Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Keepers Mountain Folk Holding on to Old Skills and Talents by Robert Isbell Folk Art. by Philip McFee and Bruce E. Baker, 2006 Additional research provided by Kelly Kress. Folk artists thrive in North Carolina, evolving through self-instruction and emulation of the work of others as well as upholding traditional methods of craft passed down through the generations. Folk painting, sculpture, and pottery have strong traditions in the state, from workshop-based potters to painting steered by spirituality and mysticism. A versatile artistic spirit has moved numerous folk artists to create their own aesthetic interpretations of North Carolina, expanding the state's artistic diversity. While a consensus definition is difficult, folk art generally refers to work done by untrained, nonacademic artists and most often involves a decorative item with minor practical use, made utilizing traditional or family methods with the intent of creating an aesthetically pleasing yet singular artistic piece. The artwork, whether a sculpture, gravestone, or model boat, rises above mere functionality. Items traditionally produced for practical use are considered crafts, although many items that once served useful purposes are now used almost exclusively as decoration and have consequently become folk art-similar to the now-popular vein of "found" art. For instance, a rag rug woven according to styles and aesthetics passed down through generations and used as a floor covering is a folk craft. The same rug hung on the wall as an object to be viewed, however, becomes folk art through the change in its functional context. This functional change is also seen with quilts, bird decoys, and pottery. Although crafts were often ornamented to some extent, as these objects lose their functional role and become simply works of art, their creators tend to emphasize ornamentation more heavily. Closely related to folk art is outsider art, sometimes known as naive or visionary art. Outsider art generally refers to the work of self-taught artists who function outside the mainstream of any artistic community, particularly that of an established art academy or educational program. In many cases, outsider artists have experienced economic or social disabilities that have isolated them from the "average" American lifestyle. Many do not consider themselves artists at all, nor do they typically intend to sell their work. Outsider artists distinguish themselves from folk artists in that while folk art is a tradition, passed on from generation to generation and creating something that is often practical, outsider artists create unique, pure art from a spontaneous inner drive. Many gifted folk artists working in a variety of media are either native or adopted North Carolinians. Minnie Smith Rinehart of Catawba County was a memory painter who portrayed scenes from the rural life of her childhood. Some artists, such as painter Minnie Evans of Wilmington, are described as visionary painters since the scenes they portray arrive not from memory but from visions, often religious in nature. The images captured in vision and memory painting are impressionistic at their root; rather than a unique interpretation of a physical setting, the artists attempt to recreate the way in which inborn or spiritual forces have shaped their memories or creative consciousness. Untrained sculptors usually work with wood or metal using skills gained in an occupational context. Clyde Jones of Bynum makes a variety of sculptures but is best known for his "critters," which he carves with a chain saw. Jones often rearranges the display of critters in his yard, frequently cannibalizing finished projects for new works, always attempting to put life into what many would see as nondescript pieces of timber. Jones's methods, and the emphasis on traditional means for most folk artists, demonstrate a tendency in folk sculptors to value process over product. Sculptor and painter James Harold Jennings, who, like fellow folk artist Raymond Coynes, hails from the Pilot Mountain area, created over 4,000 works of art, most of them during the last 15 years of his life. His work, characterized by distinctive, colorful patterns, is a mixture of Appalachian art traditions and a variety of contemporary influences such as comic books and magazines. In North Carolina cemeteries of the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century, stone carvers were also folk artists, adding detailed and complex iconography to tombstones. Many of these carvers were not fully professional, making their living instead through farming and carving tombstones only when the need arose. Many stoneworkers, and, indeed, many folk artists themselves, went unnamed or uncredited for their work, either as a function of a workshop environment or a natural lack of vanity. Eugene Gant's father in Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel is a well-known stone carver. As tombstones are examples of nonacademic art in the public sphere from centuries past, many current efforts-from amateur murals to graffiti-fill the niche of public folk art. North Carolina continues to be home to a wealth of outsider artists. Vollis Simpson builds large wind-powered sculptures called whirligigs, visible from the road near his home in Lucama. Sculptor Arliss Watford originally began carving to pass the time after his workday, displaying his works outdoors to draw attention to his television repair shop. Many involved in the league of outsider artists are collectors, who feel an affinity to the unprecedented work of artists who operate without technical training. North Carolina Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount acquired the Robert Lynch Collection of Outsider Art in December 1987. Lynch, born in 1947 in Halifax County, attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Harvard Law School. After working for a time as a lawyer in New York City, Lynch returned to rural North Carolina and began collecting mostly African American outsider art in the 1980s. The collection consists of over 400 pieces created by artists of eastern North Carolina. The art is on continuous display at a variety of locations on campus, and portions frequently travel to exhibitions throughout the United States. Photographer and folklorist Roger Manley, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's curriculum in folklore, has been documenting the work of outsider artists in the South since 1970. In 1989 Manley and David Steel were cocurators of an exhibition of North Carolina outsider art at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh. Conceived to expose these artists to a wider audience, "Signs and Wonders: Outsider Art Inside North Carolina" displayed works by a small group of artists previously unknown beyond their communities. The accompanying catalog featured over 100 artists from across the state, a testament to the strength of a thriving scene that not only prides itself on its own traditional creations but fosters the creativity of all those who strive to express themselves through art. In 1989 the folklife section of the North Carolina Arts Council developed the North Carolina Folk Heritage Awards to honor the state's folk artists. Winners range from internationally acclaimed musicians to artists quietly practicing their craft in rural and family settings. Numerous centers and organizations in North Carolina preserve and promote folk arts, including Pocosin Arts in Columbia, the Southern Highland Craft Guild and Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Penland School of Crafts in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown. References: Garry Barker, The Handicraft Revival in Southern Appalachia, 1930-1990 (1991). John Bivins and Forsyth Alexander, The Regional Arts of the Early South: A Sampling from the Collection of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (1991). Brad Campbell and Jay Fields, The Craft Heritage Trails of Western North Carolina (1998). Karekin Goekjian, Light of the Spirit: Portraits of Southern Outsider Artists (1998). Robert Isbell, The Keepers: Mountain Folk Holding on to Old Skills and Talents (1999). Roger Manley, Signs and Wonders: Outsider Art in North Carolina (1989). Daniel W. Patterson and Charles G. Zug III, eds., Arts in Earnest: North Carolina Folklife (1990). Whiskey Myers. ****** NEW DATE . Previously purchased tickets will be honored at the door. ****** Please be advised that all events are subject to change as Coif restrictions are lifted or placed. We Thank you for you continued support! Friday November 13,2020. Tickets available on EVENTBRITE. Each one of the releases from Whiskey Myers has been bigger and bigger — following their break-out third album, 2014’s Early Morning Shakes, their most recent record, Mud, climbed to No. 4 on Billboard’s country charts in 2016. And that was before the group was featured in Kevin Costner’s TV series Yellowstone in 2018 (not just on the soundtrack, but on screen, performing in a bar), which propelled the band’s entire catalogue into the Top 10 of the iTunes country chart. But playing to larger and wilder crowds — including audiences of more than 100,000 at the Download Festivals in London and Paris — didn’t cause Whiskey Myers to change their approach this time around. “We just bring our songs to the table and make it sound like us,” says Cannon. “We never think about it. We just try to go in and write a good song, whether it’s country or rock and roll or blues.” “There’s never a plan or the sense that we need to make a song sound a certain way,” adds guitarist John Jeffers. “A country song could end up a rocker or the other way around — it’s extremely organic, and that’s always been us as a band.” The big change for Whiskey Myers was the decision by the group (which also includes Cody Tate on guitar, Jeff Hogg on drums, bassist Jamey Gleaves and Tony Kent playing keyboards and percussion) to produce the album themselves. GRAMMY-winner Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, Brandi Carlile, Sturgill Simpson) helmed the band’s last two albums, but this time around, they felt ready to take the wheel. “We loved a lot of things about our producers,” says Jeffers, “but it was time to be set free and do it ourselves — to take what we learned from them and put it all together, figure it out. I think it just made it more authentically us.” Jeffers emphasizes how that sense of collaboration and experimentation really defined their whirlwind eighteen days of recording at the Sonic Ranch studio, outside of El Paso. “There’s never a right or wrong answer when it comes to ideas,” he says. “We would run every single idea from everyone — some work and some don’t, but we give them all a shot. And then there’s that magical moment when the whole band hears it, your eyes get a twinkle — ‘That’s it, that’s us!’ It’s usually a no-brainer.” With Early Morning Shakes, though, the rest of the world started to catch up to what Texas already knew. Esquire called them "the real damn deal," while USA Today wrote that their music had “shades of Led Zeppelin and David Allen Coe.” They took their blistering live show across the U.S. and U.K. non-stop, sharing stages with the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hank Williams Jr. and Jamey Johnson and racking up more than 300 million streams of their songs. The band draws as much inspiration from Nirvana as from Waylon Jennings, and Whiskey Myers bursts out of the gate with the raging “Die Rockin’,” followed by such bruisers as “Rolling Stone” and “Gasoline.” Over the course of fourteen tracks, though, songs expand, moods change and songs like “Bury My Bones” and “California to Carolina” explore different stories and emotions. “You want an album to be like a rollercoaster,” says Jeffers. “Does it really take you for a ride, with ups and downs and some loops and sometimes you’re upside down?” Whiskey Myers hasn’t dialed down their Southern Rock rowdiness, but these songs also reveal new maturity and changes in the lives of the band — both Jeffers and Cannon got married since the release of their last record. “There’s always pressure there,” says Jeffers about the challenges of maintaining a relationship and a relentless touring schedule, “‘Bury My Bones’ is about being home. I was on the road and just wanted to go home. It is on your mind, sometimes harder than others, and it shows in the songs. And then sometimes you’re just pissed off and you write a song called ‘Bitch!’” For this band of renegade brothers, the goal isn’t to fit into a format or try a new direction for its own sake, it’s to be true to the music they love — and with Whiskey Myers they continue pushing in all directions and sharpening their attack, whether country, rock, blues, whatever — even adding the legendary McCrary Sisters’ gospel influence to the project on background vocals. “Everybody wants you to pick a genre, but we did this our whole career,” says Cody Cannon. “We like it all, so we’re gonna do it all. We’re better than we were at 20 years old — you try to hone your skills and get better, write better, play better. This is just how it came naturally, and it works better that way.” Tech N9ne's Enterfear Tour 2020. Monday, September 21, 2020 7:00 PM 11:59 PM 19:00 23:59 Google CalendarICS. Tickets On Sale NOW!! ***All ORIGINAL TICKETS FROM APRIL 21st DATE WILL BE HONORED*** The Historic Ashland Armory - 208 Oak St. - Ashland, OR All Ages 7:00 pm Doors - 8:00 pm Show $32.00 - Adv / $35.00 - Door Presented by - JMax Productions. - Tech N9ne Bio - While crafting what would be one of the most important albums of his career, Tech N9ne thought back to some of his early material. Before Strange Music became the No. 1 independent rap music label, the Kansas City rapper released The Calm Before The Storm. The acclaimed collection included songs that hinted at the type of artist he would become, from the conceptually rich “Questions” to the devilishly clever “Mitch Bade.” So for The Storm, Tech N9ne wanted to revisit and build upon his musical foundation. “I knew if I named it The Storm, it would push me to do the best music I’ve ever done,” Tech N9ne explains. “I’m coming off of Special Effects, which featured songs with Eminem, Krizz Kaliko, 2 Chainz, B.o.B and T.I. But it’s not just the features. It was a big record, period. I just couldn’t come with a title that wasn’t going to push me. It actually pushed me to do some damn good music, man.” The resulting The Storm features Tech N9ne delivering 20 stellar songs that fit into three sonic worlds. The Storm kicks off with the “Kingdom” section, a showcase for the rapper’s narcissistic side. He then travels to “Clown Town,” which finds him at his darkest. The set closes with the “G. Zone,” a nod to the gangster side of his personality. Longtime Tech N9ne fans will recognize this type of layered artistry, something he introduced on 2001’s Anghellic, his first national release and the first album released on Strange Music. Anghellic features Tech N9ne navigating through “Hell,” “Purgatory” and “Heaven.” The conceptual master later explored his “The King,” “The Clown” and “The G” personas on his 2006 album, Everready (The Religion). With The Storm, Tech N9ne reintroduces “The King,” “The Clown” and “The G” to his longtime listeners. He also introduces them to his new fans, people who may have become Technicians thanks to his more recent material, including the gold certified singles “Fragile” with Kendrick Lamar and ¡Mayday!, as well as “Hood Go Crazy” with 2 Chainz and B.o.B. The Storm’s first single “Erbody But Me” fits perfectly in the “Kingdom” section of The Storm. On the kinetic cut, Tech N9ne deflects detractors and salutes his swag, while the percussive “Wifi (WeeFee)” trumpets Tech N9ne’s status as a plug as he delivers some intricate alliterative rhyming. Elsewhere, the raucous “Sriracha” features Logic and Joyner Lucas, both of whom asked Tech N9ne to appear on the cut after hearing an early version of the Michael “Seven” Summers-produced cut. Thanks in part to his guests on the song, “Sriracha” evolved into something different from how Tech N9ne first imagined it. “It was not meant to turn into a chopper song, but Joyner Lucas, whenever he gets on anything, he has to kill everything,” Tech N9ne explains. “Almost nobody ever sends me tracks for real, so the people that send me ones are brave. Joyner Lucas sent me one because he’s a brave soul. That’s cool ‘cause I’m usually the one always sending tracks out. So what I did on ‘Sriracha’ is what the beat needed.” Things get confrontational on the mesmerizing “Get Off Me,” a collaboration with Problem and Strange Music’s recently signed new artist, Darrein Safron. The three showcase their braggadocio side with high-powered lyricism, something that was of particular importance to Darrein. Tech N9ne says that because Safron in known as an R&B singer, people don’t think he can rap. “He’s a product of his environment,” Tech N9ne says. “He’s not trying to act like nobody. He’s like, ‘These people don’t think I can rap.’ So he rapped and he killed it. I love that. Problem did what he does and he killed it to. Everyone’s going to love this song when they hear it.” Tech N9ne descends into “Clown Town” with “I Get It Now,” the darkest portion of the album, which details the rapper’s longstanding struggle with not fitting into the traditional rap world, while “Hold On Me” features him taking a sobering look at his relationships with women. Then there’s “Poisoning The Well,” which showcases a bluesy sound. As Tech N9ne emerges into the “G. Zone” section of the album, he laments that he’s not as successful and acclaimed as he should be on “The Needle” and he imagines getting away to find peace on “Anywhere” with Marsha Ambrosius. Tech N9ne’s creative prowess shines throughout The Storm, as does the work of primary producer Michael “Seven” Summers. “We’re a great team,” Tech N9ne says. “We bounce ideas off each other all the time. Seven is just so diverse that he can do a song like the one I did with Jonathan Davis on here called ‘Starting To Turn,’ which is super metal, and then turn around and do ‘Get Off Me’ with Problem and Darrein Safron. He’s also able to do ‘No Gun Control’ with Gary Clark Jr. and Krizz Kaliko and then do ‘Buss Serves,’ the Too $hort remake of ‘CussWords.’ If I had a word for Seven, it would be ambidextrous.” For his own work, Tech N9ne has a high standard. “I have to rap against Tech N9ne every time I do a record,” he says. “And that’s hard to do.” Tech N9ne has been doing just that since he emerged in the mid-1990s. Subsequently, the visionary rapper has become as one of the genre’s most prolific and acclaimed artists. He and business partner Travis O’Guin have built Strange Music into the industry standard with robust music, touring and merchandise components. Even though Strange Music remains fiercely independent, Tech N9ne still enjoys major label level success. He earned his second and third gold certifications in 2016 for his “Fragile” and “Hood Go Crazy” singles, testaments to O’Guin’s and his dedication to the company. “Reinvest, reinvest, reinvest,” Tech N9ne says. “That’s how you build. That’s how we built this empire.” As Strange Music grew into a music industry force, it developed a reputation over the last decade-plus as one of the only reliable businesses in the field. All of that made the The Storm so striking to Tech N9ne’s fans and Tech N9ne himself, but the workload is not easy. “It’s hard, but I make sure that I have some happiness around me at all times” Tech says. Revisiting his roots and overcoming adversity helped shape The Storm, Tech N9ne’s most powerful musical moment. Brace yourself. Featured Events. Bring the Philadelphia Folk School to the comfort of your home! FIDDLING DEMYSTIFIED WORKSHOP. Sara Caswell: Playing from the Heart. Learn how to turn your fiddle into a voice! Jazz violinist and Grammy nominee Sara Caswell presents a practical guide to putting heart into your music. Using two jazz ballads, Sara will break down phrases for emotional content and teach right and left-hand techniques to bring what you feel into the music. This workshop is open to all levels of player and to audience members. (saracaswell.com) Donna Hébert (fiddlingdemystified.com) hosts and curates the Fiddling Demystified workshops and teaches the ongoing Fiddling Demystified class at the Philadelphia Folk School. Classes will take place over Zoom, a free video-conferencing app! to participate in class. We will send you a link to join the class on Zoom in your receipt and an hour prior to the workshop, and you will be able to join the class by clicking on that link. Please email [email protected] with any questions! (Saturday) 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm EST. Location. Philadelphia Folk School Virtual Classroom. Organizer. Learn More. Event Details. Join the Philadelphia Folksong Society. Event Details. Join the Philadelphia Folksong Society for a getaway weekend back at the beloved Camp Green Lane, filled with workshops, song circles, sings, and jams in a beautiful lake-side setting! Reconnect with music and nature in a welcoming and creative community. 2021 Fall Fling at Camp Green Lane. **REGISTER EARLY** SPACE IS LIMITED TO THE NUMBER OF ATTENDEES ALLOWED BY THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH! MORE CABINS WITH FEWER FLINGERS WILL BE USED TO ENSURE EVERYONE’S SAFE ATTENDANCE, AND THE LATEST HEALTH PROTOCOLS FROM THE COUNTY WILL BE FOLLOWED. Join the Philadelphia Folksong Society for a getaway weekend at Camp Green Lane, just miles from the Folk Festival, filled with workshops, song circles, sings, and jams in a beautiful lake-side setting! Reconnect with music and nature in a welcoming and creative community. At Fall Fling, folkies of all ages take over a sprawling summer camp as a pop-up community of musicians and music-lovers, a magical “Folk Brigadoon” weekend in the woods. Attendee-led music and craft workshops, song shares, and sings fill the days, as well as all your favorite Summer Camp activities: boating, and kayaking in the lake; basketball and other sporting facilities; and miles of wooded trails with plenty of serenity for nature lovers INCLUDING A WATERFALL. Evenings, enjoy dinner in the spacious dining hall, followed by endless musical and leisure opportunity: perform or take in the open mic or kid’s open stage; set up an impromptu songwriting session with new friends; or wander the grounds following the sounds of cabin jams. For night owls, head to the campfire for s’mores and jamming all night long—a Fall Fling tradition that keeps the Fest vibes going all year long. Bring your instruments, your friends & family, and your favorite tunes: Fall Fling’s a-coming! Helpful Information to Note – Fall Fling registration includes Friday 2pm – Sunday 8pm with meals (Friday is a potluck dinner!). – Fall Fling is a great getaway for families and friends alike! There is plenty to do at Camp Green Lane for everyone; you don’t have to play an instrument to have a great time and all are welcome. – All attendees sign up to either run a workshop or activity, or pitch in on a work shift. It’s part of the fun of Fall Fling! – There are discounts available for groups of 10 or more! Contact Molly at [email protected] or 215-247-1300 for more information. – Fall Fling uses tiered ticketing, with a limited number of tickets at each price level. Register early for the best price and to lock in your space as LIMITED SPACES ARE AVAILABLE! 1 (Friday) - 3 (Sunday) EST. Location. Camp Green Lane. 249 Camp Green Lane Rd, Green Lane, PA 18054. Organizer. Learn More. Event Details. PFS Presents Presents The Accidentals. Event Details. PFS Presents Presents The Accidentals + Sawyer Fredericks At Ardmore Music Hall. (Tuesday) 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm EST. Location. Ardmore Music Hall. 23 E Lancaster Ave, Ardmore, PA 19003. Organizer. Learn More. Event Details. PFS Presents An Intimate Afternoon. Event Details. PFS Presents An Intimate Afternoon with Talisk. POSTPONED. Doors 2:30pm | Music 3:00pm. **Please note: This is a SEATED matinee show** About Talisk. In their five years, Scottish firebrands Talisk have stacked up several major awards for their explosively energetic yet artfully woven sound, including 2018’s Belhaven Bursary for Innovation & 2017’s Folk Band of the Year both at the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, and a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award. Mohsen Amini – the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Musician of the Year 2018, Hayley Keenan and Graeme Armstrong seamlessly meld concertina, fiddle and guitar to produce a multi-layered, enthralling signature that has effortlessly captivated audiences from the USA to Australia, and throughout the UK. Appearances at world-leading festivals – including the Cambridge Folk Festival, Denmark’s Tønder, WOMAD UK and Las Palmas, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Celtic Colours, Milwaukee Irish Festival and five successive outings at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections – have amassed a die-hard following, whilst the world’s folk and world music media have also lauded high credits upon the trio. The release of their hotly anticipated second album, Beyond, in October 2018 was met with a five-star ‘Top of the World’ review in Songlines, praising the band as “incredibly infectious and endearing… fresh, invigorating, accomplished and playfully frisky.” (Friday) 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm EST. Location. Philadelphia Folksong Society. 6156 Ridge Avenue , Philadelphia, PA 19128. Learn More. Event Details. Event Details. PFS Presents GoldenOak – 6/8 @ 7pm. Due to the constantly changing reality surrounding the global health crisis of COVID-19, the FIRST priority of the Society is the health and well- being of our community. Following the wild success of its first livestream with Mari Black on March 13, 2020, the Society has worked to to keep the music playing, lift spirits, and make sure the artists in our extended Folk Family can continue to live day to day. We all know music is a universal language and we will be utilizing it as we present artists local, regional, and international – old favorites and new discoveries – to a digital audience of music lovers from the comfort of their own homes! PFS is excited to bring you GoldenOak! With their tours cancelled and tens of thousands of dollars lost, this is the time to support the musicians we love and #KeepTheMusicPlaying. When you think of trendy musical scenes, Portland, Maine might not be first on your list. Yet the homespun, heartwarming music of family-oriented indie folk group GoldenOak provides evidence that the dense woods of the Pine Tree State might just be a better muse than the slick streets of New York and LA. GoldenOak is driven by the songwriting and harmonies of the brother-sister duo Zak and Lena Kendall. After a bit of a recording hiatus and a shift in personnel, the group is back with an enchanting pair of songs. “River” and “Poet And The Painter” find this collective simultaneously building on previous strengths while also striking out in an interesting new direction. Zak Kendall explains that he and his sister had a heart-to-heart about how the band should sound once some intra-band changes took place. “With the original lineup, we were very much a four-piece group. Everybody had similar roles in the band and there was not really much of a lead, per se. As the band evolved and those two bandmates left, Lena and I kind of sat down and said, ‘What we were doing is changing up, but what’s staying the same is our relationship to each other, our musical journey as siblings.’ I think with this music we’ve kind of settled into that role. We’ve learned to really understand and work with each other, write together more, bounce ideas off each other.” The pair leaned into the family-oriented dynamic when they dove into the new material, recorded at Rustic Studios in Portland. “The new stuff is built around that relationship and particularly our vocals and our harmonies,” Zak says. “Like on ‘Poet And The Painter’, there’s no lead vocals on it. It’s us singing harmonies the whole time, kind of like Simon & Garfunkel’s early stuff. When I wrote ‘River’, I said to Lena, “I’m writing this song, but I want you to sing it.” That was the first time that I had written lyrics for Lena to sing. And so it really became the closest to a partnership that it’s ever been for us. We were really working closely together on this new stuff.” Even as Zak and Lena found a new direction by honoring their musical bond, which they first started to form during campfire singalongs as youngsters, the new members of the band, bassist Mike Knowles and drummer Jackson Cromwell, also helped determine the sound of this single. Zak explains the process since the release of the band’s 2017 EP Foxgloves: “It’s been like a year-and-a-half or so since we released music. We were touring with a cellist and a trumpet player at the time. They were big focal points of a lot of our arrangements and a lot of our writing. When they left, we started playing with Mike and Jackson. And they started shaping the direction of what we were going to be putting out, because we wanted it to sound like our live set was sounding. It took a long period before we started working on new stuff because we were adjusting to having a new lineup and getting to know each other as musicians and bandmates. As we felt we were starting to click, we started working on a new stuff.” Speaking of that new stuff, “River” manages to seamlessly connect two different pieces of music that Zak had been writing. The moody music, accompanying verses about how political shifts are mirrored by the changing seasons, segues into a more upbeat outro, connected by a gorgeous moment of brother and sister singing a cappella, “I’ve come to witness the things I can’t see.” Meanwhile, “Poet And The Painter” find the two in close-harmony throughout, but the shuffle of the rhythm section adds some momentum to the lyrical musings on the potency of nature. In many ways, the themes of GoldenOak’s music are driven by their home base. “Maine is such an interesting place to be an artist,” Zak says. “It’s so remote in a lot of ways. And the landscape and the woods are so inspiring. People are often spread out, but there’s also this amazing artistic community, not only in Portland but also in the towns all over Maine.” DUE TO THE SUCCESS OF PFS’ FIRST LIVESTREAM, THE METHOD THAT WE CAN SUCCESSFULLY USE FOR THIS EVENT IS STREAMING LIVE IN A PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP. YOU MUST HAVE FACEBOOK ACCESS TO PARTAKE IN THIS LIVESTREAM. YOU WILL BE SENT THE ADDRESS TO JOIN THE GROUP IN THE CONFIRMATION AND WE WILL ONLY APPROVE YOU IF YOUR FACEBOOK NAME MATCHES WHAT YOU SUBMITTED ON THE FORM, SO BE CAREFUL WHEN FILLING IT OUT PLEASE. WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE THAT THIS MAY CAUSE. We thank you so much for your support and understanding in a time of so much uncertainty. Sending much love to our entire extended folk family. Stay well. (Friday) 7:00 pm EDT. Location. PFS Digital Concert Venue. Organizer. Learn More. Event Details. PFS Presents Miss. Event Details. PFS Presents Miss Tess & the Talkbacks. We will update this event with a new date as soon as possible! Thank you for your patience! Doors 7pm | Music 7:30pm. $10 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $12 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Doors. About Miss Tess. “Contemporary and timeless. More than merely emulating her obvious influences, Miss Tess effectively situates herself on a pedestal right beside them, resulting in a set of songs that swings, sways, rocks and evokes her own personal perspective. Baby, We All Know is an excellent compendium of modern Americana distilled in all its forms. Miss Tess is a sweet seductress, one whose charms are increasingly harder and harder to resist. Catch her while you can.” – No Depression. Miss Tess has always been known for creating an eclectic array of vintage blues, country, and jazz sounds. Currently residing in Nashville, she finds no shortage of inspiration in the roots scene there. However varied Tess’ music can be, front and center sits her voice that has been described as “alternately seductive and sexy, and a pure joy to listen to” (Pop Matters). Her music is further heightened by her partner, Thomas Bryan Eaton, who helps to shape the songs and arrangements with a deft touch on guitar & pedal steel. No slouch herself, Tess brings along her Weymann archtop guitar, often trading leads with Thomas. This past winter the two teamed up with veteran producer Andrija Tokic ( Alabama Shakes, Hurray for the Riff Raff ) at his studio in East Nashville to create a new record that both reaches back to Tess’ roots, yet also signals a new chapter in her career. The record, to be titled “The Moon is an Ashtray”, is getting its finishing touches and will be released Feb 7. In over a decade of touring Miss Tess has won fans from New York City to New Orleans and Alabama to Alaska. Over the years she has shared the stage with the likes of Lake Street Dive, NRBQ, The Holmes Brothers, Eilen Jewell, and Todd Snider. Her band has graced stages at Blissfest, Cayamo, Clearwater Jazz Holiday, Floydfest, Ossippee Valley Music Festival, Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion, Burlington Jazz Festival, Green River Festival, Red Wing Roots, Shakori Hills, and more. Miss Tess’s music has been heard from coast to coast on taste maker programs such as XM/Sirius’s The Loft, NPR’s Folk Alley, Santa Cruz’s KPIG and Boston’s WUMB. Her 2016 album, “Baby, We All Know” lived in the top 20 on the Americana Charts for six weeks. Miss Tess grew up in Maryland, where she took piano lessons at an early age. She went to college in Baltimore, intending to be a graphic artist. While there, she dabbled in guitar, but it wasn’t until the end of her studies that she began taking it seriously. Once she became more interested in becoming a musician, she started studying jazz and writing songs, and put together her first band. Having grown up listening to her parents’ bands playing big band swing, folk, country and dixieland music, rootsy styles came naturally to her. After a move to Boston, Miss Tess took a few classes at Berklee College of Music and formed a new band with a few fellow jazz students. Miss Tess quickly established herself as a songwriter and performer in the storied Boston music scene, playing regularly at local clubs. Over four years she won a Boston Music Award, and was nominated several other times in the Folk and Jazz categories of the BMAs, as well as the New England Music Awards. Miss Tess later moved to Brooklyn for a 5 year stint in the big city, followed by a move to Nashville, where she is currently based. She has since developed her sound to include more classic country, rockabilly and vintage rock ‘n’ roll, all combining into her ever-developing sense of self and eclectic taste in American roots music. Miss Tess has been releasing albums and leading a band for over a decade, spanning her career over many different cities including Baltimore, Boston, NYC, and her new home base of Nashville, TN. Straddling her move from New York to Nashville, the new album was recorded in both cities. The recording cast includes her steady band mate and co-producer, Thomas Bryan Eaton, producer Dan Knobler (Rodney Crowell, Tift Merritt), Robin Macmillan, Jake Silver (Lee Fields), Roy Williams, Stefan Zenuik, Eric Frey (The Revelers), Dominic Billet (Andrew Combs), Kai Welch, John Pahmer, Aaron Shaffer-Haiss, Oliver Craven (The Stray Birds), Maya De Vitry (The Stray Birds) and Caitlin Canty. A follow up to 2012’s Sweet Talk and 2013’s The Love I Have for You , both released on Signature Sounds Recordings, 2016’s Baby, We All Know was released independently and received accolades in the press as well as reaching the Top 20 in AMA Radio Charts and being included in the top 100 albums of the year for 2016. As she expands and grows more into her own sound, Tess is still hard to categorize. She says “Many times after the show somebody will come up to compliment the band and ask me what kind of music we just played. After mumbling through a few different genres I usually just tell them it’s my music and hope they enjoyed the show”. Enjoyable is just what her music is, propelled by the classic quality of Tess’s vocals, compelling and totally believable. The production throughout is the right balance of punch and rhythm, without getting in the way of the vocals or songwriting, giving this collection of songs a plentiful dose of old-school swagger. Time after time, Miss Tess is able to utilize sounds and styles from a past era combined with modern sensibilities to present an authentic and engaging presence.