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

First Friday for Folk Music

 

 

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"First Friday for Folk Music" is a production of the Savannah Folk Music Society and is held the first Friday of each month at First Presbyterian Church at 520 Washington Avenue, Savannah, Georgia. It is smoke-free, alcohol-free and family-friendly. There is a recommended donation of $2 per person. Beverages and homemade fresh baked goods are available for purchase. Festivities start at 7:30PM and run until about 10:30PM. 

For further information, call Hank Weisman at 912-786-6953


(Click on an image or underlined name of the artist or group to go to their web site)

 

"JULY 3  “FIRST FRIDAY FOR FOLK MUSIC”

The 157th “First Friday for Folk Music,” Savannah’s monthly showcase of local and touring folk musicians, will feature
Judy and Zach Williams and Drew Gibson. The show begins at 7:30 PM at First Presbyterian Church at 520 Washington Avenue.

Drew Gibson

"Who is Drew Gibson? Only one of the most talented singer-songwriters to emerge recently from Virginia. Gibson crafts heartfelt lyrics that are confessional, personal and poetic - the kind of music that makes your heart ache."

"Drew is an insanely talented blues musician with great vocals and songs. Reminiscent of an old Grog favorite of mine, Ben Andrews, Gibson skillfully plays Delta Blues with a great hook."

"Drew Gibson reaches deep into his roots as an American musician and arrives at the blues on his own terms. He is true to his musical heritage, yet constantly redefining this legacy."
 

Judy & Zach Williams

Judy Williams is a well-known, long-time Savannah folksinger whose strong voice and fine guitar playing are particularly notable. She often appears with her husband, Bob Williams as a duo called Cynergy. Developing a love for music, voice, guitar and composition in her teen-age son, Judy appears at this First Friday with Zach Williams. Zach has competed and placed in the top three of the Savannah Folk Festival's Youth Songwriting Competition on multiple occasions. This will be our first mother-son performance at First Friday and promises to be most entertaining.

In the words of Judy...

I have been singing since I was three, and harmonizing since age 6, when I sang with my three older sisters a 4-part rendition of the theme from Oklahoma and won first prize at the Howard County (MD) Fair's talent show. Since then, I took 5 years of piano lessons (still don't play), but when my parents bought the family a guitar for Christmas (I was 11), I fell in love. I taught myself how to play, and at age 13 began co-writing songs with my sister, Debbie (age 15). We recorded ten or eleven of them after a couple of years, and then kind of went our separate ways after we graduated high school. I began singing with choirs, and playing with several locals in Maryland, semi-pro. I had a good job during the day in the computer industry, so I couldn't just drop it and take my music "on the road". After I moved to Savannah with my second husband (Bob) at age 35 (1986), we played music as a side business, and participated with friends in what eventually became the Savannah Folk Music Society (Bob was the only one with a computer!) We had a year of joy and tragedy with our daughter, Moira Leigh, after which we gave birth to Zachary in Nov. 1990.

Zach began "making up" songs at age three, played a plastic guitar to accompany himself (as well as occasional ukulele, piano, and bongos), and when he was 14 we bought him a guitar for our driving vacation out west. He expressed a little interest, but the first (and only) riff I ever taught him was the intro to Sweet Home Alabama. From there, he just took the guitar and ran!! The following year, at the Festival's Noteworthy Art auction, a friend of ours bought a guitar signed by Charlie Daniels. We were all shocked when he came backstage after he picked up the guitar... and gave it to Zach!! Thank you, Norbert!!

Zach (aka: Moose, as his buddies call him) has been creating songs and backing them up on his Charlie Daniels guitar since then. We bought him a steel guitar and a slide, which he uses, again having had no instruction. He even occasionally changes his tunings! He has entered the Savannah Folk Music's Youth songwriting competitions three years in a row, winning prizes at two of them. I am in awe of his self-creative abilities, and am quite proud to perform with him in this First Friday.

$2 recommended donation

 

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Future First Friday Performances


Aug 7       First Friday for F.M.         First Presbyterian Church         7:30PM
(Carrie Hambry & The Mayhaws,        520 E Washington Avenue
Doug Spears, and Kyle Swaltzwelder)
$2 recommended donation

Sept 4      First Friday for F.M.         First Presbyterian Church         7:30PM
(Marce and                                     520 E Washington Avenue
Garrison Doles)
$2 recommended donation

Oct 2       First Friday for F.M.          First Presbyterian Church         7:30PM
(
Islands Christian Church Band          520 E Washington Avenue
 and
Alan Rhody)
$2 recommended donation

 

Nov 6       First Friday for F.M.         First Presbyterian Church         7:30PM
(Angela Easterling and                      520 E Washington Avenue
Bob Hay & the Jolly Beggars
)
$2 recommended donation

 

Dec 4      First Friday for F.M.         First Presbyterian Church         7:30PM
 (Chris Desa and                             520 E Washington Avenue
 Hanson and Amburgey
)
$2 recommended donation

 

Jan 8      First Friday for F.M.         First Presbyterian Church         7:30PM
 (Jan Spilane and                             520 E Washington Avenue
 
Rebecca Loebe)
$2 recommended donation
 

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 912-786-6953