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KPBX Live Broadcast at Fall Folk Fest 2014

Carlos Alden Verne Windham
Janean Jorgensen

KPBX Folk host Carlos Alden pulled together some of the past favorites of the annual Fall Folk Festival for this year's two-hour broadcast, which aired live on KPBX 91.1 FM Saturday, Nov. 8 from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Audience members watched in the Lair Auditorium, on the campus of Spokane Community College. The radio performers for 2014 were Broken Whistle (local Celtic), Heartbreak Pass (Bluegrass), PK Dwyer (Blues from Seattle), Alice Howe (solo folk from Seattle), Mateo Ryan (Flamenco Guitar), and Dram & Go (Celtic from Portland).

Carlos Alden, wrote the skits and some parody songs performed through out the show. This year’s broadcast theme was Tall Tales, a romp through American folklore looking through a decidedly warped lens. Co-host Verne Windham and SPR staffer Janean Jorgensen helped tell the stories of Pecos Bill in North Idaho and Eastern Washington.

The live broadcast was presented thanks to underwriting from The Cleaning Authority, Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, Rings & Things, and the Spokane Folklore Society and grants from the Florence Wasmer Fund for Arts & Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Verne Windham and Carlos Alden co-hosted the Fall Folk Festival broadcast for 2014.

Broken Whistle
Broken Whistle, a traditional Celtic band, solidified early in 2013 as a guest artist for the Kelly Irish Dancers spring recital. All five members — Chris Reichert (lead vocalist, guitar, mandolin), David McGuire (Celtic flute, penny whistle, DADGAD guitar), Kelcey Hanson (fiddle), Ella Wilkinson (fiddle, bass), and Justus Morgan (Bodhrán, vocals) — play a variety of song types from gentle instrumentals to lively dance tunes.

Mateo deRyan developed an interest in Flamenco guitar through travels to Spain, Central and South America. Mateo performs original music inspired by traditional Rhumba Flamenco and Latin cultures.

Nikolay Grachev is familiar to Folk and KPBX audiences as part of Juliana & PAVA. Born and raised in Moscow, Russia, he composed music for several theaters there before moving to Denmark and eventually to Seattle. Nikolay went to several ethnographic expeditions to Russian villages where he recorded traditional Russian folk songs.

PK Dwyer is a fixture in the Pacific Northwest's busking community. He is on a Blues Odyssey bringing his unique style of upbeat roots & blues to almost every state. These days, he's a regular Pike Place Market busker of the blues.

Wes Weddell is a Seattle-area singer/songwriter known for his strong guitar and gentle wit.

Dram & Go features the raw foot-stomping energy found at the intersection of Scottish piping, old-time fiddle, Irish ceili, bluegrass, and rock. Dram & Go is composed of veteran musicians, with piper Micah Babinski (lowland pipes, smallpipes, mandolin), Rachel Bowen (fiddle), Avery LeVine (guitar, bouzouki, vocals, Irish flute, whistles) and Mike Treadwell (bodhrán).
Alice Howe plays acoustic guitar and sings her own songs, written in the folk music tradition. A recent transplant from Boston to Seattle, she recently appeared at the Northwest Folklife Festival 2014.

Heartbreak Pass has been one of the Inland Northwest's favorites bands since it started in 2008. They have evolved from traditional bluegrass to include an eclectic blend of Americana. Stan Hall takes care of the guitar duties, Singer Coats on mandolin, and the soulful but lively Bonnie Bliss on bass.

The audience members are free to come and go as they wish during the two-hour broadcast.

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