A woman in the beer garden said to me Saturday – “I sense a presence.” It may have been the Yard’s Cheap Thrills Pils talking. Or, it is the spirit of Pete Seeger that is […]
Author: Shaun Smith
Folkies Make Friday Festive
Friday was a great day to be at the 53rd annual Philadelphia Folk Festival. With the gates opening to a sunny afternoon, the stage was set for a day of showcases and concerts. The Hot […]
Skies clear for Folk Fest weekend
The rain really started to kick up a few hours before the first concert was set to begin. Luckily, I had just finished dinner over the campfire before it started to drizzle, then rain, then pour.
Just as Angaleena Presley was set to take the stage, the rain let up enough for my camping neighbors to snap a photo of a double rainbow in the parking lot. “It’s a sign for the festival,” I said. Everything around here is a sign for a happy fest.
There was a large crowd at the camp stage for the Thursday night concert – which is only open to campers at the Philadelphia Folk Festival. Sturgill Simpson came out and played a couple of good songs with the energy of a rock ‘n’ roll band before the lead singer and songwriter, Simpson said, “We had to get the slow stuff out of the way. Y’all want to dance now? This is for the guy who said he wanted to dance.”
#FolkinStoked: Old Crow Medicine Show
How many bands get tapped by Bob Dylan to finish his unreleased work? Well Old Crow Medicine Show have be handed pieces by Dylan, twice, to record and finish. Now that’s a band I want to see!
“Wagon Wheel,” the country single made popular by Darius Rucker was first recorded by Old Crow Medicine Show, the Nashville-based bluegrass and folk band that will perform Friday, Aug. 15 at the 53rd annual Philadelphia Folk Festival.
#FolkinStoked: Steep Canyon Rangers
I never thought I liked bluegrass until I heard The Steep Canyon Rangers. The Grammy award-winning band consisting of Woody Platt, Nicky Sanders, Mike Guggino, Graham Sharp, Charles R. Humphrey III and sometimes Steve Martin […]
Philly welcomes folkies for 53rd annual fest
More than 50 years of musical tradition will continue at the Old Pool Farm for the Philadelphia Folk Festival Aug. 15-17 in Upper Salford Township.
The lineup for the 53rd annual Folk Festival includes Old Crow Medicine Show, Steep Canyon Rangers, Janis Ian and Loudon Wainwright III. These performers are mixed in throughout an intoxicating three days of crafts, workshops and a variety of musical performances.
New releases by Adult Jazz and Spoon this week
Adult Jazz – “Gist Is” The quartet hailing from Leeds debuts with “Gist Is” a critically acclaimed and compared to Frank Zappa by one NPR writer. Contemporary, free forming and as erie as Nessie of […]
This Week: We see “The Voyager” Through a “Hypnotic Eye”
New releases by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Jenny Lewis are dominating my playlist Tuesday, July 29. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have returned to the studio for a loose and bluesy 13th album. […]
Brief update on my hiatus
Things have been busy at the High Note and WordSmith. I've been steadily picking up work and also keeping up with music. The Firefly 2014 story is pretty epic so I'm going to break […]
Atley Moon acoustic May 31 at Maynard’s in Margate
The soulful summer sounds of Atley Moon and the Say Something Sound Machine will bring Motown to Margate with an acoustic set 6-10 p.m. Saturday, May 31 at Maynards’s Cafe, 9306 Amherst Ave.
The band has a strong following in both South Jersey and Philadelphia and are summertime mainstays at Yesterday’s in Marmora and The Whitebriar in Avalon. Philadelphians have shown the band a lot of love after years of great gigs and a stellar performance at World Cafe Live.