The 20th Tenterden Folk Festival
Thursday 4th
to Sunday 7th October 2012
One of the special events at the 20th Tenterden Folk
Festival will be Jeff Warner's multimedia show"From the mountains to
the sea".
Jeff grew up in the US listening to the songs and stories of his father
Frank Warner and the traditional singers his parents met during their
folksong collecting trips through rural America in the 1940s and 50s.
He accompanied his parents on their later field trips and is the editor
of his mother's book, "Traditional American Folk Songs: From the
Anne and Frank Warner Collection". Jeff is also the producer of a double
CD set "Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still" which features his
parents' recordings of rural singers, many of them born in the 1860s
and 70s. Jeff has been described by Stuart Frank, the Senior
Curator at New Bedford Whaling Museum, as "the scion of one of the
nation's most eminent families of folksong collectors. He
represents a tradition that is fundamentally unbroken since
pre-industrial times"
For the multi-media show Jeff is ably assisted by Vic and Tina Smith
so that Jeff is free to talk, sing and play banjo, accordions and
guitar while Vic and Tina are in charge of playing the old recordings
made by Jeff's parents on their many collecting trips and showing the
photos that they took. The reason that this show is of particular
interest to English audiences is that many of the traditional songs
comprising the collect can trace their roots back to England and went
to America with the settlers. Some of the songs are easily
recognised while others have, over many years, been transformed by changing
the names of the characters, locations and even much or the story, to
make the songs ?more American'. Some songs bear little
resemblance to their European origins.
Jeff will also be presenting a joint workshop with fellow American but
long time resident in Scotland, Sara
Grey about the songs that went into the logging camps
of North America. Sara will present a separate workshop on the
traditional songs that went into northern New England, Maine, NH and
into the Province of New Brunswick. Jeff is also one of the
performers in "The
Short Sharp Shanties Show" along with Jackie Oates,
Keith Kendrick, Tom & Barbara Brown and Wild Goose Records
producer Doug Bailey. The show features the songs of John
Short, a.k.a. "Yankee Jack". All these guests and many more will
somehow also find time to do spots in festival concerts and other
events over the weekend of Thursday 4th to Sunday 7th
October.
More information about Jeff and Sara and their individual music can be
found on their websites.
http://home.comcast.net/~jfwtm/home.html
http://www.saragrey.net/index.htm
More information about Short Sharp Shanties and Wild Goose Records can
be found on their websites
www.umbermusic.co.uk/SSSnotes
www.wildgoose.co.uk/
Booking:
To get your dance side or display team invited to the festival, book
your craft fair, street stall or music fayre pitch, book an advert in
the programme, buy your tickets, volunteer as a steward or marshal,
make a donation or to get otherwise involved in the festival contact us
NOW.
Festival
information:
More details of Tenterden Folk Festival, guests, accommodation and
camping will be found on our website at www.tenterdenfolkfestival.org.uk.
Alan Castle
Festival Director
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