Obit - Ron Osenenko -Woodstock Music Store

I have posted too many obituaries here in the past few years. This one is a personal shock. I considered Ron to be a good friend. I loved hanging out at his store and chatting. He recently showed up at my Phil Ochs performance at the Colony Cafe. It was the first time he had heard me perform and he was very enthusiastic. He took some great pictures of me that night. He was the kind of store owner you love to buy things from because you really believed he tried to give you a good deal. I say that as someone who grew up in retail.
I'm in shock. I will post more details when I hear about them.
Bob

Driver dies after crash on Route 28
By Kyle Wind, Freeman staff
12/28/2007

WEST HURLEY - A co-owner of the Woodstock Music Shop and brother of the Middletown Times Herald-Record Executive Editor Derek Osenenko died after a one-car crash on state Route 28 Wednesday evening.
State police at Ulster said that at about 7:30 p.m., Ronald J. Osenenko, 58, of Woodstock, lost control of his car while eastbound on Route 28, drove through a snow bank, struck and drove through a wire fence, and collided with a small tree.
Osenenko was taken to the Benedictine Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Police said the autopsy, which was performed Thursday afternoon, indicated Osenenko lost control of his vehicle due to "medical reasons," but specific results of the autopsy were not immediately available.
No other cars were involved in the accident, police said, and no other injuries were reported.
"He was a great guy, he had a great sense of humor, and he loved this town," said Derek Osenenko, who co-owned the Woodstock Music Shop on Rock City Road with his brother since Ronald Osenenko moved back to the Hudson Valley in 2003.
According to his brother, Ronald Osenenko ended a 25-year career in marketing when he moved to Woodstock from South Florida. Prior to pursuing opportunities in Florida, he worked for Citicorp in New York City and Texas Gulf in Stanford.
He moved back to the region to be closer to his brother and sister-in-law Joanne and to return to his lifelong love of music.
Osenenko played the guitar since his early teens, his brother said.
The Woodstock Music Shop specializes in unique string and percussion instruments, accessories, and vintage vinyl LP records.
"People came (to the Woodstock Music Shop) to play, chat, listen, and share stories," said Derek Osenenko, who described himself as "more of a listener than a player" and "not nearly the musician my brother was."
In a statement by Derek Osenenko on the shop's Web site, he said his brother should be remembered "for his love of music and his musicianship."
While his family in the area is small, Derek Osenenko said his brother will be missed by numerous friends he made since returning to the Hudson Valley and patrons of the music shop. And he will, of course, miss his brother too.
"There is emptiness now I've never felt before," Osenenko wrote in the statement on the shop's Web site. "I could not have had a better brother."
Born in Queens, Osenenko "spent the first half of his life in New York City," according to his brother, and he graduated from Long Island University with a bachelor's degree in psychology.
According to obituary information provided by the Lasher Funeral Home, he spent many years honing his photography and graphic design as well, and Osenenko was described as "a skilled, creative photographer and a fervent reader, largely of books on architecture, photography, and music."
Private funeral services will be held Monday, followed by burial at the Woodstock Cemetery, according to the funeral home.
©Daily Freeman 2007

Fw: Peace On Earth

From: office@ashokan.org
Jay Unger and Molly Mason


We've been playing a tune of ours called, "Peace On Earth," a lot lately to
help reduce seasonal stress and focus on the important things in life. We
decided to send it to the people on our email list, so we recorded it in our
home studio.

You can hear an MP3 at
http://www.jayandmolly.com/resources/music/peace_on_earth.mp3, or download a
higher resolution MP3 at http://www.jayandmolly.com/mp3_downloads.shtml.
"Peace On Earth" was inspired by "Old One Hundredth," a 16th century melody
associated with Psalm 100. We hope you'll enjoy it, and we wish you a warm
and happy Holiday Season with time to focus on the things that are important
to us all--friends, family and the opportunity to serve others.

Season's Greetings,
Molly & Jay

Unions Assist Folksinger/Storyteller Bruce "Utah" Phillips


Unions Passing Resolutions to Honor, Assist Folksinger/Storyteller Bruce "Utah" Phillips

From: George Mann
email:
georgeandjulius@att.net
phone: 212-923-6372

The great folksinger and storyteller Utah Phillips (
http://www.utahphillips.org) has had to retire from performing due to chronic and serious heart problems that have plagued him for years. In recognition of his great love for and work on behalf of the union movement and working people of the United States, several union locals have passed resolutions honoring Phillips and attaching donations for his "retirement fund." Unable to travel or stand the rigors of performing a two-hour concert, Phillips has seen his main source of income vanish just when his medical problems are demanding more money for treatment and medications.

In response, Local 1180 of the Communications Workers of America (NYC), and both the Detroit and the James Connolly (Upstate New York) Branches of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) have recently passed the the following resolution:

Bruce "Utah" Phillips is a truly unique American treasure. Not just a great folksong writer and interpreter, not just a great storyteller, Utah has preserved and presented the history of our nation's working people and union movement for audiences throughout the world. His recorded work keeps these songs and stories alive. He has spoken up against the injustices of boss-dominated capitalism and worked for peace and justice for more than 40 years.

Now Utah finds himself unable to continue performing due to severe heart problems. We wish to honor and recognize his great talent, spirit and love for the working people and the union movement of the United States. Therefore, we move to pass this resolution in gratitude for all he has done and will continue to do in his work and life. We also wish to contribute $____ to Utah Phillips in appreciation and in solidarity as he and his wife, Joanna Robinson, deal with his health and the loss of his ability to work.

This news is being released with the hope that other unions, anti-war and labor-affiliated organizations will respond in kind by passing this or similar resolutions in appreciation for all Utah Phillips has done for the cause of unions and peace.

Another way that organizations and individuals can help is by purchasing some or all of Utah's vast catalog of songs and stories. All of his CDs and more information are available at his website,
http://www.utahphillips.org, and Utah has begun posting podcasts up there that you can download and listen to! You can also order his CDs online (credit card sales) through http://www.cdbaby.com, b ut be advised that prices are cheaper and more of that money will go into Utah's hands if you order directly from him. More info on his website.

Here's the address for CD orders and to send a donation:
U. Utah Phillips
No Guff Records
P.O. Box 1235
Nevada City, CA 95959
(530) 265-2476
Utah has given so much of himself to the labor and peace movements. It is great news that some unions and many have chosen to give something back to him, to allow him and his wife, Joanna Robinson, to rest easy, work on his long-term health, and not have to worry about where money will come for the medicine and bills he has to pay. Please forward and post this release widely!

In Solidarity, George Mann

Fw: Youngest Cajun accordion player

I generally don't like to post too many video's but what the heck. 
Romo

Phil Ochs night 12/14/07

Had a wonderful night at the Colony Cafe with the group "Flames of Discontent". They are - the event organizer John Pietaro on electric banjo Laurie on lead bass and Angelo on the drums in back.
Ron Osenenko from the Woodstock Music Shop took some photos - they are at http://bobluskphotos.blogspot.com/
Sonny Ochs, Phil's sister was there and a lot of old folkies.  It was great doing Phil's songs.

Fw: Bearfoot Concert Fundraiser for Native Youth-January 8

from Liz Toleno

Hello, everyone!
We hope you can join us for a special treat--the Alaskan Bearfoot Band in concert fundraising for  Dancing with the Spirit: a bluegrass music program for kids
in Native villages in Alaska and Canada Tuesday, Jan. 8, 7:00 pm at St. John's Episcopal Church, 209 Albany Ave., Kingston, NY 12401
$10 per person, students K-12 free
Silent Auction starts at 6:00 pm with Alaskan salmon hors d'oeuvres
www.dancingwiththespirit.org
www.bearfootband.com

PRESS RELEASE
              Bearfoot, an amazing young Alaskan band, will be performing to benefit a bluegrass music program for Native American youth in Alaska and Canada.  The concert will be held Tuesday, Jan. 8th at St. John's Episcopal Church in Kingston at 7 pm with a silent auction with salmon hors d'oeuves starting at 6 pm.
             Bearfoot features harmony singing, twin fiddles, exquisite mandolin and guitar solos and solid bass playing bluegrass, blues, jazz, old-time and folk music.  This young Alaskan band started when they were 14-17 years old as 4H Music Camp counselors.  They won the Telluride Bluegrass Festival a year later in 2001.  They've gone on to travel the United States, Canada, and Ireland--and have done 65 Bluegrass Camps for Kids along with their concerts.  They have 3 CD's to their credit and a website www.bearfootband.com
         The concert will benefit Dancing with the Spirit, a new bluegrass music program for kids in Native villages in Alaska and Canada.  Thru camps and school programs, young people take classes in fiddle, guitar, banjo, mandolin, and bass—plus sing, dance, and form bands.  Music can bring success and hope to villages struggling with alcoholism, drugs, and suicide.  The Rev. Trimble Gilbert from Arctic Village says, "In the old days we fought tribal wars with arrowheads.
It's a different type of war now—against drugs and alcohol.  I believe we can win with music."  Dancing with the Spirit is a program to connect youth and elders through music.  Music builds confidence, self-esteem, and the closeness of a family.  Students can spend hours and hours playing guitars and fiddles, singing and dancing.
      The Dancing with the Spirit program hopes to get instruments in the hands of young Natives, teach them to play, train village musicians as teachers, write a music curriculum, and package the program so that it can be easily duplicated nationally and internationally.  The program's website is www.dancingwiththespirit.org
        Bishop Mark MacDonald, former Bishop of Alaska, and now the first Indigenous Bishop of Canada, will be at the concert--along with the Rev. Belle Mickelson, director of Dancing with the Spirit.  Belle will be teaching this music to Kingston youth at St. John's Episcopal Church Jan. 3-6.   Tickets for the 7 pm Bearfoot Concert on Jan. 8th are $10; K-12 students are free.  The 6 pm silent auction will feature Alaskan arts and crafts and Alaskan salmon dip.  Tax-deductible
contributions can be sent to Dancing with the Spirit, Episcopal Diocese of Alaska, 1205 Denali Way, Fairbanks, Alaska  99701
       For more information on these events, call the Reverend Duncan Burns at St. John's Episcopal, 845-338-3731 or email the Rev. Mickelson at bellemickelson@gmail.com.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope you can come to this show!
Liz

Fw: Dan Fogelberg

From Drew Ferraro
 
I don't know if any of you are aware, or care, but I thought I would pass around the word that another hero has moved on.
 
Dan Fogelberg died Sunday morning at 6:00 at his home in Maine.  He was 56.
 
There are a lot of heros we all have;  some matter to us more than others.  I remember the moment I heard that John Denver had died.  Shock is all I remember.
 
Even though I knew that Dan discovered that he had advanced prostate cancer in May of 2004, I always wondered...... more so in the past day or two, if he would make it.  Still, it is a shock.
 
Amongst the things he said recently, was to stop being afraid to have yourself checked by your doctor.  In his case, he referred to a prostate exam, but it refers to all of us, man or woman: Don't neglect your health, do the right thing, whatever it is; fear won't save you.  Action will.
 
To a slightly different twist, I happed upon one of his lyrics that I know I heard before but forgot to listen:
 
"Death is there to keep us honest / And constantly remind us we are free".
 
But he was, apparently known -recently- for saying something else that hit home too:
"You've got to just follow your heart and do your best work … There is no doubt in my mind or heart that everything I've done is exactly what I intended to do."
 
Value your heros, there are things that we can learn and emulate.
But do not worship them - if you worship them, you will miss out on becoming a hero
to yourself. 
 
Be good to yourselves.
The future really is now.
All we have.....is now.
And then it is gone.......
 
Peace,
Stay in Tune,
~  Andy/Drew
 

LUSK ANNUAL MUSIC PARTY

On Saturday, January 26, 2008 the Lusk family will have our Annual Mid-Winter Folk Music Party at 61 Wurts Street, Kingston, New York. It starts at 6:00 p.m. and runs until people leave, which is usually pretty late.
All kinds of music and musicians are welcome, but no amplifiers please. Usually there is a healthy mix between folk singing, fiddle music, blues and bluegrass, with several different jamming spaces available, so people can find their niche, or float from one to the other. It's not a big food party, (it's a music party!) but we have the basics - you won't go hungry - and you can bring a dish to share if you wish. Also, this is an open party, so feel free to spread the word.

No illegal drugs please, although moderate alcohol use is fine. All smoking must take place outside, (preferably down the block, over the river and through the woods.)

For directions and more info go to http://bobluskmusicparty.blogspot.com/ Any questions please call (845) 338-8587, but no rsvp is necessary. If you call the night of the party we may have trouble hearing the phone!

You Are Invited To:The 10th Annual COCKTAILS & CAROLS!!! in the Historic Rondout

You Are Invited To:The 10th Annual COCKTAILS & CAROLS!!! in the Historic Rondout

Yes, Folks, it's that time once again for:

~You are invited ~

Date: Saturday, December 15, 2006

Time: 4:00 ~ 8:00 P.M (or ???).

Starting Place: 90 Ravine Street~Kingston

We will carol from: Liz's<Jerry's<Bob & Penny's

Herman&Andy's<??????

10th Annual Cocktail Party ~

Singalong ~ Getogether

~ Get all warmed up for the Holidays with

The Rondout Caroling Crew!

Bring your holiday music

Or sing along with ours ~

Messiah scores welcome (We've been saying this for years.

One year, we actually had some!)

RSVP ~ for caroling route

please join in the fun of this wildly popular, progressive singing, cocktailing party (and still have time for your other Saturday night activities!)
the first stop is Liz's house at 90 Ravine St (between Spring St and W.Pierpont St.) from there, we will progress to other great homes in the neighborhood, singing as we go.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hootenanny Huge Sucess!

I will post a detailed follow-up in a few days, but the immediate news is that the today's Hootenanny/Auction made $1,000 for "Heritage Folk Music".  There was a phenomenal feeling of support from the performers and audience.  The money will be used to pay the fee's and expenses associated with becoming a non-profit corporation.  Their are several people working on our behalf to get grant money to fund concert projects.  Thanks especially to Les Herring, Michelle Rosenbaum, Dave Howells,  Penny and Roberto for pulling everything together and allowing me to be in six places at once.

Redwood Moose greetings

From Redwood Moose (Michael Dmoch)
 
As most of you know, we are on performing hiatus due to health.    Reb continues to progress well--she is in the Benedictine for the 4th time--MVP keeps sending her home or to the nursing home, and ends up having to pay to readmit her.   Overall, the cancer is gone, she is just about fully healed from the surgery, and a little more time will let her heal from the effects of the surgery.   We thank our well wishers on this list.
 
Our dear friend Don Haynie phoned me from the Hawaiian Islands last night to tell me Sheryl Samuel is in the ICU of a hospital there and after being kept in an artificial coma for 3 days, has been brought out speaking and responding, but very very slowly.  
 
He asked for our prayers, and he has them, and I asked his permission to spread the word, so please send your prayers, best wishes, in whatever form you do out to a dear friend Sheryl to bring her back to us intact.   Don's e-mail is haysam@compuserve.com but he may not have computer access at this time.
 
I of course continue on hospice care with my wonderful hospice team
 
peace and love
 
the Moose


Freeman Article

Pardon if you don't know me - I'm sending this to my entire e-mail list. 

 

Most important -Please come to the Hootenanny/Auction on Sunday from 2-6 pm on 11/18 at the Unitarian Fellowship on Sawkill Road here in Kingston!  Admission is only $5.00

 

And - There was an article about me in The Kingston Freeman today. It was a wonderful article and the reporter, Rochelle Riservato did a wonderful job but a few mistakes of fact crept in – not her fault. The article is at http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19011252&BRD=1769&PAG=461&dept_id=81974&rfi=6   (And yes, I know that these things won't really matter to anyone but me.)

 

 1. I have never taught a class in Gaelic.  I also have never taught at Winterbear, The D&H Canal Society or Shelbark Farm, although I have performed at these places.

 

2. The point I was making about "city music" was that in spite of radio, recordings and TV, our area has kept alive our own indigenous folk music.

 

3.  The event on the Kingston Art bus and the Phil Och's nite are not related to the Heritage Folk Music organization.  All of the HFM events can be found at http://heritageconcerts.blogspot.com/

 

 Yours in folk music,

 

 Bob Lusk

Hootenanny Auction

The donations are rolling in for the Hootenanny Auction! (11/18 at the UU Fellowship in Kingston)   Barcones Music in Kingston just donated a new acoustic electric, cutaway dreadnaught guitar.   A real player.  I have gigged with worse guitars than this.  For a listing of all the other items, check out http://heritagemusicauction.blogspot.com/

Fw: Eisteddfod-NY A festival of traditional music 11/16-18, Jackson Heights, NY

Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 2:55 PM
Subject: Eisteddfod-NY A festival of traditional music 11/16-18, Jackson Heights, NY

The advance ticket rate extended to November 12!! Get your tickets on-line now!  See below.
 
Don't miss this wonderful opportunity to hear many great performers under one roof!!  The possibilities are endless!
 
The Folk Music Society of NY, Inc. (aka) NY Pinewoods
presents
Eisteddfod-NY
A Festival of Traditional Music
November 16-18, 2007 in Jackson Heights, NY
 
A fabulous, family-friendly gathering of musicians and singers, plenty of opportunity to listen to concerts and participate in workshops, a ballad swap, open mic, Festival Marketplace, and much more.  The performers, local, national, and international, are steeped in their respective traditions which include Black Southern Mountain String Band tradition, Southern Mountain music, Sea Music, Blues, Gospel, Irish-American, Work Songs, urban folksongs, ballad tradition of Bulgaria, Traditional songs of Wales, Music of Russian Republic of Karelia, Music and dance from Greece, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, French Canada, and much more.  The list of performers, presenters and worshop leaders is vast, and includes:

Norris Bennett ~ Colleen Cleveland ~ Jeff Davis ~ Jerry Epstein ~ Margaret Farrell ~ Alan Friend ~ Julia Friend ~ Martin Grosswendt ~ Jodee James ~ Johnson Girls ~ David Jones ~ Karelian Ensemble ~ Keith Kendrick ~ Evy Mayer ~ Dan Milner ~ Anne Price ~ Jean Ritchie ~ Ricki Schneyer ~ Steve Suffet ~ Ken Sweeney and Craig Edwards ~ Triboro ~ Bill and Livia Vanaver ~ Jeff Warner ~ Tzvety Weiner ~ Heather Wood ~ Director Emeritus – Howard Glasser; MC's: Ron Olesko ~ Mary Cliff ~ Oscar Brand

Of special interest to those who work with children will be a free family concert and a workshop on using music with children.  See schedule and detailed information at www.eisteddfod-ny.org.
 
Please forward this information to your friends and family and anyone you think may be interested in attending.

For tickets:
FMSNY members: http://eisteddfod-members.eventbrite.com/
FMSNY non-members: http://eisteddfod-ny.eventbrite.com/
For more information, go to the Eisteddfod-NY web page:
http://www.eisteddfod-ny.org
--
Joy Bennett
President, Folk Music Society of NY, Inc
aka NY Pinewoods

Hootenanny Auction on 11/18


There are a lot of wonderful donations of Folk Music memorabilia coming in for   Heritage Folk Music's  Hootenanny Auction on 11/18.  An updated list can be found at http://heritagemusicauction.blogspot.com/

To Stop the War -

I hope you will take a look at the new YouTube video "To Stop the
War," by Paul Kaplan and Friends. The link is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MaB5Zs8pg4

The song consists of new words I have written to the tune of "To Stop the Train." It is performed as a 3-part, 6-part and 12-part round.  We taped it at the CMN gathering in Albany, and Lee Larcheveque of WMUA here in Amherst did the editing.

I would like to publicly thank the singers: Ruth Pelham, Barbara
Wright, Cathy Winter, Sally Rogers, Martha Leader, Linda Hutchings, Tom Neilson, Verne McArthur, Tom Seiling, Jackson Gillman, David Heitler-Klevans and Sandy Pliskin.

Let's hope the right people get the message!

Paul Kaplan

'Pete Seeger: The Power of Song' opens Saturday

From: "John Pietaro" <leftmus@earthlink.net>
Subject: 'Pete Seeger: The Power of Song' opens Saturday

Friends,

Jim Brown Productions has asked me to help spread the word on the new film called PETE SEEGER: THE POWER OF SONG. It opens this weekend at the IFC Center in Greenwich Village.

Most socially conscious people will recall the brilliant documentary by Jim Brown, 'The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time'; the director has called this one 'a sequel of sorts'. It is notable that the copy on the poster (attached)
reads: 'Musician. Patriot. Activist. Environmentalist. Blacklisted.--Legend', and that it offers a real biography of Pete, including the pains brought on HUAC, with an accent on his music of social change. Was it by chance that a film about a figure like Pete Seeger or his old group The Weavers would be released in a decade of struggle against the right-wing, a period which finds us cringing under the full corporate weight of a George W Bush or a Ronald Reagan? When capitalism pulls apart its reigns and tramples rights, as we have lived with during any imperial presidency, we need a Jim Brown to remind us all of why we fight. And why we must continue to do so. This is a movie to attend as we plan on the next demo, peace vigil, radical political meeting or...presidential election. But its also one to take our kids to. It will inspire and incite---the way it
should.

'Pete Seeger: The Power of Song' will premier in Manhattan this weekend but will also be selectively shown in various cities (including Pleasantville NY on 11/3) before coming to the small screen via PBS in February. Please go to www.PowerofSong.net for more info on this brilliant film about one of our greatest Cultural Workers and national treasures.

Below is some info from the press release.

In Solidarity,
John Pietaro- www.flamesofdiscontent.org

Jim Brown Productions
T: 212.505.0138
F: 212.505.5594
www.JimBrownFilms.com

Roger Ebert's review:

Pete Seeger: The Power of Song

**** Stars

September 13, 2007

Cast & Credits
Featuring Pete Seeger, Toshi Seeger, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Natalie Maines, Tom Paxton, David Dunaway, Bess Lomax Hawes, Joan Baez, Ronnie Gilbert, Jerry Silverman, Henry Foner, Eric Weissberg, Arlo Guthrie, Peter Yarrow, Mary Travers, Julian Bond, Tommy Smothers and Bonnie Raitt.

The Weinstein Company presents a documentary directed by Jim Brown.
Running time: 93 minutes. No MPAA rating (suitable for all ages).
Opening today at Landmark Renaissance.

BY ROGER EBERT

I don't know if Pete Seeger believes in saints, but I believe he is one. He's the one in the front as they go marching in. "Pete Seeger: The Power of Song" is a tribute to the legendary singer and composer who thought
music could be a force for good, and proved it by writing songs that have actually helped shape our times ("If I Had a Hammer" and "Turn, Turn, Turn") and popularizing "We Shall Overcome" and Woody Guthrie's unofficial national anthem, "This Land Is Your Land." Over his long career (he is 88), he has toured tirelessly with song and stories, never happier than when he gets everyone in the audience to sing along.

This documentary, directed by Jim Brown, is a sequel of sorts to Brown's wonderful "The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time" (1982), which centered on the farewell Carnegie Hall concert of the singing group Seeger was long
associated with. The Weavers had many big hits circa 1950 ("Goodnight Irene," "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine") before being blacklisted during the McCarthy years; called before the House Un-American Activities Committee and asked to name members of the Communist Party, Seeger evoked, not the fifth, but the First
Amendment. The Weavers immediately disappeared from the playlists of most radio stations, and Seeger did not appear on television for 17 years, until the Smothers Brothers broke the boycott.

But he kept singing, invented a new kind of banjo, did more for the rebirth of that instrument than anyone else, co-founded two folk-song magazines, and with Toshi, his wife of 62 years, did more and sooner than most to live a "green" lifestyle, just because it was his nature. On rural land in upstate New York, they lived for years in a log cabin he built himself, and we see him still chopping firewood and working on the land. "I like to say I'm more conservative than Goldwater," Wikipedia quotes him. "He just wanted to turn the clock back to when there was no income tax. I want to turn the clock back to when people lived in small villages and took care of each other."

With access to remarkable archival footage, old TV shows, home movies and the family photo album, Brown weaves together the story of the Seegers with testimony by admirers who represent his influence and legacy: Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, Tom Paxton, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Peter Yarrow, Mary Travers, Julian Bond and Bonnie Raitt. There is also coverage of the whole Seeger family musical tradition, including brother Mike and sister Peggy.

This isn't simply an assembly of historical materials and talking heads (however eloquent), but a vibrant musical film as well, and Brown has remastered the music so that we feel the real excitement of Seeger
walking into a room and starting a sing-along. Unique among musicians, he doesn't covet the spotlight but actually insists on the audience joining in; he seems more choir director than soloist.

You could see that in 2004 at the Toronto Film Festival, in the "final" farewell performance of the Weavers, as he was joined onstage by original group members Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman, who go back 57
years together, and more recent members Erik Darling and Eric Weissberg. Missing from the original group was the late Lee Hays, who co-wrote "If I Had a Hammer."

The occasion was the showing of an interim Brown doc, "Isn't This a Time," a documentary about a Carnegie Hall "farewell concert" concert in honor of Harold Leventhal's 50th anniversary as an impresario. It was Leventhal who booked the Weavers into Carnegie Hall for the first time in the late 1940s, and Leventhal who brought them back to the hall when the group's left-wing politics had made them victims of the show-business blacklist. Although Seeger has sung infrequently in recent years, claiming his voice is "gone," he was in fine form that night in Toronto, his head as always held high and thrown back, as if focused in the future.

Sadly, for many people, Seeger is still associated in memory with the Communist Party USA. Although never a "card-carrying member," he was and is adamantly left-wing; he broke with the party in 1950, disillusioned with Stalinism, and as recently as this year, according to Wikipedia, apologized to a historian: "I think you're right. I should have asked to see the gulags when I was in the USSR."

What I feel from Seeger and his music is a deep-seated, instinctive decency, a sense of fair play, a democratic impulse reflected by singing along as a metaphor. I get the same feeling from Toshi, who co-produced this film and has co-produced her husband's life. How many women would sign on with a folk singer who planned to build them a cabin to live in? The portrait of their long marriage, their children and grandchildren, is one of the most inspiring elements in the film. They actually live as if this land was made for you and me.

Auction-Hootenanny

We are having a great response to out Auction/Hootenanny, scheduled for 11/18  2-6 pm at the Unitarian Fellowship on Sawkill Road.  So far  we have scheduled:

Peggy Atwood – Bruce Blair - Bob Burroughs - Cavanaugh & Kavanaugh - Jim Donnelly - Lee Eaton - Drew Ferraro - Bob Horan - David Howells - Denise Jordan Finley and Daniel Pagdon - Pat Keating - Pat LaManna - Bob Lusk - Kelleigh McKenzie - Ernie Mortuzans and Jean Weiss - Rick Nestler - Melissa Ortquist – Constance Rudd - Cecilia St. King - Norm Wennet - Elly Wininger.  I imagine there will be some surprise guests.

 

The auction items are coming in.  So far people have donated:

 

Bruce Ackerman

            Autographed poster  (used)

 

Rich Bala

            Large bass Kalimba (thumb piano) (used)

            American Favorite Ballads by Pete Seeger book (used)

            Bawdy Songs and Back Room Ballads by Oscar Brand – LP (used)

 

Kevin and Carol Becker

Reach Out and Catch the Wind  - Cassette Tape (new)

Pass it On  - Cassette Tape  (new)

Reach Out and Catch the Wind and Lots of Love -  Deluxe CD (new)

The Hudson River Valley – CD (new)

 

Stephen Bergstein

            Yamaha Classical Guitar (used)

 

Andrea Epstein

            Framed folk drawing by Aina Stenberg (used)

 

Denise Jordan Finley

 HAUNTRESS - CD (new)

Sing Out! - magazines circa 1985-1989 (used)

 

Raggedy Crew

I Don't Mind Failin' – CD (new)

 

Anonymous

            The Peggy Seeger Songbook -  book  (used)

            Jack Elliot Guitar Style Video  VHS (new)

            Sing Out! – magazines  (used)

 

with more to come....................... 

If you have something to add, send me an e-mail- boblusk@hvc.rr.com or call 845-338-8587

From Priscilla Herdman

From Priscilla Herdman

Dear Bob,

I'm sending an update to my previous newsletter since I have recently added a show which is coming up fast.  I was asked to fill in for a performer who is unable to do the October concert for the Friends of Fiddler's Green Chapter of the Hudson Valley Folk Guild. Because the date is so close, we are trying to get the word out quickly and I'm hoping that those of you in the Hudson Valley region will be able to spread the word to anyone you think might be interested. Maybe you could even bring some friends along to the show too!  For concert information please call: (845)483-0650. (The web site is not updated.)  Venue: Hyde Park United Methodist Church on Rte. 9 and Church Street (1 block south of the northernmost stop light in Hyde Park)

Priscilla Herdman

Sacred Geometry

From Tim Moore -  If I could be there I would.

I'm inviting to you come to hear a new cycle of piano and keyboard compositions based on sacred geometry. This weekend will be my first appearance as a composer in the Woodstock Cycle, an annual musical event supporting new works from regional composers. 
Please note the revised times.  Saturday at 7:00 pm and Sunday at 5:00 pm. The performance lasts about 1 hour 15 minutes. A reception follows Sunday's performance. 
         
These new pieces are the first works to spring directly from my lifelong fascination with geometric forms in plants, shells and animals.  They're sequenced to take listeners on a journey linking visual forms from nature with musical harmonies.  
Those "divine" proportions and symmetries, understood by the ancients and most recently revisited in The DaVinci Code, are intuitively reflected in the natural tensions and releases of musical harmony.  The first intervals and notes will emerge from a primordial sound field created by sound healer Peter Blum. As the variations progress, you'll hear music evolve from simple two note intervals to the mysterious floating tonality of Debussy and Ravel.
Two other regional composers will play their commissioned pieces as well:  Bar Scott and master violist Nadege Foofat. 
Where: St. Gregory's A-frame church, just east of Woodstock on Rte 212 (Saugerties side), between Gallos' Nursery and Namaste Yoga. 
I hope you can make this short and tasty musical event a part of your weekend. 

Namaste, 

Tim

Water Not Weapons


I generally don't put up postings with so many internet links, but think it justified in this case.  Cecilia is a tireless worker for peace and justice and the Water not Weapons project is really worthwhile.   (self interest disclosure - she is the June Carter in my Johnny Cash tribute concert)

This was sent out by my new friend, Phil Sauers. : )
ALOHA.. On Saturday, water's new theme song,
"Water Not Weapons" with music & lyrics by Cecilia St. King was debuted by CECILIA @ the 6th Annual "Peace Vigil" @ the Bandshell in Central Park -> http://www.vigil4internationalpeace.org <http://www.vigil4internationalpeace.org/>
 
On Sunday,
CECILIA performed "Water Not Weapons" for Pete Seeger.

Pete has given his warm blessings  -> & -> the go-ahead to
CECILIA & WWRF to immediately, if not sooner,  produce a music video, ala Quincy Jones -> "We Are The World"... wow !!
 

CECILIA'S
debut on Sunday for Pete was professionally filmed by Pamela Timmins @ the Alternative Energy Festival -> http://www.beaconsloopclub.org/alt_energy_fest_color.pdf
 
Film of Pete performing with
CECILIA will be installed on -> http://wwwwaternotweapons.org <http://www.waternotweapons.org/>  
 
CECILIA'S Website -> http://www.sonicbids.com/CeciliaStKing

PHIL
->
http://www.wwrf.org <http://www.wwrf.org/>


Definatly a record for me - I debuted 2 new songs this week, both songs that I wrote. "White Crosses" I mentioned previously, but yesterday at the Martin Van Buren Mansion Harvest Festival I sang a song I wrote just this week! It was inspired by a C&W themed dinner I was at this past Thursday.
Yodeling has never been my strong suite. It's kind of like stepping off a cliff - it's one of these things that you just have to take a deep breath, close your eyes and do it.

And I Wonder if You’re Watching the Moon Too

Each night I hope and pray your love won’t go away
I’m waiting out here for you dear
Out in the open sky, don’t cha hear the coyotes cry
And I wonder if you’re watching the moon too
Yodel----------------------------------

The stars dance around, we’re stuck here on the ground
It’s lonesome here beneath the prairie moon
To even feel your touch, would warm me, oh so much
And I wonder if you’re watching the moon too
Yodel----------------------------------

The moon is riding high, up in the sky
And I don’t believe we’ll get to sleep tonight
Let the moonlight shine, on your home and mine,
And I wonder if you’re watching the moon too
Yodel----------------------------------

And I wonder if you’re watching the moon too
And I love you and I love you and I love you

Veteran's for Peace


Read at a poetry reading last night for the first time in 30 years.  I did one poem and one song.  Of course being me, even the poem had some "OMing" in it.  I sang a new song for the first time there.

White Crosses on the Hillside
Words:Bob Lusk     tune "Little Boxes"  Malvina Reynolds
Inspired by an article in the NY Times that spoke about the new opening of lot 60 for the returning personel killed in Iraq. I sang this for the first time at a Veteran's for Peace Poetry reading in Woodstock 9-17-07. Jay Wenk, WWII vet told me afterwards that he had know Malvina and that "She would be proud".

Chorus
White crosses on the hillside
White crosses in the cemetery
White crosses, white crosses
White crosses all the same

And there's soldiers, and there's sailors
Marines and Air corpsman
And they all have white crosses
White crosses all the same

1
And each one had a body bag
It was draped with an American flag
And we didn't get to see it
They snuck them in the back door

And they're all buried in the graveyard
At Arlington National Cemetery
in lot Six-ty
They make their final rest

Chorus

2
Each one was an individual
Who had their own personality
They lived and loved and laughed
And each one had a name

And most of them had families
And people who loved them
People who voted to
Send them to war

Chorus

Some of my poetry is included in the book
POST TRAUMATIC PRESS 2007
poems by veterans, Dayl Wise, Editor

All proceeds go to Veterans for Peace…and its tax deductible. To order your copy, send $12 plus $3 shipping to:
Post Traumatic Press
Dayl Wise, Editor
104 Orchard Lane North, Woodstock, NY 12498
dswbike@aol.com
Make checks payable to:
VFP Catskill Mountain Chapter 058
Write "PTP 2007" in memo line

My Instruments

Rather than being responsible today, I created a web site of my instruments. It is at http://bobluskinstruments.blogspot.com/. There are more photos to be added, but it's a start.

Weekend Report

A great musical weekend. Started off playing my new mandolin on Friday evening in a wonderful music session up in the Irish Catskills (or should I say the Irish-Italian Catskills?) On Saturday it was several protests. Reading the names of the dead at King's Mall and then singing some peace songs at Academy Green. Then down to the Riverfront Festival in Poughkeepsie playing hindustani slide guitar with Anjali Nandakars class. A bit of a shock when the power went out and I was the only thing to be heard, with my battery powered mouse amp. Wasn't quite prepared for a solo.
Sunday Jim Donnelly and I played as part of the Heritage Music Foundation Concert Series at Alternative Books in Kingston. A great time doing historic Irish music of the area in a living room atmosphere.
Tonight it's off to Kirtan at Namaste yoga in Woodstock, where I will probably accompany whoever is leading with my violin. After that (8:00) I'll be singing some anitwar songs and reading poetry with Veteran's for Peace at the Colony Cafe in Woodstock.
Phew!

Schedule


So many things going on!   Check my schedule anytime at http://blschedule.blogspot.com/
Upcoming, tomorrow is protest at Kings Mall at noon, then Academy Green Rally at 1:00; Hindu music concert at 4:00 in Poughkeepsie, Sunday Irish concert at Alternative Books in Kingston, Monday night reading anti war poetry with Veteran's for Peace at colony Cafe in Woodstock,  9/22 is Lindenwald Harvest Festival in Kinderhook.  Phew!
I'm also making plans to start teaching some music classes in my house.

Global Mala Project


In cooperation with the United Nations International Day of Peace and the Global Mala Project, Namaste will host an evening of 108 minutes of chanting the Sanskrit names of the divine on September 22.  Invocation will begin at 5:30 followed by chanting.  With this project we join our energies with yoga practitioners and studios all over the world in an effort to expand peace worldwide.  Visit www.globalmala.org or see the Global Mala attachment.  You will need to open this attachment with a Word Works Word Processor program.  

Namaste Yoga Center
Gretchen Hein
2568 Route 212, Woodstock, NY
845-679-7532

Jackie Alper passes


From the Sing Out list-

Jackie Alper, 86, social activist and long running host of Mostly Folk on
WRPI 91.1, Troy, NY died last Thursday, September 6, 2007.

She will be missed.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=620972

Good Times


I think any musician, performer, actor, poet realizes that the best music, performances, theater or poetry doesn't happen in formal settings but in impromtu affairs when the juice just cooks, everthing is magical and alive and what you are doing feels in total harmony with the universe.  
Well that happened last night at good friend Jim Donnelly's.  A serious rehearsal turned into a music party when his friend Marshall dropped by.  We all had a wonderful time.  Jim's place is a civil war era house in the wilds of Stanfordville.   We were doing historic catskill music mixed in with rock n roll.  My hands were sore this morning from playing so much.   I wound up sleeping there and getting home at 8 this morning just in time to go to work.   Driving home I just kept thinking - "I can't do this too often, I con't do this too often - but boy was it fun!"

Broadside Magazine


Broadside Magazine is being revived online.  I was on their board briefly in the 80's.  
Check out: http://www.broadsidemagazine.com   This is a great song resource.

Peace Path

A nice time on the 3rd annual PEACE PATH 9/11 at Fireman's Park near the Kingston bus station. Paula, Connie, Roberta and several others whose names I don't know were there standing with positive signs about peace to honor those who perished on 9/11. I could only be there for a short while. I had my banjo and sang a few songs. There was a great reaction from people driving home from work. Some roll their windows up, some roll them down. Lots fo people honking in support.

The big demonstration was going on at the County Office building to try and get the Legislature to sign on for impeachment. I didn't know about it until later.

Seeing others blogs about 9/11 has raised some of my memories. The morning of 9/11 I saw it on the news as the second plane hit. My wife decided she was going to work that day anyway. She also had a dentist appointment to go to. I was driving when I heard about the Pentagon being hit and decided I needed to take my son out of school. Apparently I wasn't the only parent feeling that way. I felt it was a time of emergency and the family needed to be together. My son was 10 years old but thankfully pretty oblivious to what was happening.
I had some close friends who lived in lower Manhattan, a niece, brother in law who worked there. I had worked on Wall St for many years, my sister had worked in the towers. Everyone woulnd up being allright - but everyone had a story to tell.

I had to play at an Elderhostel that evening at the Holiday Inn in Kingston. People from all over the country, now unable to leave since the airports were shut. My program is usually historic music of the area, including songs about battles with a fair amount of violent references. I had to change the program around, keep it lite and just entertain. Certainly one of the harder gigs I've ever done.

I hope the Peace Path idea grows. Next year I would like to see people on Washington Avenue from 32 all the way to the traffic circle!

Riverfront Festival Poughkeepsie 9/15

9/15/07 Last minute addition! Hudson River Arts Festival - At 4:10PM I’ll be singing and playing slide guitar veena with Anjali Nandedkar’ Hindustani music class. (I am one of her students.). The festival runs from 2pm to 10pm at Waryas Park, in Poughkeepsie where Main Street meets the Hudson River. We’ll be on the “Bluegrass Stage”. Also performing that day is David Bromberg and his Quartet, plus the Angel Band and singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega. RAIN OR SHINE - FREE ADMISSION

I think there are some peace demonstrations earlier in the day in Kingston. 1:00 pm at Academy Green is the rumor.

Peace Path on Tuesday 9/11

Tired of Sept 11th being exploited to promote fear, war, hatred and more fear?   Then join us for the 3rd annual PEACE PATH 9/11 on Tuesday, September 11 from 4:30-6 p.m. at Fireman's Park on Washington Ave. near the Kingston bus station.  We stand with positive signs about peace to honor those who perished on 9/11.   Bring a sign and a chair, if needed. For more information, call Paula at 679-2821.

Fw: Bob Dylan Hits the Classroom

From Mark Rausher

Another side of Bob Dylan

This lifelong iconoclast will appreciate the irony of his lyrics bring taught in British schools

Mike Marqusee
Saturday September 8, 2007
The Guardian


He used to tease critics by claiming he was only "a song and dance man" but, whether he likes it or not, Bob Dylan has entered the canon. To mark next month's National Poetry Day a "Dylan Education Pack" will be issued and pupils in key stages three and four will be invited to study a selection of the master's songs and to compose a Dylan-inspired ballad on the theme of dreams.

In a sense, there's nothing new about secondary school kids burrowing into Dylan. When I was a teenager in the 60s, I was doing just what Britain's current crop of teenagers are being officially encouraged to do - trying to make sense of his lyrics. But I came to Dylan outside school, through a network of contemporaries, an experience linked to a major theme of Dylan's: the need to speak the truth (however inchoate) to power, regardless of expert opinion.

Dylan has been ubiquitous in recent years: films, CDs, books, exhibitions of his drawings, his extraordinary radio show. Indeed, the suspicion will be that curriculum managers are making a cheap bid for popularity. But some of the works students will be reading were written 45 years ago, and a more plausible concession to adolescent fashion (or in some eyes dumbing down) would have been to study Dizzee Rascal.

But Dylan should be in the curriculum on merit. Whether or not his lyrics work as poetry on the printed page, he remains a great writer. His range puts most modern poets to shame: from minimalist eloquence to delirious verbal and sensuous richness, from the comic to the tender via petty resentments and transcendental longings, often within the compass of a single song. One of the songs British students will be looking at next month is a A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall, which contains the wonderfully concise, ominous, arresting line: "The executioner's face is always well hidden". Most of us could spend a lifetime writing and not come up with a gem as bold as this (written when Dylan was 21), invoking some of the ghastlier truths of our age: the ease with which great and lethal powers destroy human life from a safe distance, the need to see through the masks of power, the absence of accountability. You could fill a classroom session just drawing out the implications of that one sentence.

Or look at the insertion of the epithet "hard" before "rain". It's usually claimed that Dylan wrote the song in response to the Cuban missile crisis. In fact, he debuted it some weeks before the Soviet build-up was known to the public. None the less, the song was instantly recognised as a reflection on the crisis of the nuclear age. Today it reads like a prophecy of environmental catastrophe: "I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests, / I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans". The song is a case study in how art can be located in its moment of origin and at the same time outlive that moment.

It is sometimes forgotten that Dylan coupled his populist turn to electric rock'n'roll with demanding lyrics, unfamiliar to his audience in vocabulary, structure and tone. From the beginning, he was waging a battle against boundaries, musically and lyrically. In particular he championed the claims of popular against high culture: "Ezra Pound and TS Eliot / Fighting in the captain's tower / While calypso singers laugh at them / And fishermen hold flowers." His work is full of warnings against overinterpretation ("I ain't lookin' to ... Analyze you, categorize you, finalize you") and institutional "lifelessness". So, yes, it is ironic that he has entered the canon, that students are prescribed what they once had to seek for themselves; but it's an irony to which Dylan's work long ago alerted us. Mike Marqusee is the author of Wicked Messenger: Bob Dylan and the 1960s
Mikemarqusee.com

New Strings

I changed the strings on my good guitar tonight.  The Martin D35S.  I use Martin SP medium gage strings.  I have been trying to avoid changing strings too often because of the expense.  They are about $7 a set.  I can't remember how long it has been since I changed them. Usually I change them every 2 months.  I think it's been 3 or 4 now.  They were very tarnished.  (Good guitars need their strings changed more often than inexpensive guitars because the sound potential is so much more.)
With new strings on the sound is literally magical.   I usually try and do it a few weeks before an important gig so that I can get used to the sound again.  The next big gig is 9/16, so I probably should have waited another week but I just couldn't stand it.
It feels like taking a shower, having a haircut or other sensuous experiences I could name. There have been times I was up all night after changing the strings because it was so stimulating I couldn't stop playing. 
Tonight I'm being a good boy, going to sleep because tomorrow I have to get up early, get to the plumbing supply store, get home and fix the shower so that we can have showers before going to work.
So hopefully it will be new strings and a shower - maybe a haircut next week.

perfect pitch


California Scientists Search for Perfect Pitch  by Joe Palca

All Things Considered, August 28, 2007 · Scientists in California have been studying a group of people with a remarkable musical talent. It's called absolute pitch, also known as perfect pitch.
People with absolute pitch can instantly identify any musical note. The California researchers have been identifying people with this skill in order to understand its genetic basis. Most people can identify a note on a piano, but there will be some people who hear a note, and without even thinking about it, they will know that it was A above middle C — at least if the piano is properly tuned. Dennis Drayna is a geneticist at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. He says people with absolute pitch can identify notes on a piano the same way most of us can identify colors.
"And we can always identify red and it's obvious what's pink, and we usually don't confuse the two," Drayna says. "People with absolute pitch have an analogous ability for their ear."
To find people with this talent, geneticist Jane Gitschier turned to the Internet. She and her colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco created a Web page where people could test their pitch abilities. "People are given an auditory frequency," Gitschier explains. "And then they have to click on a little keyboard to tell us what note they think it is." As she reports in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 2,213 people took her test. "We had two different populations of people," Gitschier says. "We had people who score phenomenally well, and people who were throwing darts at the problem." In other words, they were guessing.
But even the people who demonstrated absolute pitch did make a few mistakes. When Gitschier analyzed those mistakes, they found something surprising.
"The note they err on the most often is G sharp," Gitschier says. Why G sharp? Gitschier has a hypothesis. When an orchestra tunes before a concert, everyone tunes to a single note — A. But A can actually be different frequencies. In the United States, A is typically 440 vibrations per second, or 440 hertz. And there's a range. According to Gitschier, the Berlin Philharmonic tunes to an A at 446 hertz. And some orchestras specializing in early music tune to an A as low as 415 hertz. And 415 is right where G-sharp would be if you tune to one of the higher pitched A's.

"So perhaps, people with absolute pitch have learned or incorporated this spread of tuning frequencies into this cluster that they call 'A'," Gitschier says. Knowing more about people with absolute pitch will be essential to finding the genes involved in this skill. Gitschier has already begun collecting DNA from her subjects recruited on the Internet. There's one other curious thing Gitschier uncovered in her study. "Our results clearly show that as people get older, they are perceiving things sharper than when they are younger," Gitschier says. So a C sounds like a C sharp.  It's nice to know something gets sharper as we age.

Impeach!

Had a wonderful time at the Impeach meeting at Rep Maurice Hinchey's today.  It was a packed house with a lot of emotion on both sides.  Choices seemed to be Impeach Now and the hell with the consequences or try to work slowly, methodically with Maurice for change - perhaps "censure".  I favor the first course.
 
At the end of the meeting I sang (uninvited of course) "Bush and Chaney have to go!  Impeach them both today!"  to the tune of "Down by the Riverside" with my banjo.  I was in the wrong key, so wasn't the huge sucess I wanted to be, but an elderley woman praised me outside - made me feel good.
 
Then I went over to Maurices offices with Barbara Sarah.  Five people were sitting in - the doors were locked and staff tried to get us to leave.  We had a little demonstration across the street.  I sang "This Little Light of Mine".  There was street theater with Diane Sommer and a friend dressed as prisoners and people reading the Constitution through a bullhorn. 
 
I took the elevator back to Maurices office by myself and sang a few songs outside the door.  Through the glass I could make out a person giving me the thumbs up sign.  The acoustics in the hallway were great!  It felt like a concert hall.
 
The sit-in was still going on when I left. Home to cook dinner and work on plumbing.

free loan of piano for a year

From: Karen Cathers [mailto:kcathers@earthlink.net]

I am Karen Cathers. We were flooded out of our house on Springtown Roadin New Paltz this spring. We will be closing the house for the winter so there will be no heat in the house (we have arranged other winter housing for ourselves). We have a Wurlitzer Piano (not damaged by water) that will need to visit another home for about a year. Anyone want to borrow it?
Very big day yesterday playing at the Huckelberry Festival in Ellenville during the day and the Bronck House Museum in the evening. I knew I was going to be stretching my limitations, but I didn't take into account the weather. It was 90 degrees and least and humid. I now know what the term "heat exhaustion" means. I had to make frequent trips to my car to sit in the AC to avoid passing out. We were under a tent so it was shady, but I was dressed badly. I had on heavy cotton pants and shirt to try and appear "authentic". It's never been a problem before - It always seemed that by covering up I was avoiding sunburn - you know like the Arabs.

Next year I bring a fan and ice!

Bronck house was great but I had to cut my performance short due to thunderstorms. I didn't mind, but the audiance and staff were heading for the hills.

Mark Fried, Regina Scheff, Robin Greenstein and her friend Barry were all playing with me in Ellenville. There were no problems musically, (except my exhaustion from the heat). People loved us and that's always nice. Also we made the Kingston Freeman Sunday paper! I'll try and scan it and post it sometime soon.

I thought I recognized a person (who would have been of Italian heritage)at the Bronck house and I asked him "Excuse me is your name Martin?" He said (in an Irish brogue)"It could be, do you owe me some money"?

It wasn't him.

Irish Festival Columbus Day weekend up in East Durham


There is a new Irish Festival Columbus Day weekend up in East Durham

 
Banjo Burke Festival
October 5 – 8
Banjo Burke Memorial Fund
P O Box 937
Greenwood, NY 14839
(607)225-9928

Schedule
(subject to change)
Friday evening
6-7:30 PM Registration and Opening Session
8-9 PM First workshop

Saturday
9:30 -11AM Workshop
11-12 Noon Individual practice/informal session/private lesson
12-1:30 lunch break
1:30 - 3:00 Workshop
3 - 4 IP/IS/PL
4 - 5 IP/IS/PL
5 - 6:30 Dinner Break
6:30 - 8:30 Ceili, Beginners ceili
8:30 - 11:00 Concert
Concurrently on Saturday Grandstand Golf Outing at Thunderhart Noon

Sunday
11AM 5K for Parkinson's research
Noon Long puck competition
1 - 6 Simultaneous music in all of the houses
6 - 7:30 Dinner Break
7:30 - 9:30 Sessions and ceili all over town

Monday
10-11 AM Workshop
11-12 IP/IS/PL
12-1:30 Lunch Break
1:30 - 4 Final concert becoming session
4 - until session continuing as long as people wish to stay

Hudson Valley Folk Guild

Had a real nice time tonight putting out the newletter of the Hudson Valley Folk Guild by hand.  Postage costs are going up and we can't afford to use a mailing house anymore.  This will probably be the last newsletter mailed out, but they will be available at coffeehouses in the future. 
Kevin and Carol Becker, Bob Wright, Linda Breithhaupt, Al and Marge, Bruce Blair and I all folded, stamped, labeled and mutilated 592 newsletters.   Carol made a wonderfu meal, we sang, told really bad jokes - I haven't done this type of thing in years - it was great! 

King's Mall 7

The King's Mall 7 is receiving a national award from "Veteran's for Peace". Hopefully it will be presented very publicly by Maurice Hinchey at the mall some Saturday.

Banjo Classes

I'm not teaching any classes this semester at Dutchess County Community College, but looking through their catalog, it was nice to see that they still list me as a banjo instructor for individual students.  This would include beginning banjo in most any genre:  5 string folk, old tymey, bluegrass, 4 string plectrum and tenor, both Irish and American styles. Anyone interested can call the school at 431-8916.

Snakes Alive!

This fellow is playing an instrument called a "serpent" at Colonial Williamsburg, VA., July 2007. He was actually playing an Irish Jig.

Soapbox Derby

Last minute news!  I will be John Q Public in the Kings Mall 7 entry in the soap box derby on Sunday.  It is an oil derrick pulled by nefarious personages including John Q Public.

Friday Fun...

This Friday, August 17, from 7pm Come hear

The Cover Girlz (Elly Wininger, Terri Massardo, & Peggy Atwood), and Diana Mae Munch

Black Bear Hollow Café
6375 State Route 28
Just west of Phoenicia, NY  

http://www.blackbearhollow.homestead.com/

845-688-9800

 

If you have not yet been to this lovely eatery, gift shop and grocery, this is a good time to check it out. No cover charge to hear some wonderful music in a friendly atmosphere. A family business that supports all things local. (No alcohol.) The dinner menu doesn't seem to be on their website, but it is excellent- everything from steak, burgers, salmon, mac & cheese, fresh veggies- you name it. Very reasonable prices. I hope you can make it!

~Elly

 

Elly Wininger

ellywin@hvc.rr.com

www.ellywininger.com

Fiddlin's Fun Festival


From Gary Talkiewicz

Our Fiddlin's Fun Festival is coming up on 8/25 in Binghamton. Our web site, which includes jam time and tune list is:http://www.fiddlinsfun.org/ There is also a pdf poster of the Festival on our site.
The Mumford Fiddlers fair is also the weekend of 8/18-19 near Rochester:
http://www.gcv.org/programsAndEvents/fiddlersFair.shtml

Fiddlin's Fun Festival 2007
Date: Saturday, August 25th, 2007
Time: Noon to 6:00 p.m.
Location: Roberson Museum and Science Center
30 Front St., Binghamton, N.Y.
Cost: $5.00 individual, maximum of $15.00 per family
Website: http:\\www.fiddlinsfun.org
Publicity contact:
Hope Grietzer 607-687-3675

hopegrietzer1@netzero.com

The Fiddlin's Fun Festival celebrates fiddling in the Southern Tier of New York with an afternoon of New England , Irish, Old-Time, Swedish and French Canadian fiddle music.

The event includes outdoor concerts by New York State fiddlers, along with fiddle workshops, an open stage, and acoustic jam sessions for kids and adults.

Scheduled performers include:

Laurie Hart – Specializing in Scandinavian fiddle, Laurie has performed across the United States and Canada . Laurie was the recipient of a 2002 Fulbright Award to study the music and dance of Norway and co-authored "Dance ce soir!: Fiddle and Accordian Music of Québec" published by Mel Bay .
Kathy Selby - A native of England, fiddler Kathy Selby has performed with Alasdair Fraser's San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers, and as well as acting as a workshop and band leader with the group. Her repertoire spans four centuries, from 17th century English country dances to recently composed tunes.
City Fiddle hails from the Buffalo area, and features New York State Fiddler's Hall of Fame inductee Phil Banaszak on twin fiddles with his wife Gretchen.
Rosie's Ready Mix features fiddler Hope Grietzer, a former " Rocky Mountain Region Fiddler of the Year". Curt Osgood's dynamic playing on hammered dulcimer has contributed to the local resurgence of interest in the dulcimer and its traditions, while Jim MacWilliams provides driving rhythm on guitar and clawhammer banjo.
Wild Rose plays an assortment of music ranging from Eastern European Klezmer and ancient Celtic tunes to early American jigs and reels and modern waltzes. The marvelous interplay between Amy Shapiro on fiddle and Allen Lutins on clarinet is not to be missed.
The Java Joe Jammers have been entertaining folks in Broome County for over twenty years. Led by Tim and Johanna Masters, this lively group plays a mix of traditional American and Celtic tunes with fiddles, guitars, mandolins, and banjos joining in the performance.
Funding is provided, in part, by a project grant from the United Cultural Fund, a program of the Broome County Arts Council.

For more information, call 607-687-3675 or visit www.fiddlinsfun.org

Upcoming performances

I am off next weekend!  Yeah - a chance to do some yard work, perhaps relax.  But the following week a very busy next few months of performing starts.  You can always check my schedule at :http://blschedule.blogspot.com/
 
Here's the next few months worth, but check back because there are always new things coming up.  - Bob
 

8/25/07 Huckleberry Festival in Ellenville, NY with Marc Fried, and Folkloric (Regina Scheff and Robin Greenstein ). All day. Lots of traditional, huckleberry, blueberry and historic music. Also huckleberry pie contest!. See Huckleberry Songs http://huckleberrysongs.blogspot.com/

8/25/06 Bronck House and Museum, Green County, NY. 7:30 pm
Traditional music of the Catskills and Hudson Valley. (518) 731-6490.
http://www.gchistory.org/barns.php Great site to bring the family to. The volunteers really care about the place and put a lot of time and effort into taking care of visitors. I will be playing under a tent - there is a storyteller earlier.

8/27/07 Kirtan at Namaste Yoga in Woodstock. 5:30 to 7:00. I will be there as Bhaav Ram leading Kirtan chant and playing a variety of instruments including Hindustani slide guitar/veena and violin. Marty Klein will be accompanying me on tabla. It is group chanting, kind of a cross between gospel music, Sea Chanteys, Ravi Shankar and Pete Seeger. The chants are easy to do and your voice would be welcome. Namaste Yoga is on Rt 212 in Woodstock, next to St. Gregorys Episcopal Church. It is free.

9/16/07 "Irish Music of the Catskills and Hudson Valley" with Jim Donnelly. Heritage Music Concert Series. A special 6 months to St. Patrick's Day Concert of historic Irish music of the Catskills and Hudson Valley. 3-5 pm $10. At Alternative Books, 35 North Front Street, Kingston, New York (845) 331-5439.

9/17/07 Colony Cafe, Woodstock, NY. 7:00 I will be reading some of my poems (and probably singing songs) with Veteran's for Peace.

9/22/06 Harvest Festival with Folkloric (Beth Lawton and Regina Scheff) - Music of the 1800's, Lindenwald, Martin Van Buren Mansion in Kinderhook, NY. Always a lovely day- Come stroll the grounds. My grandmother played cards in the mansion during the 1930's.
http://www.nps.gov/mava/

10/7/06 Bluestone Festival, TR Gallo Park down at the Strand, Kingston, NY. My set is at 12 noon, but I will be there all day at the TR Gallo stage running sound, MCing and generally hanging out. Celebrate Kingston's Bluestone heritage with blue beer!

Tomato Folk

The Hudson Valley Folk Guild is teaming up with the Town of Lloyd Events Committee to offer a unique and fun filled event on Saturday August 11th from 11am to 6pm. The event pairs the Town of Lloyd Tomato Festival, now in its 4th year, with a new event, the Hudson Valley Folk Festival.The merging of these events will surely have something everyone! Free admission! The festival is made possible in part through a grant from the Dutchess County Arts Council, administrator of public funds through the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program.Performances and workshops by Folk Guild Musicians and special guest, David Roth, will take place throughout the day...
I'll be doing a workshop there at 12 noon on Music of the Catskill Mountains and Hudson Valley.