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Event
TRADITIONS
This year marks the seventh annual TRADITIONS, a day-long celebration of our deep musical roots hosted here in New London, Connecticut at the beautiful Hygienic Art Park (79 Bank Street). Over the last six years, we've explored the immigration of European songs to America, the allure of the Sea, Child Ballads, Celtic and Mexo-folk styles, early Blues, Zydeco and Storytellers using traditional forms to weave their own new chapters in the history of folk song with some exceptional artists including Kristin Hersh, Roberts & Barrand, Heather Wood (The Young Tradition), the David Wax Museum, Cordelia's Dad, and many more.
Folk music has always been a way of communicating the most universal human ideas in their simplest forms, handing down wisdom from one generation to the next, bringing people together across centuries and continents. It makes us a family, with shared experiences and understanding. This year's celebration will be in honor of and in hopes for the speedy recovery of one of the dear members of our Traditions family, David Lamb of Brown Bird, who is unable to join us as he begins treatment for leukemia. We will take a special collection at the festival to help cover the mounting costs of his treatment. The inimitable Anaïs Mitchell has agreed to fill in for Brown Bird's slot at the fest and we couldn't be more thankful.
This year's roster will bring us repertoire that spans early American spirituals and shape note singing to fused punk-bluegrass, songwriter stylings and urban balladry.
Daphne Lee Martin
Traditions Festival Curator
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TRADITIONS 2013
2pm Pesky J. Nixon
3pm Paper Hill Casket Company
4pm Oh Cassius
5pm Goodnight Blue Moon
6pm Tim Eriksen
7:30pm Anaïs Mitchell
9pm O'Death
O'DEATH (odeath.net) 9pm
O'Death is an American alternative country band from Brooklyn, New York. They combine elements of folk, bluegrass, punk, metal and Americana music. Originally formed in 2003 while the members attended SUNY Purchase, the band with Jamie on guitar and vocals, Gabe Darling on banjo, David Rogers-Berry on drums, Jesse Newman on bass, and Bob Pycior on fiddle played a series of shows at the now defunct Apocalypse Lounge in NYC, and quickly began building a fan base with their reverently twisted take on Americana filtered through a wealth of musical influences as divergent as Bill Monroe, Prince, Neil Young, The Microphones, and The Misfits.
ANAÏS MITCHELL (anaismitchell.com) 7:30pm
In case you haven't met her, Anaïs Mitchell is not a man. She's a woman, quick to laugh and to cry, a fan of Jane Austen and miniskirts. She came of age reading the diaries of Anaïs Nin and blasting early Ani Difranco records. So it may catch a few listeners off-guard when Mitchell cries out, in the opening sequence of her latest album, "I'm a young man!" And it may come as a surprise when, over the course of eleven songs, she seems to be channeling spirits from the Old Testament to modern Americabut mostly, well, from the Y chromosome. Taking on voices other than her own is not exactly new for Mitchell, though. In 2010 Righteous Babe Records released the recorded version of her folk opera Hadestown, a modern retelling of the Orpheus myth, featuring guest singers Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Ani Difranco and Greg Brown. The album became something of a critical phenomenon in the UK, making "Best of 2010" lists in the Guardian, Sunday Times and Observer.
TIM ERIKSEN (timeriksenmusic.com) 6pm
stark songs and breakneck picking - New York Times
among the world's finest folk practitioners - Toronto Star
one of the best voices in music - T Bone Burnett
Tim Eriksen is acclaimed for transforming American tradition with his startling interpretations of old ballads, love songs, shape-note gospel and dance tunes from New England and Southern Appalachia. He combines hair-raising vocals with inventive accompaniment on banjo, fiddle, guitar and bajo sexto - a twelve string Mexican acoustic bass - creating a distinctive hardcore Americana sound that ranges from the bare bones of solo unaccompanied singing on his album Soul of the January Hills through the stripped-down voice and bajo sexto Christmas album Star in the East to the lush, multi-layered arrangements on Josh Billings Voyage, the new album of northern roots American music from the imaginary village of Pumpkintown. Tim Eriksen's work as an ethnomusicologist and teacher has included extensive research on shape-note music in New England and the venerable Sacred Harp four-part harmony tradition. He is a founder of what is currently the world's largest Sacred Harp singing convention, in Northampton, MA. In the words of Paste Magazine editor Josh Jackson, no one has done more to help revive Sacred Harp singing among a younger generation.
GOODNIGHT BLUE MOON (goodnightbluemoon.com) 5pm
Goodnight Blue Moon is an indie-folk band from New Haven, Connecticut that has been playing together since 2009. Instrumentation includes cello, violin, mandolin, guitar, banjo, upright bass, trumpet, and drums, which support rich vocal harmonies. With songs that range from americana and bluegrass-based traditional folk to through-composed and orchestrated pop, Goodnight Blue Moon's style is eclectic, thoughtful, and danceable at the same time. Goodnight Blue Moon includes guitarist and singer, Erik Elligers (Pencilgrass, Mountain Movers), singer and mandolin player, Mathew Crowley, Nancy Matlack Elligers on cello and banjo, Sean Elligers on trumpet and vocals, and Carl Testa on upright bass. The group recently added Vicki Wepler on violin and Nick D'Errico on drums. This latest rendition of the group may get a bit crowded on stage, but the new line-up is the most energetic and full sounding yet.
OH CASSIUS (ohcassius.tumblr.com) 4pm
Oh, Cassius! is singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists, Meredith DiMenna and John Torres. Where Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris meets Of Monsters and Men, Oh, Cassius! plays beautiful and haunting songs that are simultaneously classic and modern.
PAPER HILL CASKET COMPANY (paperhillcasketcompany.com) 3pm
If you seek progressive Americana music, look no further than Paper Hill Casket Company. The New England-based six-piece blends traditional bluegrass instrumentation with classical and rock influences to create a sound that transcends simple definitions. Ambient melancholy shines through their energetic, toe-tapping beats for a moving musical journey that is best experienced live.
PESKY J. NIXON (peskyjnixon.com) 2pm
Bombastic yet brilliant, these boys from New England exude a genuine musical authenticity and mirth on stages up and down the East Coast. Drawing influences from contemporary urban balladeers, rowdy southern bluegrass, and the sardonic yet wry wit of New England's localized folk scenes, Pesky J. Nixon (PJN) creates an atmosphere both inviting and challenging for audiences. Compelling harmonies and narratives rein in disparate instrumentation including- zydeco style accordion, virtuosic mandolin, a variety of tribal percussion, and a myriad of string instrumentation.
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LocationHygienic Art Park (View)
79 Bank Street
New London, CT 06320
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: Yes! |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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