can connote classical string quartets at one moment and upbeat folk/pop another. This is music that is irresistible and unforgettable. This is Väsen.

Concert tickets are $20 General Admission, $16 for SFMS members and $10 for students ages 3 to 22. Advance tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets online at www.brownpapertickets.com or toll-free (800) 838-3006. This event is made possible in part by a grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation, with additional funding from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, administered locally by the Cultural Alliance of York County, and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information, visit the Susquehanna Folk Music Society web site at www.sfmsfolk.org

Folkmama had the opportunity to talk to the musicians about what they’ve been up to musically since last season, what they like about playing together and what special memories they might have about playing together.

Folkmama: So Kevin, from your posts on Facebook it seems like you’ve been really busy, plus you’ve gotten yourself a new guitar. What have been some of the highlights in your musical life since you played for Susquehanna Folk last January?

Neidig: Well, I’ve gotten to play with some really great musicians like Missy Raines and Jim Hurst. I was teaching down at the Common Ground on the Hill in Westminster Maryland and they were teaching there too. We were all part of the staff so we were doing a lot of work together. And of course I’m still playing a lot with Voxology.

Folkmama: And your new guitar?

Neidig: My new guitar is awesome. It’s definitely allowed me to get better. It’s one of the best guitars that I’ve ever played. It has a really balanced tone—punchy bass, great everything. I don’t think that Collings makes a bad guitar.

Folkmama: And what about you Henry? How has your year been?

Koretzky: Probably the most interesting thing has been the Harrisburg Mandolin Ensemble. A fellow named Tom Cook who is a lawyer and a mandolin enthusiast got the idea to put together a Harrisburg equivalent of a mandolin orchestra. Mandolin orchestras were a popular tradition in the early part of the 20^th century. Every town would have them. There are still a few around; they have been making a comeback.  But they tend to be large groups with dozens of people so what has evolved with our group is a six piece band. We’ve got mandolins, mandolas, mandocellos and even a mandobass. This has been interesting because even though it’s an old tradition the fact that it’s a six piece we have to arrange and choose all our own stuff so we’re doing some original tunes and we’re doing almost all original arrangements of tunes.

Folkmama:  Bruce, I know that you’ve always been pretty busy with a multitude of bands. Any particular highlights, or has the recession really cut into your gig schedule?

Campbell: Mmmm…let me go to my Excel spreadsheet. Gigs, 2011. I keep everything on my Excel spreadsheet—the gig, the band, the mileage, supplies, equipment, repair, turnpike, parking , miscellaneous. Yup, it’s been a really busy year. I did a lot of work with this new trio/quartet Rue de la Pompe, which is the spin on the Gypsy jazz stuff that I’m doing with Ken Gehret. So that’s one of the busiest bands, and then there is a jazz trio—a piano trio basically called the Troy Isaac Trio and we released our first album last year and then the Dixieland band was very busy. We played for the third time at the Hot Steamed Jazz Festival in Connecticut—playing with the big boys. And then every once in awhile Jamie O’Brien comes into town and Henry and I will do a flurry of work with him doing concerts and contra dances. That band is called Unbowed.

Folkmama: Ken,  I know that you identify yourself more with the Reading, PA area so our readers may not be as familiar with your various project. What kinds of things have you been up to musically?

Gehret: I’ve been playing a lot of different styles of music; jazz and Brazilian music, Irish, and some classical too. I do some different band situations and I do some solo performances too. I have a band called Irish Mist and I’m in a band with Bruce Campbell and others called Rue de la Pompe which is Parisian swing—Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli . And of course Irish Mist does Celtic music, traditional, but some originals. The Brazilians do Brazilian music—a lot of Jobim, Bonfá—that sort of thing and some original material also. And I have the Violin Quartet–it’s a jazz group, but instead of having a tenor sax I play the violin. We play modern jazz—Coltrane, Miles Davis—that sort of thing.

Folkmama: Henry, you’re really responsible for putting this Neidig, Koretzky, Gehret, Campbell composition together. You selected guys that are all so good individually, but have terrific chemistry on stage together. How has this worked for you?

Koretzky:   I’ve always enjoys putting different groups together and seeing how they interact.  All the time that I’ve been playing, that’s always been a fun thing to do. I play with a lot of different ensembles and a lot of different styles and I’m always thinking, “Mmmm…I wonder how these two people would get along. I wonder how they would interact.”  The opportunity that this concert presents gives me the chance to do this on a more public stage.  It’s been great, for example,  to get Ken and Kevin together to bounce ideas off of each other and support each other’s ideas. It’s always fun for me to do this and in this case I’m doing it in a concert situation with a great listening room atmosphere so that the audience can be part of the experience as well.

Folkmama: Bruce, you play with some of these guys in different bands already. What has it been like playing together as a foursome?

Campbell: It’s fun to think that I play regularly with Ken in the gypsy band and sometimes bluegrass bands, I play with Henry in contra dance bands like the Contra Rebels, and I play with Kevin Neidig usually in concert situations where I play his original tunes. Now we’re all getting together and we are all going to play what we want to play or what we want to feature. It’s a completely different repertoire for the most part than anything I play with these guys on an individual basis. It’s a completely different band made up of people that I routinely play with using a completely different repertoire.

Folkmama: What about you Ken?

Gehret: Playing with this composition of musicians is a lot of fun; it’s certainly the right chemistry. We all hook up very well musically and personally.

Folkmama:  Anything to add Kevin?

Neidig: Henry, Ken and Bruce are just the real deal. They are just fine acoustic musicians that are always trying to hone their craft. They are really the cream of the crop and to get to play with them is just really awesome. It’s very exciting.

Folkmama: So you’ve played this gig for the Folk Music Society two years in a row already, and you’ve been invited back for a third concert. Do you have any special memories of past concerts that you’d like to share?

Neidig: I think I was just so surprised by the attendance and that got us so energized. I talked about this with the group afterwards. You know we are not even a real band, we’re just a bunch of guys who get together to put on a show and we’ve got this packed house. That is just so cool!

Folkmama: And what about you Henry? What has it been like preparing for shows with this group?

Koretzky: I think it’s interesting how every musician prepares for it in a different way. Kevin, for instance is ultra-organized and he will do very precise demos of his original tunes and post them on a private website that we have access to so that we have a choice to work every chord off those tunes individually.

It might surprise audiences to know how fresh the material is, that we don’t have much of a chance to play together, all four of us, before we hit the stage. It’s actually been part of the energy that has gone there. We prepare the stuff, we know exactly what we are going to do, material wise, and we’ve all had a chance to rehearse individually and in small groups. When we played last year we had one four-piece rehearsal the week before. So we knew where the edges of the tunes were, we knew what work we had to do individually, but when we got on stage everything was extremely fresh and exciting. That was part of the excitement of what we were able to deliver up there.

Folkmama: What’s the experience of preparing for these gigs been like for you Bruce?

Campbell: The pattern starts with Henry being the driving force and the disciplinarian.  As of last week said, “Come on boys! Crack the whip. Crack, crack. Snap, snap. We need to get together; we need to make some decisions. We need to decide what our set list is. We need to have MP3s and demos flying around between us so that we can all individually learn this stuff so that when we get together we can launch from there.” So Henry is the driving force. If it wasn’t for Henry nothing would be happening until like two days before the concert and then there would be this panic.

As far as the concert itself, just from me doing sound all those years and me playing there the last couple of years it’s just a wonderful audience and a wonderful venue. Everyone hangs on every word and every lyric and every note. They are attentive and they are sober and they’re appreciative and it’s just a wonderful gig.

Folkmama: And when the band hits the stage, what has been your experience Ken?

Gehret: Well, I was so taken by the warmth of the audience. It has been so wonderful to play for Susquehanna Folk audiences—they are just so into the music. They really made us feel at home.

Folkmama: What’s in store for audiences at the upcoming February 25^th concert?

Neidig: For this next concert we’re going to really try to outdo ourselves and get some really cool songs that we normally wouldn’t play because we have these fabulous musicians that can really handle it.  It’s like, “Let’s do a Paul Simon song but do it in a bluegrass format.” I think it’s really going to be a great, interesting show.

Interview by Jess Hayden, Executive Director of the Susquehanna Folk Music Society

January 2012.

In collaboration with the St Lawrence Club of Steelton, the Susquehanna Folk Music Society (SFMS) is pleased to present a weekend of Hungarian/Croatian music and dance Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 14-15, 2012.  Dance classes will be taught by Rick Vukmanic, a Croatian-American from Steelton, and Richard Balazs, a Hungarian citizen now living in the U.S.  Music will be provided by Hungarian-American George Batyi and the Gypsy Stringz Orchestra of Pittsburgh on Saturday and by Bosnian/Croatian pop-folk singer Mate Bulić on Sunday.  The Steelton-based band, Zadnja Stanica, will open for Bulić.

Three dance classes will be held at Christ the Saviour Orthodox Church, 5501 Locust Lane, Harrisburg.  These are as follows: 10:30 a.m. Croatian dances of Steelton, a repeat of the popular “Steelton 101″ dance class held last year; 1:15 dances of the Croatian diaspora, i.e., Croatian communities in Hungary, Slovenia, and Bosnia; and 2:45 Hungarian dancing, focused on the ugros and csardas.  Classes are $16 apiece or $40 for all three. Students are $10.

The evening event is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, at the St Lawrence Club, 13 Highland Street, Steelton PA. It begins with a concert set by Gypsy Stringz, followed by open dancing from 8:30 to 11:00 p.m.  Both dance instructors will be available to help lead the dancing. Admission is $10 at the door.

On Sunday, Jan. 15, the St Lawrence Club presents a Croatian music spectular.  Zadnja Stanica will play a dance set at 7:00 p.m., with international folk star Mate Bulić performing at 8:30.  Doors open at 5:00 p.m., and the kitchen and bar are open. Admission is $35 at the door, $30 in advance.  Contact Marija Kuren, marijakrpan@hotmail.com, 717-649-5409 for advance tickets.

Additional biographic information on the dance teachers and musicians appears on the SFMS website.

http://www.sfmsfolk.org/dances/HungarianCroatian_Jan12.html

http://www.stlawrence13.com/

contact: bart.carpenter@sfmsfolk.org

The group includes Joanie Madden on flute and pennywhistle (best known as the leader of Cherish the Ladies), Brian Conway on fiddle, Billy McComiskey on button accordion and Brendan Dolan on keyboards. Collectively the members have won four all-Ireland championship awards, recorded multiple solo albums, and logged countless miles touring across the U.S. and abroad.

I caught up with Joanie Madden recently to talk to her about the history of Pride of New York, why playing with the band means so much to her and the upcoming January 8^th concert.

Folkmama: Pride of New York is such a terrific band, but you don’t seem to tour very often.

Madden: No we haven’t done a show since August the 14^th. The reason we don’t work as much is me.  We get plenty of offers but unfortunately with my busy schedule with Cherish the Ladies we have to turn a lot of it down because of my commitments. But we’re not a well worn shoe; the excitement is there every time we play.

Folkmama: So you did a CD together, how long ago was that?

Madden: I think it’s been two or three years. But we’ve only made one record and that was named album of the year (by the Irish Echo newspaper)

Folkmama: And that was right around the time that you played at the National Folk Festival in Butte Montana?

Madden: Well, that was the year that it came out. We’ve all been friends with the folks at the National Folk Festival and they were excited to see what the four of us would do. What really shocked me about playing with this group was when we sat down to record, that we actually played note for note. Our versions were so much the same that there was no changing for any of us. That was incredible for me. That never happened to me before with anyone that I ever played with.

Folkmama: Why is that? Is there really an Irish American New York sound that you all share?

Madden:  You know there is a County Clare styles, a County Sligo style and a Donegal style and I think there is a New York style. We are so influenced in New York by Western Ireland music; Galway, Sligo mainly—those two counties were where our inspiration came. In my case, my father was from Galway. And I learned my music (on flute) from Jack Coen who lived 11 miles from my father, and Billy McComiskey learned from Sean McGlyn (accordion) who lived 7 miles from my father, and Brian Conway learn his (fiddle) music from  Andy McGan and Martin Wynne.

These were two guys—Andy McGan always played with Joe Burke who was from Galway and they made all these recordings and they were always accompanied by Felix Dolan on piano who is Brendon Dolan’s dad. So all this came down to us and we all had this incredible symmetry with our ideas about the music.

We agree on the treatment of it, but just being the keepers of the flame is a good way to say it. We were the ones that they really wanted to pass their music to.

Folkmama: So, how did the group get its name?

Madden: Well, first what people should understand is that the name Pride of New York is not the name that we put on ourselves, it was given to us by the music critic Paul Keating from the Irish Voice newspaper.  It used to be Joanie Madden, Billy McComiskey, Brian Conway and Brendon Dolan.  And eventually people would come to see us and he started calling us the Pride of New York, instead of writing our names he would simply call us that because that’s what he believes we are. When it comes to the hopes and dreams of traditional Irish music; we were the ones chosen by all the older guard to pass the music down to.

Folkmama: Are you playing music that is no longer being played in Ireland? In a sense are you helping to preserve a style and repertoire of music?

Madden: I think that in Ireland the styles melded more than what happened to us; we grew up in New York and were so influenced by these guys who wouldn’t stand for any foolery!  This was a sacred chalice that they were handing down to us-it was not allowed to be messed with.  They were passing it down from their families where it had been passed down to them and they were giving it to us. My father was a lunatic about treating the music with respect.

Folkmama: What’s it like playing with these three talented musicians?

Madden: Getting to play with these guys—they are just all virtuosos. Billy McComiskey is my favorite accordion player in the world—he’s just incredible. Brian Conway is one of the greatest fiddle players who ever put a bow to the fiddle. Without a doubt Brendon Dolan is my favorite piano player that I’ve ever worked with—and I’ve played with a lot of great ones.  And I think the fact that we enjoy each other’s company so much and the fact that it’s a rare thing that only happens two or three times a year (not by choice, but because of other commitments) I think there is just a special thing every time that we play together .

Folkmama: What kind of response do you get from audiences?

Madden: Every gig that we have done has been packed to the gills and every gig that have done has been completely standing ovation. People are so excited at the end of the show—which is something as I’ve lead Cherish the Ladies for the past 27 years I work very hard with a 10 or 11 piece band to get the crowd up, but whatever it is amongst the four of us we can do the same.

Folkmama: Does it feel any different to you, playing with men rather than woman?

Madden: No, to me it doesn’t matter. When you’re playing with somebody good you’re playing with somebody good. With Cherish the Ladies the fact that we’re a bunch of woman—we never planned on that.  It’s the same with The Pride of New York. We never really planned for it to be one woman and three men.

Folk Mama:Has Pride of New York ever toured in Ireland?

Madden: We’ve been to Ireland three times. Every time we have gone they have gone crazy with us—haywire. Really, really fantastic. We will be doing the same for you down in York, PA so it should really be great.

Folk Mama:What should people expect at the concert in York, PA on January 8^th?

Madden: Everyone is featured, so they’ll get to hear all the instruments.  It’s a lot of jigs and reels and hornpipes and a lot of jokes and laughter in between. I’m extremely proud to be playing with these guys. It’s hard for me to explain to an audience how much they are going to enjoy it but every concert we have ever done—it’s just incredible the response.

The Fabulous Shpielkes, an internationally-renowned, award-winning Klezmer music group will bring its unique and upbeat style of Jewish music to the York Jewish Community Center, 2000 Hollywood Drive, York, in a December 4 free Susquehanna Folk Music Society concert. Harrisburg’s own klezmer band, The Old World Folk Band opens. The concert starts at 4 p.m.

Klezmer music—essentially Jewish folk music from eastern Europe—has been enjoying a revival since the 1970s in part due to the popularity of The Fabulous Shpielkes. Featured with some of the best Klezmer musicians from Philadelphia to New York City are 79-year-old drummer Elaine Hoffman Watts and her daughter, trumpeter Susan Watts.

The Hoffmans, third and fourth generation members of Philadelphia’s prominent Hoffman family musical dynasty, are known worldwide for their musical skill, ingenuity, and cultural knowledge.

Elaine Hoffman Watts was the first female percussionist to be accepted at Philadelphia’s prestigious Curtis Institute of Music, from which she was graduated in 1954. She has performed and taught for more than 60 years, working in symphonies, theaters, and schools. Her grandfather, cornet player Joseph Hoffman, came to Philadelphia about 1904. He taught family members Klezmer music he learned as a child in Eastern Europe. Her father was Jacob Hoffman, a great Klezmer drummer and xylophonist who also played xylophone with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Despite her skills and family heritage, Elaine Hoffman was seldom given opportunities to perform in working Klezmer wedding bands as she was growing up because they didn’t want to hire a female drummer, not even if she was Jacob Hoffman’s daughter.

She started performing Klezmer actively more than 10 years ago, starting with the KlezMs, an all-female ensemble that also included her daughter on trumpet. She now performs with The Fabulous Shpielkes and Klezmer artists from around the world.

Trumpeter and vocalist Susan Watts is the sole living purveyor of a Klezmer-style trumpet and sound that electrified Jewish-American audiences for decades. Her engaging voice and one-of-a-kind vocal style carries audiences through a full gamut of emotions. Her repertoire includes tunes that were handed down to her by her great-grandfather, grandfather, and mother, including many original songs written for weddings, family members, and joyous occasions.

Watts recently scored and recorded the soundtrack for the award-winning film “Breath,” and recorded the soundtrack for “A Joyful Noise,” a documentary on Philadelphia Klezmer. She teaches at Klezmer festivals and is an ambassador for women’s rights around the world.

Following intermission, Penn State Harrisburg Holocaust and Jewish Studies Center Lead Scholar Simon Bronner will lead a question and answer period.

Susquehanna Folk Music Society is presenting this free event as part of a new series developed with the York County Convention & Visitors Bureau and made possible by a grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, with additional support from Shipley Energy, Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour and the Lois Lehrman Grass Foundation. For more information, visit the Susquehanna Folk Music Society web site at www.sfmsfolk.org

Editor’s Note: Champion Thumbpick Guitarists Eddie and Alonzo Pennington will play 7:30 Sunday, November 20^th at the Unitarian Church in York. The pair will give a guitar workshop at 3 pm. More information at http://www.sfmsfolk.org/concerts/Eddie+AlonzoPennington.html

What people are saying about Eddie Pennington:

Lancaster’s popular singer songwriter BOBBIE CARMITCHELL is signed up to take Eddie and Alonzo’s guitar workshop. “He’s phenomenal” she says. “You really have to watch him to make sure that it’s not more than one guy playing!”

Folk DJ (The Chords Are Stacked and The Song Parlor) and co-founder of the Susquehanna Folk Music Society JOHN PATERSON says,” Eddie certainly is an impressive picker!”

The father and son team of Eddie and Alonzo Pennington, both National Thumbpicking champions, perform in concert and give a guitar workshop on Sunday, November 20, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of York, 925 S. George Street, York. Their 3 p.m. guitar workshop and 7:30 p.m. concert are sponsored by Susquehanna Folk Music Society.

Eddie Pennington, a National Heritage Fellowship recipient, is widely recognized as one of the greatest living thumbstyle guitarists. He has appeared in venues throughout the U.S. and Europe to keep alive the sound popularized by Kentucky native Merle Travis in the 1940s. Due to his ability to adapt well-known tunes to the alternating bass rhythms that characterize “Travis pickin’,” Pennington’s performances have generated renewed interest in the art form.

On stage he mixes his music with Travis stories and down-home humor backed by his own observations, transporting audiences to the days of the old mining towns and to his front porch for a few neighborly gospel tunes. Reviewers have noted that Pennington’s love of the guitar, and of live performance, bring to life the rich musical traditions of western Kentucky, making him an entertainer who appeals to all ages throughout the world. His strong sense of place, combined with flawless performances of folk and contemporary guitar tunes, attracts and keeps a legion of loyal listeners.

Eddie Pennington’s son Alonzo has been described as a smattering of vintage Allman Brothers Band, a dash of Stevie Ray Vaughn, a spoonful of James Burton, a dollop of Danny Galton, and a pinch of Jerry Reed. He is a multi-award-winning guitar player who’s been performing his own music since he was 13. He uses his passion, energy, and drive to create a soulful and unique blend of rock, country, and blues that is all his own. He had a stint playing guitar, fiddle, and mandolin, and singing backup vocals for country music legend John Michael Montgomery. During his time working with Montgomery, he appeared at Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry. As he says in one of his songs, Alonzo Pennington was “raised in the country, but born to rock and roll.”
Guitar workshop tickets are $20 general admission, $16 for SFMS members, and $10 for students ages 3-22.Concert tickets are $22 General Admission, $18 for SFMS members, and $10 for students. Advance tickets are available through Brown Paper Tickets at (800) 838-3006 or online at www.BrownPaperTickets.com. This concert is part of a series funded by a grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and with support from Shipley Energy. SFMS is supported by funding from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, administered by the Cultural Alliance of York County, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information, visit the Susquehanna Folk Music Society web site at www.sfmsfolk.org

By Jess Hayden.

Editor’s Note:
This interview was conducted in October, 2010 and has been adapted to include
information on Garnet Roger’s upcoming performance at the Fort Hunter Barn,
Harrisburg, PA  at 7:30, Saturday, November
12^th.201. Additional information is at www.sfmsfolk.org

Garnet Rogers is a Canadian
songwriter who has performed throughout the world for the past 35 years. From
1973-1983 he was an accompanist for his brother Stan Rogers, perhaps one of the
most influential songwriters that Canada has ever produced. Since his brother’s
death, Garnet has become a phenomenal songwriter in his own right and has
continued on as a solo performer.

Jess: Good morning Garnet and thanks for speaking to me.

Garnet: Good morning. I’m just sitting here watching the snow.
First snow of the year. It’s not massive snow, just flurries.

Jess: You live on a farm, right?

Garnet: Yeah. It’s a small farm, 20 acres. We have horses. We have
a little breeding operation here. We have a thoroughbred stallion. And we own a
few rescue mares. It’s kind of winding down, though. At one point we had 22
horses and at two other farms that we were renting. That was ten years ago, but
we’re down to just a handful of horses now. It’s much easier on the back.

Jess: I’m a presenter for Susquehanna Folk where you are going to
be playing on November 12^th. Last year you performed an opening set
for a Susquehanna Folk Greg Brown concert.

Opening for
Greg Brown

Garnet: Yeah. I had made an inquiry as I was sort of down in that
area. I knew that Greg was playing there and I just love him to bits. We don’t
get a chance to see each other very much. I think that I did a show for you
guys 7 or 8 years ago at the Fort Hunter Barn. You guys do such a good job. It
was a beautiful room and I just had a great time. I just have this really nice
memory of a very warm evening. It was a beautiful landscape around the barn. It
was one of those nights when you think “You know, this is not a bad way to make
a living.”

Jess: Well, thank you. We love presenting there; it has a lot of
warmth. But I think that you have done another concert for us too.

Touring with
Archie Fisher

Garnet: I remember doing one with Archie Fisher a million year
ago.

Jess: You put a CD out with Archie, right?

Garnet: We did a couple.

What audience
members might expect from a Garnet Rogers set

Jess: Can you tell me what people should expect at your concert?

Garnet: Well, I never quite know what I’m going to play until I
have the guitar in my hand. My songs tend to be fairly serious. The stuff between
the songs tend to be not. I sort of have this—I don’t know if you call it
“bi-polar” approach to doing shows where the songs all tend to be of a fairly
series nature and between them I’m just basically making fun of myself and
whatever I see around me. So, it’s supposed to be funny and people are supposed
to be laughing. They generally do. I’m not doing stand-up comedy or anything;
it’s just “observational weirdness”.

A Guitar
Collector

I’ll probably just have a couple of guitars with me. Last night I
did a show locally and I had more. I generally have anywhere between 7 and a
dozen guitars with me. They are all tuned differently and they all have
different sounds and personalities, different problems that I have to adjust
to. That’s really part of my thing; I go around with a museum collection of old
guitars. My wife and I have two houses. One of the houses is just full of
guitars. That’s my workhouse. I got a guitar in last week and another one that
I’m hoping to pick up in Ithaca on my way to Harrisburg. It’s just a constant
quest for new sound.

Jess: Are you trying out new luthiers too, or is it mostly antique
stuff?

Garnet: It’s mostly antiques. Anything made before 1944. After
that it has to be a pretty spectacular instrument or something really special
for me to truly lust after it. There is a period between 1942 and 1944 that I
particularly like guitars from the Gibson guitar factory where the guitars were
mostly made by women because of the war thing. There is something really
special about those guitars. They were just made really beautifully. I think
that women tend to focus better on details. There were a handful of old guys
who were teaching them, they were too old and frail to do war work, so these
women learned from the masters. That’s sort of the period that I like the best.
But, I have guitars that go all the way back to 1890. It’s partly conservation
as well. If I find something that needs a home, to be brought back to life—it’s
sort of the guitar version of the horse rescue that we do. It’s like finding
some brude mare that shivering in a field and you say “damn”, and you take her
home and you put a blanket on her and she spends the rest of her life in a
friendly place. It’s kind of an impulse to sort of preserve things.

Garnet Rogers
CDs

Jess: I read an article that said that you had 9 solo CDs, but you
probably have more by now. Do you know what number you are up to?

Garnet: 12 or 13 I think—but another dozen with other people.

Jess: Do you have your own label?

Garnet: I’ve always had my own label since 1976. Snow Goose.

Jess: You recorded one on Red House Records though. How did that
come about?

Garnet: Well Bob Feldman, rest his soul, he just always said to
me, “I think you are a Red House artist”. You know, even as good and fair as
Red House is, it’s the best of all the independents, it just financially didn’t
make sense for me to have to buy back my own music from my record company. So
they just said if I wanted to do a record that I could do a compilation and I
could have whatever I wanted on it from the first 9 albums. So that’s what they
did. The put together a nice compilation and they did a lovely job on it, but I
didn’t really have any input on it. It was nice. It got the name around a
little more. [Editor’s note: All That Is: The Songs of Garnet Rogers] But
that’s as far as it went. I really strongly believe in keeping control of my
own deal. Once you give the record company the right, you give them the right
to have input. I’m not really big on that.

Jess: Your newest CD “Get a Witness” features quite a few songs
that feature other songwriters. Is that unusual for you?

Garnett: It’s just a little bit different as I wanted to record
some songs that I had in the repertoire. There was a Karen Savoca song that I
really, really wanted to do. There was a Bruce Springsteen song which
dovetailed nicely with the last two songs on the CD, one of which is mine, the
other one of my brother’s. [Editor’s note: Stan Rogers] That ended up being a
whole half hour piece. Those three songs plus an instrumental break in the
middle. They were all performed live with no editing. It’s as it was performed.
I’m so proud of it and the way that the band performed. It’s an extraordinary
band. At one point there are 8 people on stage and they are just really giving
it hell.

Jess: Is this your own band?

Garnet: It was actually the core of another band and then some
people that I played with for a couple of years including David Woodhead
[Editor’s note: bass player who recently played in a SFMS concert with James
Keelaghan] who I have been playing with since 1975. He has been on about every
folk album in Canada for 35 years.

Jess: This CD seems to be a little more electric then some of your
others.

Garnet: The whole CD is not that way but the first one in
particular is really a kind of mean spirited slap at your X-president, George
W. And that kind of just needed a very loud and aggressive treatment. There is
also a gospel number dedicated to Coretta Scott King that needed a full, what I
was imagining to be a gospel treatment. So that got pretty big. And the last
half an hour gets pretty big, but the rest of it is quiet and a little more
folky. But for your show on November 12th, I’ll just be a guy with his guitar.

Get your dancing shoes out
and get ready for a rockin’ good time when Jeffery Broussard and the Creole
Cowboys, a high-energy traditional Zydeco band, comes to York on Saturday,
November 6 for a concert and a Zydeco dance workshop. The event will be held at
the Agricultural and Industrial Museum, 217 Princess Street in York and is
sponsored by Susquehanna Folk Music Society.

The dance workshop begins at 2:30
and the concert at 4. Advance ticket sales are available at www.sfmsfolk.org.

During a dance workshop  Jeffery
Broussard will take you deep into Southwest Louisiana into the world of Zydeco
music and dancing. You will learn to Zydeco dance and waltz as it’s done by the
folks in Opelousas, Louisiana, the Zydeco capital of the World. Jeffery will
explain that it’s important to listen to the music while you dance in order to
match your dancing steps to the beat. You will learn the basic Zydeco step, the
position, the subtle weight shifts and the push and pull of your partner.
Zydeco dancing is easy and fun.

When Jeffery Broussard & The Creole Cowboys
begin to play, you’ll be ready to join in the fun of Zydeco dancing. Laissez
les bon temps rouler! Let the Good Times Roll!This is “couple
dancing” but you don’t need to come with a partner. In Zydeco dancing it’s
typical for people to change partners after each song, so even if we have a
gender imbalance during the workshop, everyone will get a chance to dance.

One
of the most influential accordionists and vocalists in modern Zydeco music,
Jeffery Broussard played a number of forms of Zydeco music before returning to
the more traditional sound with his band, the Creole Cowboys. He started
playing drums at age 8 in his father’s band—Delton Broussard and the Lawtell
Playboys. He left school after seventh grade to help his family farm make ends
meet. But whenever he could, he’d sneak into the house to get his father’s
accordion out of the closet and teach himself to play it.During his teen years,
Broussard played drums in his oldest brother’s band, Clinton Broussard and the
Zydeco Machines. It was then that Jeffery played accordion in public for the
first time when his brother let him play a few songs. He was too shy to speak
or sing, however, and it wasn’t until he joined the band Zydeco Force that he began
singing on stage.

Observers say it is quite possible that without the struggle
and hard times that Broussard has experienced in life, he would not play and
sing with the emotion and soul that he expresses. Broussard himself says that
music is in his genes and blood as a gift that God gave him to pass on. “I do
it because it’s something that I enjoy,” he says. “I do it to make people
happy, and myself. I don’t want our traditions to die. I don’t only play music
just to play. I play from my heart. Half of the time when I’m playing, it’s
like my hands leave my body. I don’t even know what I am playing. Any songs
that I play, I add what I think will make the melody more beautiful. There is a
lot of me that goes into the music that I play.”Realizing that there are only
five Creole fiddlers left, Broussard has started to play the fiddle as part of
his determination to keep the traditional music alive. “By playing traditional
music, that is my way of giving back to my community, to my culture, and to get
others interested in the music, in other parts of the country, and to fulfill
my daddy’s dream,” he says.

Concert tickets are $20 General Admission, $16 for
SFMS members, and $10 for students ages 3-22. Zydeco Dance Workshop tickets are
all $10 general admission. Advance tickets are available through Brown Paper
Tickets at (800) 838-3006 or online at www.BrownPaperTickets.com. This event is
part of a series made possible by a grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities
Council and is presented in collaboration with the York County Convention &
Visitors Bureau and the York County Heritage Trust. It also is made possible in
part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. SFMS is supported by
a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, administered locally by the
Cultural Alliance of York County.

For more information, visit the Susquehanna
Folk Music Society web site at www.sfmsfolk.org

Jess running the Harrisburg Half Marathon

Jess Hayden, the Susquehanna Folk Music Society’s Executive
Director is running the Harrisburg Marathon on Sunday, November 13, 2011 to
benefit the Susquehanna Folk Music Society.

Cheer Her On! Hang out with friends and watch for Jess along
the race route. The Harrisburg Marathon starts and finishes on City Island. In
between, the 26-mile course travels along the beautiful Susquehanna River, past
the state capital complex, through Wildwood Lake Park and the HACC campus, and
along the Harrisburg Greenbelt.

Sponsor Jess’s run
with a donation to Susquehanna Folk! Online donations can be made at: http://www.sfmsfolk.org/events/Jess_marathon.html
or make a check out to “SFMS” and mail to Susquehanna Folk Music Society,
378 Old York Road, New Cumberland, PA 17070.

Here is a personal message from Jess Hayden:

“I like problem solving and facing challenges. My 25 year
involvement with the Susquehanna Folk Music Society, first as a board member,
then as a program coordinator and now as the Executive Director has given me
plenty of opportunities to do both. Our small organization, located in Central
Pennsylvania, puts on an amazing amount of events a year that explore folk
music and the traditional arts trough concerts, dances, workshops, jams and
art-in-education residencies. Plus, we’re always trying something new—interesting
partnerships with groups like the York County Convention and Visitors Bureau,
concerts in offbeat venues like York’s Agricultural and Industrial Museum and engagements
with high-energy artists such as Jeffery Broussard and the Creole Cowboys. I’m
proud of the vibrant, exciting series that we are able to produce year after
year and the benefit we have been to our community.

Last New Year’s Eve, like many people I made a resolution to
get into better shape. Always a planner, I spent a lot of time figuring out how
to do this by reading nutrition and exercise books. I learned to plan out my
meals and established a regular exercise schedule at Gold’s Gym. Progress was slow
until I saw a flyer advertising the formation of a local woman’s triathlon group.
I never actually joined the group, but the flyer had gotten me thinking about
the motivational power of having a goal. I set out learning what I could about triathlons
and actually participated in one last summer.  Like what I do in my professional life,
heaving a clear vision of where I was heading helped me to redouble my efforts and
focus on a workable plan.

Running the Harrisburg Marathon on November 13^th
is the latest in a series of physical challenges I’ve put in front of myself
during the past year. I’m following Hal Higdon’s 18 week Marathon Training Plan
and so far have run over 350 miles. To me, it’s not too different from the work
of running a folk music organization. It takes hard work, endurance, good planning,
support from other people and belief in the importance of what I’m doing. That
and just putting one foot in front of the other…

By running this race I am putting two of the most important
parts of my life together; my interest in good health and physical fitness and
my love for folk music. Please consider contributing to the Susquehanna Folk
Music Society by sponsoring me for this run. It’s a wonderful organization
deserving of your dollars! ”

Jeffery Broussard
& The Creole Cowboys is one of the few traditional Zydeco bands playing
today. The band features Jeffery Broussard, one of the most influential
accordionists and vocalists in modern Zydeco, and D’Jalma Garnier III, a fiddle
and guitar player and long-time contributor to Cajun and Creole music. The band
delivers great, pack-the-floor renditions of Creole classics as well as their
own brand of contemporary Zydeco.

We asked Jeffery to tell us a little more about Zydeco music
and to tell us what we might expect at the dance workshop:

Zydeco is a
form of uniquely American roots or folk music.
It evolved in southwest Louisiana in the early 19th century from forms of “la
la” Creole music.  Usually fast tempo and
dominated by the button or piano accordion
and a scrub-board (frottoir), zydeco music was originally created at house
dances, where families and friends gathered for socializing.

The word
“Zydeco” developed from the French phrase: “Les haricots sont pas salés”
meaning “the snap beans aren’t salty.”  This expression
translates to mean that times are so poor that we can’t afford salt meat to
flavor the beans.

Jeffery
Broussard will take you deep into Southwest Louisiana into the world of Zydeco
music and dancing.  You will learn to Zydeco dance and waltz as it’s done
by the folks in Opelousas, Louisiana, the Zydeco capital of the World.

Jeffery will
explain that it’s important to listen to the music while you dance in order to
match your dancing steps to the beat.  You will learn the basic Zydeco
step, the position, the subtle weight shifts and the push and pull of your
partner.  Zydeco dancing is easy and fun.  When Jeffery Broussard
& The Creole Cowboys begin to play, you’ll be ready to join in the fun of
Zydeco dancing.  Laissez les bon temps rouler!  Let the Good Times
Roll!

Some
frequently asked question about a Jeffery Broussard’s Zydeco Dance Workshop

1.   Is the dancing that he will be teaching couple dancing?

Yes.

2.   Do I need to bring a partner?

No, you
don’t need to come with a partner. In Zydeco dancing it’s typical for people to
change partners after each song, so even if we have a gender imbalance during
the workshop, everyone will get a chance to dance.

3.   What style of dancing is the Zydeco dancing most like?

Zydeco
dancing uses the basic weight shift as a two-step dance but Zydeco dancing
is done in one place and does not move around the floor.  Jeffery will
also teach the waltz during which the couples will move around the floor
in a counter-clockwise fashion.

4.   What might participants expect to learn during the workshop?
Participants will learn the basic Zydeco dance step as it’s done in Southwest
Louisiana.  They will also learn the waltz.  They will change
partners during the lesson to experience dancing with different partners.

For more information visit: http://www.sfmsfolk.org/concerts/JefferyBroussard.html