Folks Like Us Blog

If you missed Danny Schmidt’s last concert in the area, here is another chance to see this extraordinary Austin-based singer-songwriter.  He’ll be performing at the Red Comma Cafe in Bloomfield Hills in a rare Sunday evening concert on March 7, beginning at 7:00 p.m.  And if you did make it to his last concert, you’ll definitely be back!

The Red Comma Cafe is held at the Congregational Church of Birmingham, United Church of Christ, 1000 Cranbrook Road, Bloomfield Hills; 248-646-4511; http://www.ccbucc.org.  Matt Cifaldi will perform an opening set.  

Come and enjoy some great music while helping a worthwhile program.  Breakfast at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ann Arbor is a program that’s been serving breakfast to the homeless and needy for 27 years.  A benefit concert will be held Friday, February 26, 7:00 p.m. at The Ark to support the work of this organization. 

Performers include Celtic fiddler and Saline native Bonnie Rideout; Detroit gospel-blues singer-guitarist Robert Jones; English jazz-fingerstyle guitarist Duck Baker; and the Detroit-area country/bluegrass group Bill Bynum & Co.

For more information, contact The Ark at 734-761-1451 or http://www.theark.org, or the BreakFest 2010 Website at http://www.breakfest2010.org.

And now for something entirely different … the Great Lakes Shipwreck Film Festival will be held on Saturday, February 27, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. at the Morris Lawrence Building on the campus of Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor.  There will be dozens of underwater videos and historical research videos of Great Lakes shipwrecks, and also a diver/boater trade show.  Folk singer Lee Murdock, well known for his boundless body of music and stories about the Great Lakes, will be on hand throughout the day to share the “dreams and inspiration in the lives of sailors and fishermen, lighthouse keepers, ghosts, shipwrecks, outlaws and everyday heroes.”

For more information and a complete schedule of events, visit http://www.shipwreckfestival.org.  

boundless body of music and stories in the Great Lakes

On February 7, Signature Sounds recording artists and special guests performed in a benefit concert to raise funds for those affected by the January 12th earthquate in Haiti.  The concert raised over $17,000 for the organization Partners in Health.

A special benefit CD was also created by the artists to help raise additional funds.  100% of the proceeds from the sale of this CD will be donated to Partners in Health.  The CD sells for $9.99 and includes songs by Eilen Jewell, Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem, Jeffrey Foucault, Sweetback Sisters, Winterpills, Kris Delmhorst, Joy Kills Sorrow, Chris Smither, Patty Larkin, Richard Shindell, Crooked Still, Peter Mulvey, Caroline Herring, Erica Wheeler, and Mark Erelli.

For more information and to order a copy of the CD, visit http://signaturesounds.com/onlinestore/moreinfo.cfm?Product_ID=415.

Make your Valentine’s Day celebraton complete by joining members of the Paint Creek Folklore Society and the Oakland County Traditional Dance Society at the “Starry Night for a Ramble” contra dance on Saturday, February 13, 2010, 8:00-11:00 p.m.  Dances will be taught and called by Drake Meadow and Glen Morningstar, and live music will be provided by the Paint Creek Country Dance Orchestra.  All dances will be walked through.  No partners are required, but bring one if you can.  The admission includes FANTASTIC cakes, cookies, fruits and beverages at intermission.  Bring your old dancing stuff too — silent auction sales support Public Radio.

The dance will be held at the Hunter Community Center, 509 Fisher Ct. (3 blocks north of 14 Mile, 3 blocks east of Main St.), Clawson, Michigan.  According to the organizers, this is “wonderful, crazy, healthy, wholesome fun with live music to keep you hoppin’.”  For more information, visit http://web.mac.com/sgold/OCTDS/SNFAR.html or call 248-967-1055.  

Congratulations to the winners in Sunday’s Grammy Awards ceremony:

Best Americana Album:  Levon Helm / Electric Dirt

Best Bluegrass Album:  Steve Martin / The Crow

Best Traditional Folk Album:  Loudon Wainwright III / High Wide and Lonesome: The Charlie Poole Project

Best Contemporary Folk Album:  Steve Earle / Townes

Best Traditional Blues Album:  Ramblin’ Jack Elliott / A Stranger Here

Best Contemporary Blues Album:  Derek Trucks Band / Already Free

Best Cajun/Zydeco Album:  Buckwheat Zydeco / Lay Your Burden Down

Best Native American Album:  Bill Miller / Spirit Wind North

Best Hawaiian Music Album:  Masters of the Slack Key Guitar, Volume 2

Best Tejano Album:  Los Texmaniacs / Borders Y Bailes

Best Traditional World Music Album:  Mamadou Diabate / Douga Mansa

Best Contemporary World Music Album:  Bela Fleck / Throw Down Your Heart

Legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan will perform at the White House as part of “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music from the Civil Rights Movement” on Wednesday, February 10.  Performers include Bob Dylan, Natalie Cole, John Mellencamp, Smokey Robinson, Jennifer Hudson, John Legend, Seal, The Blind Boys of Alabama, and the Howard University Choir.  Emcees will be Morgan Freeman and Queen Latifah.

Hosted by President Barack Obama and his family, the show will take place in the White House East Room.  It will be streamed live on February 10 starting at 5:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) at http://www.whitehouse.gov.  It will also air on Thursday, February 11, at 8:00 p.m. on PBS stations.  A one-hour “concert special” will also be posted online at http://www.npr.org/music.

We’d like to wish a happy 251st birthday to Robert Burns, Scottish poet and lyricist born January 25, 1759.  The songs have endured over the years for good reason.  In 2009 he was voted by the Scottish public as being the Greatest Scot.

There have been countless recordings of Burns’ songs over the decades; just a handful that we’re happy to recommend:

Andy M. Stewart, Songs of Robert Burns (Green Linnet) [Andy Stewart was formerly lead vocalist with the Scottish band Silly Wizard]

Jean Redpath, Songs of Robert Burns.  Volumes 1-7 (Philo Records) [Jean Redpath is one of the definitive interpreters of Scottish traditional music and a noted folk music ethnographer]

Jim Malcolm, Acquaintance (Beltane Records) [Scottish singer and songwriter, and lead singer with the band Old Blind Dogs]

Dougie MacLean, Tribute (Dunkeld Records) [also includes songs by Neil Gow and Robert Tannahill]

Various artists, The Complete Songs of Robert Burns.  12 disc set (Linn Records) [Produced in association with the Burns Foundation]

Not so far from the metro Detroit area is a great folk music venue that hosts concerts once a month in London, Ontario:  The Cuckoo’s Nest Folk Club.  It was originally formed in 1973 along the lines of British folk clubs with the goal of bringing top level folk music performers to London and to provide a focus and inspiration for folk music enthusiasts.  The club currently holds its concerts once a month on Sunday evenings at Chaucer’s Pub in downtown London (122 Carling St.).

The next concert will be held Sunday, January 24, beginning at 7:30.  “My Sweet Patootie” is Sandra Swannell and Terry Young, formerly of the Canadian band Tanglefoot.  Upcoming shows include Steafan Hannigan and Saskia Tomkins (February 14), Maeve Mackinnon (March 6), Tom Kastle and Ian Bell (April 11), Ed Miller (May 2), and Richard Grainger (June 17).

For more information, visit http://www.cuckoosnest.folk.on.ca.

A folk festival in the middle of winter?  How wonderful is that!

The Cooper’s Glen Music Festival will take place at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Kalamazoo on January 22 and 23.  Performers include Doug & Rodney Dillard, Peter Madcat Ruth with Shari Kane & Maxwell St., Laurie Lewis with Tom Rozum, The New Bad Habits, Joel Mabus, Millish, Carmea, Honest D and the Steel Reserve, The Kalamazoo Mandolin & Guitar Orchestra, The Hoot Owls, The Red Sea Pedestrians, The Williams Family, and Schlitz Creek.  Events include concerts, workshops, and children’s activities.

Visit http://www.coopersglen.com for more information.