Friday night, January 19, will see a benefit show produced by a grass roots, non profit, volunteer run festival, and they really need your support this year. Come out for some great music and good times. Please tell a friend. Come hear GRIZZLY PEAK, SF's most under-rated bluegrass band, and THE DECIDERS, formally the Jewgrass Boys, with your host Chuck Poling at the Plough & Stars, 116 Clement Street, SF. Doors open at 8:30 p.m.; trouble starts at 9:00. Bring a $10-$20 donation.
Who's playing the festival? When is the festival? Go to www.SFbluegrass.org or www.ShelbyAshPresents.net
The 21st Annual Western Workers Labor Heritage Festival is a weekend of solidarity honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in an era of war, racism, and hard times.
The festival is Jan 12 - 14, at the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 467, 1519 Rollins Road, Burlingame; Jan 14th concert is at the Machinists Local 1781, 1511 Rollins Road, Burlingame. The festival features music, drama, visual arts, spoken word, poetry, photography and more!
Music: Ronnie Gilbert, Ysaye Barnwell, Rockin' Solidarity Labor Heritage Chorus, La Paz, Francisco Herrera,
Visual Arts: David Bacon photographs; make-your-own bumpersticker workshop; Jon Koons.
Writing/Spoken Word: Head Rush, "Beat Within" youth jail poetry; Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz; Lisa-Grey Garcia, author of Criminal of Poverty.
Labor Culture, Organizing, and History: Ruckus Society and Chris Bricker—labor organizer and clown; Labor and occupational health as an organizing tool, with UC Berkeley's LOHP; Ruth Morgan, Community Works; Mike Honey; Julius Margolin.
Volunteers are needed to help with transportation, housing, and food in exchange for registration fees - contact coordinator Kendyll Stansbury info: www.lib.berkeley.edu/~lcushing/WWLHF/WWLHF07.html or call David Winters 831-426-4940.
Joe Miller will be teaching group guitar classes at
Eric Schoenberg Guitars in Tiburon. Beginning Folk /
Pop Guitar starts Wed. Jan. 10, at 7 pm; Music Theory
for Guitarists starts Sunday, Jan. 21, at 8:05 pm.
Info at www.OM28.com, or (415) 789-0846.
The Nomadic Rambles storytelling series continues at
The Nomad Cafe in Oakland on the second Wednesday of
every month - except for months that only have one
Wednesday. There are two featured tellers each month
and time for any one who chooses to come forth and
tell a story. The Nomad Cafe is located at 65th and Shattuck Ave.,
one block north of Alcatraz, in Oakland. Each session
runs from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Admission is FREE. Ed
Silberman is your host. In early November I attended a three-day singing event
on the East Coast put on by the FSGW (similar to our
own SFFMC) where I found a vibrant community of folk
singers. During the day there were workshops such as
pub songs, shanties, gospel, "Childless Ballads"
(ballads never collected by Francis Child) and ballads
with refrains. There were concerts in the evenings
followed by informal singing sessions. The camp was held at the West River United Methodist
Center: a lovely spot on an inlet of Chesapeake Bay
with comfortable accommodations and mediocre
cafeteria-style food. Some of the singing luminaries
in attendance were: John Roberts, Heather Wood, Lisa
Null, Joe Newberry and Judy Cook. Word of the event
has gotten out via the Mudcat Café
(www.mudcat.org) so
there were a few folks from Britain. (Mudcat is
popular over there.) If you're interested in attending
this delightful annual singing camp (I hope to go
again next year) go to: www.fsgw.org. —Sylvia Herold Bring out your graphics! Hungry folknik editors are
always on the hunt for graphics that they can use to
fill the nooks and crannies of the ‘nik.
The graphics I use on pages 1, 7 and 8 are a
combination of images found on the Web, in the
wonderful Dover collections and original drawings by
Club members. Except for the original art whose use
has been given to the folknik by the artist (and to
whom we give credit), everything is in the public
domain. Old woodcuts and engravings are my favorite
source since their clear, black and white lines
reproduce well and because I love their subject
matter. If any club member has stashes they would be willing
to let me very gently plunder with my scanner and
photo copier, please send me an email
I can use a variety of
subjects, not just musical themed ones: mythical
beings and creatures, maritime images, harvest and
work images and flora & fauna. Since I'm exploring
combining pieces into new scenes, everything is a
possibility. And of course, if any Club artist would
like to donate black and white images for use, please
email me. We will credit the artist and try to use all
the images we can, although space is the limiter.
Phyllis mentioned curiosity about the wonderful Hare
and Tabor in the previous issue. I found him online at
www.fromoldbooks.org,
a very high quality (and well
notated) collection of scanned images. The Hare is
from William Hone's Everyday Book published in 1826,
but the book notes that it was copied from the
Harleian collection and is at least 400 years old.
Hone claims it is a representation of the hare that
beat the tabor at St. Bartholomew Faire, mentioned in
a work by Ben Jonson. —Susan Frank KALW's Folk Music and Beyond radio show (91.7 FM) is a
wonderful font of eclectic folk music, and their
website contains an equally rich collection of links
to other folk music websites. Check them out on their
Resources page www.kalwfolk.org/sources.html.
They say this about their links: "different kinds of
resources for listeners to folk and roots music,
including some of the most interesting musicians'
sites, independent record labels that come up in our
playlists frequently, the most useful mail-order and
online distributors, and local record stores that are
likely to carry the material we air. It also lists
some organizations promoting Celtic, folk, and world
musics. The page goes on to list some local concert
venues, and finally varied online resources, as well
as magazines and other publications, including a few
good books you can use to learn more about folk and
world musics." HIGHLY recommended!Nomadic Rambles Storytelling
The Folklore Society of Greater Washington Getaway
Folknik Graphics
Folk Music Source Website