REMEMBER THIS GREAT EVENING
May 3, 2008 | |
 FALCON RIDGE PREVIEW TOURMost Wanted PerformersEvery year, the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival showcases dozens of emerging artists, and the audience votes on the performers they’d most want to see return the next year. We had the honor to showcase last Summer's four winners that will be featured at this year’s Festival.
This was a thrilling concert, and the energy of these four young performers mesh well with each other. Our audience was spirited and energized in turn by these terrific emerging talents. Watch two videos from this concert, compliments of Gordon Nash:
At age 17, already a prolific songwriter and self-taught multi-instrumentalist, Anthony draws from a deep well of rich musical influences and is preparing for his European debut in Denmark this August. In January alone, he released his sixth record Typical American Tragedy; opened for Livingston Taylor and Susan Werner; was nominated as Folk Alliance Emerging Artist of the Year; and recorded his seventh record Bad Nights, Better Days, a project with his duo partner, Abbie Gardner of Red Molly, in three days. 2007 wasn’t half-bad either. Anthony was the youngest winner ever of the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk and Falcon Ridge’s Emerging Artist Competitions. He also showcased at the Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival in Nashville and was a Mountain Stage New Song Contest Finalist. Anthony’s writing and performing draw from a deep well of rich musical influences—from Bob Dylan and Dan Bern, to Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, to Ryan Adams and Johnny Cash. Anthony’s upcoming performances range from the Tarrytown Music Hall in New York, where he’ll open for Dan Bern, to the Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas, where he’ll play the main stage, to Tonder, Denmark, where he’ll make his European debut at the Tonder Festival. www.anthonydacosta.com JOE CROOKSTON There's a little bit of gypsy Now living in Ithaca, NY, Joe Crookston was born in rural Ohio in a family of Hungarians ... polkas, accordions and eastern European food are in his blood. Joe was recently awarded a year-long songwriting grant from The Rockefeller Foundation to travel throughout New York State, interview local residents, gather stories and write songs based on his experiences. Many of these songs have just been released on his new 2008 CD, Able Baker Charlie & Dog. His 2004 release, Fall Down as the Rain was chosen by Performing Songwriter Magazine as a "TOP-12-Do-It-Yourself" independent recording, and was featured on National Public Radio's “All Songs Considered.” Rodger Nichols of The Dalles Oregon Chronicle wrote, “This is not just reviewer's hype ... This guy is flat out good.” For more about Joe: www.joecrookston.com LINDSAY MAC In February 2006, singer and cellist Lindsay Mac Classically trained at the Royal College of Music in London, The San Francisco Conservatory, and Berklee College of Music, Mac is characterized by her combination of plucking the cello and standing while performing. She holds the cello like a guitar and sings original songs in the folk/jazz tradition. In her pioneering ways she succeeds in creating a sound that is groundbreaking and compelling. 2007 saw Mac as a Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist and a subsequent winner of Most Wanted To Return for 2008. In 2007, Mac was also a New Folk Finalist at the Kerrville Folk Festival and performed at NXNE, Folkwest’s Independent Music Festival, Club Passim’s Cutting Edge of the Campfire Festival, the Connecticut Folk Festival and more. She has opened for KD Lang at Boston's Bank of America Pavilion, Catie Curtis, Glen Phillips, and Girlyman among others. Mac is revolutionizing the way we think about the cello while expanding the definition of the folk/singer-songwriter. More on Lindsay Mac can be found at her website: www.lindsaymac.com
Known for his poignant storytelling and captivating guitar work — which can be heard on his January 2008 CD release Praying For Land — Randall Williams has performed in more than 35 countries and is as much at home in a Senegalese village as he is at the Kennedy Center or an intimate house concert in New Jersey. After graduating from the Royal Conservatory of Mons, Belgium, Williams realized that he yearned to bridge the divide between performer and audience that he often felt in formal stage settings. Armed with his guitar, he has been a traveling troubadour ever since. Randall has been a finalist in the Founder's Title and Mid-Atlantic Song Contests, a regional finalist at Kerrville Folk Festival, a showcase artist at the Northeast and Midwest Folk Alliance, and at the International Folk Alliance in Memphis, and an Audience Favorite at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. As the Partial Capo Guy, Randall has written two books for Hal Leonard, recorded a DVD for Kyser Musical Products and given workshops at some of the biggest music festivals in United States. www.whereisrandall.com PARTIAL CAPO TECHNIQUES WORKSHOP
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Opening tonight were our featured open mike performers:
             Our host tonight was Ira Perlman. Link to additional photos taken by Robert Berkowitz at the concert |
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John Platt, host of the Sunday Breakfast program on WFUV-FM, introduced the performers — extolling their virtues and his admiration for each of them. The first half of the concert featured two songs from each of the young'uns. After the break, they performed as an ensemble, backing each other up as each did a specialty number, — and closing with a rousing group rave.
