The Folk Project presents
The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Most Wanted Tour
Gathering Time * The Ya Yas * Honor Finnegan
WHEN: Friday, July 5 at 8:00 PM
WHERE: Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, 21 Normandy Heights Rd, Morristown.
ADMISSION: $8 per adult at the door. Children 12 and under are free.
For further information, call 973.335.9489, or visit www.folkproject.org.
The performance is part of The Minstrel Acoustic Concert Series, sponsored by the Folk Project each Friday evening at the Fellowship. For the July 5 appearance at The Minstrel, all three performers will be on stage in a round-robin format throughout the evening. The setting will be welcoming and informal, with added harmonies, conversation, and instrumental accompaniment for some songs.
The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival is a three-day community celebration of music and dance held in Hillsdale, NY, at the foot of the Berkshires in east-central New York State. This year, the festival will be August 2, 3 and 4. Begun in 1988, Falcon Ridge is celebrating its 25th Anniversary. (There was no festival in 1991.) With an overflow crowd of approximately 8,000, the festival features established and emerging performers of Folk, World, Bluegrass, Cajun and Blues music, spread across four stages. The Emerging Artist Showcase has become a major event in the festival. Attracting 400-500 applicants for 24 performing spots, the Showcase is held on Friday afternoon. Each selected artist performs two songs, and the audience votes for the top three they want to see return next year in the Most Wanted Song Swap on the Main Stage. In 1998, FRFF sponsored the first Most Wanted Tour. This year, for the first time, the Most Wanted Tour performs on The Minstrel stage. Performing July 5 will be Gathering Time, The Ya Yas and Honor Finnegan.
Gathering Time is like a high-energy Peter, Paul and Mary, or a co-ed Crosby, Stills and Nash; a head-turning folk-rock harmony trio described recently as “getting a whole beehive-full of buzz.” Founded in 2006, the trio (L-R: Gerry McKeveny, Hillary Foxsong, Stuart Markus) has strong roots in traditional folk, as well as '60s and '70s folk-rock, and they sometimes sprinkle classics among their original sets. No less an authority than WFUV's John Platt has written that they are “among the finest performers in the New York metropolitan area......They appeal to audiences of all ages.”
The Ya Yas are an emerging and uplifting trio from New York's Hudson Valley region. Their distinctive sound is a blend of Catherine Miles' expressive, powerful voice, the percussive guitar stylings of Jay Mafale, and Paul Silverman's melodic piano. Their songs are stories we are all familiar with: the loss of a parent, the humorous ups and downs of marriage, the dreams of youth, the gift of friendship. Are they folk? Yes. Pop? Perhaps. But undeniably, they are personal. The trio's 2010 release, Paper Boats, has received airplay on more than 125 radio stations and rose to #4 on Roots Music Report's Top 50 albums chart.
Honor Finnegan is the Susan Boyle of quirky indie folk. Her songs are humorous, then heartbreaking, with melodies that soar. She combines elements of musical theatre, comedy, traditional folk, and poetry. She was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago and learned to appreciate a variety of people and music living in a mostly African-American neighborhood. When Honor was 11, her dream of being an actress came true when she was cast in the 1st National Tour of “Annie.” In 1991, she moved to Ireland, singing with jazz bands, blues bands, big bands, and traditional Irish bands. Moving to New York in 1998, Honor immediately began making a splash in the northeastern regional folk scene with her original songs and ukulele playing.
The Folk Project is a non-profit 501(c) Corporation whose mission is to present high caliber folk music performances and instructional workshops for the public and members; to encourage development of musicianship and performance skills in the northern New Jersey area; and to provide interesting social and learning activities relating to traditional and participatory folk music and dance.
Funding has been made possible in part by funds from Morris Arts through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
