Editor’s note: There’s a group of local music lovers that becomes acquainted with the artists performing at the Richmond Folk Festival far earlier than the rest of us. That’s right, the local RFF programming board that works with Venture Richmond and the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) to book the festival. Who better to ask what artists not to miss this year? Longtime Style contributor Don Harrison, who volunteers on the committee, ran through some (not all) of the artists he’s excited to see this weekend. At press time, the weather forecast looks middling to decent, with cool fall temperatures of around 66 F and intermittent clouds. Nothing a hardcore Fest head can’t handle.

Raiatea Helm

The first solo female vocalist to be nominated for a Hawaiian music Grammy, Helm has devoted her career to keeping alive a cherished falsetto singing tradition — leo ki‘eki‘e — that defined several generations of male and female singers on the Islands.  “This kind of music was not popular in my generation,” she says. “I don’t know why, but I’m attracted to them. I had a calling, as though I needed to learn these songs and share them.” She’s become a master stylist, echoing legendary vocalists like Lena Machado and Genoa Keawe. “There’s that really iconic skip in the voice that has been compared to a yodel. She’s a master of that style, and firmly in the tradition of the people who came before her.,” says Kilin Reece, a master luthier and the founder of the Kealakai Center for Pacific Strings, who collaborated with Helm on a CD of vintage songs, as well as a PBS documentary on the influence of Hawaiian music on American blues, bluegrass and country. Reece will accompany her, and an all-star Hawaiian band, to Richmond, as they perform key works, showcase instruments and dispense history. This is Helm’s first appearance at a U.S. folk festival, and sure to be special.

The Blackbyrds

It was exactly 50 years ago that The Blackbyrds galvanized listeners with “Rock Creek Park,” a senewy slice of jazz funk that extolled the virtues of summertime fun along Washington D.C. ‘s favorite wooded landmark and roadway. The band was originally put together by celebrated jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd. who assembled talented student players from Howard University’s jazz studies program, which he started. The classroom experiment turned into a Grammy nominated group that still performs with original members Keith Killgo (vocals, drums) and Joe Hall (bass), delivering dancefloor hits like “Walking in Rhythm” and “Do It, Fluid.” Even if you don’t know their name, you know the Blackbyrds’ jazz-funk fusion. It’s been sampled numerous times by hip-hop artists such as, among others, Grandmaster Flash, Tupac Shakur, and De La Soul.

Elizabeth King

Raised in the Mississippi Delta, and influenced by a life spent in funky Memphis, Elizabeth King is a soul and gospel singer who is known for her commanding voice, and for her years spreading the word through music that is as touched by classic soul as it is the Lord. King emerged in the city’s gospel scene in the 1970s, leading the all-male Gospel Souls, and recording for the cherished D-Vine Spirituals label. After years of inactivity, where she focused on her large family (15 kids!) and saved her singing for the church choir, she came back to the big stage in 2019 with a band that expertly recreates the raw D-Vine sound. King is the real deal. She and her band, including daughters on backing vocals, deliver expressive, passionate sounds that you don’t have to be religious to get inspired by.

The Saami Brothers featuring Ustad Naseeruddin Saami

You’ve never heard anything quite like the music of this revered Pakistani musical clan, and it may be your last opportunity. Backed by harmonium and tabla, the Saami Brothers are among the last to present little heard Sufi religious musics called qawwali and khaval, which incorporate Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and South Asian influences, and utilize a majestic, evocative 49-note microtonal vocal scale. Approaching 80 years old, Father Ustad leads the family ensemble, which boasts a centuries-long ancestry of master musicians and vocalists. Their music is beautiful, evocative, and more than a little otherworldly. It’s also disappearing. So don’t miss it.