saturday
7:00 pm |
Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams |
5:00
pm |
Cheryl Wheeler |
3:00
pm |
The Nields |
1:00
pm |
Fuzek & Rossoni |
"Imagine
a band that has mixed 25 years of rock and
roll with a dash of folk and a pinch of Americana
into an enormous caldron over a blazing fire.
Stir it all with creativity and season with
talent. The result is the sound of a yesterday
long forgotten, and a refreshing revival of
what made you listen to music in the first
place." - Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Review
In
1998 The Circus emerged from the misty hills
of Sleepy Hollow, New York and exploded upon
the Hudson Valley music scene with their
stunning self-produced debut release, "A Good Thief Tips His Hat". The quirky quartet then began touring throughout the northeast and rapidly
developed a fiercely loyal, all-ages following.
Featured recently in Relix Magazine, the
New York Times and on the CBS hit show, Joan
of Arcadia, the band's charismatic live performances
and whimsical blend of folk, rock, hillbilly
and pop have simply captivated audiences
and critics alike.
|
Cheryl
Wheeler is a New England based
singer-songwriter of contemporary folk music
ranging in tone
from silly to serious. Frequent topics are
love relationships, descriptions of places
or events, and profiles of people. She is listed
as one of the top Contemporary Singer-Songwriters
by the AllMusic Guide.
Wheeler
was born in Maryland and first
performed at clubs in Washington,
D.C.
and Baltimore. She currently resides
in Massachusetts, and tours extensively alone
and with such performers as Jonathan Edwards,
Christine Lavin and Kenny White. Her
live concerts include comic routines and
serious
discussions
in addition to the songs themselves. About
half of the songs she performs in concerts
are not available on any of her albums. Many
never get recorded, so she is best experienced
as a performer at concerts and festivals
such as our own! |
Nerissa
and Katryna Nields have been the darlings of
the coffeehouse/festival scene since 1991,
with tunes ranging from off-the-hook idiosyncratic
to kicking to heartbreaking. "Our parents were total folkies," says Nerissa. "Their first date was a Pete Seeger concert and their second was a Harry Bellefonte
concert. We used to go to a family camp in
the Adirondacks every summer where people
sat around a fire. That's where I learned
how to
finger pick. The music teacher at our school,
Jack Langstaff, was more of the English tradition
of folk music than the American, and his
legacy was really strong. We grew up on simple
folk
songs."
To
the songwriter/musician who has neither burned,
bailed nor sold out, there comes a time when
he or she turns from writing about who they
are in the current moment to writing about
who they have always been, addressing head-on
their roots, sources and influences. SISTER
HOLLER, the newest and 14th career release
from Nerissa and Katryna Nields, is a "roots album," but with a difference. Rather than simply reinterpret or re-record the music
what brung 'em, the sisters from Western Massachusetts,
have decided in Sister Holler to retool, assimilate
and flat out burgle the music they grew up
with to create something new. They tell the
listener right up front that they're even going
to lift entire lines from some of the best
songs ever written, and then they do it, right
before your very ears. The result is a delightful
oxymoron of songs simultaneously familiar and
surprising.
|
FuzekĢRossoni was formed more than fifteen years ago
when John Fuzek and Mary Ann Rossoni
were simultaneously
running ads in the musicians wanted
classifieds of a local paper. They both
were looking
for musical partners to perform with.
One answered
the others ad. They met and played music
and had a lot in common. The musical
chemistry was immediate and they began
writing songs.
In a few months they released their first
recording,
Living with the Fury and the Fire.
This recording and the duo went on to win
many awards in the
Providence Phoenix Best Music Poll of
1990.
Tight harmonies and nice blends
of rhythm, lead and fingerstyle acoustic
guitar were their trademark. They released
a second recording Waking Up from the
American Dream and also contributed
to many compilations.
After 7 years together they
decided to take a break. Today they
are both accomplished solo performers.
After
seven more
years of not performing
publicly (they have jammed and written
songs together over the years), they
are back for
the occasional reunion performance.
|
|
sunday
| 4:30 pm |
Diamond Eyed Jacks - A Grateful Dead Tribute |
| 3:00 pm |
Forever Young - A Tribute to the Music of Neil Young |
| 1:00 pm |
Signs of Life |
**NOMINATED for BEST TRIBUTE-COVER BAND in 2008 in the Motif magazine Best Of Poll** Brought togehter by co-founders Johnny Provost and Patrick Kennedy in 2003, The Diamond Eyed Jacks have quickly become southern Rhode Island's premier Dead tribute band. With regular appearances at The Ocean Mist in South Kingstown, RI., Diamond Eyed Jacks shows are now a South County tradition among Dead Heads. The Diamond Eyed Jacks play the songs of the Grateful Dead and other bands that the Dead had covered. While they don't dress, act or assume the role of any musician in the Grateful Dead, they play thier music with the same spirit and intensity that the Dead themselves brought to it. Call 401-294-4682 to book your own private Dead-like show.
|
Conceived
after Mark Cutler, John Fuzek and Dan Lilley
performed the
Neil Young classic Powderfinger as a group
set closer for a RI
Songwriters Association show at Stone Soup
Coffeehouse in Pawtucket,
RI, Forever Young is a group of performers
that pay tribute to the songs of
Neil Young. In addition to Cutler, Fuzek and
Lilley, Forever Young original
members also include Becky Chace and Pete Vendettuoli.
John
Amitrano and Phil Hicks were added to the band
in December of 2007 to
give the show a "Crazy
Horse" kind of feel. All of the musicians erforming as
part of Forever Young are staples of the
Rhode Island music scene. In
addition, they are all fans and have been influenced
by the music of Neil
Young. Drawing on the 40+ year career of Neil
Young; the two hour + show
highlights many of Youngs popular songs and
a few of the more obscure
numbers. The show is presented either as an
in-the-round-meaning that all
five musicians will be on stage at once and
take turns performing the songs
either solo or with accompaniment of one or
several members of the group; or with the full seven -piece band doing both
ACOUSTIC and ELECTRIC SETS.
These formats are reminiscent of the "Four
Way Street" live album recorded
by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and of Neil's
back-up band Crazy
Horse. "Forever
Young" takes you back, gets you singing, and puts those
Neil Young songs in your head to linger long
after the show!
|
Signs of Life is made up of Josie Crosby, a powerful vocal stylist who for
the last five years has played with great success
to
enthusiastic
crowds
throughout
New England. On lead
guitar is Tom Champlin, an eight album veteran
with seminal neo-garage/psych explorers Plan
9.
Sitting high atop the drum riser is Bill
Lawing, a seasoned player in numerous popular
original
RI bands, including muscular horn-rockers
Superbug (also a WBRU 'Rock Hunt' winner),
Fat Glass,
and the guitar-jammers of Shiver. Bass, low
end,.is handled by Chris Hackett, a talented
and fluid player who has had the pleasure of
playing with Gram Thompson in Anderson Counsel,
as well as lending his unique melodic thunder
to numerous other Rhode Island rock outfits.
So what
does this new brew sound like? Trying to
pin them down to one sound? That's impossible,
but roots-infused rock sure fits comfortable.
After all, they're really just getting started
and who knows what lies ahead. Yeh, just
when you think you've got Signs of Life nailed,
Josie's voice opens your mind, the band grabs
a hold of your ears and up ahead shimmers a
new horizon.
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