Episode #20 - American Folk Festival Preview

The American Folk Festival in Bangor, ME is coming up fast. Next weekend (Aug. 28th, 29th and 30th) the Queen City’s waterfront will be transformed into a cultural festival presenting music, dance and other performing arts from across America and the world. Plus there’s food... a variety of regional, ethnic and good ol’ fair food. The event is free of charge (of course donations are kindly accepted) and family friendly - providing lots to do and see for the youngsters in your life. As the host of Sonic Latitudes, I’ll be attending the festival (with my media pass) which will give me access to the artists and my goal is to bring back interviews and new sounds for a show that will air on Sunday September, 6. Today’s show is gonna be my Folk Festival preview. I’ve put together a playlist of artists who will hit the stage next weekend and standout artists who’ve appeared at the festival in years past. The next 30 minutes will spotlight some of these past artists. Then, around the top of the hour, I’ll focus on this year’s artists.

Here are some pics from Bon Debarras' performance at last year's festival. This Quebecois trio delighted the audience with their unique spin on traditional French-Canadian folk music.

Episode #19 - Colorado Rocky Mountain High

Just got back from a week in Lyons, Colorado, visiting my brother and his family. It was hard to leave those snowcapped mountains and our loved ones behind. In an effort to lift my spirits, I put together a playlist of some of my favorite hippie bluegrass and funk from the Front Range region. Here's some Leftover Salmon, String Cheese Incident, Grant Farm, Drew Emmitt, Kyle Hollingsworth and Emmitt-Nershi Band. Sure to cure any blues!

Leftover Salmon

Episode #15 - Songs of the Sea

Sailing. Was there ever a more popular theme or motif in pop and rock music of the 70s and 80s. Crosby Stills & Nash released Southern Cross in ‘82. Lionel Richie sang “Sail On” in ‘79. Who can forget Jimmy Buffet’s “Son of a Sailor” - one could say that he even pioneered sailing rock. Do you remember Loggins & Messina? They belted out the chorus to Vahevela on their album Sittin’ In… a song that romanticized the life of island hopping Caribbean pirates. Later they released an album titled “Full Sail.” The cover to this album left such an impression on me as a kid. Two suntanned dudes at the helm of a sailboat. The fully bearded Kenny Loggins holds a pipe and his bare-chested captain, Jimmy Messina, holds the wheel with his Hawaiian shirt slung over his shoulder.

These modern sea songs painted a picture of luxury and romance. As Christopher Cross sang,

“Well, it's not far down to paradise, at least it's not for me

And if the wind is right you can sail away and find tranquility

Oh, the canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see Believe me”

The canvas can do miracles, that’s true Mr. Cross. But the canvas can also fill the heart with longing and cast dreams into oblivion. In fact, most sea songs and shanties preceding the cocaine and merlot-fueled yacht-sailing fantasies of the 70s and 80s, dealt with the dreams, feats and tragedies of hard-working sailors.
Today on Sonic Latitudes, I’ve put together a playlist that explores sea songs and shanties of old from around the globe. Coming up in the next 90s mins you’ll hear songs from Nova Scotia, the British Isles, Australia, Cape Verde, Portugal, Brazil and the Bahamas.

Episode #18 - World Fusion

This episode's playlist pulls together some of my favorite examples of world fusion - collaborations between artists from different regions or singular artists who blend genres to create something new and innovative.

1. Mdungu - Rio Nights
2. Goran Kafjes Subtropic Arkestra - Dokuz Seki/Esmerim*
3. Tipsy Oxcart - Honey Dripper
4. SoCalled - Baleboste

6. Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita - Future Strings
7. Nitin Sawnhey feat Faheem Mazhar - Daybreak
8. Titi Robin - Sur Tes Pas - Taziri
9. 17 Hippies - Worksong
10. Eardrum - Astrobeat - Colonised
11. Mickey Hart - Happiness is Drumming

12. The Demon Barbers - Disco At the Tavern
13. Martin Bennet - Swallowtail
14. Bei Bei & Shawn Lee - Hot Thursday
15. Ibibio Sound Machine - The Tortoise
16. Juju - Nightwalk*
17. The Toure-Raichel Collective - Kfar