Folk to Go
You can't do everything, but that doesn't mean you can't try. Here are Style Weekly's 23 suggested stopovers at The Richmond Folk Festival.
Friday, Oct. 9
1. Opening Remarks
What: Welcome to the Richmond Folk Festival. "It's Something Richmond Does Right"™
When: 6:30 p.m.
Where: Ukrop's/First Market Bank Stage
2. Virginia Heritage Awards
What: The winners of the state's first Virginia Heritage Awards will be honored, including Evangelist Maggie Ingram, the first lady of Richmond gospel.
When: 7:45 p.m.
Where: Altria Stage
3. Swamp Dogg
What: Swamp Dogg's appearance at the Richmond Folk Festival is a real homecoming for a musical iconoclast who The New Yorker recently called "one of soul music's greatest cult artists." The Portsmouth native, who specializes in a soul-funk hybrid that allows for country influences as well as biting social commentary, hasn't set foot on stage in his home state for decades.
When: 9 p.m.
Where: Ukrop's/First Market Bank Stage
4. Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill
What: Fiddler Martin Hayes and guitarist Dennis Cahill play a charged blend of traditional Irish folk music that is so distinctive that it is almost its own sub-genre. Cahill has been cited as one of Ireland's most important musicians, and his jazz-inflected sounds have been grounded in valuable lessons learned from his famous musician dad, P. Joe Hayes.
When: 9:45 p.m.
Where: Altria Stage
Saturday, Oct. 10
5. Phil Wiggins and Corey Harris
What: Old-school blues harp player Phil Wiggins (from the veteran duo Cephas & Wiggins) finds a new young lion in the powerful Charlottesville guitarist/singer Corey Wiggins. Your ears reap the benefits of their union, which blends both Piedmont and Delta styles with just a dash of African music.
When: Noon
Where: Dominion Stage
6. North Bear
What: Be prepared to find your spirit animal when this vocal group of young Montana Native Americans unleash their new-school-meets-old-school pow-wow, pounding drums and yelping like there's no tomorrow.
When: 1 p.m.
Where: Altria Stage
7. Debashish Bhattacharya
What: If you saw the Monterey Pop Festival concert movie, you know that Indian ragas, tablas and sitar players produce trance-like states better than even hippy dippy '60s rock. Come leave your body behind when this Grammy-nominated master of Indian slide guitar achieves similar liftoff.
When: 1:45 p.m.
Where: Altria Stage
8. Samba Mapangala & Orchestre Virunga
What: A former star in his own country of Kenya, Samba Mapangala and his veteran band play the kind of East African rumba that feels like a bright, sunny morning - no matter what the weather is like outside or what time it is.
When: 2:30 p.m.
Where: RTD Dance Pavilion
9. Wylie & The Wild West
What: You think you know yodeling. You don't know yodeling. Wylie Gustafson and his band conjure up the dust, the stars and the herd in a startling western barn dance tornado that rocks and twists. Wylie's our kind of saddle bum - think Slim Whitman on a cattle call in outer space and you've almost got it.
When: 4 p.m.
Where: Ukrop's/First Market Stage
10. Maggie Ingram & the Ingramettes
What: Onstage with her family band, Ingram blends the unchecked devotion of a true believer with the tireless showmanship of a great bandleader - one reason why she's been known as Richmond's First lady of Gospel since the mid-1960s. Her live performances will make a believer out of you.
When: 5 p.m.
Where: CenterStage Folklife Stage
11. La Gran Banda
What: Informed by the joyously brassy music that surrounds the Caribbean coast, Henry A. March's Miami papayera band has been astonishing statewide audiences with its horn-laden sound and infectious dance grooves. Even if you don't know your porro from your paseo, you'll love these guys.
When: 6 p.m.
Where: Dominion Stage
12. The Gerloff / Parch Parade with the No BS! Brass Band
What: This "Nawlins"-styled procession, which begins near the Dominion Stage
and ends at Brown's Island, honors two irreplaceable folk fest volunteers
who died recently: coordinator Francesca Parch and big-hearted programming
committee mainstay Gary Gerloff. In a touch that can only be described as
genius, the path that connects Fifth Street with the Ukrop's Stage has been
renamed the Gary Gerloff Shortcut in his honor.
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Various, starts near the Dominion Stage
13. Clinton Fearon & The Boogie Brown Band
What: Who knew that an old-school reggae master was hanging out in rainy Seattle? Get irie with this ex-Gladiator and native Jamaican as he unveils new songs with a classic foundation of roast roots and cornbread. One love, baby.
When: 7:45 p.m.
Where: RTD Dance Pavilion
14. Jorge Negròn's Master Bomba Ensemble
What: You may remember him as the original frontman for local salsa kings Bio Ritmo, but Jorge Negrón's new group from Puerto Rico breaks things down to the old school African roots of drumming, singing and grooving - which means, yes, you will still dance your rears off.
When: 8:30 p.m.
Where: Altria Stage
15. Trouble Funk
What: It wouldn't be a Richmond Folk Festival without some D.C. go-go and this is arguably the greatest go-go group of all time. 'Nuff said.
When: 9:15
Where: RTD Dance Pavilion
Sunday, Oct. 11
16. Don Roy Trio
What: You know how there's always a great roots music band performing on "Prairie Home Companion"? Well, the instrumental Don Roy Trio, who present a family tradition of step dancing and joyous Franco-American fiddling from Maine, are that band.
When: Noon
Where: Dominion Stage
17. Virginia Musical Icons
What: Join Style Weekly Arts & Culture Editor Don Harrison as he moderates a very special workshop with Virginia soul and gospel legends such as Swamp Dogg, Mr. Wiggles (August Moon) and Maggie Ingram and the Ingramettes.
When: 1 p.m.
Where: MWV Family Stage
19. Jeffrey Broussard & The Creole Cowboys
What: Good time Zydeco music was made for dancing and drinking, and acclaimed multi-instrumentalist Jeffery Broussard of Southwest Louisiana, son of the legendary Delton Broussard, has this joyous music tattooed onto his genetic code.
When: 2:30 p.m.
Where: RTD Dance Pavilion
20. Crowns of Richmond: African-American church hat fashion show.
What: The title of the show says it all. Be there.
When: 3:15 p.m.
Where: CenterStage Folklife Stage
20. Khogzhumchu
What: If you don't think you would like tuvan throat singing from deep in Central Asia, you are probably right. Stay far away. But if you invest your ears in this odd metronomic vocal mélange, which sounds like a mixture of modern day dance music and ancient tribal rituals, you might just find yourself charmed and enlightened.
When: 3:45 p.m.
Where: Ukrop's/First Market Stage
21. Sophia Bilides Trio
What: Specializing in a style of singing known as Smyrneika, Sophia Bilides' masterful performances keep alive an obscure but sublime form of greek cabaret music - soulful and exotic, reinterpreted with precision and grace. Don't miss this one.
When: 4:30 p.m.
Where: Altria Stage
22. Aubrey Ghent
What: This Florida native learned to play guitar from his father, Henry Nelson, one of the most celebrated practitioners of the raw southern gospel music genre known as "sacred steel," music that blends holy-roller church song with amplified steel guitar. You'll be sanctified!
When: 5:15 p.m.
Where: Dominion Stage
23. Bob French's Original Tuxedo Jazz Band
What: French inherited the soon-to-be 100-year-old Original Tuxedo Band from his dad - talk about a family tradition. The lineup of these New Orleans musical ambassadors is fairly young, most in their 20s and 30s, plus French, who is 71. Authentic and totally infectious, the music they make conjures up a lifetime of sweaty Bourbon Street parties and all-night crawdad crawls.
When: 5:45 p.m.
Where: Ukrop's/First Market Stage