Woodstock Folk Festival, Woodstock IL

Mustard’s Retreat | Woodstock Wednesdays | Premieres November 4, 7pm/CST

Posted on October 30, 2020 by woodstockfolkfestival

Join us for Woodstock Wednesdays! Woodstock Folk Festival is excited to bring high quality music and storytelling to our community and to enjoy and support these artists who have worked with us over the years, including Mustard’s Retreat. You can show your support and appreciation by visiting https://www.mustardsretreat.com/ and purchasing their CDs.

To support the Woodstock Folk Festival, please use the donate button in the right column of this site. If you are not on our mailing list, you can subscribe just below the donate button.

The video premieres HERE at 7pm/CST, Wednesday, November 4. It will remain in our Gallery after the show if you would like to see it again or share it with others. You can enjoy watching our past performers’ shows by clicking on our Video Gallery.

Featured Performers: Mustard’s Retreat

David Tamulevich had been doing some singing with Michael Hough, a fellow musician and cook at the same restaurant, but Michael was busy playing bass for another singer. David had the gig at the Heidelberg for 2 months when Michaels other gig came to an end, so David suggested that Michael audition at the Old Heidelberg which he did and got the job. Over the next 2 months David would come and sit in with Michael, and then Libby would come up to sing … and their popularity grew. By the middle of May 1975 they were playing together all the time, and decided to formalize things … and Mustard’s Retreat was born.

In 2015, David Tamulevich and Michael Hough performed at the Woodstock Folk Festival. Michael has now retired. David and Libby Glover are performing for Woodstock Wednesdays.

Mustard’s Retreat has always sung the songs they enjoyed and cared about, regardless of the trends of the music industry and pop culture. They are committed to simply being themselves, not chasing fame or brass rings, while delighting in and connecting with their audiences as if they were family. The honesty of what they present onstage and the extensive body of outstanding original songs and recordings all contribute to a fiercely loyal audience that continues to grow. “Music to cure what ails you” was how one reviewer in the 1970s described them, and that is as true now as it was then.

They’ve traveled more than a million miles and performed more than 6,000 shows, from pig roasts and pool parties to Lincoln Center Out of Doors, The Barns at Wolftrap and the Kennedy’s Center’s Millennium Stage.

Follow these links to upcoming virtual concerts by Mustard’s Retreat.

Thursday, November 5th 2020 Mustard’s Retreat at Virtual Concert for The Ark Ann Arbor, MI; Thursday, November 19th 2020 Mustard’s Retreat at Virtual Concert for the Hiawatha Music Coop Marquette, Michigan; Friday, December 4th 2020 Mustard’s Retreat at Virtual Concert for the Earlville Opera House Earlville, NY

Their performances are always joyful and uplifting, as well as intelligent, thought provoking and insightful. They’ve recently begun referring to their career and touring as “Defiantly Hopeful.” In part due to their long career, but more as a statement about what the music has meant to them. “Folk music is, at its heart, defiantly hopeful!” Tamulevich says. “We came of age in the 60s, at the confluence of Pete Seeger, Peter, Paul & Mary, Bob Dylan and the singer/songwriter revolution. We care much more about what we do and stand for and finding that common ground with our audiences, than fame or money: this is our community of choice, and we consider ourselves so fortunate to be here.”

“Mustard’s Retreat played to an enthusiastic crowd at the Indy Folk Series. David Tamulevich and Libby Glover charmed everyone with their songs and stories. Fine guitar picking, coupled with beautiful harmonies, carried the evening. Libby shined with her accapela songs and unique poems, she commands the stage. We had great comments about them from the audience, a tribute to their talent.” ~ Indy Folk Series

“Music to cure what ails you.” – Michigan Times

“Fresh, vital, relevant” – Robert Reid, Waterloo Record, ON, 2015

Purchase CDs by visiting https://www.mustardsretreat.com/legacy/music-new/

We know you will enjoy Mustard’s Retreat’s show!

_{Views expressed by performers and others who appear at Woodstock Folk Festival events or on the website are solely the views of these individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Festival or its Board members.}

Posted in News, Online Events, Woodstock Wednesdays | Tagged David Tamulevich, folk music, Libby Glover, Online Concert | Comments Off

Jim May | Woodstock Wednesdays | Premieres Wednesday, October 28, 7pm/CDT

Posted on October 23, 2020 by woodstockfolkfestival

Join us for Woodstock Wednesdays! Woodstock Folk Festival is excited to bring high quality storytelling and music to our community and to enjoy and support these artists who have worked with us over the years, including Jim May. You can show your support by visiting https://jimmaystoryteller.com/ and purchasing his books or booking him for your next educational program or workshop.

To support the Woodstock Folk Festival, please use the donate button in the right column of this site. If you are not on our mailing list, you can subscribe just below the donate button.

The video premieres HERE at 7pm/CDT, Wednesday, October 28. It will remain in our Gallery after the show if you would like to see it again or share it with others. You can enjoy watching our past performers’ shows by clicking on our Video Gallery.

Featured Author & Storyteller : Jim May

Jim was born in Spring Grove, Illinois where his ancestors first settled in the 1840’s. Raised in this small German-Catholic farming community, his stories resonate with the rural voices of the Illinois prairie. His relatives spent time “visiting” and telling stories as an integral part of daily life–a means of weaving the social fabric of the community.
As an Emmy award-winning storyteller and author, Jim seeks to reestablish live storytelling as an art form, ideal not only for entertainment and education, but also for the grounding and healing that is needed in complex, modern times.

“For centuries telling and listening to stories has been a way for people to enjoy and cherish one another’s company. When I tell a story I try to entertain and delight, but also to capture, for a few moments, the kind of direct, soul to soul communication that we have all experienced at some time in our lives under the ‘spell’ of a story, either in the listening or the telling.”

Jim May’s stories have taken him across the United States and Europe. He has told stories at schools, corporations, professional groups, and festivals across the land. Chicagoans know him from his appearances on WGN’s Roy Leonard Show and from the Studs Terkel radio show on WFMT-FM. He received a 1989 Chicago Emmy award for a WTTW-Channel 11 production of his original story, “A Bell For Shorty.”

Jim performed at the first Festival in 1986, again in 1998, and then hosted Festival performer Joe Crookston at his storytelling event on Festival Eve in 2019.

The artist and the storyteller

Jim May and his wife, Nan Seidler, live less than a mile from the highest glaciated point in Illinois, which is 1,189 feet above sea level. Located east of Harvard in Alden Township, this area is unique in McHenry County, largely due to the rolling topography left by the glaciers. Some of the locals began referring to the area as High Point many years ago, realizing that they had something special. There are over 70 vernal pools, relic oak/hickory woodlands, seeps, springs and headwater streams all within a three mile radius. Jim and Nan thought about preserving their land for many years and placed a conservation easement on 24 of their 25 acres in August, 2017.

“Storytelling perpetuates a folk art tradition that has gone on for ages and ages. It presents many genres of literature: myths, fables, epics, sagas, hero tales, legends, folk tales, fiction and poetry. It provides entertainment and motivation, builds a bridge to literature, provides a means for personal, social and intellectual growth, and develops a feeling of sensitivity to life and people of the past and present. Without moralizing, it embodies positive ethical, moral and spiritual values.” ~ author Spencer Shaw

His newest book a “Trail Guide for a Crooked Heart” received much acclaim.

“A brilliant mixture of story, philosophy, humor and wisdom, this book reminds us that—if we are open to story, dreams, imagination, and myth—we can open doors within our soul.” ~ Jay O’Callahan, author, storyteller, and NPR commentator

A lifetime collection of stories, wise words, assembled musings and quotations about overcoming hurdles, elusive enlightenment, personal evolution, persistence in the face of discouragement, this pastiche is designed to encourage the downhearted, lift up the strivers and add wings to the heels of spiritual seekers.

Attention parents, families, and educators! Here are some of the programs that Jim offers for school aged children and adults.

Assemblies for Students – Students will hear traditional folk tales and fairy tales from cultures throughout the world as well as humorous stories about growing up on a farm in Northern Illinois. Stories include participation in English, Spanish and American Sign Language (ASL).

Writing workshops for Students – Students will learn how plot, character, setting and elements of ancient folk tales, myths, and legends can become the building blocks for their own original, and sometimes autobiographical stories.

In-service training/workshops for Teachers – Research shows that children who hear and tell stories develop increased imaginative capacity, creative flexibility, and language mastery. This is true across the curriculum. Participants will learn to employ storytelling in an educational setting and will learn at least one story to tell in a classroom, family or administrative setting.

Keynote presentation – Storytelling: The Thinking Teacher’s RX For The Technology Blues or How I Got My Students To Listen To Me And Learned To Love My Job Again.

Non-Profit Organizations are eligible for partial sponsorship through Illinois Arts Tour.

“Jim May brought his storytelling wizardry to the 2017 Promising Youth Conference (2017 in Snowbird, Utah) and taught us the power of simple stories to unpack complex human problems in an atmosphere of humor and joy. We traveled our crooked pathways, embracing both the “fire” of our burning desires and “water” of our tearful defeats. At the end of each session, we hoped for another session quickly to begin so we could live again under the spell of Jim’s stories, poems, wise sayings, jokes and life-reframing, soul-renewing questions – questions that magically opened answers hidden just below the surface of the everyday in our memories and imaginings. Bravo! Jim is a master teller and healer!”

Supporting the Performers Who Support Us

To find out about Jim’s books and CDs and how to purchase them, visit his website (https://jimmaystoryteller.com/).

We know you will enjoy Jim May’s Ghost Story for Halloween!

We need your help spreading the word!

When you receive our email each week, please visit Facebook or Twitter (or both!) and search for the Woodstock Folk Festival page. You can always tell who we are by the raccoon logo. Take the top post and share it with your Friends and Followers. Remember to look at all the previous performers in our Video Gallery and view their videos again and share with your friends and family.

_{Views expressed by performers and others who appear at Woodstock Folk Festival events or on the website are solely the views of these individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Festival or its Board members.}

Posted in News, Online Events, Woodstock Wednesdays | Tagged Author, Books, Illinois Storytellers, Jim May, Storyteller, Storytelling | Comments Off

Dennis Warner | Woodstock Wednesdays | Premieres Wednesday, October 21, 7pm/CDT

Posted on October 16, 2020 by woodstockfolkfestival

Join us for Woodstock Wednesdays! Woodstock Folk Festival is excited to bring high quality music to our community and to enjoy and support performers who have worked with us over the years, including Dennis Warner. You can show your support by visiting http://warnersongs.com/ to purchase CDs, “Beads on One String”, or a T-shirt.

To support the Woodstock Folk Festival, please use the donate button in the right column of this site. If you are not on our mailing list, you can subscribe just below the donate button.

The video premieres HERE at 7pm/CDT, Wednesday, October 21. It will remain in our Gallery after the show if you would like to see it again or share it with others. You can enjoy watching our past performers’ shows by clicking on our Video Gallery.

Featured Performer: Dennis Warner

Dennis Warner’s Latest CD is #8
on the World Folk Music Radio Charts! A song from “Pilot Me” will be featured on Dennis’ Woodstock Wednesdays video.

Dennis Warner’s career has brought him to all 50 states and beyond, earning him global recognition and a reputation of being one of the top entertainers in the singer/songwriter genre.
Dennis is a two-time McKnight Foundation Artist Award winner and three-time finalist for the prestigious Kerrville Folkfest songwriting awards, co-founded by Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. Another accolade was being invited to perform in concert at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. for a series honoring the best of the unknown songwriters.

“Songs that ring true…Like a heart to heart with an old friend.”
Bobby Vee; Music Legend

“Great songs, contagious energy and an engaging personality make Dennis Warner and outstanding entertainer. Add his smooth vocals and solid guitar work and you’ve got a fantastic show ! Our audience didn’t want him to leave.” Dave Humphreys; Chicago, IL

“It’s rare to find a singer/songwriter with the personality, vocals and presence to captivate and hold an audience the way Dennis did last week. He’s one performer who can effectively walk in with his guitar and engage even a savvy, musically inclined crowd all by himself. Dennis’ style is reminiscent of the great story tellers like Harry Chapin and James Taylor.”
Meghan Diamond; Walnut Creek, CA

“Remarkable natural stage presence and ability to involve the entire audience . . . a super entertainer.”
Jeff Grogan, Tech Talk Staff Writer
Oregon Institute of Technology (OR)

Attention parents, families, and educators! Now in its Sixth Printing, Warner‘s timely book Beads on One String evolved from one of his songs and led to the creation of The Beads on One String Project, an elementary school curriculum used as a meaningful and fun way to teach kids about the negative effects of bullying and the positive effects of recognizing our “connectedness” with each other. In support of his book and the curriculum project, Dennis was often a guest musician and speaker at schools, libraries and Sunday morning gatherings. When our world regains health and safety after Covid 19, Dennis will joyfully bring “The Beads on One String Project” to schools, libraries, and Sunday morning gatherings once again. In 2015, Dennis and his wife Tammy donated 250 copies of Beads on One String to Books for Africa, where they were needed in Ghana to teach kids English by using Dennis’ song and book.

Donation and Purchasing information

You can visit http://warnersongs.com/index to use Paypal to make a donation or purchase items from Dennis Warner’s website.

We know you will enjoy Dennis Warner’s show!

Views expressed by performers and others who appear at Woodstock Folk Festival events or on the website are solely the views of these individuals and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Festival or its Board members.

Posted in Online Events, Woodstock Wednesdays | Tagged Author, Bully Prevention, Character Education, Dennis Warner, Featured Speaker, PBIS, World Folk Music | Comments Off

Meghan Cary Encore with a Twist | Woodstock Wednesdays | Wednesdays, October 14

Posted on October 11, 2020 by wff

This week, October 14, we are returning to Meghan Cary for an Encore as a way to support her exciting new event this week. If you don’t already know Meghan, you can read all about this exciting performer HERE — and see her Woodstock Wednesdays video that premiered on this site July 22!

This video should get you primed to tune into Meghan’s live broadcast with Jenny Rajotte from the SHE Leads Road Rally, part of a special day of programming on Folk Music Notebook, anchored by FMN founder and Folk DJ Ron Olesko.

Meghan launched her River Rock Project to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in the U.S. and to encourage people to exercise the right to vote that women and men fought so hard to achieve.

Don’t Miss Meghan Cary and Jenny Rajotte Broadcasting Live from the SHE Leads Road Rally

This week Meghan embarks on an exciting new endeavor. A motorcade led by women race car drivers will make a historic round-trip from Philadelphia PA to Seneca Falls, NY on October 16 and 17. They will retrace the journey of suffragist Lucretia Mott and her compatriots as they traveled from Philadelphia to the first Women’s Rights Convention in 1848. The Rally will amplify the message of women driving change and driving the vote as the 2020 general election approaches.

On Meghan and Jenny’s live broadcast from the Rally, you’ll hear key events, live interviews, special broadcasts, and a playlist featuring the music and stories of women.

Folk Music Notebook is a free, 24/7 internet channel available at FolkMusicNotebook.com or via their free app.

To support Meghan and her River Rock Project, go to meghancary.com.

Don’t forget to vote. Voter information isat Illinoisvotes2020.org; www.vote.org; usvotefoundation.org; VOTE411.org; or the League of Women Voters at 202-429-1965, www.lwv.org, or in Illinois, www.lwvil.org.

Posted in News, Online Events, Woodstock Wednesdays | Tagged Folk Music Notebook, Luretia Mott, SHE Leads Road Rally, Women Race Car Drivers | Comments Off

Kristin Lems | Woodstock Wednesdays | Premieres Wednesday, October 7, 7pm/CDT

Posted on October 2, 2020 by woodstockfolkfestival

If you are not on our mailing list, please sign up in the right column of our website.

The video premieres HERE at 7pm/CDT, Wednesday, October 7. It will remain in our Gallery after the show if you would like to see it again or share it with others. You can enjoy watching our past performers’ shows by clicking on our Video Gallery.

Featured Performer: Kristin Lems

Kristin sang three powerful songs as part of our “Power of Song” concert in April. Go to our Gallery to hear her sing “Ballad of the ERA”, “Life Has Other Plans”, and “We Will Never Give Up”. Kristin’s website , kristinlems.com, contains videos that will entertain and move you while you are waiting to view her Woodstock Wednesdays video.

Kristin Lems is a versatile composer, performing songwriter, folksinger and playwright from Evanston, Illinois, USA. Born to an acclaimed concert pianist mother and musical Dutch immigrant father, Kristin studied music from an early age, singing in choruses and playing in orchestras.

As a teenager, Kristin picked up the guitar, like many others, and wholeheartedly raised her voice as part of the movement to make a better world. With guitar in arms, Kristin brought her upbeat musical stage presence to nationwide events for the ERA and women’s rights, safe energy, peace, racial equality, and other pressing causes.

LIVE PERFORMANCES

Equally at home before vast crowds or in small living rooms, Kristin Lems has shared the stage with two First Ladies, Maya Angelou, Captain Jacques Cousteau, Gloria Steinem, Helen Caldicott and Alan Alda. She’s performed on stage with Pete Seeger, Tom Morello, Malvina Reynolds, Holly Near, Dan Fogelberg, Laura Love, Koko Taylor, Peter Paul and Mary, Michele Shocked, the BoDeans, Simon Townshend and others. New Yorker magazine called Kristin “a charmer in the most literal and least artificial sense of the word.” Gloria Steinem named Kristin “a one woman argument against the notion that the women’s movement doesn’t have a sense of humor.” The Illinois Times said, “Kristin not only has a beautiful voice, clear, crisp and forceful, but she is a very creative and thoughtful lyricist.” And of Kristin’s performances, The Evansville Courier said, “the performance was simple yet substantive, humorous, yet poignant, and always energetic and warm.” [more reviews at the ‘Press’ tab]

THE SONGS

Kristin’s songs have been covered by Butch Hancock and Marcie LaCouture, Anne Feeney, Pilshaw and Sklamberg, Lucha, Margaret Roadknight, Katzberg and Snyder, Voices, The Los Angeles Women’s Community Chorus, and several choirs. Her songs are included in the Smithsonian/Folkways anthologies The Best of Broadside (2001) and the Social Power of Music (2019). Her 1979 song, How Nice! an early recorded song supporting marriage equality, was in Marching for Freedom, a video of the 1993 March on Washington, and her songs are included in Radical Harmonies, about the women’s music movement, and The Equal Rights Amendment: Unfinished Business for the Constitution. Her original song “The Heritage of Farming,” was commissioned by the Illinois Farm Bureau as a theme song for a video which won a “Cindy” Award, which the producers credited to the song. Find her songs on ITunes, Spotify, Amazon, Pandora, or on YouTube, or on Hostbaby, which distributes her catalog.

AWARDS

Awards include the “Woman of Illinois Repute” of the Illinois Women’s Agenda, the President’s Award of Illinois NOW, the Humanist Heroine Award of the American Humanist Association, the Freethought Heroine Award of the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and the Founder’s Award of the Women in the Arts Foundation, for founding the National Women’s Music Festival. In 2014, she received the Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh Servant Leadership Award at Northeastern Illinois University for “lifetime contributions as a humanitarian singer and songwriter.”

She has been interviewed by the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and Veteran Feminists of America, which are conducting oral history projects about the Equal Rights Amendment and the second wave feminist movement.

Outside of music, Kristin’s early talent in writing and academics resulted in a first place writing award from Scholastic Magazines, a National Merit Scholarship, and a Hopwood Award for poetry from the University of Michigan. Kristin has also twice been a Fulbright Scholar.

Kristin has performed at conferences and music festivals, for tributes and rites of passage, at libraries, senior centers, preschools, and in the classroom, as part of her work as an ESL teacher and teacher trainer. She has written a musical play about the life of Jane Addams, who was a direct and dramatic part of her own family’s Chicago history. Kristin enjoys a wide variety of musical activities, but most of all, she enjoys singing for those working for a greener, fairer, and more peaceful world.

Go to kristinlems.com to purchase CDs to show your appreciation for Kristin’s performance.

We know you will enjoy Kristin’s show!

Donations

To donate to the Woodstock Folk Festival, go to the donation box near the top right column on our website.

Posted in News, Online Events, Woodstock Wednesdays | Tagged Activist, ESL Teacher, Kristin Lems, Online concerts, Teacher Trainer, TESOL Presenter | Comments Off

Patty Stevenson & Craig Siemsen | Woodstock Wednesdays | Premieres Wednesday, September 30, 6:45pm/CDT

Posted on September 25, 2020 by woodstockfolkfestival

If you are not on our mailing list, please sign up in the right column of our website.

The video premieres HERE at 6:45pm/CDT, Wednesday, September 30. It will remain in our Gallery after the show if you would like to see it again or share it with others. You can enjoy watching our past performers’ shows by checking out our Video Gallery.

Featured Performers: Patty & Craig

Described as genuinely talented with classic folk voices, Patty Stevenson and Craig Siemsen are known for their gorgeous harmonies, impeccable musicianship, playful stage humor, and jewel-like original songs. Patty says about performing, “I try for magic – nothing less! For the place that opens hearts and will move an audience to tears or smiles.”

Patty and Craig were individually ‘out there’ enjoying their music, when, in the mid – 1980s, they met while performing at a folk music festival. For many years, the couple maintained solo careers, even after they married. Eventually, with the prodding of wise friends, they agreed to perform one show as a duo. The rest, as they say, is history. Today, they continue to create and record original songs as well as their own variations on timeless pieces that often span the ages of creativity in sound.

Patty performed at the Woodstock Folk Festival in 1995. We look forward to a future time when we can hear Patty and Craig in person.

Patty and Craig toured the Midwest and beyond. Their work includes solo recordings, guest appearances on others’ CDs, and, most recently, a well-received duo CD entitled, “Paint Me a Picture”, that has received airplay around the world, and charted on the Folk DJ Charts. Enjoy the celebration of life and love with veteran song masters Patty Stevenson and Craig Siemsen.

“We hope this finds everyone safe and healthy as we all make the best and the most of these challenging times. We truly look forward to seeing everyone in person, with hugs and smiles, sometime down the road.” ~ Patty & Craig

“(The songs) jumped out like old pals.” ~ Mark Dvorak

“Classic folk voices… a real pleasure” ~ Santa Fe Summerscene

“It has been a pleasure to listen to your CD. It has a wonderful underlying spirit. Nice work, to put it mildly!” ~ Peter Berryman

Go to pattycraig.com to purchase their CDs to show your appreciation. You can listen to their music and watch videos.

We know you will enjoy Patty and Craig’s show!

On Thursday, November 12, at 7:30 pm/CST, Patty and Craig will be streaming a virtual concert sharing songs, stories, and humor! The concert will be posted on their YouTube channel and on Facebook Live (streaming on Craig Siemsen or Patty & Craig).

On Thursday, December 17 at 7:30 pm/CST, Craig will perform a program celebrating Christmas and the winter season. He will sing and reflect on the history and traditions of this wonderful time of the year!

Donations

To donate to the Woodstock Folk Festival, go to the donation box near the top right column on the website.

Posted in News, Online Events, Woodstock Wednesdays | Tagged Folk Duo, Online concerts, Patty & Craig | Comments Off

Woodstock Wednesdays | Don White | Online Concerts | September 23, 7pm/CDT

Posted on September 18, 2020 by woodstockfolkfestival

Join us for Woodstock Wednesdays! Woodstock Folk Festival is excited to bring high quality music to our community and to enjoy and support performers who have worked with us over the years, including Don White. If you are not on our mailing list, please sign up using the Mailing List signup in the right column of our website.

The video premieres HERE at 7pm/CDT Wednesday, September 23. It will remain in our Gallery after the show if you would like to see it again or share it with others. Go to our Gallery to view and listen to other performers. Music is a powerful force in our lives. Click on Gallery to view and listen to more music. Yoda has said, “May the force be with you,” and perhaps that meant the force of folk music!

Featured Performer: Don White

Don White performed at the Woodstock Folk Festival in 2014 and we are thrilled that he is now performing for Woodstock Wednesdays. The first two songs that Don sings on his performance are recorded on his Live at the Guthrie Center CD. You will hear about the significant mission of the Guthrie Center. Don’s third song is a very meaningful work in progress.

There is no one-word description for what Don White does. He’s an award-winning singer/songwriter, a comedian, an author, and a storyteller. He’s been bringing audiences to laughter and tears for thirty years, released ten CDs, three live DVDs, and a book, Memoirs of a C Student. His latest album is Live at the Guthrie Center, available at www.donwhite.net .

In 2011, he won the Jerry Christen Memorial Award, given out by Boston Area Coffeehouse Association, for his work with the community and that same year was given a key to the city in his hometown of Lynn, Massachusetts.

White has opened for Arlo Guthrie, Ritchie Havens. Louden Wainwright III, and Taj Mahal, shared a bill with David Bromberg, Janis Ian, and Lyle Lovett. White has been featured in storytelling festivals around the country including the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee and the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in Utah. Since 2015, he has joined master storytellers Bil Lep and Bill Harley in Father’s Daze, a hilarious three-man storytelling show about the triumphs and tribulations of fatherhood. He toured North America for nine years with folk songwriting legend Christine Lavin, with whom he still plays the occasional show.

Don’s approach to music is a unique blend. If he just played folk music, it would be a handy label. But he has invented his own genre with a mix of humor and powerful songwriting. White’s arc as a writer and performer has taken him from his industrial hometown of Lynn, Massachusetts, through Boston’s comedy clubs and coffeehouses, and onto stages around the country. At every point, White has been the ultimate observer, infusing his work with his experiences as a husband, a father, a seeker, and a joker.

“White is a riot on stage, a bona fide crowd pleaser. One of the most popular acts on the circuit. He plays an audience the way Leo Kottke plays a 12-string.” ~ The Boston Globe

We know you will love Don’s performance for Woodstock Wednesdays. Go to Don’s website www.donwhite.net for more information on other virtual shows: Thursday, 9/24/20 at 7am at the Green Wood Coffee House and Thursday, 10/1/20 at 7:00am at the Home Grown Coffee House.

Each Monday at 2pm/EST, Don hosts a Performance Forum.

“Every Monday at 2:00 EST I host a forum on zoom for performers, promoters, venue owners, booking agents and anyone else that is interested in learning or sharing what they have learned about performing on line. I go over some of the ways I have been reaching my audience, finding new audiences and making some money. I show examples of different things that people in different genres are doing to use the internet now that they can’t perform in person. Then we open the forum for questions and for people to share new things they have learned or are experimenting with. We’re all in a weird new world. If you know anyone that might be interested in joining us feel free to forward the number and password: Meeting ID: 871 1197 2086 Password: 099358 The forum is always FREE. There will be a virtual tip jar for anyone who wants to contribute.” ~ Don White

What People Are Saying

Please visit donwhite.net to purchase Don’s DVD, CDs or purchase his book. You can listen to him sing and tell stories. His stories can cause mirthful laughter, which has many positive effects on our health.

“No artist on the coffeehouse circuit today is better than Don White at combining the heartfelt aesthetics of the singer-songwriter with side-splitting laughs.” ~Scott Alarik in The Boston Globe
“I’ve never seen a comedian that made me both want to laugh AND go home and hug my kids.” ~ a fan

“Trust me folks. You will want to get your hands on Don’s new book as soon as you can. I would have got through it faster, but I kept reading passages out loud to wife, and then my children, and then anybody else who would listen. This is special!” – Matt Watroba

“I love books. I love reading. Over the years I’ve recommended a lot of books I’ve loved to a lot of people in my life. And although I loved reading `Memoirs of a C Student’, I’m not going to recommend it to my friends and family; I’m going to buy them all a copy for Christmas this year.” – Jon Svetkey

After you watch Don’s Woodstock Wednesdays video and check out more on his website, donwhite.net, remember that you can purchase his book to give to friends and loved ones. Reading his book will spread good cheer!

Donations

Please show your appreciation to Don White by purchasing his DVD, one or more of his CDs, or buying his book. To donate to the Woodstock Folk Festival, go to the donation box near the top right column on the Woodstock Folk Festival website.

We know you will enjoy Don White’s show!

Posted in News, Online Events, Woodstock Wednesdays | Tagged Don White, Laughter, Online concerts, Positive effects of laughter | Comments Off

Woodstock Wednesdays | Cielito Lindo | Online Concerts | September 16, 7pm/CDT

Posted on September 11, 2020 by woodstockfolkfestival

Woodstock Wednesdays is excited to bring a performance by Cielito Lindo to you. The Lucero family plays traditional and nontraditional music of Mexico, Latin America and the United States. They will perform at the 36th Annual Woodstock Folk Festival 2021. If you are not on the Festival mailing list, please sign up in the right column of our website.

The video premiers HERE at 7pm/CDT Wednesday, September 16. It will remain in our Gallery after the show if you would like to see it again or share it with others.

Featured Performers: Cielito Lindo

Cielito Lindo was featured on WGN in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month in 2017. You can go to their website www.CielitoLindo.co to watch their performance. National Hispanic Heritage Month 2020 in the United States will begin on Tuesday, September 15 and will end on Thursday, October 15. This month is celebrated to recognize the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. You can go to hispanicheritagemonth.gov to search the menu: Exhibits and Collections, Audio and Video, For Teachers, Images, and more.

” Here are ways that you can help support our special performers: As a former teacher, I suggest that you contact your child’s or grandchild’s school. You can speak to a principal or teacher and suggest that they check out cielitolindo.co. Watching the Lucero family perform can inspire children and adults. Call your public library and make the same suggestion, especially because public libraries promote celebrations of culture such as Hispanic Heritage Month. ” ~ Mary Sherman Woodstock Folk Festival Board Member

As seen on WGN, Univision, Chicago Tonight, Parents Latina Magazine, Chicago Parent and Nickelodeon, Cielito Lindo is a modern Latino family band formed by the Lucero family of 9. The children range in age from 6 to 17 and have performed for numerous events throughout the Mid West. With a fresh look and youthful energy, the family performs the traditional music of Mexico with influence from bands such as Los Lobos, Trio Los Panchos and more. The family is passionate about inspiring parents and children to enjoy music, culture, and creativity together.

The Lucero Garcia children are 4th generation musicians The family’s music story began in 2006 when the two eldest boys (then 3 and 4) began singing with their father and his band. In 2015 this large family of 9 relocated from the state of New Mexico to their mother’s hometown Chicago, IL to provide their children with better opportunities.

Since moving to Chicago, the Lucero family supports themselves 100% through the arts and has had the thrill of performing for large audiences at Chicago Bulls games, Millennium Park, the Art Institute of Chicago, music festivals, various television programs and hundreds of private events.

To purchase their album, Cielito Lindo by Cielito Lindo Family Music, go to cielitolindo.co.

Cielito Lindo has the following events scheduled online or through a drive-in venue:

9/15/20 Tues 6pm – 6:30 pm – Live Streamed – Chicago Public Library Latinx Heritage Month

9/17/20 Thurs 6:00 pm – Chicago ChiTown Futbol (Drive-In) 2343 S. Throop Street, Chicago, 60608 Destinos

9/25/20 Friday 6pm to 6:15 pm – Live Stream – Evanston Public Library

Watch the Lucero Garcia Family on Nickelodeon’s Americas Most Musical Family! Their performance will amaze and delight you! The judges raved about their talents with great enthusiasm!

“To meet a couple with 7 children is shocking but then to learn that every single member of that family is musically talented and together they make up a band that travels the Midwest entertaining thousands… that takes the shock to another level! That’s the story of Cielito Lindo, one of Chicago’s very own. Cielito Lindo has been entertaining Chicago for the last 2 years from private parties to a Bulls game. This family of 9 has wowed anyone who listens to it’s wonderful talent. ” ~ Ana Belaval, WGN News

“Esta agrupación familiar se destaca por mantener vigente la música regional mexicana. Juan Lucero y sus siete hijos se encargan de enaltecer el patrimonio cultural propio de sus raíces hispanas.” ~ Jesse Echeverria, Univision Chicago

“The whole family has impressive singing and musical abilities and they performed a really nicely balanced set that included traditional songs as well as familiar favorites such as La Bamba. They really had the audience dancing and moving and they grabbed the attention of people who were just passing by. I appreciated that they were so engaging with the audience and spoke to parents about the importance of exploring the arts at home and how it’s impacted their family. Aside from their really fun and memorable musical performance, the whole family was just great to work with. I would very enthusiastically welcome them back for a return performance!” ~ John Mangahas, Chicago Public Library Programs and Resources

We know you will enjoy Cielito Lindo’s show!

Donations

To show your support for Cielito Lindo, go to their website cielitolindo.co. You can purchase their CD.

You may donate to the Woodstock Folk Festival via the Donate Button near the top of the right column on every page of this website.

Posted in News, Online Events, Woodstock Wednesdays | Tagged Cielito Lindo, Hispanic Heritage Month, Online Concert | Comments Off

Woodstock Wednesdays | Curtis & Loretta | Online Concerts | September 9, 7pm/CDT

Posted on September 11, 2020 by woodstockfolkfestival

Woodstock Wednesdays brings high quality music to our community. Enjoy and support performers who have worked with us over the years! Curtis and Loretta live and breathe folk music. Their music comes straight from the heart! They played at our Festival in 2006 and we are thrilled they are performing for Woodstock Wednesdays. Their music will move you!

The Video premieres HERE at 7pm/CDT Wednesday, September 9. It will remain in our Gallery after the show if you would like to see it again or share it with others.

If you are not on our mailing list, please sign up in the right column of our website.

Featured Performers: Curtis & Loretta

Curtis and Loretta’s extraordinary harmonies and proficiency on a parade of stringed instruments create an alluring frame for their poignant original songs, and traditional pieces from America and the British Isles.

The current menagerie includes mandocello, folk harp, guitars, clawhammer banjo, ukulele, and mandolin, plus a bit of kazoo, harmonica, and shakers. Curtis’ down-home sense of humor and Loretta’s theater background engage the audience in an experience that runs the gamut of rolling with laughter to holding back tears, with plenty of side-trips in between. They have racked up countless miles each year, crisscrossing the country to deliver their own unique brand of folk singer/songwriter music. Then worldwide events changed their touring.

Curtis and Loretta have had many events postponed due to Covid-19. You can visit their website curtisandloretta.com for further information on their upcoming virtual concerts: Sunday, September 13 – Harmony House Concerts; Saturday, September 19 – Hickory Ridge Concert; Monday, September 28 – Missouri River Regional Library;Tuesday, September 29 – Daniel Boone Public Library; Wednesday, September 30 – Brookings Public Library; Thursday, October 1 – Aberdeen Library. For even more detailed information including receiving an invitation to a Zoom concert, you can email Loretta at loretta@curtisandloretta.com.

The duo’s perennial humor is ever present, with songs and stories of harp players trying to get into heaven, small spenders on first dates, bugs, and lutefisk! Their years of performing and touring together have honed their comfortable stage presence to a delightful edge.

They received Arts Tour Minnesota Grants in 2018 and 2010, and an Artist Initiative Grant in 2015, all from the MN State Arts Board, and were named Best Acoustic Performers of the Twin Cities by City Pages in 2002. They have been on the South Dakota Arts Council Touring Arts roster since 2011. Their CDs have appeared on “Top Albums of the Year” at folkradio.org, and they’ve received several nominations for “Best Acoustic Folk Artist” for the Minnesota Music Awards. They’ve released nine CDs, and shared billings with such luminaries as Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Holly Near, Vassar Clements, Claudia Schmidt, and many more! Curtis Teague and Loretta Simonet were married (to each other!) in 1987, and live in Minneapolis.

WHEN THERE’S GOOD TO BE DONE – Latest CD

This recording is made up of 12 songs Loretta wrote, about real people who overcame great challenges in their lives. It’s the culmination of a year long project through an Artist Initiative grant that Loretta was awarded, from the Minnesota State Arts Board.

Guest musicians on the CD include – Peter Ostroushko on fiddle (5 cuts), Jacqueline Ultan on bowed cello (3 cuts), Sandy Njoes on stand up bass (9 cuts), Sherri Leyda on penny whistle (1 cut) and hand drum (1 cut), Chuck Leyda on mandolin (1 cut), and Bobb Fantauzzo on Native American style flute (1 cut). There’s also a choir of 10 wonderful women singers on the chorus of “Willmar 8.” Sandy, Sherri, Chuck, Bobb and many of the “choir” will join Curtis & Loretta onstage at the Cedar on Nov 22 !

There are detailed stories of many of the people in the songs on their blog at www.curtisandloretta/blog Go their website to read these poignant stories. These stories can bolster us all during these times! Courage and positive thinking can be contagious!

Donations

Please visit curtisandloretta.com to purchase CDs, join their email list, and to contribute to their Virtual Tip Jar. With gigs cancelled, performers need your support. Your donations and purchases are a powerful way to thank Curtis and Loretta for creating this Woodstock Wednesdays video.

You can even start working on your Christmas shopping by purchasing Christmastide. All your favorite Christmas carols, with beautiful harmony vocals and traditional stringed instruments, including folk harp, mandolin, mandocello and guitar. Plus harmonica, and celeste, an 1800’s musicbox-sounding keyboard are on this CD.

You may also donate to the Festival via the Donate Button near the top of the right column on every page of this website.

We know you will enjoy Curtis and Loretta’s show!

Posted in News, Woodstock Wednesdays | Tagged curtis and loretta, Online concerts | Comments Off

Woodstock Wednesdays | Tim Grimm | Online Concerts | September 2, 7pm/CDT

Posted on September 11, 2020 by woodstockfolkfestival

Join us for Woodstock Wednesdays! Woodstock Folk Festival is excited to bring high quality music to our community and to enjoy and support performers who have worked with us over the years. If you are not on our mailing list, please sign up using the Mailing List signup in the right column of our website.

The Video premieres HERE at 7pm/CDT Wednesday, September 2. It will remain in our Gallery after the show if you would like to see it again or share it with others. Tim’s songs will touch your heart. Watch Tim’s YouTube channel to see and hear more of Tim’s music including WOODY’S LANDLORD, performed by “The Family Band”.

Featured Performer: Tim Grimm

Tim will also be performing at the Fox Valley Folk Music & Storytelling Festival, September 5 – 7. Tim will close the Saturday night Mainstage performance (at roughly 7:30 pm)

Tim Grimm is a bit of a Renaissance man in the performing arts world. He has for the past 20 years, blended his love for songwriting, travel, and the storytelling of acting (theatre, film and television).

Tim’s most recent recording- HEART LAND AGAIN revisits a renowned collection of songs from 20 years ago…. A STRANGER IN THIS TIME (2017), is a collaboration with his wife, Jan,and sons Connor and Jackson– the “Family Band”. In the Fall of 2016 this same group recorded the single- WOODY’S LANDLORD– which was the #1 song on Folk Radio for the year.

Tim’s previous recording, THE TURNING POINT, produced the #1 song on Folk radio in 2014– KING OF THE FOLKSINGERS. It was a particularly gratifying honor, given the song is a tribute to Tim’s friend and musical icon, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott. Tim’s history with Ramblin’ Jack goes back 30 years– beginning with a bicycle ride that led to The Newport Folk Festival…. Tim contributing liner notes to Jack’s Grammy winning album, The South Coast (1995)… Jack’s recording Buffalo Skinners with Tim on Tim’s album, Coyote’s Dream (2003)….and now, most recently KING OF THE FOLKSINGERS.

After college (Earlham), Grimm pursed an MFA in Theatre at The University of Michigan and from there worked in Regional Theatre, settling in Chicago. In Chicago, in addition to his theatre work, he studied briefly at the Old Town School of Folk Music and began writing songs and performing. He put together a band, Tim Grimm and The True Hearts and released 2 cds–True Heart, Kind Mind and Broken Down Palace.

At that point, “Hollywood called,” and Tim put down his guitar and pen, and didn’t really pick them up for close to 10 years. After several years (1990s) working in Los Angeles (where he co-starred for 2 seasons on the NBC drama Reasonable Doubts, worked on Clear and Present Danger with Harrison Ford, and appeared in several films and tv projects), Tim returned home to Indiana.

Tim grew up in the woods and small town settings of southern Indiana, son of schoolteachers and grandson of farmers, and his return home was a conscious choice to live a life of significance rather than one of “success’. He now lives with his wife on 80 acres close to where he grew up.

Tim’s songs are full of the rural rumblings that have shaped his life—rich with descriptive details, and sung with warmth and intimacy—recognizing the inextinguishable national romance with the idea of the family farm and the vanishing landscape of rural America. He released the album, HEART LAND in 2000, and on the strength of that recording, was named 2000’s “BEST DISCOVERY in Roots/Americana Music” by The Chicago Sun-Times. His albums COYOTES DREAM and NAMES, led to his being named “2004 MALE ARTIST of The Year” by the Freeform American Roots DJs.

He has released 10 solo albums since 2000 (including the newest- THE TURNING POINT), and 2 collaborations- AMBER WAVES (with Jason Wilber) and WILDERNESS PLOTS.

In 2005, Grimm was asked to compose music and act in a production of THE GRAPES OF WRATH at Indiana Repertory Theatre and Syracuse Stage in New York. His song from the play–THE PEOPLES HIGHWAY, made it onto his next album, THE BACK FIELDS, which was subsequently named Americana Album of the Year by the Just Plain Folks Music Awards– the world’s largest independent music awards.

In 2007, Grimm put together a concept cd with several of the Midwest’s finest songwriter’s— Krista Detor, Carrie Newcomer, Tom Roznowski, and Michael White. The recording, Wilderness Plots, was drawn from the short stories of noted author, Scott Russell Sanders, and explored the settling of the American Wilderness in the Ohio River Valley Region between The Revolutionary War and The Civil War. Two PBS programs have explored Wilderness Plots– the first, a documentary on the story and song, and the second a full Wilderness Plots- In Concert (2012). Produced by WTIU in Bloomington, IN, both productions were nominated for EMMY AWARDS. Tim continued to write songs based on Sander’s writings and released the album, WILDERNESS SONGS AND BAD MAN BALLADS in 2011.

Tim has worked with Inishfree Tours for the past several years, bringing Americans, Dutch and Germans to the Emerald Isle for 9 days and nights of music, and day trips exploring 3 select Counties. Guests who have traveled with Tim encouraged him to lead groups elsewhere, and this has led to the annual- Turning Point Tour of The Netherlands, and and the creation of Beyond The Tartan Tours of Scotland.

Tim continues to be active in Regional Theatre as well– most recently in the Bicentennial production for this home state- FINDING HOME: Indiana at 200, for which he wrote an album’s worth of music, and appeared for 6 weeks onstage — as actor and with the Family Band.

“I scheduled Tim so that we can help promote the virtual Fox Valley Festival on September 5 – 7 (Saturday, Sunday, and Monday). Please support Tim Grimm and the Fox Valley Festival. More info is at FVFS.org. It will be live streamed to Facebook and YouTube. Juel Ulven, founder and director of the Fox Valley Festival was the recipient of our WFF “Woody” Award last year. Tim performed at our Woodstock Folk Festival in 2012. I have traveled with Tim to both the Netherlands and Scotland and his tours are outstanding.” ~~ Carol Obertubbesing, Woodstock Folk Festival President

Donations

Please visit timgrimm.com to purchase CDs and to learn about the amazing trips that will be scheduled by Tim at some future time. With gigs cancelled, performers need your support. Your donations and purchases are a powerful way to thank Tim for creating this Woodstock Wednesdays video.

You may also donate to the Festival via the Donate Button at the top of the right column on every page of this website.

We know you will enjoy Tim’s show!

We know you will enjoy the Fox Valley Folk Music and Storytelling Festival on September 5, 6, and 7. Tim Grimm will be performing. Other FVFS (Fox Valley Folk Music and Storytelling) performers that have performed at the Woodstock Folk Festival or concert include Scott Ainslie, February Sky, Reggie Harris, Sarah McQuaid, Lee Murdock, Claudia Schmidt, Trillium, and Jack Williams. Be sure to check back on the fvfs.org site to find the schedule which will be posted in coming days at fvfs.org