Our friends at Northwest Folklife have announced the schedule for this year’s festival (Memorial Day weekend, May 25-28) and, as usual, it’s a doozy. There’s a mind-boggling number of wonderful artists representing a mind-boggling array of sounds and styles, and it’s all free. Whether you go for an afternoon or the whole weekend, don’t miss it!
I’m thrilled to have been invited once again to put together a showcase of Ball of Wax artists for the Festival, and it’s a pretty sweet lineup. Join us Sunday evening, May 27th, for sets from Tito Ramsey, Robert Deeble, The Foghorns, and Heatwarmer. That’s a pretty diverse lineup that offers an interesting cross-section of what I’ve been doing with Ball of Wax Audio Quarterly over 27 volumes and counting, from Tito’s sweaty one-man R&B, to Robert’s subtle, lush introspection, to the Foghorns’ shambling world-weary barroom folk, to the prog-Muppet-showtune insanity of Heatwarmer. I’m proud to bring these fantastic artists together on one stage, and very honored to be given the opportunity by the fine people at Folklife.
As an added bonus, you can come back on Monday afternoon for a three-hour long tribute to Harry Smith’s Anthology of American Folk Music, featuring many artists from the Ball of Wax Anthology tribute, plus many more fans of this wonderful collection of songs. I think we’ve got about 30 different artists playing songs from all 3 of the original volumes of the Anthology; you won’t want to miss a single one!