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"To promote the enjoyment, preservation and continuation of the living art of folk music."

The Savannah Folk Festival

October 9, 10, and 11, 2009

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The Savannah Folk Music Society proudly announces the events and highlights of the 20th Annual Savannah Folk Music Festival, October 9, 10, and 11, 2009. The Festival’s signature event, the Sunday Concert from 2:00 to 7:00 PM on Oct. 11, will be at historic, Grayson Stadium and stars internationally acclaimed folksingers JANIS IAN, JAY UNGER and MOLLY MASON, DAVID JACOBS-STRAIN, & OSALAMI LAMOKE. The three day, five-event Festival is presented by the Savannah Folk Music Society and the City of Savannah’s Cultural Affairs Department, Bureau of Leisure Services. The entire Festival is FREE TO THE PUBLIC.

On Friday, Oct. 9, the big event of the day.
The Festival begins with its traditional “Folkfest in City Market” from 7:00 to 11:00 PM on Friday, Oct. 9th. The Folkfest features a variety of Savannah’s top folk performers making joyful sounds in a number of folk music styles and genre. The evening also features part one of the “Noteworthy Art” silent auction, the sale of several Gretsch guitars, some signed by celebrities and others transformed into unique art objects by leading Savannah artists.

On Saturday, Oct. 10, there are two big events.
At 2:00 PM will be the finals of the “Youth Song Writing Competition.” This is the culmination of a contest between youth (under 20 years old) from Savannah-Chatham County and Georgia counties adjacent to Chatham as well as Jasper and Beaufort Counties in South Carolina. For the best original song in the acoustic folk tradition. Winners divide $1,000 in prizes from event sponsor, AMR Music. The first place winner is also given the opportunity to present the winning song on Sunday, October 11th at the Festival’s grand finale.

The second event on Saturday is the “Old Time Country Dance” from 8:00 to 11:00 PM at Notre Dame Academy gymnasium. Beginners and contra dance veterans are welcome to have a great time. Not a dancer? The music alone is worth the visit!

On Sunday, Oct. 11, our final event of the Festival.
From 2:00 PM till 7:30 PM. The “Concert at Grayson Stadium” features  JANIS IAN, JAY UNGER and MOLLY MASON, DAVID JACOBS-STRAIN, & OSALAMI LAMOKE as well as the winner of the Youth Songwriting Competition. The Sunday, Oct. 11 concert also includes the second half of the “Noteworthy Art” silent auction. Each of the performers will present two sets, one in an early and one in a later rotation.
 

JANIS IAN

Who are the great songwriters in America today?
Not the most popular. Not the richest. Simply the greats.
Ask any student of the form, and Janis Ian will be counted among them The writer of “Jesse”, a song recorded by so many others that few remember Ian wrote it; “Stars”, possibly the best song ever written about the life of a performer, recorded by artists as diverse as Mel Torme and Cher; and the seminal “At Seventeen”, a song that brought her five Grammy nominations (the most any solo female artist had ever garnered) in 1975, and which is now reaching its third generation of listeners.
Ian is a formidable talent, a force of nature. Ella Fitzgerald called her “The best young singer in America”. Chet Atkins said “Singer? You ought to hear that girl play guitar; she gives me a run for my money!” Reviewers have called her live performances “overwhelming to the spirit and soul”, and “drenched with such passion, the audience feels they’ve been swept up in a hurricane.” Not to mention her short stories, her songs for film and television.

For the record, Ian was born April 7, 1951, and started playing the piano at two. Far from being a child prodigy on that instrument, she hated scales and studying, and switched to guitar at age ten. (“I figured out that while you couldn’t carry a piano, you could carry a guitar, and that was it.”) Her first song was written at twelve and recorded on her first album for Verve-Folkways in 1965, which also featured her first hit, Society’s Child.

JAY UNGER and MOLLY MASON

Jay Ungar & Molly Mason are extraordinary musicians. If you didn't know it before, you sure did after Ken Burns' The Civil War hit the airwaves. Their performance of Jay's haunting composition Ashokan Farewell — the musical hallmark of the PBS series — earned the couple international acclaim. The soundtrack won a Grammy and Ashokan Farewell — originally inspired by Jay & Molly's annual fiddle and dance camps — was nominated for an Emmy.

Since joining forces in the late 1970s, Jay and Molly have become one of the most celebrated duos on the American acoustic music scene. With their comfortable sense of fun and their love of music, they make each concert a musical journey — sometimes spanning two continents and two centuries. Their incomparable warmth and wit — coupled with consummate musicianship — have delighted audiences worldwide.

Listen to the timeless renditions of hard-driving Appalachian, Cajun and Celtic fiddle tunes, stirring Civil War classics, sassy songs from the golden age of swing and country, stunning waltzes, and deeply moving original compositions. It's immediately apparent why Jay and Molly concerts warm the heart, feed the soul, and appeal to all ages. No wonder they continue to receive widespread critical praise.

DAVID JACOBS-STRAIN

David Jacobs-Strain plays in the blues tradition but isn't from it. You'll hear echoes of Skip James, Charlie Patton, Tommy Johnson, and a song by Fred McDowell or Robert Johnson in his solo performances. But as a modern roots musician, singer, and songwriter, "I come from the language of the country blues, but it's important not to silence other influences," he says.

He grew up in Eugene, Oregon, in a community that was centered on cultural change and environmentalism. He sees a distinct connection between the principles embodied in his upbringing and the democracy of the blues. "I'm really into hand-made culture — and real people making real music. The voice. One guitar. Even at their simplest, the blues have always been a vehicle for expressing your own situation, whether as an individual or a community. There's such power in that."

At twenty-five, Jacobs-Strain is a veteran of the national club and festival circuit. In 2008 he was chosen by Boz Scaggs to be the opener for his tour. Jacobs-Strain has also shared the stage with T-Bone Burnett, Bob Weir, Los Lobos, Lucinda Williams, Taj Mahal, Etta James, Dave Mason, and the Blind Boys of Alabama. His festival credits include the Strawberry Music Festival, MerleFest, the Lugano Blues to Bop Festival in Switzerland, the Newport Folk Festival, the Telluride Blues Fest, the Vancouver Folk Festival, and the Montreal Jazz Festival. He's also served as faculty at guitar workshops, most notably at Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch.

"David Jacobs-Strain sings and plays slide-driven country blues with a passion and authority that few artists of any age can muster. But besides firing off compelling covers of traditional tunes. . . his original songs have served to update and evolve the idiom, winning widespread respect from the contemporary blues community." -- Guitar Player
 

OSALAMI LAMOKE

Osalami Lamoke: Born a Gullah on St. Helena Island, South Carolina. This songwriter's eclectic music reflects the many influences of her life's experiences on the island, in New York City, Paris, Oyotunji Village, and Guadeloupe. Gullah praise house stomp, Caribbean, African, and blues rhythms permeate social commentary, political, love, and Kwanzaa themes, and folk stories. Her name (pronounced Osha- lah-me) means "Orisha (the Yoruba Gods) saved me."

Smooth Caribbean rhythms meet edgy political commentary in the St. Helena islander’s music, a soulful combination she characterizes as “Gullah progressive folk.”

“I’m inspired by real people – it’s not so much the music but the ideas that interest me.”