The 2016 Folk Alliance Region West music conference kicked off Thursday evening, October 13,2016 with a wonderful lineup of original music hand-picked by the operators of performance venues throughout the great Western region of the United States and Canada. Featured at this year’s Venue’s Choice Showcase were: Holly Gwinn Graham, presented by Traditions of Olympia, Washington; Orville Johnson, presented by the Seattle Folkolore Society; Avery Hill presented by Artichoke Music of Portland, Oregon; Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons, presented by Wintergrass of Bellevue Washington; and The Kaddywompas Radio Show, presented by the Tim Noah Thumbnail Theater of Snohomish, Washinhgton. Here are the archived recordings of the performances:
Traditions presents: Holly Gwinn Graham
Traditions is a place to discover folk-art products from cultures around the world, made available through fair and equitable trade relationships with low-income artisans and farmers from more than fifty countries. Traditions is also a cafe and center for concerts, workshops, and public forums; a gathering place for a community of interesting and involved people.
Holly Gwinn Graham is a seasoned international performer whose career includes songwriting, acting, directing, visual arts, and writing. With her late ex-husband, guitar legend Davey Graham, she recorded two albums on Decca and President and toured Europe and the UK with him in the late-60s and early-70s. She has released 8 albums on her own label since 1980, and was an artist in the schools from 1984-2005 for Washington State, Nevada, and Alaska Arts Councils doing theater and music. Holly holds a Masters in Teaching and is still actively involved in teaching, the arts and performing.
Listen to the performance here:
Download the performance here: Traditions presents: Holly Gwinn Graham
Seattle Folklore Society presents Orville Johnson
A non-profit folk organization, founded in 1966, Seattle Folklore Society has one of the largest and most stable memberships in the country. They produce folk music concerts, dances, song circles, camps and a newsletter. Many members are active concertgoers, dancers and players of the acoustic guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, dulcimer, ukulele and other folk instruments.
Orville Johnson is a singer, instrumentalist, record producer, songwriter, session player, teacher, the top dobro player on the West Coast – and, above all, an instinctive and sensitive musician. As his entry in the “Encyclopedia of Northwest Music” (Sasquatch Press 1999) states, he has become a vital figure on the Northwest music scene in the thirty-some years he’s lived there.
Listen to the performance here:
Download the performance here: Seattle Folklore Society presents: Orville Johnson
Artichoke Music presents: Avery Hill
Artichoke Music is a 40-year-old nonprofit music community center. We develop and support musicians, attract and educate audiences, and create a connected community of acoustic music lovers of all ages and backgrounds. Artichoke Music is an integral part of the creative community of musicians in Portland, Oregon and in the Pacific Northwest.
Family legend has that Avery Hill sang before she talked. Since then, her winding road toward music has shaped her singular style of writing as she uses songs to integrate stories of the past into her observations of life today. Her latest album, “Dreams & Ghosts: A Family Album,” (2015) was released independently and reached the Top-10 in all three categories (Album, Song, Artist) in September of that year. She is currently based in Portland, Oregon, where she also has a thriving teaching practice.
Listen to the performance here:
Download the performance here: Artichoke Music presents: Avery Hill
Wintergrass presents: Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons
Wintergrass is a a 501(c)3 non-profit organization committed to making sure good music is a part of your world. They are committed to preserving and promoting traditional acoustic American music through presentation and education, with special attention given to the bluegrass music community. Their annual festival at the Bellevue, Washington Hyatt in February draws performers and audience from around the world.
Ben Hunter and Joe Seamons have been playing together for almost 5 years, the last 3 of which sent them to the Port Townsend Acoustic Blues Festival, learning at the feet of the elders of the acoustic blues tradition. The duo found an affinity in the many branches that tied into the blues and created this duo as a way to explore these branches, and their musical kinship and sense of joy in interpreting this music is evident. Earlier this year the Washington Blues Society sent Ben and Joe to the 26th-annual International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee, where they won First Place (out of 94 solo/duo acts representing 16 countries) for their unique blend of pre-blues a cappella field hollers, fiddle/banjo breakdowns, and duet distillations of early jazz.
Listen to the performance here:
Download the performance here: Wintergrass presents: Ben Hunter & Joe Seamons
The Tim Noah Thumbnail Theater presents: The Kaddywompas Radio Show
“The Pacific Northwest’s Cozy Home for the Performing Arts,” the Tim Noah Thumbnail Theater is a community based, all volunteer non-profit organization that offers private lessons, classes, workshops, a Friday Night Open Mic, a national touring artist series, family concerts, live theater and more.
The Kaddywompas Radio Show is homegrown community radio from the Tim Noah Thumbnail Theater; with music, stories and fun for the whole family hosted by Tim Noah. The show features old-timey, folksy, bluesy, and rootsy music by The Shed Players and the sweet, soulful sound of contemporary singer-songwriter Dawn Madsen. The Kaddywompas Radio Show is a sample of the burgeoning music and art culture in Snohomish Washington. A KRS series has been performed and recorded live at TNTT and broadcast on Everett radio station KSER.
Listen to the performance here:
Download the performance here: Tim Noah Thumbnail Theater presents: The Kaddywompas RadioShow