“Logically, when you talkin’ about folk music and blues, you find out it’s music of just plain people.”
— Brownie McGhee,
African-American blues artist (1915-1196)
The Irvington Folk Festival is one of only a handful of folk music festivals in Indiana, and stands out from the others by including workshops, lectures, and films as well as folk and World music performances. Now in its third year, the festival runs from June 15 to June 21 at various locations throughout the historic Irvington neighborhood.
Interested in learning the craft of songwriting, different guitar styles, or curious about what goes on in recording studio. There will be five workshops that are part of the Festival that will educate and entertain. Visit www.irvingtonfolk.com for full descriptions of each workshop and sign up information. All the guitar workshops are geared for the beginning to intermediate level player.
Want to find out more about how folk music influenced American culture? Visit the Irvington branch library on June 18 at 5625 E. Washington St. from 5:15-6:15 for a showing of The Weavers: Wasn’t That a Time? Then stick around to hear Dr. Ron Dye of DePauw University speak about the issue from 7-9 p.m.
In the mood to hear something new? In addition to the World music band Harpeth Rising who play on Saturday June 21 in Ellenberger Park, Ron Esposito will be playing his Tibetan crystal singing bowls inside the acoustic space of the Bona Thompson Museum on Tuesday evening June 17th at 6:30 p.m. (Tickets are $10) A reception at the Irvington Wellness Center will follow.
But if you just love folk music, you’ve got seven days of performances to enjoy. The schedule is:
• June 15 — 1:30-4:00 p.m. at the Bona Thompson Center, 5350 E. University, have lunch on the lawn with the music of Cornfields and Crossroads (free).
• June 16 — 7-10 p.m. at Playground Productions, 5529 E. Bonna Ave., the finalists of the “Write a Folk Song About Irvington” contest will perform as part of the Acoustic Ascent Open Stage (free).
• June 17 — 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Bona Thompson Center, Ron Esposito will perform on with Tibetan Singing Bowls (tickets $10). A reception at the Irvington Wellness Center, 17 N. Layman, follows. To find out more about the ancient crystal singing bowls, visit Ron’s Web site at www.ronesposito.com.
• June 18 — 5:15-6:30 at the Irvington Library, 5625 E. Washington St., there will be a showing of The Weavers: Wasn’t That a Time? followed by the Pete Seeger Memorial Lecture at 7 p.m. by Dr. Ron Dye of DePauw about the impact of folk music on American culture. (Both events are free.)
• June 19 — 6:30-7:30 p.m. at 5547 Project, 5547 E. Bonna Ave., there will be live music. Then at 7:30 p.m., there will be more live music at the Coal Factory, 5529 E. Bonna Ave., with Old Truck Revival and Danny Thompson. (Both events are free.)
• June 20 — Folk Friday in Irvington will feature Music in the Underground at Bookmamas, 9 S. Johnson, with Delta Duo and Friends (free). From 8-10 p.m., Anne Heaton and Natalia Zukerman will perform at the Irving Theatre, 5505 E. Washington St.
• June 21 — from 11 a.m.-noon at Ellenberger Park, 5301 E. St. Clair, the Children’s Festival will be on the west end of St. Clair with activities, music, and storytelling geared to children. The Alternative Gift Fair will be set up in the park from noon-8:30 p.m., where artists from all over the area displaying their works for sale. There will also be food trucks set up.
From 2:00-8:30 p.m. the festival main stage will feature music by The Whipstitch Sallies, Paul Burris, Harpeth Rising, Donn Smith, The Half Step Sisters, Jude O’Dell and Kathy Cancilla, and Flatland Harmony Experiment. The music festival in the park is free.
The 3rd Annual Irvington Folk Festival is made possible by the financial contributions and hard work of many volunteers, local businesses, and many organizations, including the Historic Irvington Community Council, the Indiana Humanities Council, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
