CONCERT: Robert Ellis (solo) - Night 2
TICKETS: $25
DOORS: 7PM
CONCERT 7:30PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
ABOUT ROBERT ELLIS
Recorded live to tape in just two days, Robert Ellis’s exquisite new album, Yesterday’s News, is as stripped-down as it gets, with the celebrated songwriter and producer’s delicate, reedy tenor accompanied only by nylon string guitar, upright bass, and the occasional piece of handheld percussion. The arrangements are harmonically sophisticated here, drawing on the open tunings and intricate fingerpicking of English songwriters like Nick Drake or Richard Thompson, and Ellis’s performances are similarly subtle and nuanced, tapping into the bittersweet longing of Chet Baker and the playful poignancy of Bill Evans and Jim Hall.
While that might seem surprising coming off 2019’s raucous Texas Piano Man, subverting expectations is nothing new for Ellis. Born and raised outside Houston, he gained early acclaim for his piercing introspection and absorbing narratives, but over the course of five solo albums, he flirted with everything from Paul Simon and John Prine to Elton John and Joni Mitchell in a series of sonic and visual transformations that ran the gamut from Redneck Steely Dan to Lone Star Liberace. NPR hailed his “musical daring and impeccable songcraft,” while Rolling Stone praised his “sharp eye for storytelling,” and the New York Times lauded his writing as an emotional “gut punch.”
Yesterday’s News marks Ellis’s debut LP for Niles City Records, an outgrowth of the famed Niles City Sound studio he and longtime collaborator Josh Block run in Fort Worth, TX.
CONCERT: Robert Ellis (solo) - Night 1
TICKETS: $25
DOORS: 7PM
CONCERT 7:30PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
ABOUT ROBERT ELLIS
Recorded live to tape in just two days, Robert Ellis’s exquisite new album, Yesterday’s News, is as stripped-down as it gets, with the celebrated songwriter and producer’s delicate, reedy tenor accompanied only by nylon string guitar, upright bass, and the occasional piece of handheld percussion. The arrangements are harmonically sophisticated here, drawing on the open tunings and intricate fingerpicking of English songwriters like Nick Drake or Richard Thompson, and Ellis’s performances are similarly subtle and nuanced, tapping into the bittersweet longing of Chet Baker and the playful poignancy of Bill Evans and Jim Hall.
While that might seem surprising coming off 2019’s raucous Texas Piano Man, subverting expectations is nothing new for Ellis. Born and raised outside Houston, he gained early acclaim for his piercing introspection and absorbing narratives, but over the course of five solo albums, he flirted with everything from Paul Simon and John Prine to Elton John and Joni Mitchell in a series of sonic and visual transformations that ran the gamut from Redneck Steely Dan to Lone Star Liberace. NPR hailed his “musical daring and impeccable songcraft,” while Rolling Stone praised his “sharp eye for storytelling,” and the New York Times lauded his writing as an emotional “gut punch.”
Yesterday’s News marks Ellis’s debut LP for Niles City Records, an outgrowth of the famed Niles City Sound studio he and longtime collaborator Josh Block run in Fort Worth, TX.
CONCERT: Amos Cochran
Amos Cochran is an Emmy nominated composer, musician, and sound artist based in Fayetteville.
His work has been showcased at the Sundance, Berlin, and Toronto Film Festivals, as well as with PBS, the London Design Festival, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Unexpected, the University of Houston Brain Center, and his A/V piece Memory Dissolve received the merit award at Artfields 2021.
Miranda Baker-Burns will be joining Amos on violin.
Holiday Cookies & Carols
Come, join us in song and merriment!
5:30pm gather for beverages and snacks
6pm-7pm Singing
A songbook will be provided with familiar tunes, but perhaps a new twist on some verses.
BAYARD GUITARS presents Bayard & Friends: a night of music
BAYARD BLAIN, Fayetteville luthier and musician, is celebrating instrument #300!
Bayard will be joined on stage with fellow musicians from Northwest Arkansas. This will be a special evening of song, story, and celebration.
If you’ve seen, played, or heard a Bayard instrument then you know this will be a joy to watch & hear the beauty of Bayard’s craft demonstrated at this special concert.
To learn more about Bayard Blain, CLICK HERE
Spiced Cider + other beverages will be available — all donations benefitting the Folk School.
Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
CANCELLED - FUNDRAISER CONCERT: The Helm Family Midnight Ramble
We are sad to announce that Thursday night’s concert and fundraiser with The Helm Family Midnight Ramble Band is cancelled.
Our prayers are with Amy Helm and her family at this time. Amy sent word that her mother, Libby Titus Fagen, passed away on Sunday afternoon. Please join us in sending love to Amy and her family.
As a community music organization, we believe in the power of music to heal and to bring us together. We look forward to working with Amy to find a reschedule date for this concert. It will be a beautiful night of gathering when it happens. We will notify you as soon as the date is confirmed.
REFUNDS & UPCOMING GEORGE’S CONCERTS
George’s Majestic will begin refunding all ticket purchases starting tonight (10/14). We are lucky to have George’s in our community. So many of our musical memories of Fayetteville center around George’s Majestic. We hope you will consider purchasing tickets to an upcoming concert at George’s. https://georgesmajesticlounge.com/
SUPPORT FOLK SCHOOL OF FAYETTEVILLE
This concert was a fundraiser for the Folk School of Fayetteville. We were excited to share with you in person about all the good work happening at Folk School. If you are able, please consider making a donation to support our mission. Your support keeps community music alive in Fayetteville. Check out the upcoming calendar of community events and stop by the Folk School of Fayetteville. www.folkschooloffayetteville.org
Bernice & Bryan Hembree
& the entire Folk School of Fayetteville Board
CONCERT: Scott Cook & Pamela Mae (Alberta, Canada)
TICKETS: $20
DOORS: 7PM
CONCERT 7:30PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
ABOUT SCOTT COOK & PAMELA MAE
In 2007, Albertan songwriter Scott Cook quit his job teaching kindergarten in Taiwan and moved into a minivan. He’s made his living as a troubadour ever since, touring almost incessantly across Canada, the US, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere, averaging 150 shows and a dozen summer festivals a year, and releasing seven albums of plainspoken, keenly observant verse along the way. His latest collection Tangle of Souls comes packaged in a cloth-bound, 240-page hardcover book of road stories and ruminations. The album spent two weeks at #1 on Alberta's province-wide community radio network CKUA, and earned Scott his third Canadian Folk Music Award nomination, for English Songwriter of the Year. Its second single "Say Can You See" was the second most-played song of 2020 on Folk Alliance International's folk radio charts, and took top honours for the folk category in both the 2020 UK Songwriting Competition and the 2020 Great American Song Contest. Since 2022 he’s been touring steadily around North America with his sweetheart Pamela Mae on upright bass, banjo and vocals, travelling through 43 states and 8 Canadian provinces while broadcasting solar-powered livestreams from the back of their campervan Roadetta. This year they’ve already done a three-month tour of Australia, and are gearing up to release a new album and book entitled Troubadourly Yours. Fresh from the open road, these are sturdy, straight-talking songs that see the good in you.
"Scott Cook’s seventh 'love letter' to the world is all strings and beauty, a 12-song agnostic endorsement of love over fear... It doesn’t condemn, it summons to one fire... Of all his records this one simply feels the best. ✭✭✭✭✭" –The Edmonton Journal
"Damn, this is a gorgeous album. Scott Cook’s voice –– vocally and lyrically –– is as clear-eyed, optimistic, and straightforward as ever... Tangle of Souls is the medicine we could all use right now." –Adobe and Teardrops
"He sings his heart and soul, and in doing so lets light flood into your own... He has a good eye for imagery, a gentle human touch, a wry sense of humour, a whole lot of integrity, a warm, rugged voice and a bunch of memorable lines... Truly one of Woody Guthrie's children." –RnR Magazine
CONCERT: Nokosee Fields
TICKETS: $20
DOORS: 7PM
CONCERT 7:30PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
ABOUT NOKOSEE FIELDS
Over the last few years, musician, artist, and collaborator Nokosee Fields has proven himself to be one of the most provocative, significant, and capable voices in the North American traditional music scene. A quest for balance shapes his work, whether he’s reconciling the weight of tradition with his creative impulses; challenging the demands and vacuity of colonialist, capitalist structures and systems with the richness of his experience and upbringing as a member of the Osage, Creek and Cherokee Nations; or simply anchoring the beat in the rhythmic push and pull of the multiple bands in which he works.
The great nephew of celebrated Cherokee fiddler Sam O’Fields, Nokosee carries a longstanding Cherokee fiddling tradition into the present. Through powerful live and recorded performances, he lovingly and playfully reimagines his tradition with immense skills and sensitivity as a performer of traditional fiddle music. His prowess has not gone unnoticed: He’s won some of the most prestigious contests in the United States and has performed and taught at flagship festivals and workshops. His recent DIY sourcerror project, released anonymously online, delivers compelling, fresh interpretations of older North American fiddle repertoire. Besides garnering critical acclaim and solidifying his reputation as a leading fiddler and interpreter in the traditional music scene, the project explores the relationships between the archive and embodied performance, using lo-fi audio technologies to critique histories of anthropological field recording practice and the tendency of contemporary roots music industry to fetishize the past. Building off of the sourcerror project, he obtained grant funding to record an album of rare Indigenous, Black, and white fiddle repertoire from North America with his band BOOJUM. The album is now in post-production and will be released in 2022. Beyond his fiddling, he works as a touring musician, playing bass in the country band Western Centuries and in top-tier Old-time bands Hard Drive and the Onlies. An in-demand recording artist and performer, he has recorded and worked alongside some of the most well-known artists in the field–luminaries like Tim O’Brien and Dirk Powell.
As a musician and artist, Nokosee seeks to restore balance to the unbalanced. In seeking balance, he creates work that is as provocative as it is beautiful.
CONCERT: Jack Williams
TICKETS: $25
DOORS: 6:30PM
CONCERT 7PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
ABOUT JACK WILLIAMS
The music of Jack Williams, rooted in his native South Carolina, is shaped by a 65-year career of playing folk, rock, jazz, R&B, classical and the popular music of the 30s, 40s and 50s. He is counted among the most dynamic performers on today’s “folk” circuit – “…one of the most enlightened and entertaining performers I’ve ever encountered”, said Dave Humphreys of Two-Way Street Coffeehouse in Downer’s Grove, IL. Jack is considered a “musician’s musician”, an uncommonly unique guitarist, a writer of vivid songs with a strong sense of place, and a storyteller in an old Southern tradition who further illustrates each tale with his guitar.
CONCERT: Lost Patterns
TICKETS: $20
DOORS: 7PM
CONCERT 7:30PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
ABOUT LOST PATTERNS
Lost Patterns is an American roots duo based in Austin, TX, featuring songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Beth Chrisman and Silas Lowe. They bring an earthy grit to the lonesome, lowdown backroads of acoustic Americana, that is always moving and evocative.
Chrisman and Lowe have been sharing stages together since 2006 when they met during a bluegrass jam at a BBQ joint. The duo plays songs culled from the depths of the American musical tradition as well as writing new classics shaped by those musical landscapes.
As a member of the Carper Family and High Plains Jamboree, Chrisman has performed at Merlefest, A Prairie Home Companion, Augusta Heritage, and Mountain Stage. She is an in-demand side player as well, with notable performances alongside Bobby Bare, Alice Gerrard, John C. Reilly, and Willi Carlisle.
Lowe was a member of the Atomic Duo and has performed at the Kennedy Center, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, the Vancouver Folk Festival, the John Hartford Memorial Festival. His songs have been covered by numerous bands, and recently a song he co-wrote with Brennen Leigh was featured on the Grand Ole Opry.
In their first year together, Lost Patterns released a self-titled album, had several successful international tours, and was nominated by the Austin Chronicle for Best Folk/Bluegrass Band.
CONCERT: Sullivan Sisters
TICKETS: Adult $20, Student $22
DOORS: 6:30PM
CONCERT 7PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
ABOUT SULLIVAN SISTERS
Chicago's teen bluegrass duo, The Sullivan Sisters. Originally from North Caroline, but now based in Chicago, these sisters are excited to be playing here in Fayetteville Arkansas where they have family ties.The Sullivan Sisters have dazzled audiences since childhood with their unique blend of sister harmonies and fast bluegrass picking. Born and raised in North Carolina, Soraya and Luciya Sullivan developed their love for American Folk and Bluegrass music at a young age, when they began guitar and banjo lessons at ages eight and six.Now teens living and playing music in the Chicago area, The Sullivan Sisters have been featured at Merlefest, on the Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour, IBMA’s Bluegrass Live Festival, and Cedar Point Amusement Park as a band in residence. They have been awarded contest prizes at Rockygrass 2023 (First prize, banjo; Third prize, flatpicking guitar), and in the youth contests at the Galax Old Fiddlers Convention and the Mount Airy Bluegrass and Old-Time Fiddlers Convention.
Pickin' & Grinnin' — 1st annual celebration
MUSIC SCHEDULE
Bluegrass Circle: 2-3:45pm
Irish Session: 4-5:45pm
Old Time Players & Square Dance: 6-8pm
Bring your instrument and join the jam circle, or just come to enjoy music provided by your local musicians.
Beginning at 6pm, the Old Time Players will provide music for a Square Dance led by Steve Green. Grab a partner and join in the fun!
This toe-tapping event marks one-year of Folk School of Fayetteville being open!
Good Cat Nice House
Concert & Workshop
Workshop: Join Good Cat Nice House as they show how their band uses existing and second hand materials to create sustainable merchandise through screen printing and embroidery techniques. For the music: A local group of queer individuals bringing you a mixture of FOLK and PUNK music centering around our experiences in the LGBTQ community.
Register Here
CONCERT: Jake Xerxes Fussell
TICKETS: $20
DOORS: 7PM
CONCERT 7:30PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
ABOUT JAKE XERXES FUSSELL
Jake Xerxes Fussell is a singer and guitarist based in Durham, NC. He is, according to Ann Powers of NPR, "maybe the leading interpreter of American folk music right now..."
Fussell’s album Good and Green Again was released to critical acclaim in January of 2022. The album was produced by James Elkington and featured some formidable musicians, including Casey Toll on upright bass, Libby Rodenbough on strings, Joe Westerlund on drums, Joseph Decosimo on fiddle, and others. Bonnie “Prince” Billy contributed additional vocals.
“…Fussell is the rare contemporary to approach folk in its pure form, shunning self-penned compositions about bummer relationships to concentrate on material handed down from bygone, hardened times.” – The New Yorker
“(Fussell) is one of the great magpies of American song, collecting forgotten, tarnished gems with a folklorist’s zeal… his renditions aren’t so much cover versions as composites…” – The Guardian
CONCERT: Kentucky Banjo with Brett Ratliff
Brett Ratliff will be sharing songs in his native Kentucky traditions. This will be a unique concert experience as Brett will be sharing history and banjo technique. Come ready to learn about Kentucky Banjo style passed along by a 2022 United States Artists Fellow!
Tickets $25
Doors open at 7pm
Concert at 7:30pm
ABOUT BRETT RATLIFF
Brett Ratliff is a 2022 United States Artists Fellow in Traditional Arts. He teaches and performs traditional Appalachian musical styles and repertoire, especially mountain banjo styles and labor-rights music of his native East Kentucky coalfields.
Ratliff has been invited to share music and stories of his home at such venues as: The Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, in Port Townsend, WA; Third Man Records in Nashville, TN; Nimble Fingers Music Festival, in British Columbia, Canada; the Swannanoa Gathering in Swannanoa, NC; Augusta Heritage Old-Time Week in Elkins, WV; and Sore Fingers Week in Oxfordshire, England. He has also performed on more than a dozen recordings, including those for Smithsonian Folkways, The Kentucky Center for Traditional Music, Old Town School of Folk Music, and The Oxford American.
Born and raised in Van Lear, Kentucky, Ratliff has spent his career as a community arts organizer throughout East Kentucky where in 2005 he helped found Kentucky Old Time Music Inc., a nonprofit supporting infrastructure for the practice of folk and traditional arts in the Commonwealth.
In 2021 Ratliff began a collaboration with filmmaker Ethan Payne, co-producing a series of short documentaries featuring rural Appalachian artists. Bright Morning Stars: The Johnsons of Hemphill (2022) is the first of these films to be released, receiving the Judge’s Award at the Boone Docs Film Festival, and Official Selection at both the Fort Myers Beach International Film Festival and the Miami Independent Film Festival.
Ratliff’s solo records include Cold Icy Mountain (June Appal Recordings, 2008), Gone Boy (Emperor Records, 2017), and Whitesburg, KY (June Appal Recordings, 2021), receiving critical acclaim from such outlets as No Depression, Maverick Country Music Magazine, and The Museum of Americana.
CONCERT: Steve Fisher
Steve Fisher in Concert including Steve & Bayard Blain reflecting on songwriting philosophy and methodology.
TICKETS: $25
DOORS: 6:30PM
CONCERT 7PM
Presented in partnership with Bayard Guitars
ABOUT STEVE FISHER
Steve Fisher's songs reveal a deep resonance of spirituality and soul-searching, seasoned with just a pinch of wry humor and a dash of self-deprecating awareness of the frailty of us humans as we stumble through this life without a road map. Steve just seems to see life from a slightly different angle than most of us, and it affords him clear views to universal truths that often escape us in our busy lives, because we are in just to big a hurry to notice.
Steve has roots in East Texas and Oklahoma and earned an Engineering Tech degree from Texas A&M. In the '80s, he spent some time as the keyboard player for the Southern Cross band. In 1989, he was a New Folk winner at the Kerrville Folk Festival.
If Steve Fisher had chosen a more commercial path, we would all know his name and would be hearing his tunes in elevators, but that isn’t who Steve is.
Daniel Moody - “Lighthouse” Album Release Party
FREE, REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Donations Accepted
EVENT: 5pm-9pm
Potluck + Performance + Community Jam
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
A gift to my community.
We all need to shine our light into the dark so that other’s may find their way. More often than not its what we struggle with that’s most helpful to hear. This album is about my struggle to find my voice, my purpose, my direction.
This album is intended to be a gift, because It’s my community that helped me to find myself. My family and friends are my mirror, my heart, my why. When I sing with love for them, I know why I’m here.
This album was co-produced by my friend and mentor Kelly Mulhollan, with cover art by Jon Marro.
ABOUT DANIEL MOODY
https://www.danielhuntermoody.com/about
CONCERT: Langan Band (SCOTLAND)
TICKETS: $25
DOORS: 7PM
CONCERT 7:30PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
ABOUT LANGAN BAND
https://www.thelanganband.com/
For over 15 years now, the three members of The Langan Band have been carving out their own lawlessly virtuosic path of sound; rampaging through the boundaries of conventional genre and cavorting into the territories of wild abandon, purest intimacy, and unconditional musical elation.
The trio were initially brought together by a deep respect of traditional song and music, yet they discovered a mutual love of the evisceration and regeneration of these pieces into provocative and fascinating new compositions, as was recognised by the band winning the prestigious Danny Kyle Award at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections Festival at the start of their journey together. This sound and process went on to inform the band’s now mostly original repertoire, and has resulted in a musical experience quite unlike any other.
Ayrshire-born John Langan is found centre-stage, seated on an explosive foot percussion rig of his own devising and fronting the trio with intricate fiery guitar rhythms and witheringly sweet and scathing vocals. To his right stands Alastair Caplin, a classically trained violinist equally discerning in both the London Prog-Folk/Jazz scenes he occupied for years and also the blistering traditional reels and jigs of his native Outer Hebrides. Stage left is the domain of Angus-born Dave Tunstall and his double bass; from here emanates a seductive concoction of eerily-bowed soundscapes, heart-stopping bass lines, and in conjunction with Caplin’s blurred bowing a truly monumental wall of orchestral noise. The sound of the group reaches its zenith when all of these instruments are joined by the three voices singing together in razor- tight harmony to create an absolute cacophony of joy.
Whilst it is possible to see the evidence of influences the band have drawn on and enjoyed (Trad. Scots music, Eastern European Gypsy, Progressive Jazz and American Old-Time to name a few), the true nature of the sound from The Langan Band is best described as un- pigeon-holeable, yet utterly irresistible.
Now signed with international agents in USA, Australia & New Zealand, and Scandinavia, the band are truly on their way to becoming a global paradigm of Scottish creativity and success.
CONCERT: Dan Bern
TICKETS: $25
DOORS: 7PM
CONCERT 7:30PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
ABOUT DAN BERN
Dan Bern is a captivating live performer with a loyal, multi-generational following. He has written thousands of songs, released dozens of albums, and played shows across North America and Europe–from coffee shops to Carnegie Hall.
Bern’s songs have appeared in numerous films and TV shows, including Judd Apatow’s “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” “Get Him to the Greek“ and “The Bubble.” He appeared as himself in the 2022 Hannukah film “Menorah in the Middle” on Hulu, and wrote and performed 2 seasons of songs for Amazon Prime’s award-winning kids program, “The Stinky & Dirty Show.”
A true renaissance artist, Bern is the author of some dozen books of stories and poems and is a prolific painter. His online “Hunkered in the Bunker” shows have a passionate community of followers, while his topical sports songs are regularly featured on “The Tony Kornheiser Show.” He was recently inducted into the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
CONCERT & GEAR TALK WORKSHOP: 100 BC! Celebrating Barney Kessel and Chet Atkins at 100
FREE, REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Donations Accepted
DOORS: 6:30pm
CONCERT 7PM
Presented by the Northwest Arkansas Jazz Society
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
Bruce Forman and Pat Bergeson play the guitars of American music icons Barney Kessel and Chet Atkins, who were their mentors, bosses, and friends. Along with a recording, the project will also include a musical barnstorming road trip from Lutrell,TN (Chet's birthplace) to Muskogee, OK (Barney's).
"To our knowledge, these two masters never spent any time together...but by getting their guitars side by side, making music, we are correcting that historical oversight."
Expect lots of fun times and rewards, exciting playing, and two historic instruments telling stories that will last another hundred years!
ABOUT BRUCE FORMAN
A hectic touring schedule; twenty-one recordings as a leader, countless sideman recordings including Ray Brown, Bobby Hutcherson, Roger Kellaway; soundtrack performances on three of Clint Eastwood’s distinguished films—most notably Academy Award-winning Million Dollar Baby; raconteur, arranger, acclaimed educator, in residence at USC’s Studio/Jazz Guitar Dept., when does Bruce Forman rest?
Deep immersion in American culture inspires Forman to contribute to the traditions that he draws from. Reunion! (the newest project) revisits the famed Poll Winners sessions with cohorts John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton, playing instruments owned by Barney Kessel, Ray Brown and Shelly Manne; Formanism (his trio project); original works like The Red Guitar; his high-rated podcast, GuitarWank; Cow Bop and the “road challenges” down historic byways like Route 66; JazzMasters Workshop; Junkyard Duo; GrumpsTV (a fifty episode YouTube variety show during the lockdown), the popular ‘first chorus of the day’ series on Instagram…these are only the latest answers to the endless question that underlies Bruce Forman’s creativity. His music and life reflect every step of his journey, and demonstrate the awareness of an artist who’s very much at home in the world, and at the top of his form.
ABOUT PAT BERGESON
Guitarist and harmonica player Pat Bergeson has written, toured, and recorded with many of his musical heroes. Beginning at the University of Illinois in his home state, he moved on to New York City and picked up a Jazz Studies degree at William Paterson University. After playing in New York for ten years, he moved to Nashville upon the request of Chet Atkins who heard Pat on a demo tape. Chet invited him to play on his album “Sneakin’ Around” with Jerry Reed, and later featured Pat’s guitar and compositions on his 1994 release Read My Licks. They were good friends and toured together for several years.
A versatile guitarist as well as chromatic and diatonic harmonica player, Pat’s style incorporates jazz, blues, rock and finger style and he is known for his session work with a variety of artists. He has been in the studio with Lyle Lovett, Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton, Bill Frisell, Martin Taylor, Suzy Bogguss, Bill Evans, Peter Frampton, Michael McDonald and many others. He has toured with Shelby Lynne, Madeleine Peyroux, Wynonna Judd, Suzy Bogguss and then four years with Lyle Lovett and his Large Band. Pat has been a teacher and producer and has appeared on many movie soundtracks.
CONCERT: Robert Ellis (solo)
TICKETS: $25
DOORS: 7PM
CONCERT 7:30PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
ABOUT ROBERT ELLIS
Recorded live to tape in just two days, Robert Ellis’s exquisite new album, Yesterday’s News, is as stripped-down as it gets, with the celebrated songwriter and producer’s delicate, reedy tenor accompanied only by nylon string guitar, upright bass, and the occasional piece of handheld percussion. The arrangements are harmonically sophisticated here, drawing on the open tunings and intricate fingerpicking of English songwriters like Nick Drake or Richard Thompson, and Ellis’s performances are similarly subtle and nuanced, tapping into the bittersweet longing of Chet Baker and the playful poignancy of Bill Evans and Jim Hall.
While that might seem surprising coming off 2019’s raucous Texas Piano Man, subverting expectations is nothing new for Ellis. Born and raised outside Houston, he gained early acclaim for his piercing introspection and absorbing narratives, but over the course of five solo albums, he flirted with everything from Paul Simon and John Prine to Elton John and Joni Mitchell in a series of sonic and visual transformations that ran the gamut from Redneck Steely Dan to Lone Star Liberace. NPR hailed his “musical daring and impeccable songcraft,” while Rolling Stone praised his “sharp eye for storytelling,” and the New York Times lauded his writing as an emotional “gut punch.”
Yesterday’s News marks Ellis’s debut LP for Niles City Records, an outgrowth of the famed Niles City Sound studio he and longtime collaborator Josh Block run in Fort Worth, TX.
CONCERT: Wild Prairie Winds: Southern Reverie - Hosted by Chamber Music of the Ozarks
HOSTED BY CHAMBER MUSIC OF THE OZARKS
TICKETS: $30
5:00pm - Social Hour Come enjoy your slice of pizza and drink before the concert!
6:00pm - Wild Prairie Winds Concert
The Wild Prairie Winds, on a mission to celebrate Southern musical heritage, proudly presents their latest program, “Southern Reverie,” in Northwest Arkansas (NWA). The Wild Prairie Winds are a 501©(3) Nonprofit organization dedicated to the accessibility of chamber music in rural communities.
Join us at the Folk School of Fayetteville – in partnership with Chamber Music of the Ozarks - in an extraordinary venue that offers an intimate setting reminiscent of enjoying music in the comfort of someone's living room—the very essence of how chamber music is meant to be experienced!
The performance commences at 6:00pm, but we encourage you to arrive early to mingle with the musicians and fellow music enthusiasts who share our passion. Your ticket includes a delectable slice of pizza and one refreshing drink to enhance your evening. For those with heartier appetites or a thirst for more, additional slices of pizza and beverages are available for purchase. Come, immerse yourself in the soulful melodies of Wild Prairie Winds and be part of our mission to celebrate America's musical heritage.
$30 ticket, includes general admission, a slice of pizza and a drink
CONCERT: Ernie Hill presents Story Songs with special guests STILL ON THE HILL and SMOKEY & THE MIRROR
TICKETS: $20
DOORS: 5PM
CONCERT 5:30PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
ABOUT ERNIE HILL & STORY SONGS
Story Songs is not a "hands on" workshop. It is a performance/panel discussion about creativity.
How does it work? Ernie Hill starts the set with an original story song and then opens up a discussion with the special guests.. The songwriters pass it on down the line and in the time allotted we each perform original story songs with enlightening discussion.
Aren't all songs Story Songs? Well, no. A large percentage of top 40 mainstream songs are "feeling" songs. Songs that express love or the opposite. A story song is just that. It tells a story, sometimes taking you to a different environment. It's that simple, but where do they come from? How does a songwriter "get" their story? That's what these sets are all about.
CONCERT: Tony Furtado, featuring Luke Price on Fiddle
TONY FURTADO, featuring LUKE PRICE on Fiddle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9bWI68QHIY
TICKETS: $30
DOORS: 7PM
CONCERT 7:30PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
ABOUT THE TONY FURTADO
https://tonyfurtado.com
“Tony Furtado, banjo player, is back...in a big way,” writes banjo master Tony Trischka in his liner notes to Decembering, the brand-new album from Tony Furtado. “He’s planted his flag in the midst of the fertile ground that is modern banjo. Texturally fresh, confidently audacious, rich and giving, this recording is a masterpiece.”
It’s been over thirty years since Tony Furtado first made his mark on Planet Banjo with the release of his debut album on Rounder Records, Swamped. He was—and still is—traditionally rooted, progressively oriented, and a composer of rare skill. Decembering is a welcome return to the banjo and a much-needed ray of sunshine and light in these troubled times.
Because of the pandemic, Decembering was recorded in
isolation, with no face-to-face contact between musicians. “I started
this in my basement (affectionately called Squirrelville Studio) just as
the pandemic began,” explains Tony. “The process was simple but really challenging. I would record my parts first, send them out to each player to put down their parts one at a time, sometimes doubling back to re-record each part to fit better as the tune grew and evolved. It was like a game of audio ping-pong.”
Recording an album with this process was quite a feat, but Decembering is well worth the extra effort thatwasrequired. ThealbumcontainseighttunesTonywroteonforthebanjoandcellobanjo,plusaBeatles cover (“Here Comes the Sun”) and a new take on a traditional fiddle tune, “Nimrod Hornpipe,” reimagined as a Brazilian folk song. Tony’s original tunes and inventive arrangements make this an album that rewards careful, repeated listening. Tony’s banjo is front and center, both the regular five-string and the lower-tuned cello banjo. He’s also a brilliant slide guitarist, though in this case, it’s here to support the banjo.
Tony is joined on Decembering by a stellar cast of musicians who rose to the challenges presented by recording an album in isolation. The roster included some folks Tony has played with over the years and some he’s admired but never worked with, including John Doyle on guitar & bouzouki (Solas), Todd Sickafoose on bass (Ani DiFranco/Anais Mitchell), Rob Burger on keyboards & accordion (Iron & Wine/Tin Hat Trio), fiddler Luke Price (Love, Dean), cellist Tristan Clarridge (Bee Eaters), mandolinists Mike Marshall & Matt Flinner, and drummers Scott Amendola, Aaron Johnston, & Carter McClean.
Feeling that we all needed some light and some hope, Tony wanted Decembering to be a heartfelt and vivid statement. There's a real sense of joy that comes through on every cut on this recording from a veteran and truly original musician. In the words of Tony Trischka, "Considering that this album was created as the pandemic was revving up, this is one mighty silver lining."
“A banjo album recorded during a pandemic” sounds like the punchline to a bad banjo joke, but Decembering is one of the deepest, most satisfying albums in Tony’s catalog, a soulful, tuneful meditation on the craziness and chaos of the past year and a half.
ABOUT LUKE PRICE
Luke Price is a multi-instrumentalist performer, composer, and studio musician based in Portland, OR. He has his roots in American fiddling and swing traditions, which have influenced his rhythm, taste, and style as they have spread into Soul, Jazz, Pop, and Americana. Luke brings a unique voice to any music he plays, whether he’s on the fiddle, electric guitar, or singing.
Growing up in Boise, Idaho, Luke began competing in fiddle contests and playing around the country. He’s won a plethora of contests, awards, and scholarships. He is a four-time (and current) National Fiddle Champion. His love for rhythm and improvisation born out of these traditional music styles led him to Boston, MA to attend The Berklee College of Music, where he met his now wife and musical partner, Rachael Price, to form their Soul Pop band, “Love, DEAN.” After graduation, they moved to Portland, OR where they continue to play, teach, and write.
Luke has played with a variety of outstanding musicians and always tends to bring some good times to any music he’s making. He is known for his taste, rhythm, tight harmonies, and inventive ideas. He has toured, played, and recorded with folks including Tony Furtado, Scott Law, Jesse Harper (of Love Canon), Stephen Malkmus, Lee Ann Womack, Tristan and Tashina Clarridge, Simon Chrisman, Ben Krakauer, Matt Hartz, and John Hermann.
Luke’s website: https://lukedeanprice.wordpress.com
CONCERT: The Lowest Pair
TICKETS: $20
DOORS: 7PM
CONCERT 7:30PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
ABOUT THE LOWEST PAIR
Kendl Winter and Palmer T. Lee are two kindred spirits who first met on the banks of the Mississippi while touring the Midwest festival circuit. Born and raised in Arkansas, Winter found herself drawn to the evergreens and damp air of the Pacific Northwest, as well as the boundless music scene of Olympia, Washington. She released three solo records on Olympia-based indie label, K Records, and performed in ramblin’ folk bands and anarchic punk bands before serendipitously meeting Palmer T. Lee in 2013. Lee had built his first banjo when he was 19 from pieces he inherited and began cutting his teeth fronting Minneapolis string bands before convincing Winter that they should form a banjo duo. Now, as The Lowest Pair, they have recorded and released five albums together, relentlessly toured North America, and ventured to the UK twice, playing over 500 live shows over the past five years.
After each releasing solo albums via Conor Oberst’s Team Love Records in 2018, Winter and Lee began working on The Lowest Pair’s forthcoming 10- song set, The Perfect Plan. As a songwriting team, the duo tends to see artistic sparks all around them — in poems, people, ideas, experiences – and throughout the process of writing these new songs, they felt the need to push their creative limits. They turned to producer Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes who took them to ARC Studios in Omaha, Nebraska, and set them in a soundscape backed by a slate of session players that lifts the album from simple folk into spirited Americana and beyond. Clawhammer banjo and acoustic guitar still hold the heart of The Lowest Pair, but the fleshed-out sound of The Perfect Plan leans gently into Winter's punk past, as well as the sonic playground of her mind, to set the band down a new path on their musical journey.
Ahead of the record’s release, Winter and Lee each took some time for outward and inner exploration in order to refuel the creative energy put into The Perfect Plan. Winter headed to the South Pole to work in a scientific research station, an opportunity she hadn’t sought out but couldn't pass up. “It’s very different than living the musician’s life of road doggin’ and performing all the time,” she says. “It was the first time in a while I’ve held still and met and made friends
with a group of people that wasn’t based around music. The small community really is incredible, people from all over the world with different reasons they’ve ended up here. This place, the bottom of the world, will definitely leave its marks on me.” And Winter has left her footprint on Antarctica as well, winning the Annual South Pole Marathon in -36 degrees, at a pressure altitude of 10,300 feet, and setting a new record time in the competition for women.
As Winter headed south, Lee went north to a small, wooded cabin in the Driftless hills of Wisconsin [for a writer’s residency] where his lessons in presence involved lots of wood chopping and water carrying. “My objective wasn’t necessarily a list of goals or things I wanted to create, but to learn to observe my process — the way I live and how it lines up against the way I want to live — to learn more about the way I construct a day and could construct a day,” he confesses. “I would storm up and attempt to execute these, sort of, experiments on myself. I would consciously manipulate my time, my mind, my focus, my crafts, and projects to learn more about how I am affected by things both inside and outside of me, what gets me stuck and how to unstick myself.”
Whether together in the studio or thousands of miles apart, Winter and Lee are two sides of the same coin whose experiences define and support each other. And The Lowest Pair harnesses and harmonizes that wisdom in The Perfect Plan as a way of distilling the magic of their partnership into a singular tangible experience that speaks to audiences across genres and through various artistic avenues.
“I love the stripped-down versions of these songs,” Winter admits. “I think they leave a lot to the imagination, and I trust people have enough juice to choose their own adventures in the space that the band fills out on the record. But we also can’t wait to tour with a full band and to see how that magic translates on stage. It felt really exciting in the studio, and the songs pack a much greater punch with the added instrumentation.”
Folk School Fundraiser & Student Showcase on the Lawn
TICKETS: FREE
3PM - 5PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission and outdoors on the Lawn at the Folk School. Bring your own chair or blanket. Concerts at the Folk School are a listening environment.
CONCERT: John Doyle
TICKETS: $25
DOORS: 7PM
CONCERT 7:30PM
**All tickets for this concert are general admission, but seated unless otherwise noted. Concerts at the Folk School are an intimate and listening environment.
This concert is presented in partnership with Bayard Guitars. Bayard Guitars are built in Fayetteville by luthier and acclaimed musician Bayard Blain. More info at www.bayardguitars.com
ABOUT JOHN DOYLE
Name many of the most notable recordings and/or performers in Irish music and it's a fair bet that John Doyle had something to do with them. Liz Carroll; Eileen Ivers; Karan Casey; Solas; Michael Black; Mary Black; the trio of McCusker, McGoldrick and Doyle; The Teetotalers (Martin Hayes, Kevin Crawford, John Doyle); and now Usher's Island (Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny, Mike McGoldrick, Paddy Glackin and John Doyle) - a vertible who's who of the greatest names in Irish music. These are just a very few of the stellar artists for whom John Doyle's signature guitar sound, singing or songwriting is essential.
From a musical family in Dublin, John’s influences include well known English folk singers Nic Jones, Martin Carthy, Richard Thompson, and The Watersons; Scottish singers Dick Gaughan and John Martin; and fellow Irishmen Paul Brady and Al O’Donnell as well as his father, Sean Doyle - probably the biggest influence of all. John went on the road as a pro at 16 with the group Chanting House which he formed with Susan McKeown and which eventually included such great players as Seamus Egan, Eileen Ivers, & Donogh Hennessy. John went on to form the highly acclaimed super group, Solas, with Seamus Egan, John Williams, Karan Casey and Winifred Horan which took the folk and Celtic music worlds by storm, in no small part due to John’s powerhouse rhythmic guitar style and innovative arrangements. As a member of Solas, John performed to sold out audiences nationally and internationally as well as appearing on many national TV and radio programs: NBC’s The Today Show, various programs for National Public Radio and Public Radio International, A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage, E-Town and World Cafe as part of that critically acclaimed group, he also received three NAIRD awards and a Grammy nomination for the band’s self-titled first recording.
After leaving Solas, John has gone on to perform and tour with other greats in the Folk, Celtic and Bluegrass worlds - as music director for folk icon Joan Baez, guitarist for Mary Chapin Carpenter, Eileen Ivers, Tim O’Brien (John was included on Tim’s 2006 Grammy-award winning CD, Fiddler’s Green), Linda Thompson, Kate Rusby, Cathie Ryan, Cherish the Ladies, and many others. He has appeared on soundtracks for the feature film, The Brothers McMullan, Soldier, PBS’s Out of Ireland and also composed the music for the film Uncle Robert’s Footsteps and the play Down the Flats as well as performing on countless recordings as guitarist and/or singer for other notable artists such as Kate Rusby, Linda Thompson, Tim O’Brien, Alison Brown, Seamus Egan, Eileen Ivers, Mick Moloney, Cathal McConnell, Karan Casey and so many others (check out the discography page for a full list). John is a featured regular for many years in the hugely popular BBC Scotland "Transatlantic Sessions" regularly broadcast in Ireland and at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow having performed there with Americana greats Jerry Douglas, Tim O'Brien, Rodney Crowell, Sara Watkins, Kathy Mattea, and many others.
There are few artists more respected in the genre or more in demand in the studio, as songwriter, as performer. A few recent highlights listed below:2009, St. Patrick's Day - Performed as duo of Liz Carroll/John Doyle for President Obama, the full U.S Congress, Vice-President Biden, and then Taoiseach Brian Cowan2010 - Received Grammy Nomination for "Best Traditional World Album" for "Double Play", Liz Carroll and John Doyle2008-2010 - Toured with Joan Baez as her Music Director/guitarist/singer2014-- Guitarist with Mary Chapin Carpenter
In recent years, John has focused primarily on writing songs based on the varied experiences of Irish emmigrants - his great grandfather on the torpedoed S.S. Arabic in 1915; famine victims on the coffin ships to Quebec; Confederate and Union Irish fighting against one another at Fredericksburg; an Irishman's journey through the First World War. In reviews, these songs on Doyle's 2012 release, "Shadow and Light" have been said "to be destined to be classics in the Irish folk music songbook. His talents as songwriter are rare and exquisite."
CONCERT: The Steel Wheels
A CONCERT BENEFITTING FOLK SCHOOL OF FAYETTEVILLE
at George’s Majestic Lounge
TICKETS: $20
DOORS: 7PM
STEEL WHEELS START 8PM
No Opener
ABOUT THE STEEL WHEELS
The Steel Wheels have long been at home in the creative space between tradition and innovation, informed by the familiar sounds of the Virginia mountains where the band was formed, but always moving forward with insightful lyrics and an evolving sound. In 2005, Jay Lapp (vocals, guitars, mandolin) and Eric Brubaker (vocals, fiddle) joined lead singer Trent Wagler (guitar, banjo) in forming the band as a vehicle for Wagler’s songwriting. They released several albums under Wagler’s moniker, before officially adopting the The Steel Wheels name with the 2010 release of Red Wing. Quickly staking their claim as independent upstarts in the burgeoning Americana scene, The Steel Wheels followed up this release with three more self-produced albums in the next five years, before joining forces with producer Sam Kassirer for Wild As We Came Here (2017) and Over The Trees (2019). Kevin Garcia (drums, percussion, keys) joined in 2017, bringing a new level of sonic depth and polish to the outfit. Newest member Jeremy Darrow rounds out the rhythm section and grounds the band as they continue to explore deeply rooted yet fresh folk rock sounds. Having gained the experience of thousands of shows, festivals and many miles on the road, the stubbornly independent band has formed deep bonds with each other and the audience that sustains them.
The Steel Wheels have responded to this time of isolation and loss by seeking to connect with their audience in new ways. In 2020, unable to perform their rootsy brand of Americana for crowds in live settings, the musicians turned their creative powers to crafting songs for individuals. Produced in isolation in the band’s home studios, the Everyone a Song albums are part of an ongoing project to collect the personal experiences of fans and forge them into that most enduring, yet ephemeral, format we call “song.” An accompanying podcast, We Made You a Song, explores the stories behind these songs, and the songwriting process itself. While each song was commissioned to honor a specific relationship or event—a birth, a wedding, a memory of home—the emotions evoked are universal.
Nowhere is this shared humanity more evident than at the band’s own Red Wing Roots Music Festival, a weekend-long celebration of music, community, and the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Hosted by The Steel Wheels every summer, the festival provides a space for the band to shine, from their high energy Saturday night main stage set to their afternoon showcase with young Red Wing Academy students. At Sunday’s gospel hour you are as likely to hear Steel Wheels originals or Warren Zevon covers as you are traditional gospel fare. The weekend is rounded out by the beloved tribute set in which the band collaborates with a cadre of fellow artists to honor an influential figure in American music, with past tributes ranging from Dolly Parton to John Prine.
Whether at a joyous summer festival, in their many shows across the country and beyond, or in the studio, The Steel Wheels continue their mission set out over a decade ago; shaking up traditions to see what sticks, telling stories, and joining communities through song.
