Check out the FolkWorks Video of the Week. Scroll down to the bottom.

 

PASSINGS

TONY YOUNG

TonyYoung_s.jpg

Tony Young grew up in central Scotland, went to sea as a young man, and ended up in Los Angeles. Somewhere along the way, he learned to play the spoons like no one you've ever heard before or since. It wasn't just that he was the most technically gifted player; it was the absolute joy that he got from playing and sharing his music. He sat in with just about every Irish or Scottish band in California at one time or another, and was a fixture at the local festivals. Lots of folks never even knew his name... they just called him "Spoonman."

  Tony wasn't able to play his spoons for the last few years of his life, but we bet he's playing them somewhere now.

A memorial service took place this past Saturday at Maggie's Pub in Santa Fe Springs. A gathering of his friends, neighbors and fellow musicians celebrated his life. His brother Ron shared stories and fond memories.

Tony we will miss you.

 

CONCERT REVIEW OF THE WEEK

BANSHEE IN THE KITCHEN

PETER STRAUSS RANCH

JUNE 14, 2009

By Kathy Bawn And Anya Sturm

Banshees_s.jpg

Celtic trio Banshee in the Kitchen came out from their homebase in Bakersfield to kick off  this summer's series of free concerts at the Peter Strauss Ranch. Sponsored by the Topanga Banjo Fiddle contest, these concerts are family events, great fun for grown-ups and kids alike. So this review is brought to you by one grown-up and one kid.

A GROWN-UP PERPECTIVE (by Kathy)

There are only three Banshees: Jill Egland, Brenda Hunter and Mary Tulin. It seems like there should be more of them, though, from the number of instruments you see on stage. Between them, the Banshees play hammer dulcimer (Brenda), fiddle (Brenda), piano accordion (Jill), flute (Jill), bodhran (Jill), bouzouki (Mary) and guitars of various types and tunings (Mary). They all sing, too.

Read more...
 

 

PICKS OF THE WEEK

VIEUX FARKA TOURÉ

The Troubadour

Tuesday, July 7, 2009 - 7:00pm

vieux_s.jpg

Having a famous dad can be more of a curse than a blessing. For every Barry Bonds or Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, both of whom overtook their fathers in the family business, there are thousands of sons who follow their dads with little success. (Franz Xaver Mozart, anyone?) But Vieux Farka Touré, the son of the great Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré, has already stepped out from his late father's shadow. Ali Farka Touré proved - in case anyone ever doubted it - that the soul of the blues could be found in West Africa. His son Vieux is turning heads with a more radical idea: that those western Saharan roots can be heard in everything from the jam band scene to Jamaican dub.

Fondo, Vieux's newest effort and his Six Degrees debut, is more than a stirring mix of traditional

Read more...
 

JOAN BAEZ

Twilight Dance Series - Santa Monica Pier

Thursday, July 9, 2009 - 7:30pm - Free

-----

Humphrey's Concerts By The Bay

Friday, July 10, 2009 - 8:00pm

joanbaez2_s.jpg

2008 is a landmark year for Joan Baez, marking 50 years since she began her legendary residency at Boston's famed Club 47. She remains a musical force of nature whose influence is incalculable - marching on the front line of the civil rights movement with Martin Luther King Jr., inspiring Vaclav Havel in his fight for a Czech Republic, singing on the first Amnesty International tour and just this year, standing alongside Nelson Mandela when the world celebrated his 90th birthday in London's Hyde Park. She brought the Free Speech Movement into the spotlight, took to the fields with Cesar Chavez, organized resistance to the war in Southeast Asia, then forty years later saluted the Dixie Chicks for their courage to protest war. Her earliest recordings fed a host of traditional ballads into the rock vernacular, before she unselfconsciously introduced Bob Dylan to the world in 1963 and focused awareness on songwriters ranging from Woody Guthrie, Dylan, Phil Ochs, Richard Farina, and Tim Hardin, to Kris Kristofferson and Mickey Newbury, to Dar Williams, Richard Shindell, Steve Earle and many more.

Read more...
 
 

COLUMN OF THE WEEK

July-August 2009

RIP DELANEY BRAMLETT

By Dennis Roger Reed

delaney_s.jpg

I do not recall exactly when I first heard Delaney Bramlett perform, but I do know exactly where: a gawd awful/wonderful all day Sunday television program entitled Cal’s Corral. This glorious approximation of a country hoe down/used and new car lot jamboree featured almost every country related performer in Southern California, and was the brainchild of Cal Worthington. Yes, that same 163 year old gentleman in the ill fitting cowboy hat whose TV commercials still entreat you to come on down and buy a car. Cal liked country music, and he knew that a lot of good folks liked country music too, so why not somehow tie that to the sales of his low down, easy payment merchandise. Hence, Cal’s Corral.

Read more...
 
 

CD REVIEW OF THE WEEK

ARTIST: JEREMY GARRETT

TITLE: I AM A STRANGER

LABEL: SUGAR HILL

RELEASE DATE: March 2009

By Susie Glaze

JeremyGarret_s.jpg

The state of contemporary Bluegrass is in an interesting position: the genre has become a new melting pot, an amalgam of styles and sounds encompassing Old Time, Folk, Blues, Country, Jazz, Pop and, of course (hopefully!) Bluegrass - the original sounds of Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys. Why this is interesting is because Bluegrass at its creation was a monumental evolution of gathered sounds, from Tin Pan Alley, Blues, Black Gospel, Appalachian ballads, Irish dance music, set to a blindingly fast pace, with high lead vocals and group harmonies tighter than a drum. So now, it's gratifying to watch it growing again and changing with this new generation, called "a Bluegrass youth revolution" by some, all the while reaching back to grab, with love and reverence, the old sounds of driving Bluegrass, George Jones-type country music, Western Swing and mountain fiddle, melding with pop-flavored contemporary sounds.

Read more...
 

 

VIDEO PICK OF THE WEEK

Vieux Farka Toure builds on his dad's (Ali Farka Toure) legacy (http://www.youtube.com/v/vrzR5uNWDtA)
 
 
Support FolkWorks Advertisers
 
Lark Camp
 
The Coffee Gallery BackStage - Click for more
 
Click for More
 
davidbraggerad2.jpg
 
Susie Glaze
 
Aloha Concert Series
 
Skirball_ad_right.jpg
 
Chris Stuart Broken Man
 
Westminster Studios - Web Design email: info@westminsterstudios.net
 
your ad could be HERE
 
to inquire about placing an ad email to mail@folkworks.org
 
© 2009 FolkWorks
Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL License.