{"id":52111,"date":"2012-01-27T15:56:26","date_gmt":"2012-01-27T20:56:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/?p=52111"},"modified":"2018-10-01T13:42:47","modified_gmt":"2018-10-01T17:42:47","slug":"folk-festival-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/2012\/01\/27\/folk-festival-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Bands from afar heading for second annual Community Folk Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Ari and Mia.<\/p><\/div>\n

Contradancing, workshops and performances by established musicians from as far away as Montana are among the attractions at the second annual Bates College Community Folk Festival, a two-day event beginning at 4:15 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave.<\/p>\n

The event is open to the public. Admission fees vary according to ability to pay, from $5 to $20 for one day, or $10 to $30 for both days (no one will be turned away for inability to pay). Tickets are available at the door. For more information, please contact freewillfolk@gmail.com<\/a> or 952-913-0204.<\/p>\n

The event is sponsored by the Freewill Folk Society, a student organization at Bates. Vouchers for meals in the Bates Commons will be for sale. See a full schedule for the festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The event opens Friday<\/strong> with an open mic featuring Bates musicians. Friday’s highlights include performances by Ari & Mia, from Boston; Sawyer Lawson, a Bates senior from Concord, Mass.; and the Tumbling Bones, from New York City. Contradances and a waltz session begin at 7 p.m., with supporting musicians including Ari & Mia, the Bates ensemble Chase the Fiddlers and the electro-folk Maine duo Perpetual e-Motion. Kim Roberts of Farmington calls the 7 p.m. contradance and Chrissy Fowler of Belfast calls the 10:30 contradance, with the waltz session in between.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Press Gang is a Celtic-music trio based in Portland, Maine.<\/p><\/div>\n

On Saturday<\/strong>, members of the Portland-based Celtic trio The Press Gang and Nicole Singer are among musicians presenting workshops from 11 a.m. to noon. The Press Gang offers a concert at 1 p.m., and a contradance follows at 2 p.m., with music by Montana’s Sassafras Stomp. Callers include Alex Krogh-Grabbe of Cambridge, Mass.; Andrew Stout of East Longmeadow, Mass.; and Tavi Merrill of Orono, Maine.<\/p>\n

“The participatory nature of folk music is what sets it apart,” says Catherine Elliott, a Bates senior from Edina, Minn., and an organizer of the festival. “People are invited to partake in the singing and playing, or just listening, and there’s a common understanding that each person’s contribution is important.<\/p>\n

“Folk isn’t about perfection and refined technique, but rather about creating the opportunity for people to experience music together.”<\/p>\n

The festival made its debut in 2011<\/a>. It came about in part because of research done by Kaitlin Webber of Cazenovia, N.Y., an anthropology major in the class of 2011 who was writing a senior thesis investigating the role of young people in contemporary contradance communities. (Contradancing is a form of social folk dancing found in the Northeast.)<\/p>\n

“Kate organized the festival as an experiential component of her thesis,” says Elliott. “But those academic reasons aside, the festival is also a classic case of a big vision and a lot of hard work among several festival organizers.<\/p>\n

“We’re excited to carry her idea forward this year.”<\/p>\n

About the Performers<\/h3>\n

Ari & Mia<\/a> are sisters who bring classical training in cello and violin to a wide range of genres with American folk music of the Southeast and Northeast at the heart. Their 2010 album Unruly Heart<\/em> reached No. 2 on the national folk radio charts only two months after its release.<\/p>\n

Chase the Fiddlers<\/a> is a folk band composed of Bates students and faculty including Greg Boardman, of Auburn, a longtime presence in the Maine folk music scene.<\/p>\n

Sawyer Lawson<\/a> grew up singing and playing drums, fiddle and mandolin in his family band. A guitarist as well, he is concentrating these days on performing his own material.<\/p>\n

Perpetual e-Motion<\/a> consists of Ed Howe, playing electric fiddle, and John Cot\u00e9, on electronically treated guitar, didgeridoo and foot percussion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Shown in performance at She Doesn’t Like Guthrie’s, in Lewiston, are Perpetual e-Motion — Ed Howe and John Cote.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Press Gang<\/a>, composed of squeezebox player Christian “Junior” Stevens, fiddler Alden Robinson and guitarist Owen Marshall, perform all over the Northeast and into Atlantic Canada.<\/p>\n

Sassafras Stomp<\/a>, dedicated to original and traditional music emphasizing fiddle, are fiddler-banjoist Johanna Davis and guitarist-bassist Adam Nordell.<\/p>\n

Tumbling Bones<\/a> is a trio playing old-time American music on guitar, fiddle and banjo. Former members of the Powder Kegs, they are Peter Winne, Jake Hoffman and Sam McDougle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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