Sunday, February 14, 2021

Two online FESTIVALS -- one HUGE -- & bunches of Valentine concerts. Lotsa red hearts, even some red planet. Feb 14 2021 edition

In French, the language of LOVE, it's "Bonne Saint Valentin!"

  The  SOUTH FLORIDA FOLK FESTIVAL is happening today ON Valentine's Day, plus we include news of one of its featured artists playing next weekend,

     AND,

  There's a MASSIVE multiday FOLK-AMERICANA FESTIVAL later this week, 

     AND,

  There are BUNCHES of live streaming VALENTINE'S DAY CONCERTS 

    PLUS,

  ... after ubiquitous red hearts, Thursday is Red Planet time. For the first time ever, we'll be able to HEAR what's happening on Mars. In addition to all its other gee-whiz features, Perseverance has an open mic. We take you there!

    Soooo,

LET'S GET STARTED!


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1,000 ARTISTS, biggest-ever online festival, is also a BENEFIT...

Folk Alliance’s "Folk Unlocked fest," happening Feb 22-26, is astonishing

They've announced the lineup and it’s totally wild, with over 1000 artists. It’s open to the public with admission coming by donation to the Village Fund, a COVID relief fund helping musicians and folk music workers. 

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"To my knowledge, Folk Unlocked, presented by Folk Alliance International aka FAI, is the largest-ever virtual music festival, with over 1,000 acts playing all forms of folk music from all over the globe," says music industry guru Nick Loss-Eaton.

He adds, "The festival is open to the public and tickets are available now via donation to the Village Fund, FAI's new relief fund for musicians and folk music workers which has already earned ink from Rolling Stone and Billboard."

Folk Unlocked has been called a festival of festivals, with artists from all fifty states in the U.S. as well as Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Egypt, England, Finland, France, Germany, Guyana, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Scotland, Senegal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, and Wales are set to perform, over 30 countries in total. In a dramatic closing party, artists have been paired with counterparts across the globe for a Global Music Marathon.

Of a prior, in-person event produced by FAI, the Wall Street Journal said, “There were countless examples of folk as a valued element in the contemporary musical landscape... To wander the poster-festooned hallways was to be greeted by traditional folk in all its iterations, experience its transporting powers, and be welcomed into its world.”

Folk Unlocked will be an incredible experience for the adventurous music fan seeking discovery; or the long-time festival goer enjoying GRAMMY-winning old favorites.

Here's a SAMPLE from that thousand-musician lineup:

Los Lobos
Terrance Simien
Cedric Burnside
Jim Lauderdale
Keb Mo
The McCrary Sisters
The War and Treaty
A.J. Haynes of Seratones

... and they are just a sprinkling of stateside performers set to play.

We should clarify a point that's caused some confusion:

■ The FOLK ALLIANCE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE is happening concurrently with the festival.

■ THE FESTIVAL will be open to the public by donation (all ticket links below); meanwhile, the CONFERENCE is pay-what-you-can for anyone in the music industry, including artists and performers who are not in attendance. Just check their site.

  Fans / Everyone who wants to catch the performances / virtually attend the FESTIVAL, get your login info with a donation here:
https://folk.org/showcasedonation

  Fans / musicians -- if you can't "attend" and want to help anyway, or just want to chip-in early for the benefit/festival, you can make a secure online donation to the fund at:
https://folk.org/resources/the-village-fund/

  Learn more about the The Village Fund at:
member.folk.org/donations/donate.asp?id=20519

Access to 800 hours of showcase programming as well as the awards announcements are all right there for you -- there's a minimum suggested donation of $20 towards each $500 grant amount The Village Fund will provide: folk.org/thevillagefund

Sara Watkins, two-time GRAMMY Award-winning solo artist and member of I’m With Her and Nickel Creek, said, “The Village Fund will offer support to the folk musicians who have themselves supported us with their music and art for so long.”

GRAMMY Award-winning artist, and former FAI Board member Dom Flemons stated, “We are a community of creative entrepreneurs reeling from the pandemic, so announcing The Village Fund is a welcome relief for many.”

In preparing to provide grants through The Village Fund, FAI conducted its second study of artist and industry need during the COVID crisis, the first revealing dire and pressing loss of income as well as food and housing instability among a startling number.

The Village Fund’s name is inspired by the rural origins of various folk music traditions, the urban villages that expanded the folk audience, and the recognition that folk music forms one global village of fans, artists, and industry professionals alike.

FAI has committed $25,000 from its reserve and hopes to raise an additional $75,000 in public support for the fund in order to initially distribute 200 grants of $500, with plans to continually replenish the fund. The Village Fund will open applications in April for FAI members and those who have participated in FAI events over the past three years. A simple “financial need” verification process will place all applicants into an eligible pool, and recipients will then be drawn by lottery. Strategic priorities will be addressed as part of the process.

Donations to the fund opened January 19, 2021 and a public kick-off event will provide donors “fan access” to the Folk Unlocked showcases, a virtual music festival taking place February 22-26 with over eight hundred hours of performances. Donors will have the exclusive opportunity to see and hear folk music legends as well as emerging talent. Organizers describe it as an opportunity to discover “artists you’ve never heard of but will never forget.”

Meantime, here are some notes on a few of the acts:

·      GRAMMY-winning zydeco artist Terrance Simien will perform; and, in a separate set, his daughter, Memphis’ Marcella Simien, will also play.

·      GRAMMY-nominated Mississippi bluesman Cedric Burnside, son of the legendary RL Burnside

·      Winner of NBC’s The Voice and singer-songwriter Sawyer Fredericks

·      GRAMMY-winner Keb Mo

·      Hit songwriting legend Jim Lauderdale

·      All-female mariachi band and Latin Grammy winners Flor de Toloache

·      Stars of the documentary film 20 Feet From Stardom the McCrary Sisters, who “seize and hold the spotlight,” according to the New York Times

·      Veteran of Newport Folk Festival and Americana Music Award nominee and AAA #1 hitmaker Jade Bird

·      “Stately. Ballads and choruses to shatter glass” (Pitchfork) of Katie Pruitt

·      Americana Music Award Emerging Artist winners, the soul duo The War and Treaty

·      North Carolina gospel family group Dedicated Men of Zion, fresh from their appearance on NPR Music x globalFEST.

·      “Inspiring artist” (Ann Powers, NPR) Michaela Anne.

·      AIR winner Emily Wurramara, a proud Indigenous performer from Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory.

·      BBC Folk Awards nominee and Irish Music Magazine award winner Karan Casey.

·      Irreverent cult favorite, the “talented” (NPR) Steve Poltz

Pour yourself a big mug of something that keeps you warm, then settle-in with this list (with bio/profile links) of the lineup. Fair warning, you'll be there awhile  and there's a risk of going hoarse saying, "Oh, wow!" over and over:

https://folk.org/unlocked/spotlight-showcase-artists/

Best of all, your wide-eyed, happy-eared enjoyment will help a lot of music folks in need. A hearty congratulations to Folk Alliance International for going immeasurably farther than what anyone might have dreamed. 


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Online Valentine's Day...

South Florida Folk Festival


Today, check out the South Florida Folk Festival, 11 am-3:15 pm Pacific / 2 pm to 6:15 PM EST

On Youtube: 

it is live, online, and free

Here’s the lineup:

Winners Round ~ 2020 SFFF Songwriting Competition:
Aaron Nathans (Chester Heights, PA) 2:05-2:55
Karyn Oliver (Fort Worth, TX)
Pamela Machala (Boulder, CO)
Mean Mary (Nashville, TN) 2:55
Sofia Talvik (Sweden And Spain) 3:35
Cara Luft (Winnipeg, Manitoba) 4:15
Rod Macdonald (Lake Worth, FL) 4:55
The Currys (Port St. Joe, FL) 5:35

--LISTEN to the #SFFF2021 spotify playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3SMBJYbiVeffrOpyd7QjR7

and next Sunday 2/21 

Sunday Street Presents: Rod MacDonald & Joe Jencks ~ In Concert (Live-Stream) 4 pm Pacific / 7 pm EST 
streaming at:  https://youtu.be/iHa5J2YynXw.  Free (donations welcome) 

Check out the featured artist who is playing both dates:
* Rod MacDonald, at:


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Online Valentine's concert / link, open through March 31st...

GIANT WURLITZER THEATRE ORGAN IS STAR OF CONCERT PERFORMANCE

Regular readers know we, here at The Guide, are big fans of classic silent movies, their music scores and all the creative latitude available in their "lead sheets," and live performances on the ultimate instrument, the giant theatre pipe organ. With COVID shutdowns of UCLA's Royce Hall and Pacific Symphony's hosting of organ concerts in their Costa Mesa venue, the thundering delight of an organ concert is hard to find. Until now.


A donation gets you a private YouTube link to watch the 2021 "Sanfilippo Valentine
Day Wurlitzer Concert" in return for your donation to the nonprofit (501c3) Sanfilippo Foundation.

The link is now active, so get your code and you can log on any time. It will remain
active through March 31, so you may watch the video at your leisure, and
as often as you like.

Just go to

to donate and obtain the link. 

Gregory Leifel, Executive Director, Sanfilippo Foundation, says:

"We aim to continue these online concerts and your donation makes that and
our charity work possible. We'd also love to hear your feedback on the
concerts. Have a great time enjoying the concert with your loved ones."


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Online Valentine's concert...

VICTORIA VOX, ukester and beyond, tells us...

"Just a quick note to say we'll [JACK & THE VOX] be live at 2 p.m. PST on FB and YT playing all original love songs to celebrate Saint Valentine!"


Here are the links:


Youtube:  https://youtu.be/cfWGE8Wsxu0 


or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/923461997750255/posts/3692964484133312/ 


She promises,  

"More soon! xo - v.v."


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Online Valentine's concert...

JAMIE LAVAL, CELTIC FIDDLE MASTER 


Via Zoom ...

Sun, Feb 14, 4:00 and 5:15 PM EST

Click here a few minutes before start time

(just in case you need it, the Meeting ID is 976 7208 9619 and the password is 313601)


If you do not already have Zoom installed on your device, please follow these steps in advance of the show:

• Sign up and download the free Zoom app:

Mac or Windows Computer

Android Phone or Tablet

iPhone or iPad

• Check your email for Zoom's confirmation

• Return to this email and click the link above

 

Hints for the best experience:

• Update your version of Zoom (current is 5.5.2).

• Position your device near WIFI or connect with an ethernet cable to ensure smooth playback.

• Please forward this email to your friends - the more the merrier!

• The events are free. If you would like to offer a donation to the artist, you may donate via PayPal here.


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Online Valentine's concert...

Aedan MacDonnell

Premiering on YouTube - 

FEBRUARY 14TH at 6 PM

https://youtu.be/dzDAEvWIOuA

Tickets are by donation, 

and you can DONATE at any time.


Even though Valentine’s Day is not a traditional Celtic celebration, 

we thought all the plot twists and turns in the epic Celtic love stories 

would make for a great way to celebrate Valentine’s Day - a new way. 


Murder, chases, treachery, and of course some great songs. 


Although this show isn't for the faint of heart, we promise you'll be smiling by the end.


Celtic Rhythms invites you to their Valentine's Day celebration with music, song, stories

and merrymaking. Curl up with your favorite Valentine, your favorite drink, and enjoy

   "Valentine's Day - The Celtic Way."  On-line.


The cast of "Valentine's Day - The Celtic Way" says,  "We hope to see you there!"


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Online Valentine's concert...

ANDY & RENEE play a "Special Valentine's Day Show"

Sunday, Feb. 14th, 4 pm PT (7 pm ET) on Youtube


Multifaceted celebration of Valentine's Day, Renee's Birthday Redux, and President's Day, with music themed for all three, performed by the co-leaders of the multi-award-winning band HARD RAIN and hosts of DYLANFEST.

"Andy & Renee Livestream #92"

Watch Feb 14 on Youtube:

https://youtu.be/ksMuATAhYwc

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Now HERE's an innovative option...

"THE DRIVEWAY IS OPEN!"

The duo tells us, "We're inviting YOU to watch our Livestreams in the driveway, masked up and socially distanced, so respond via email if you'd like to join us for some LIVE MUSIC soon!"

Send that email to:

reneesafier@hotmail.com
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That might happen sooner than you expect. They also do a live show this Wednesday, Feb. 17th, 7 pm PT (10 pm ET)

"Andy & Renee Livestream #93"

Watch that one Feb 17 on Youtube at:

https://youtu.be/kEH3sjsxj7E

Make requests from their list of 470 songs, and they'll get to as many requests as possible. See the list at:

https://www.andyandrenee.com/docs/A-and-R-Song-List-5.6.20.pdf

Send your requests to reneesafier@hotmail.com before the show.

Like so many other artists, they've turned to doing Livestream shows to make a living and deliver the music to you. The shows are free to watch, but the option to tip us will be there for those who are in a position to do so, if you are enjoying the music.

You can tip them at:
http://www.andyandrenee.com/store.php
or
PayPal (paypal.me/andyandrenee)
or
Venmo (www.venmo.com/Renee-Safier)

A portion of the proceeds goes to the Los Angeles Midnight Mission. 


The duo tells us, "We are sustained by the generosity and support of the fans who love the music, and who tip as they are able."


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Valentine's Day extra...

BLUE DOLPHINS NEW RELEASE


Click HERE for the video.

In celebration of Cupid's day, the BLUE DOLPHINS invite you to enjoy their new single release 'Tombola'.

They duo tells us, "This song is our most special tribute to the people that lived through the Sixties in the plenitude of their lives, our parents and their generation. This cover of Marisol's original is full of energy and vitality and it is our first song in Español. 'Tómbola' was a groundbreaking Hit in Spain and the whole Latin World in 1962 and made her an icon for generations to come. As the song says 'life is full of light and color' and love does conquers all."


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Four days after ubiquitous red hearts, it's Red Planet time...

Next Mars Landing is this Thursday

It's tricky terrain this time: What's helping to assure a safe rover landing

For the first time ever, we'll be able to HEAR what's happening on Mars. In addition to all its other gee-whiz features, Perseverance has an open mic. And a drone helicopter for dramatic views of the headliner act on stage.

On Feb. 18, 2021, along with its first-ever on-board helicopter, NASA’s Perseverance rover is slated to land at the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater. It is a rugged expanse chosen for its scientific research and sample collection possibilities. But the very features that make the site fascinating to scientists also make it a relatively dangerous place to land.

“Jezero is 28 miles wide, but within that expanse there are a lot of potential hazards the rover could encounter: hills, rock fields, dunes, the walls of the crater itself, to name just a few,” said Andrew Johnson, principal robotics systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “So, if you land on one of those hazards, it could be catastrophic to the whole mission.”

Mars is a long ways away, and radio signals take several minutes to go between here and there. So it's not like an experienced drone pilot can watch a monitor and land a craft there. Two exotic new technologies will help Perseverance, NASA’s most sophisticated rover yet, touch down on the surface of Mars after its nearly seven-month journey.



Mars 2020’s Perseverance rover is equipped with a lander vision system based on terrain-relative navigation, an advanced method of autonomously comparing real-time images to preloaded maps that determine the rover’s position relative to hazards in the landing area. Divert guidance algorithms and software can then direct the rover around those obstacles if needed.

 
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech


Read the full story at:

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/tricky-terrain-helping-to-assure-a-safe-rover-landing

If we were there to see it... Perseverance's on-board helicopter, Ingenuity, is depicted during one of the flights it will make in the Martian atmosphere. No, it doesn't deliver pizza. Yet.

NASA is already looking beyond that:

"

Where Should Future Astronauts Land on Mars? Follow the Water" (Feb 08, 2021). Read it at:

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/where-should-future-astronauts-land-on-mars-follow-the-water

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BLUE SKY, RED SKY...


Here on Earth, it is often said our sky is blue because of all the diffused reflected light from our oceans. We are, after all, a spinning orb with a surface that's three-fifths water. Our blue skies are also a factor of the density and composition of our atmospheric gasses.

So, Mars has a very thin atmosphere and no surface water. It has polar ice caps of CO2 -- dry ice -- that are nominally white until covered by dust storms. And pretty much everything else there is reddish-orange, often attributed to iron oxide rust. So, does reflected sunlight off the surface make the sky red, and even make the sun appear red? The answer so far is "sort of." But very little specific effort has gone into accurately imaging the Martian sky to produce a view like a human astronaut would see by standing there and lifting their gold-coated reflective visor.

When that happens, will the adage still apply that "There is nothing new under the sun," as proclaimed by the writer of Ecclesiastes? (That writer already gave us the lyrics to Pete Seeger's song, "Turn, Turn, Turn," made into a '60s mega hit by The Byrds.)

As for that writer's applicability to Mars? It once had vast oceans beneath a thicker atmosphere, and that would have meant a blue sky. Science fiction would meet real science in "terraforming" Mars to restore those conditions. And the rest of the passage from Eclesiastes says: "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." Interesting, huh?

As is this quote:

"The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent upon it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do."

~ Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer (born February 15, 1564, died in exile forced by the Catholic church in 1642, because he said the planets all orbited the Sun.)


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YES, IT IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH. 

We'll be back soon with coverage of the opening of the brand-new, years-in-the-making, MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSIC.

Plus, some special features on blues, banjos, rootsy New Orleans jazz, and other delights to the ears of all -- that owe their origins to the Black experience in America.

Meanwhile, don't be a maskhole, and stay the hell away from the maskless Branch Covidians. No free passes to get stupid!

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It's all there, since we first moved The Guide (with its former name) to Blogspot. 

Does that mean you need to find Marty and Doc's DeLorean time machine? 

Because, geez, THAT was back when Rin-Tin-Tin hadn't gotten his second "tin" from Tin Pan Alley

... and you watched TV on a big box that bombarded you with non-ionizing radiation if you sat close to it, instead of inescapable non-ionizing radiation from 5g

... and you watched movies on reels of film aimed at a screen that bounced-back the light projected onto it, instead of only-ever seeing everything in glowing postage-stamp mode on your phone

... and "the pandemic" meant 1918

... and Rudy Giuliani was "America's Mayor" instead of a babbling portable meltdown of brown ooze

... and "trump" was something that only happened in a card game, instead of being garishly emblazoned on buildings that go bankrupt (before it became a synonym for grifter college, grifter steaks, cultist wackos, deadly violent attempted coups at the Capitol, and banishment from polite society)

... and you can escape now, AND/OR go far enough back, to escape whatever the lunacy du jour and explore what we've published for your perusal and enjoyment.
 
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Entire contents copyright © 2021, 

Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.

All rights reserved.

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♪ The ACOUSTIC AMERICANA MUSIC GUIDE endeavors to bring you NEWS – and views of interest to artists everywhere – more specifically to musicians and the creative community and music makers -- and fans of acoustic and Folk-Americana music. That includes both traditional and innovative forms. From the deepest roots to today’s acoustic renaissance, that’s our beat. We provide a wealth of resources, including a HUGE catalog of acoustic-friendly venues (now undergoing a major update), and inside info on FESTIVALS and select performances in Southern California in venues from the monumentally large to the intimately small and cozy. We cover workshops, conferences, and other events for artists and folks in the music industry, and all kinds o’ things in the world of acoustic and Americana and accessible classical music. From washtub bass to musical spoons to oboe to viola to banjo to squeezebox, from Djangostyle to new-fangled-old-time string band music, from sweet Cajun fiddle to bluegrass and pre-bluegrass Appalachian mountain music to all the swamp water roots of the blues and the bright lights of where the music is headed now.
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Til we catch ya again on the flip side 
in this new world of the now somewhat lessened improbable unknown...



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