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Maine
Folklife Center |
Newsletters
Spring - Summer, 2002 Volume 8 Issue
1
Table of Contents
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Announcing the First Acts
Chosen to Perform at The National Folk Festival
August 23, 2002 through August
25, 2002
A large-scale three-day
outdoor event presented free to the public, the National Folk
Festival celebrates the richness and variety of American
culture.
Authentic blues, gospel,
jazz, polka, cowboy, bluegrass, klezmer, old-time, Cajun, rhythm
and blues, mariachi, western swing, and zydeco are just part of
the National Folk Festival. a movable feast of the deeply
traditional folk arts, the national Folk Festival embraces the
heritage and traditions of all Americans - from those whose
families have been here for centuries to our country's most
recent immigrants. For three days in August, Bangor, Maine
hosts some of North America's best talent as they share their
cultural traditions through the arts.
With the Penobscot River as
a backdrop, the National Folk Festival features a broad array of
music and dance performances, workshops, ethnic food,
storytelling, parades, craft exhibits and demonstrations. Five
stages along Bangor's waterfront and downtown, including a
10,000 seat main stage, a stage dedicated to the Franco
influence with predominately French speaking performances, and a
participatory dance area will offer continuous performances over
the three-day festival.
The festival offers a vast
repertoire of music and dance from all over the country. It
combines the finest of national and regional traditional artists
and about twenty acts will be hired. The first five to be
contracted are:
- BeauSoleil avec
Michael Doucet (Cajun)
- Nathan and the
Zydeco Cha Chas (Zydeco)
- Puppeteer John
Styles
- Bill Kirchen (Dieselbilly)
- La Bottine
Souriante (Quebecois)
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DeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet is America's
premier Cajun Band and the leading ambassador of Cajun music
around the world. Cajun music blends older French and Acadian
lyrics, themes and tunes with Country, Western, Rhythm and
Blues, and Caribbean influences. The group's unique music
reflects the vision of Michael Doucet, who has spent much of his
life delving into the origins of Cajun music. BeauSoleil
garnered six Grammy nomination before winning Grammy gold in
1997 for Best Traditional Folk Album. |
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Nathan and the Zydeco
Cha Chas are simply one of the best zydeco groups
working today, matching superb musicianship and clever songs
with a knack for keeping dancers on the floor. Springing from
the rich cultural mix of South Louisiana and East Texas, zydeco
combines traditional black French Creole music with blues and
R&B to create irresistible dance music. As zydeco music has
grown in popularity, Nathan Williams and his Zydeco Cha Chas
have only gotten better. As Nathan is for of saying, "It ain't
nothing but a party!" |
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John Styles is the world's leading
authority on and practitioner of the ancient art of Punch and
Judy, the hilarious, slapstick hand puppetry brought to England
from Italy more than 300 years ago. Styles has been a
"Professor" of Punch and Judy for more than thirty years,
performing his magic all over the world for such diverse
audiences as the British Royal family, the Sultan of Brunei, and
delighted children on the streets of London. John Styles and his
Punch bring to the puppet stage a show which will delight and
engage young and old alike. |
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Grammy-nominated guitar wizard
Bill Kirchen brings his encyclopedic rock and
roll knowledge and his prodigious picking talents to the
National Folk Festival. It is his fretwork which powers the
classic "Hot Rod Lincoln" recorded by Commander Cody & His Lost
Planet Airmen. Kirchen played with the Commander from 1968 to
1976, helping to bring country and rockabilly sounds to the
nation. Bill’s band, Too Much Fun, plays American roots music.
Kirchen explains it this way: as "country-flavored music…as well
as western swing, rockabilly, bluegrass, country tear-jerker and
truck-driving music." They put it all together into a unique,
tradition-based sound they call "dieselbilly." |
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First appearing on the Quebec music scene in 1976,
La Bottine Souriante are living legends of French North
American roots music. The group and their explosive sound have
crossed borders the world over and left in their wake countless
enchanted audiences. The group has developed a distinctive sound
all its own that successfully allies its homage to tradition
with a dash of jazz, salsa and pure folk, while at the same time
perfectly representing the vitality and pride of its native
culture. |
Festival Contacts:
Susan Pierce and Heather McCarthy, Bangor Convention & Visitors
Bureau: 207-947-5205 |
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