Friday, September 7, 2012 - Pick! Kick-off
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Saltine Ramblers
The Saltine Ramblers started as a group of friends bringing their diverse influences to acoustic jams in a Los Lunas living room in 2004. Bluegrass, alt-country, old time fiddle tunes, folk, blues, cajun, rock & roll, the Grateful Dead and life in New Mexico are all influences that commingle in the music they create. Strong, heartfelt originals are supplemented by unique interpretations of songs by primary influences Bill Monroe, Ween, John Hartford, Wilco, Bob Dylan and the alien band from the Mos Eisley Cantina. Some songs are goofy, some heartbreaking, some say I want you back, some say I don’t need you anyway. The Saltine Ramblers are original members Kevin Strange (guitar, vocals) Cory Minefee (electric guitar, vocals) David Ivey (fiddle, mandolin, vocals) with old friend Dave Payne (bass, squeeze box, vocals) and new friend Mark Beck (pedal steel, cowboy hat).
http://www.myspace.com/saltineramblers
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Click the dates below to see Saturday and Sunday performers......
Saturday, September 8, 2012 -- at Gough Park
1:15 - 2:15 pm |
Goddess of Arno
Goddess of Arno is a 4-piece ensemble of talented women who have been involved with Balkan folk music for over 20 years together. The group focuses on the music of the southern Balkans - Macedonia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, with an emphasis on the music and styling of the Romani (Gypsy) people of these areas. The musicians of Goddess of Arno love the exotic rhythms and scales, which the southern Balkans absorbed from the Ottoman Empire, and the passion of the Romani music, which also offers opportunities for instrumental improvisation.
Goddess of Arno was originally formed as accompaniment to Svirka, Women's Balkan Chorus (a fixture on the ABQ folk music scene since 1979), and in 1994 developed its own identity. The group has performed throughout the southwest and in 2002 released its full-length CD, Balkan Dance Party. The CD was nominated for 2 New Mexico Music Industry awards in the categories of "Best Production" and "Best Instrumental", and won the "Best Instrumental" category for the recording of "Beranche.
http://arnoproductionsnm.tripod.com/GoddessofArno/index.htm
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2:45 - 3:45 pm |
Mike + Ruthy
Self-described as folk roots musicians and hailing from Woodstock, NY, Mike + Ruthy’s music is literate, political, satirical, sensual, loving, edgy, vintage, warm and beautiful. With an arsenal of fiddle, banjo, guitar, ukulele and soulful harmony singing, the duo's no-limits repertoire ranges from rock to traditional American folk.
Over a decade of touring has taken them worldwide where they’ve performed well over a thousand concerts in listening rooms, living rooms and festivals as well as performances at NYC’s Carnegie Hall accompanying Arlo Guthrie in 2005 (with their former band The Mammals) and Madison Square Garden as part of Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday celebration in 2009.
This year, 2012, will see Mike + Ruthy’s 4th release entitled “The NYC EP” featuring the premiere recording of “My New York City,” a beautifully revived Woody Guthrie lyric from the Woody Guthrie Archives.
http://mikeandruthy.com/
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4:15 - 5:30 pm
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Foghorn Stringband
Internationally acclaimed Foghorn Stringband has been at the vanguard of a revival in American old-time music for over a decade now. They’ve traveled the globe, been signed to a major label, and inspired a new generation of old-time musicians, all without compromising their love of traditional American music. But they’ve gathered new ideas and new band members too. Their unique sound still comes from the fiery, intertwining melodies of Stephen “Sammy” Lind’s fiddle and Caleb Klauder’s mandolin, but now they’re supported by the bedrock-solid rhythm foundation of Reeb Willms’ guitar and Nadine Landry’s bass. And when it comes to vocals, they deliver four powerful and exceptional voices resulting in countless combinations of harmonies.
A typical Foghorn set is based around exquisitely rare old-time tunes and songs, but a vast knowledge of early country music and recent explorations in Cajun song traditions have molded a powerful new sound. Any band would be happy to have mastered one music genre, but Foghorn Stringband have a roaming spirit, and are already sparking new revivals of American roots music traditions.
http://foghornstringband.com/
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6:00 - 7:15 pm |
The Wiyos
While the early Wiyos' masterfully embodied the performance styles of the 1920's and 1930's, they approached touring life with the attitude of the rock and punk music they grew up with. They threw down through polished sets at bar gigs, parties, street fairs, coffee houses, sideshow tents and even strip clubs. They were known for crashing booking conferences instead of applying for official showcases, playing in the halls and in hotel lobbies. From 2003 to 2008 their shows (over 200/year) were entirely acoustic, typically gathered around one microphone. Their reputation for “taking the room” made them darlings of the folk circuit, a must see act, and landed the band tours in England, the South of France, Holland, and Sweden.
The buzz of these high paced Vaudeville-esque performances reached its zenith in 2009 when they were featured in the BBC television documentary, “Folk America – Hollerers, Stompers and Old-Time Ramblers”. Later that same year, Bob Dylan hand picked the band to be the openers for his 28 date minor league baseball stadium summer tour with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp. The band commenced work at Old Soul Studios in Catskill, NY in the fall of 2010. The new album 'Twist', loosely based on Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, was released in January of 2012.
http://thewiyos.com/
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7:15 - 11:00 pm |
Pickin' in the Park! |
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Details TBA |
Sunday, September 9, 2012 -- at Gough Park
11:30 - 12:15 pm |
Antonia Apodaca
As a young girl, Antonia Apodaca entered an accordion contest in Santa Fe, NM at the La Fonda Hotel and won the first place fifty-dollar prize, which was used to buy much needed groceries for her family. When she was eighteen she met a fiddler from Mora, NM, named Maximilian Apodaca, who asked to play with her parents' band -- within two months they were married. They moved to Wyoming in 1949, playing for dances and local events for both Hispanic and cowboy communities, and they learned how to change the old polkas and waltzes into western rhythms.
In 1979 they returned to Rociada and started playing locally, becoming known all over New Mexico for their music. After Max's death in 1987, Antonia continued to play. She now composes many songs herself about her life in New Mexico, which she has added to her repertoire of older traditional songs. Besides her old style accordion playing, she is also a very accomplished guitarist. She was awarded the Governor's award for Excellence in the Arts in 1992 and has continued to play, often with Ken and Jeanie of Bayou Seco.
http://www.bayouseco.com/content/antonia-apodaca |
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12:45 - 1:45 pm |
Le Chat Lunatique
As unpredictable, fearless, and entertaining as their namesake, Le Chat Lunatique purveys an addictive genre they call “filthy, mangy jazz,” a signature sound that makes you want to smoke and drink too much—if only you could get off the dance floor. Le jazz hot of Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli is their north star, but they use that beacon to navigate through a wide range of genres, blending Western swing, classical, reggae, d00-wop, and “anything else we damn well please” into strikingly original compositions and audaciously reworked standards alike.
Le Chat Lunatique is Muni Kulasinghe’s theatrical vocals, his violin skittering across the music like beads of water on a hot skillet—inspired as much by a legless Polish gypsy he encountered on his vagabond travels as by the great Grappelli. It’s the axe of guitarist John Sandlin, the classicist who fell under the sway of Reinhardt, felling bar after bar of music with ferocious dexterity. It’s the slap-happy bass and slyly sweet vocals of Jared Putnam, the sinisterly innocent one whose dark past embraces both death metal and Western swing. It’s the irresistibly deep-pocketed grooves of drummer Fernando Garavito, the mysterious and gracious Colombian who appeared by magic in New Mexico.
Their irreverent humor, their intensity, and their expert musicianship will soon win them your acclamation as the best time you’ve ever had in public with your clothes on.
http://www.lechatlunatique.com/ |
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2:15 - 3:15 pm |
Birds of Chicago
Birds of Chicago is a collective based around JT Nero and Allison Russell. Whether touring as a duo or with the full family band, Nero and Russell have emerged as two of the most compelling new voices in American Roots music.
For several years Russell and Nero’s respective bands, Po' Girl (Vancouver, BC) and JT and the Clouds (Chicago, IL), have collaborated extensively, but in 2011’s Mountains/Forests, released under the JT Nero banner, they tapped into the true, bewitching power of their voices together on an entire record. It also featured the full cast of characters that would round out the Birds of Chicago ensemble -- the Clouds and Michelle McGrath, the luminous singer and picker from the hidden hills of Southeast Ohio. The record received critical raves and won them new fans on both side of the Atlantic, and created a great deal of excitement for the first official Birds of Chicago album, slated for release in August, 2012.
Nero’s fractured country-soul voice wrapped in Russell’s silver and gold-tones is a fine thing. Not too perfect, not at all saccharine, you’ll hear echoes of mountain gospel, street corner doo-wop, classic soul. Accompanied by just a banjo and a guitar, it’s chilling. Fired by a full band, it’s a full tilt revival.
http://www.reverbnation.com/birdsofchicago |
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4:00 - 5:30 pm |
Head for the Hills
"Head for the Hills has created a sound that is all at once organic, precise, timeless, and brand-new,” as reported by the Missoula Independent. The acclaimed Colorado quartet has been receiving nation-wide recognition in response to their refreshing take on acoustic music. Described as progressive acoustic/contemporary roots, H4TH produces an endearing mixture of homegrown compositions, traditional harmonies, and improvisation. In the live setting, H4TH effortlessly ventures into a myriad of musical styles and sonic landscapes that appeal to a boundless array of listeners.
To get a sense of Head for the Hills’ snowballing momentum, look no further than the surrounding talent on their self-titled sophomore release (2010), Head for the Hills. The album garnered the group a charted position on the CMJ Top 200 national radio listings. Many respected avenues have sighted Head for the Hills as the next breath of fresh air to emerge from the acoustic realm. With direction from a plethora of talented company and an ever-evolving approach to progressive acoustic music, there is no telling what successes lay ahead for this group of talented musicians.
http://headforthehillsmusic.com/ |
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The Pickamania! Lineup
