Madfolk Celebrating Willy Street Fair's 40Th Year September 16Th and 17Th
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Volume 43 No. 9 September 2017 MadFolk celebrating Willy Street Fair’s 40th Year September 16th and 17th Willy Street Fair is celebrating 40 years, and 3:30 Beth Kille will also be making her debut we are excited to be celebrating a decade of on the Folk Stage, Beth is a 22-time Madison Mad Folk Concert Tickets bringing some great music to the Folk Stage. When you see this symbol – ee – you’ll know that you’re read- We will be kicking off the fair on Saturday ing about a Mad Folk sponsored with 3 great sets of music, event. Advance tickets for Mad 2:00 – Kaia Fowler makes her debut of Folk shows are available online our stage, with soaring vocals and accom- at www.madfolk.org and at these plished guitar playing, Kaia shares songs that explore life’s struggles and joys, drawing outlets: on folk, blues, and roots rock traditions. In- spired by nature and the human experience, • Orange Tree Imports, 1721 Mon- Kaia’s songs resonate with strength and vul- roe Street • Spruce Tree Music, 851 East Johnson Purchase tickets ONLINE for Mad Area Music Association (MAMA) award win- Folk concerts via Brown Paper ning artist from Madison, WI who has been cranking out her unique blend of rock, coun- Tickets (with $1.62 service try, folk and blues since 2000. From the inti- charge): nerability as she explores a vast emotional macy of house concerts and coffee houses, https://www.brownpapertickets. landscape. In concert, Kaia draws from an to rockin’ out with her band headlining spots extensive repertoire of originals and select at festivals, her love for the stage and genu- com/producer/10879 cover songs by artists such as John Prine ine passion for performance shine through You can also purchase advance and Carole King. Her songwriting has been in all settings. Her stage prowess was rec- tickets by mail. Send a stamped self- compared to Joni Mitchell’s for its lyrical po- ognized in 2011 when she received Artist of etry and rich melodies. The Americana Ga- the Year honors at the Madison Area Music addressed envelope with your check zette had this to say about her 2010 album Awards – a rare accomplishment for a solo payable to Mad Folk, PO Box 665, Seams of My Heart: “Fowler is a tremendous artist. She has also been honored twice with Madison, WI 53701. If all else fails, call lyricist. Her lyrics paint pictures and her mu- the MAMA for Female Vocalist of the Year sical notes add the color…” Kaia’s latest al- (’06, ’10) and was nominated for Singer- 608-846-9214 for information. bum is an EP titled All The Way, dedicated to Songwriter of the Year in 2014 and Female Mexico bor- her late husband and benefiting the Pancre- Vocalist of the Year in 2017 by the Wisconsin der music), atic Cancer Action Network. Learn more and Area Music Industry (WAMI). con- junto (ele- stream video and audio at Kaia’s website - ments of both kaiafowler.com. 5:00 Cris Plata no stranger to Madison, as European and he makes his second appearance here at Mexican music the Folk Stage. Cris was born in South Tex- fused by early as, the son of migrant workers. Those early residents of days of living in different migrant camps and South Texas), following the harvest from region to region, and ranch- exposed Cris to a wide range of musical era (Mexican experiences. His early musical experiences country) mu- reflect his Mexican heritage. sic. Today, Cris This heritage includes Norteno (Northern describes this ©2017 Peter Berryman Hello I Must Be Going For my last Whither Zither I thought it only appropriate to feature an old photo of an old zither that appeared in the Public Do- main Review I talked about in the last is- sue. Google translates the caption -- "Kone med Langleig fra Valders" -- as "Wife with Langleig from Valders." Val- dres (the more common spelling) is a re- gion in south central Norway about halfway between Oslo and Bergen. The Langeleik or langleik is a droned zither, with one melody string and up to 8 drone strings (!) according to Wikipedia, which has more info on the instrument. These zithers have been around for awhile; in 1980 a langeleik dated as early as 1524 was uncovered on a Norwegian farm. Also pictured is a dansdukke or "dancing doll," which looks like it's at- tached somehow to the zither. I imagine it is related to the Appalachian dancing man or limberjack, also called a jig doll, among many other names. Marcus Selmer took this photograph. He was an interesting fellow, born and trained as a pharmacist in Denmark, where he ex- perimented with daguerreotype photogra- phy. In 1852, he travelled to Norway to visit his uncle's family in Bergen and never returned, setting up shop there as a pho- tographer. His work became very popular and he was appointed the royal photogra- pher in 1880. Selmer's photographs are by now in the public domain and reside in the National Library of Norway. And I guess that's it for Whither Zither. This has been a spellbinding twenty year run for me, and as I said in the June episode, I owe a great debt of thanks to Madison Folk Music Society and its for- mer president Mike Tuten and current president Darlene Buhler for allowing me to ramble on. And to all my dear faithful readers and contributors, I will never be able to thank you enough. A special thanks is reserved for my wife Kristi Seifert, who not only encouraged and put up with me all along but came up with the name Whither Zither in the first place. I'll leave a few years of columns online at louandpeter.com, and many are archived on the society's website (madfolk.org) within the back issues Mad Folk News. Some diehards have encouraged me to put out a book of selected columns so there is some movement in that direction; who knows? Meanwhile, my love to y'all, and thank you again. See you in the folding chairs. --Peter Berryman, Whither Zither, September 2017 Continued from front page... as “Mexican root’s” music. He has been de- Josh Harty’s unique blend of American mu- in Florida, and as a journeyman wanderer in scribed by the Isthmus and Wisconsin State sic has become a must-hear for those who Cuba, is reflected in his musical worldview. Journal as “One of the Midwest’s best song- keep the tradition of country, blues and folk At the core is gifted songwriting, and the writers”. company Paul keeps bears it out: Bonnie Raitt, Nick Lowe, Chris Smither, John Hiatt On Sunday, right after the parade, our stage and Cesar Rosas are among his friends and again kicks off the music at Noon! admirers. 12:00 Zachary Scot Johnson is a singer/ Peter Mulvey – Sometimes to say less, is to songwriter who has shared the stage with say more. It does not get better than Peter. He has played this stage before, he has played many stages in Madison, and we never get enough of him. If you have seen him, I know you’ll be here, and if you’re new close to their hearts. Born and raised on the to his music, he won’t disappoint. plains of North Dakota, Harty grew up play- ing shows across the Midwest with his father, 5:00 – We close the festival out with a par- a small-town po- lice chief and artists like Shawn Colvin, Keb’ Mo’, The Be preacher. The Good Tanyas, Jane Siberry, Kevin Cost- touring bug has ner and Modern West, Rita Wilson, Juliette never left Josh Lewis, Don Williams, James McCartney and as he now con- many, many more. He’s released 4 cds, in- tinuously trav- cluding 2017’s “Sad Songs”. His hit YouTube els across Eu- channel thesongadayproject has run for over rope and North 1800 consecutive days and has over 38 mil- America. Harty lion views, and collaborations with over 100 is always look- guests, including Shawn Colvin, Rosanne ing for that bal- Cash, Marc Cohn, Jeff Daniels, Noel Paul ance between Stookey and Peter Yarrow (from Peter, Paul the rolling road and Mary), Lisa Loeb, Tom Paxton, Melissa and the people Manchester, Collective Soul, Creed Bratton who inspire him, (“The Office” and The Grass Roots) and trading stories many, many more around kitchen tables and theatre stages. ty – Listening Party that is! Americana/Folk His live shows prove that good storytelling rock trio out of Milwaukee, WI that has put 2:00 – We are going to tweak our regular 2 combined with journeyman musicianship is their own twist on acoustic music. Stories sets of music in to one long set, and bring as American as music gets. of love and personal struggle are presented you three musicians in the round! Peter, Paul playfully and performed sincerely by singer- & Josh… kind of has a ring to it. Paul Cebar is giving the band the day off as songwriter, Weston Mueller. He is comple- he joins us for an acoustic set of music. Paul mented by crafty musicianship from mates brings forth a funky, lyrically charged racket Joshua Hester (Mandolin, Guitar, Bass) and that is explosive, yet intimate. Jacob Wood (piano, vocals); former Califor- Taking cues from nia surf rock bassist and music education the dance bands teacher, respectively. of western Louisi- Recently, they have been featured on NPR ana (and his na- and also are repeat performers at Summer- tive Midwest,), the fest (headlined by Third Eye Blind, Michael streets (and 45’s) Franti, Collective Soul and Pentatonix) and of New Orleans, have also been opening acts for Diamond touring African Rio, Banditos and Dead Horses and Caribbean combos and the soul, funk & blues of his youth, Paul Cebar is a mas- terful synthesist of rhythmic culture.