Berkeley Old Time Music SPRING SITUATION
Sunday March 4, 2018
Sunday March 4, 2018 from Noon to 4 pm:
Old time Open House - FREE
Freight and Salvage
2020 Addison St, Berkeley
CONCERTS, WORKSHOPS, OPEN JAMS, KIDS - Build a Tin Can Banjo
Schedule subject to change (Revised Feb 19)
CONCERTS IN THE SHOWROOM:
12:00 pm
Ngirchoureng sings and plays songs from the Republic of Palau (an island chain in Micronesia in the far western Pacific) that were written in the period of the 1930s thru the 1960s, performed in the "old-skuul" string-band style of the Ngerel Belau Recordings from the 1960s. Jim Geselbracht sings and plays acoustic guitar, mandolin, and fiddle, accompanied by Tony Phillips on mandolin. For more about this unique music, including audio of source recordings, see Jim's blog ouchacha.wordpress.com
12:30 pm
Tessa Schwartz & friends: At last year's BOTMC stringband contest, Tessa, Aerie Walker, Allie Marten and Tuki Walker formed "That Seventies Band" and walked away with second place. More often, she appears with North Country Blue where she is the band’s fiddler, highest harmony singer and lead raconteur. Tessa picked up the fiddle at age 5 and played with her family bluegrass band, Oak Grove, for several years, before joining another successful youth bluegrass band, 35 Years of Trouble. She’s already been featured on three full-length CD’s and has performed several times at the California Bluegrass Association’s Father’s Day Festival. Currently an 8th-grader at King Middle School in Berkeley, Tessa also loves to perform in theater productions and play funk violin, and she has documented hundreds of cups of hot tea on Instagram – each with its own high quali-tea pun.
1:30 pm
La Familia Peña-Govea sing and play traditional Mexican, Tex-Mex and Colombian music, including rancheras, polkas, valses, vallenatos, boleros, danzónes, chachas, and cumbias. The group includes: Miguel Govea on guitarrón, accordion, brass and fiddle, Cecilia Peña-Govea on trumpet, percussion, and guitarrón, and Susan Peña on vihuela, guitar, and bajo sexto.
1:00 pm
Brandon Godman & friends: Brandon Godman started playing fiddle at the age of 10 in the hills of Northern Kentucky. Early performance experiences included fiddle contests, square dances and gigs with local bands in the tri-state area. After two years of attendance as a jazz studies major at Morehead State University, Brandon moved to Nashville, TN to pursue a music career, performing with some of the top acts in Bluegrass and Country music, including Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, Dale Ann Bradley, The Band Perry, and Ray Price. Since moving to the Bay Area 2 years ago, he is much in demand, playing with Laurie Lewis and other local bluegrass bands, as well performing and teaching across the country.
2:00 pm
Devil's Little Angels - Amy Scher, Julay Brooks , and Hailey Pexton: Winners of last year's BOTMC stringband contest, Devil's Little Angels perform a variety of traditional mountain and country music, from gospel to heartbreak. Through their powerful harmony singing, they express the raw, heartfelt music of earlier times that is still wholly relevant today
2:30 pm
Disciples of Markos: For the last 14 years, the Bay Area’s Disciples of Markos have been exploring the songs of the classic period of Greek Rebetika. Rebetika was a form of underground music that emerged in the 1930s from the hashish dens in the slums of Athens, an emulsion of Greek folk traditions and the music of refugees from Turkey that had arrived in Greece in the early 1920s. The Disciples of Markos pay homage to the Godfather of Rebetika, Markos Vamvakaris. Markos was the first bouzouki recording star, a legendary and prolific songwriter, a singer who’s rough voice set the standard, and the heaviest, most stoned-out cat on the scene.
3:00 pm
The Loud Ladies Foot Patrol is a group of multigenerational musicians and dancers (tap and clog) with lyrics for about every occasion and political statements that need to be made. Recent appearances include the CBA after-party following the Pride Parade, the SFBOT Handsome Ladies Variety Show, and the recent Picking on Hate benefit at Ashkenaz. Members include Martha Hawthorne, Kathe Burick, Jody Richardson, Emily Bonn, Lila Goehring, Leslie Kier, and Irene Herrmann. Loud Ladies clap, sing, and tap, putting topical themes to rhyme and guaranteed to inspire you! Feel the power of feminism. “Wonderful Women, we stomp in time, don’t mess with us, we can rhyme.”
Hosted Jams (in the lobby unless noted otherwise)
Noon-2pm Kids bluegrass jam, cosponsored by the California Bluegrass Association. Hosted by Teo & Miles Quale and CBA Youth Ambassador Ida Winfree.
1pm Country jam: Chuck & Jeanie Poling (upstairs)
2pm Old time jam hosted by Robin Fischer & Rowan McCallister (Bearcat Duo)
3pm Stringband blues & jugband music with Jailhouse String Band
3pm Cajun jam with Blair Kilpatrick & Steve Taback (Sauce Piquante) (upstairs)
Room for more jams in the building, and outside!
Workshops Upstairs:
Noon-1pm
* Vocal workshop: Julay Brooks
* Mexican fiddle music - Learn to play and sing rancheras, polkas, valses, sones and more from the repertoire of La Familia Peña-Govea (Miguel Govea, Susan Peña, and Cecilia Peña-Govea). All instruments welcome!
* Banjo: David Brown
1pm-2pm
* Country jam:
Jeanie and Chuck Poling are longtime fixtures in the San Francisco folk and bluegrass scene. They host a monthly bluegrass and country jam at the Plough and Stars Pub and run a bimonthly performance showcase called Free Range Fridays at La Promenade Cafe. They love country music because it acknowledges the beauty and grandeur in life's frailties.
* Fiddle: Michelle Yu
In this workshop, I will focus on teaching "tunes with nothing to hide behind," which is a phrase my fiddle teachers Rhys Jones and Bill Christophersen used to describe how to make tunes exciting and innovative. My fiddle style is Midwestern, and I have a deep love of crooked West Virginia tunes and rhythmically curious Alabama tunes. I will parse out what makes a tune fascinating to my ear (and hopefully yours).
* Guitar: Alan Senauke
Accompanying oldtime songs on guitar, with rhythm and simple melody. Bring a song you would like to work on.
2pm-3pm
* Bluegrass Fiddle: Brandon Godman
* Mandolin: Paul Kotapish
* Guitar: Katy Harris
I'll be highlighting some guitar work by some of the early musicians who have inspired me. We'll listen to and play along with some fiddle tunes that have an interesting and tasteful approach to old time backup guitar.
3pm-4pm
* Fiddle: Karen Celia Heil
* Cajun Jam: Blair Kilpatrick & Steve Taback (Sauce Piquante)
* Square Dance Calling Workshop with Robin Fischer
In this hour-long workshop we'll dive in to how to "call" square dances, aka how to order around your friends, family, and complete strangers, in the name of old time music!
We will split our time between learning how to call for regular community dances and for non-regular dancers too (kids, wedding crowds, family gatherings, parties). We'll have a live band with Michelle Yu & friends, written-out dances to take home, talk about how to teach dance moves effectively, and of course we'll do some dancing! We'll need dancers too, so come on by even if you just want to dance, or learn more about square dancing.
Kids Activities
Noon-2pm: Kids bluegrass jam
1pm-2:30pm: Stewart Port, luthier and instigator of the Tin Can Banjo Project, will be leading a "Build An Instrument" workshop for kids and families in the lobby - bring your own tin can! See pictures from 2011 here.