Down Home Radio Show

Hello everybody, check out this amazing film done by Drew Christie.  Its an animated interpretation of John Cohen’s first meeting with Harry Smith, the experimental filmmaker and animator who compiled the Anthology of American Folk Music on the Folkways label, probably the most influential collection of American Folk Music. Done for Greg Vandy’s American Standard Time blog.

Great job!  John Cohen says this is just how he remembers it…

Here’s a wonderful clip of a speech made by the great American comedian, cowboy and commentator Will Rogers about the state of the nation in the 1931, The Great Depression.  He could make the same speech today.

Here’ s a wonderful film made by KEXP DJ Greg Vandy and filmmaker Drew Christie in Seattle Washington, interviewing John Cohen, legendary photographer, film maker and musician.  I was out on tour on the West Coast with John and my old time string band The Dust Busters in February, we met up with Greg in Seattle, our fiddler Craig Judelman was able to make arrangements with Greg for filming and it all worked out!  This film was originally posted on Greg’s website American Standard Time, an awesome site, well worth checking out.  Also check out Greg’s radio show The Road House on KEXP radio in Seattle, WA.  Thanks to Greg and Drew for making this very well done and informative film.

Here’s the blurb for the film from the American Standard Time site:

“While mainly known as a founding member of the seminal folk revival group The New Lost City Ramblers, John Cohen is also a musicologist, photographer and filmmaker who is responsible for the documentation and recording of many great appalachian musicians such as Roscoe Holcomb, Dillard Chandler, EC Ball, Frank Proffitt, and Wade Ward among many others. John was photographing Bob Dylan and the Beats in New York in the late 50′s and early 60′s as well as producing and directing the legendary film The High Lonesome Sound. KEXP DJ Greg Vandy and filmmaker Drew Christie interviewed John about many of these topics and this short documentary is the result. The interview spanned 2 hours so much was left out of this cut, however, there will be an animated installment of the interview pertaining to John meeting the infamous Harry Smith- so keep your eyes peeled.”

I was lucky enough recently to be interviewed by Jon Gerberg for the program “Caught in the Act” on Brooklyn Independent Television, and here is the result!  Thanks Jon!

I talk about what I do here in Brooklyn with my old time string band The Dust Busters, with Down Home Radio and with the upcoming Brooklyn Folk Festival, scheduled to take place June 10th – 12th of this year.  Its right around the corner!

Here’s a bit more about the “Caught in the Act” program.

“Brooklyn’s art scene is one of the most vibrant and diverse in the world. Each month, Caught in the Act: Art in Brooklyn profiles a cross-section of key Brooklyn professionals in fine art, dance, music, theatre—and new forms of expression combining all of the above. From established institutions of international stature, to the emerging artists and companies that have long made our borough’s arts scene so exciting, Caught in the Act catches them in the act of creating, displaying, interpreting—and enriching—the cultural life of Brooklyn.”