2009 Richmond Folk Festival offers diverse music lineup
What people are saying about the Richmond Folk Festival
• Name you might know
• World (music) party
• Performers (we're pretty sure) you won't see anywhere else but here
Names you might know
The Jerry Douglas Band: His face is probably familiar because of his frequent
presence onstage with Alison Krauss & Union Station. His sound might be recognizable
because Douglas is regarded as the pre-eminent dobro player in the world (for
the uninitiated, a dobro is an acoustic guitar with a metal resonator placed
where the sound hole usually resides). Douglas was also instrumental — no pun
intended — in creating the soundtrack to "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" with
T-Bone Burnett.
Performing: Saturday, 5 p.m. Dominion Stage and 8:30 p.m. Ukrop's/First Market
Bank Stage.
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Trouble Funk: These Maryland-based go-go masters have existed as Trouble Funk
since 1978, when their percussive party music, often described as an offshoot
of funk, first caught the attention of DJs outside the D.C. area, where the genre
was born. One member, Robert "Dyke" Reed, died in 2008, but the band
is still dropping its syncopated beats and call-and-response chants on audiences
throughout the East Coast.
Performing: Saturday, 5:30 p.m. Ukrop's/First Market Bank Stage and 9:15 p.m.
Richmond Times-Dispatch Dance Pavilion.
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Phil Wiggins and Corey Harris: Get ready for some deep-seated blues with this
pair. Wiggins is well-known as a blues harmonica virtuoso who was part of the
popular duo Cephas & Wiggins until John Cephas died this spring. Harris is
a Charlottesville resident whose guitar-playing is rooted in Delta blues but
also touches on R&B, reggae and Latin and African sounds. In 2007, the John
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation chose Harris as a recipient of a "genius" grant.
Performing: Saturday, noon Dominion Stage; On Sunday, 12:15 p.m. Ukrop's/First
Market Bank Stage and 3 p.m. Dominion Stage.
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Swamp Dogg: Though he lives in California, Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams
is a Tidewater native whose career began in 1954 as "Little Jerry";
in 1970, he became "Swamp Dogg." Williams' distinction isn't necessarily
his talents as a soul singer but his successes as a songwriter and producer.
The Drifters, Patti LaBelle, Gary U.S. Bonds and Lionel Richie all performed
under Williams' guidance in the studio. But it was his 1971 writing collaboration
with Bonds on "She's All I Got," which became a No. 1 country hit for
Johnny Paycheck, that solidified his quiet celebrity.
Performing: Friday, 9 p.m. Ukrop's/First Market Bank Stage; on Saturday, 3:45
p.m. Richmond Times-Dispatch Dance Pavilion.
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Wylie & The Wild West: He's a cowboy, a yodeler, a cutting horse enthusiast,
a western music performer and — bet you didn't know this — the guy who put the "Ya-hoo-ooo!" in
Yahoo's familiar ad campaign. The energetic Wylie Gustafson will perform his
rollicking rockabilly/country music with his band — Ray Doyle (guitar), Scotty
Wilburn (steel guitar and fiddle) and Dave Reynolds (drums) — and conduct a solo
class in "Yodeling 101" at the festival.
Performing: Friday, 7 p.m. Ukrop's/First Market Bank Stage; on Saturday, 4 p.m.
Ukrop's/First Market Bank Stage; on Sunday, 5:15 p.m. Richmond Times-Dispatch
Dance Pavilion.
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ALSO:
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Bob French's Original Tuxedo Jazz Band: Beloved as the leader of New Orleans'
continually active jazz band, French is only the fourth frontman of the group
in its 99-year existence. Performing: Saturday, 1:15 p.m. Richmond Times-Dispatch
Dance Pavilion and 9:30 p.m. Ukrop's/First Market Bank Stage; on Sunday, 5:45
p.m. Ukrop's/First Market Bank Stage.
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Jeffery Broussard & The Creole Cowboys: The zydeco kings of Lafayette, La.,
are piloted by accordion master Broussard. Performing: Friday, 8 p.m. Richmond
Times-Dispatch Dance Pavilion; on Saturday, 2 p.m. Ukrop's/First Market Bank
Stage and 5 p.m. Richmond Times-Dispatch Dance Pavilion.
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Aubrey Ghent: A third-generation lap steel guitarist, Ghent performs "sacred
steel," a style of playing mostly unknown outside of House of God churches
until the 1990s. Performing: Saturday, 1 p.m. Dominion Stage; on Sunday, 2:30
p.m. Ukrop's/First Market Bank Stage and 5:15 p.m. Dominion Stage.
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Paul Williams & The Victory Trio: Williams' mandolin-playing and tenor voice
have made him a staple in the bluegrass gospel field. Oh, and despite the name,
The Victory Trio is actually a quartet. Performing: Saturday, noon Altria Stage
and 4 p.m. Dominion Stage.
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World (music) party
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La Gran Banda: A traditional "papayera" band, a staple along Colombia's
Caribbean coast, can accumulate up to 20 members. This Miami-based version, led
by Henry March, who emigrated from Colombia to South Florida in the mid- '80s,
is slightly smaller but no less infectious. Brass and percussion will meld for
a rollicking performance.
Performing: Saturday, noon Richmond Times-Dispatch Dance Pavilion and 6 p.m.
Dominion Stage; on Sunday, 1:15 p.m. Ukrop's/First Market Bank Stage and 4 p.m.
Richmond Times-Dispatch Dance Pavilion.
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Samba Mapangala & Orchestre Virunga: Though he lives in Maryland, Mapangala
is a native of Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) who began his singing
career in the 1970s. His group fuses Congolese rumba with traditional Kenyan
music, while Mapangala sings in Lingala and Swahili.
Performing: Friday, 9:30 p.m. Richmond Times-Dispatch Dance Pavilion; on Saturday,
2:30 p.m. Richmond Times-Dispatch Dance Pavilion and 7:30 p.m. Ukrop's/First
Market Bank Stage.
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Clinton Fearon & The Boogie Brown Band: As a member of the Gladiators since
1969, Fearon has been associated with one of Jamaica's most popular musical products.
Steering his own band since the '80s, Fearon performs traditional reggae with
a focus on socially conscious lyrics.
Performing: Saturday, 3 p.m. Ukrop's/First Market Bank Stage and 7:45 p.m. Richmond
Times-Dispatch Dance Pavilion; on Sunday, 1:15 p.m. Richmond Times-Dispatch Dance
Pavilion and 4 p.m. Dominion Stage.
ALSO:
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Jorge Negron's Master Bomba Ensemble: A top-notch Afro-Latin ensemble made up
of Puerto Rican bomba drummers and dancers and fronted by former Richmonder Negron.
Performing: Saturday, 8:30 p.m. Altria Stage; on Sunday, 4:45 p.m. Ukrop's/First
Market Bank Stage.
Listen
Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill: Irish fiddle and Irish guitar shall meet when
these two, former members of Chicago's Midnight Court, perform what Hayes describes
as a "three-way conversation between the two of us and the music." Performing:
Friday, 9:45 p.m. Altria Stage; on Saturday, noon Ukrop's/First Market Bank Stage
and 5 p.m. Altria Stage.
Listen
Don
Roy Trio: Roy is often referred to as the "Dean of Franco-American fiddling" in
his hometown of Gorham, Maine. The rest of the trio — Cindy Roy and Jay Young
— provide piano and bass and step-dancing. Performing: Saturday, 4:45
p.m. MeadWestvaco Family Stage; on Sunday, 4 p.m. MeadWestvaco Family Stage.
Performers (we're pretty sure) you won't see anywhere else but here
Listen
Debashish Bhattacharya: A student of the lap steel guitar since he was 3, Bhattacharya
also learned to sing before he could talk. At age 20, the native of Kolkata (formerly
Calcutta) became the first slide guitarist to win the President of India Award;
he's now invented slide guitars to incorporate that sound with traditional Indian
raga.
Performing: Friday, 8:45 p.m. Altria Stage; on Saturday, 1:45 p.m. Altria Stage;
on Sunday, 3:15 p.m. Altria Stage.
Listen
Khogzhumchu: Since its inception, the folk festival has corralled two very different
styles of throat singers. This year's offering hails from Kyzyl, Tuva, (the Russian
Federation) and performs Tuvan throat singing. What does that mean? It's best
described as a form of overtone singing that evokes the sounds of nature — whistling
wind, trotting horses, trilling birds. If that sounds too foreign, consider how
the singers feel: This is their first trip to the United States.
Performing: Saturday, 3:45 p.m. MeadWestvaco Family Stage; on Sunday, 2 p.m.
Dominion Stage and 3:45 p.m. Ukrop's/First Market Bank Stage.
Sounds of Korea: Founded by Sue Yeon Park in New York, the performance troupe
focuses on traditional attire, choreographed drumming and ensemble dance numbers,
all with roots in Buddhist shaman rituals. In 2008, Park was awarded the National
Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts.
Performing: Saturday, 7:30 p.m. Altria Stage; on Sunday, 1 p.m. Altria Stage.
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Sophia Bilides Trio: The concept of Greek cabaret is likely a foreign one to
most people, but Sophia Bilides will enlighten with her performance of "Smyrneika," a
cabaret tradition among Asia Minor Greek refugees in the 1930s-40s. Bilides,
a second-generation Greek-Italian-American who learned the music growing up in
a Greek community in Connecticut, also plays the "santouri" (hammered
dulcimer) and zilia (finger cymbals). She'll be joined by Mike Gregian on "doumbeleki" (drum)
and Tom Babbin on "kythara" (guitar).
Performing: Saturday, 3 p.m. Dominion Stage; on Sunday, 1 p.m. Dominion Stage
and 4:30 p.m. Altria Stage.
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ALSO:
Lloyd Arneach: A member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee, Arneach is a master
storyteller who believes that "there is great power and wisdom in the old
stories." Performing: Saturday, 2 p.m. MeadWestvaco Family Stage and 4 p.m.
Genworth Parawing (up the hill); on Sunday, 1 p.m. Genworth Parawing and 3 p.m.
MeadWestvaco Family Stage.
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Paul Zarzyski: He's known as Montana's cowboy poet laureate and often writes
and performs free verse. Performing: Sunday, noon with Wylie Gustafson at Altria
Stage and 2 p.m. solo at Genworth Parawing.
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North Bear: A young group from Lame Deer, Mont., their intense drumming incorporates
elements of R&B and hip-hop into traditional sounds. Performing: Saturday,
1 p.m. Altria Stage, 3 p.m. MeadWestvaco Family Stage and 5 p.m. Genworth Parawing.
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