Thanks to everyone who helped make the annual Fall Folk Festival a success, which kicked off Saturday, November 9 with a free concert broadcast live on KPBX from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Spokane Public Radio would like to thank everyone who helped with the KPBX live broadcast from the 2019 Fall Folk Festival.
Thanks to the Perfomers:
- Gefilte Trout
- Caridwen Irvine Spatz and Greg Spatz
- Kevin Brown
- Bigger Boat
- Extraordinary Renditions
- Tracy Spring
The live broadcast was presented thanks to event donors Northern Quest Resort & Casino, Numerica Credit Union, and the Spokane Folklore Society, and with agrant from the Johnston-Fix Foundation.
And a huge thank you to: Verne Windham, Steve Jackson and Mellad Abeid, The Fall Folk Festival, Sylvia Gobel, Ken Glaster of Perfect Wave Sound and Jaye Nordling, Spokane Community College and Gordon Grove, Spokane Public Radio Volunteers
SPR's Verne Windham and Steve Jackson hosted a diverse group of folk performers at Spokane Community College.
Audience members are welcome to watch and listen anytime between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. in the Lair Auditorium at the college on Mission and Greene.
About the Perfomers:
Mellad Abeid - House Musician
Mellad is a versatile guitarist who has been performing since the age of 17 with various groups. He works as an adjunct at several local schools and universities. He is a member of An Dochas as well as a songwriter and arranger for many independent artists.
Mellad will also serve as the house band for the SPR broadcast.
Bigger Boat
In 2015 Rochelle Smith conscripted three friends to form Bigger Boat, which quickly became northern Idaho's loudest sea shanty band. They have performed shanties and other maritime songs in various spots in the northwest, including Moscow, Palouse, Sandpoint, and FolkLife in Seattle.
Kevin Brown
In addition to his songwriting, Kevin is well-known in the Inland Northwest as the host of the popular radio program Front Porch Bluegrass heard weekly since 2002 on Spokane Public Radio, and as mandolin player in the popular and long-running Rhythm & Bluegrass band Big Red Barn. He has also served for many years as the Music Director for The Blue Waters Bluegrass Festival which has grown to become one of the most popular summertime bluegrass festivals in the Northwest. Through these endeavors Kevin has worked with some of the best folk musicians around and has been inspired by a rich legacy of American roots music.
Extraordinary Renditions
The Extraordinary Renditions are musical shape shifters. They have a very broad range of interest in musical styles, and can change like the weather. They are Kristi Hunziker, on violin, viola, and vocals, and Patrick Moss, on guitar, vocals, and harmonica. Kristi has a classical, and old time fiddle orientation, and Patrick brings a blues, jazz, and popular music orientation, but their range of interests extend far beyond that. They met at a jam session, a number of years ago, and have been performing together ever since.
Gefilte Trout
Gefilte Trout is a 5 piece band from Pullman/Moscow. They perform music from the Jewish diaspora in Europe and Israel, including the klezmer dance music played at weddings and songs in Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), Yiddish, and Hebrew. Performing at this year's festival are Irina Allen (vocals), Carla Chandler (violin), Bill Voxman (clarinet), Bill Thompson (guitar), and Bob Garcia (bass). Irina, Carla, and Bill Thompson will also be performing as "Riabinouchka-Rowan Tree" to showcase Russian, Ukranian, and Russian Roma songs.
Caridwen and Greg Spatz
Caridwen and Greg Spatz have been playing music together since first meeting in 2000, as instructors at the British Columbia Bluegrass Workshop in Sorrento, BC. Founding, core members of the celebrated Washington State acoustic world-music quartet Mighty Squirrel, they are known as well for their stellar, individual fiddle work with the ever popular bands John Reischman and the Jaybirds (Greg) and Prairie Flyer (Caridwen). Their new recording, All Along The Sea (Corvus Records), features a gamut of styles – Celtic, French Canadian, British, Klezmer, old-time and jazz – but highlights most of all Caridwen’s uniquely haunting and multilingual vocals.
Tracy Spring
Tracy Spring has won multiple regional awards for her compelling vocals, versatile guitar playing and reflective songwriting. She displays a style all her own while combining blues, swing, old R and B, jazz and folk. She is a seasoned performer in folk venues and festivals throughout North America and Australia.
Notes about parking: There is currently some construction happening on SCC. You can check this map for a visial: SCC Campus Map. Building 6 is The Lair and there is still parking in P1, but it’s harder to get into the parking lot and you can’t get into the roundabout.