Jalopy

Bklyn Folk Fest Moves to the Fall! Nov. 6th-8th

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Hello everybody –

Due to the public health crisis we are experiencing, the 2020 Brooklyn Folk Festival will move from April to a new set of dates in the Fall.  We are very much looking forward to holding a wonderful festival over the weekend of Nov. 6th-8th, 2020.

We hope that the lineup will stay substantially the same as we had planned for the Spring, and we look forward to hopefully being substantially on the other side of this crisis by that time and to sharing a beautiful weekend of music.

More info ASAP about our new lineup.  Please check www.BrooklynFolkFest.com for the latest information as well as our social media feeds.

Please stay safe and healthy and take all precautions.  Wash your hands!

Love,

The Brooklyn Folk Fest Staff

 

The Brooklyn Folk Festival: April 18th-20th, 2014…

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The Brooklyn Folk Festival, a co-production of Down Home Radio and the Jalopy Theatre, is almost here!  It’s gonna be an incredible event! – with 30 bands, film screenings, workshops, jam sessions and contests!  Coming up April 18th – 20th, 2014 at the Bell House, a great venue here in Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn Folk Festival is now going into its 6th successful year.  This year’s festival will focus on Old Time String Band music from the United States and will feature a number of traditional groups and musicians coming to the city from various parts of the South, representing their local traditions, as well as a number of great groups from right here in New York.  We will also have Indonesian Gamelan gong music, Andean music from regions of the old Inca empire, Balkan music, jug bands, blues, jazz, songwriters and more… a huge wealth of talent!

The festival will feature Frank Fairfield and Jerron “Blindboy” Paxton, Dom Flemons and Hubby Jenkins of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, R. Crumb with the East River Stringband, as well as 25 other bands and performers.  The Brooklyn Folk Festival is modeled on the early days of the Newport and University of Chicago folk festivals and seeks to present an authentic folk festival experience, with a diversity of traditional music, as well as contemporary songwriters, plus workshops, jam sessions, film screenings and the famous Banjo Toss contest!  There will also be a very nice tribute to Pete Seeger with group singing and a family friendly square dance.

Its gonna be fun!  Get your tickets right away!.. visit the festival website at: www.BrooklynFolkFest.com for the compete schedule and ticket information.

– Eli

Grow The Brooklyn Folk Festival

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To fans and supporters of the Brooklyn Folk Festival,

We hope that you enjoyed last year’s, 5th Annual Brooklyn Folk Festival. Many of you have been friends of the Festival from the beginning, and we truly appreciate your support. We hope you have enjoyed watching the festival grow from a small event, into a substantial yearly showcase, drawing bands from New York City and across the nation.

This year’s Brooklyn Folk Festival will be held at the Bell House, which was also our home for last year’s Festival. The 6th Annual Festival is scheduled for April 18th-20th, 2014 and will feature 30 bands over three days, playing American and world folk music, along with workshops, film screenings, jam sessions and the world-famous Banjo Toss Contest. Tickets will be available soon, stay tuned to www.jalopy.biz or www.brooklynfolkfest.com for more information.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Brooklyn Folk Festival 2010  Brooklyn Folk Festival 2011

The Festival has been and wishes to remain the nation’s largest folk festival set in an urban area; right here in the heart of New York City. The festival is curated by folklorist, musician and author Eli Smith in partnership with the Jalopy Theatre and exhibits the very best underground and nationally recognized talent in the field of Folk Music, including blues, bluegrass, old time, songwriters, jug bands, gospel music, klezmer, Mexican, Balkan, African and Indonesian folk music and more. In the 1960’s the greatest yearly gathering for folk music took place at the Newport Folk Festival on a farm in Rhode Island. Today we want to keep the yearly focus of the vibrant new folk music revival squarely here within the borders of Brooklyn. This will keep the festival accessible for New Yorkers and visitors from out of town, and help keep Brooklyn the heart of the contemporary revival of interest in folk music.

We are starting early in order to find a home for the 7th Annual Brooklyn Folk Festival, to be held in 2015. We will need your help to secure a larger location for the festival as it continues to grow in size and scope.  The festival has already been recognized by sold out crowds, the press, and folk music artists themselves as a “magical event” which stands out with clarity and vision against a backdrop of noise. In addition to finding a location, we wish to invite and confirm notable acts and artists to join the festival.
Brooklyn Folk Festival 2012  Brooklyn Folk Festival 2012

For all of these reasons we are asking you to support the Brooklyn Folk Festival.
We are asking for your donation to help us plan and secure Brooklyn Folk Festival 2015! The Festival is a non-profit event, and your donation is tax deductible.

Donations can be made out to our fiscal agent, Fractured Atlas with our account # 11-3451703. Checks can be sent to 315 Columbia Street, Brooklyn NY 11231.

You can also follow the link at the bottom and make your secure tax deductible donation online.

As a thank you gift we are offering the following rewards:

Folk Hero – $1000: 3 three-day passes to the 2014 festival, 10 tickets to any shows at Jalopy Theatre and a complete line of Jalopy LPs and CDs.

Founders Circle – $500: 2 three-day passes, and four tickets to any show(s) at Jalopy Theatre

Benefactor – $250: 2 three-day passes to the 2014 Festival

Friend – $100: 1 three-day pass to the 2014 Festival

Supporter – $50: BFF t-shirt and BFF 2012 and 2013 Live Albums on CD

Yours,

Eli Smith, Lynette and Geoff Wiley and the Friends of the Brooklyn Folk Festival.s, I support The Brooklyn Folk Festi!

Make a secure online donation

Brooklyn Folk Festival 2012

The Brooklyn Folk Festival Approaches!

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Hello everybody!

Down Home Radio Show Host Eli Smith and The Jalopy Theatre are proud to announce the 5th Annual Brooklyn Folk Festival coming up on Friday, April 19th through Sunday, April 21st!Come out for three days of music at the Bell House, 149 7th Street, in the heart of Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood.

The festival includes performances from more than 30 local and national bands in the fields of old time music, blues, early jazz, country, bluegrass, klezmer, Balkan, Mexican traditional and more! Plus a variety of instrumental and vocal workshops, folk music related film screenings, a family friendly square dance, and the return of the famous banjo toss competition!

All the information including schedule and tickets is at
www.BrooklynFolkFest.com.

Woody Guthrie at 100 – A Tribute Concert at the Jalopy Theatre

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Dear friends,

On Saturday July 14th I will be hosting, “Woody Guthrie at 100 – A Tribute Concert at the Jalopy Theatre.”

Songwriter, poet, political activist and Coney Island resident Woody Guthrie, born July 14th, 1912 would have turned 100 years old this year.  Best known for his composition “This Land Is Your Land,” a song known as a second national anthem and sung by school children nationwide, Guthrie was a native of Oklahoma who moved to Brooklyn in 1940 and lived here basically for the rest of his life.

On Saturday July 14th, Woody’s 100th birthday, the Jalopy Theatre will present a tribute concert to Guthrie featuring a number of New York City and Brooklyn’s best folk music performers, including people that knew Guthrie personally and can speak about him.

The event will feature a number of performers including John Cohen (of the New Lost City Ramblers), Eli Smith, Mamie Minch, Ernie Vega, Geoff Wiley, Jesse Lenat, Elizabeth Butters, Stephanie Jenkins, Bob Malenky, Jaime Longhi and others performing Woody’s songs.  Smith and Cohen will also be reading brief selections from Guthrie’s works of poetry and goof-offs and Longhi will read from his father’s memoir of serving with Guthrie during WWII.  The film “To Hear Your Banjo Play,” the only footage of Guthrie in his prime, will also be screened.

Details:

Jalopy Theatre
315 Columbia St.
Brooklyn, NY
11231
(718) 395-3214

Saturday July 14th
Showtime: 9pm

Gonna be a great show.
Hope to see you there!

P.S.  Don’t forget to check out:

Woody Guthrie on live on WNYC with Leadbelly in 1940

The program was produced in 1940 by Down Home Radio co-founder Henrietta Yurchenco for WNYC and the recording was discovered in I believe in 2006.  Down Home Radio rebroadcast it for the first time in 67 year in 2007 with commentary by Yurchenco.

Brooklyn Folk Festival Fund Drive!

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Hey Everybody –

We’re doing a fund drive to help produce this year’s Brooklyn Folk Festival.  Please check out the awesome silent movie (above) produced by the Jalopy Theatre for this special event!  We really need your support to help make this years festival happen.  Donations can be made through our page on Kickstarter: CLICK HERE.

Your donation gets you a variety of special items, including tickets to the festival and other special premiums!  See below for details…

Thank you.  Your host,

– Eli

Here’s all the information:

Four years ago, Eli Smith of Down Home Radio Show and Jalopy Theatre and School of Music teamed up to present the Brooklyn Folk Festival. A three-day event showcasing folk music of all styles, the festival highlights local Brooklyn musicians as well as bringing in folk music from around the world.

By the second year, there were lines down the block with sold out performances every night and it was time to expand. The festival was moved from Jalopy Theatre to the Brooklyn Waterfront Artist’s Coalition in Red Hook for the third year.

An unexpected loss of venue this year sent us searching for a new home. The 4th Annual Brooklyn Folk Festival will be held at 345 Jay Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Your donation will help us transform this raw space into a venue worthy of the Jalopy name!

The festival is set to be better than ever with over 30+ bands, vocal and instrument workshops, film screenings, a square dance, a special program celebrating Woody Guthrie’s 100th birthday year – as well as the return of the much loved “Banjo Toss” of 2011.

Jalopy and Down Home Radio Show are committed to respectfully compensating our artists while keeping the festival tickets at an accessible price range for the public. We are also inviting 100 local students to attend the festival free of charge as an educational outreach to the community. Thus, we are raising funds to help cover artist fees, advertising, space transformation, and staff.

We believe in the power of folk music to forge community. We’ve seen it happen here at Jalopy and want to expand our reach to as many people as want to listen. Your donation will greatly help us get the word out about the festival and keep folk music alive and thriving in Brooklyn for many years to come.

Thank you so much.

See you at the Folk Fest!

– The Organizers

Pledge $10 or more

Brooklyn Folk Festival postcard, pre-stamped to send to a friend!

Pledge $25 or more

1-Day ticket to the festival + poster OR a Jalopy Theatre T-shirt!

Pledge $45 or more

2-Day ticket to the festival + poster OR a Jalopy Theatre Sweatshirt!

Pledge $60 or more

3-Day ticket to the festival + poster!

Pledge $100 or more

1 VIP Weekend Pass to the festival + poster (Includes access to private pre-festival cocktail party Friday evening, May 18th, at the venue!)

Pledge $150 or more

2 VIP Weekend Passes to the festival + posters (includes access for two to pre-festival cocktail party!)

Pledge $250 or more

1 VIP Weekend Pass to the festival PLUS entrance to one show a month at Jalopy for a year!

Pledge $500 or more

2 VIP Weekend Passes (The $150 reward) PLUS free entrance for both of you to one show a month at Jalopy for a year!

Pledge $2,000 or more

2 VIP Weekend Passes to the festival + a 4-hour open bar event rental of Jalopy Theatre! (to be redeemed within the year)

Brooklyn Folk Fest 2011 is Here! June 10th-12th

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Poster designed by Jose Delhart and Ernesto Gomez

Down Home Radio host Eli Smith is proud to announce the 3rd annual Brooklyn Folk Festival, to be held at the Jalopy Theater and Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition in Brooklyn, NY – Friday, June 10th- Sunday, June 12th, 2011.  The festival will feature the best young talent from Brooklyn’s exploding folk music scene as well as luminaries from the generation that made the 1960’s New York City folk music revival.  The music featured will include traditional styles such as old-time string band music, blues, jug band music, traditional music of Mexico, the Balkans, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and West Africa, local author-vocalists and more!  There will be concerts throughout the day as well as workshops on various musical styles, film screenings and a Sunday afternoon square dance!  This year will also inaugurate the Brooklyn Folk Festival “Banjo Toss.”  The person who throws a banjo the farthest will win a free banjo! 

The festival will feature 35+ bands including luminaries such as Grammy Award winner Peter Stampfel of the Holy Modal Rounders and Pat Conte of the Canebrake Rattlers and Secret Museum of Mankind, two of the main creators of the 1960’s folk music scene in Greenwhich Village, but will also feature young Brooklyn based talents such as The Dust Busters, acclaimed blues musician Blind Boy Paxton, ballad singer Elizabeth Butters, Country singer Alex Battles, songster Feral Foster, Hubby Jenkins of the Carolina Chocolate Drops and many more.  Radio Jarocho, a Mexican folk music collective will perform a variety of styles of music and dance from across Mexico.  Clifton Hicks of Boone, North Carolina will be making a second appearance at the festival following his debut last year, playing his style of traditional banjo music of the Southern Appalachian mountains. The Brooklyn Folk Festival seeks to exhibit the cultural contributions from a diversity of Brooklyn communities, and in particular seeks to highlight the young talent emerging from those communities.

Come down to The Brooklyn Folk Festival in Redhook Brooklyn over the weekend Friday, June 10th- Sunday, June 12th to hear Brooklyn’s best traditional Folk musicians and song writers.  You will hear banjos, fiddles, mandolins, guitars, people blowing on jugs and harmonicas, a world champion whistler as well as great original songs.  If you want to learn how to play, come down to the afternoon instrumental workshops.  The festival costs $20 per day or $55 for 3 days, including the afternoon workshops and film screenings!

Friday’s show will be held at the Jalopy Theater and then, due to the huge crowds at last year’s event, the Saturday and Sunday activities will take place at a larger venue, The Brooklyn Waterfront Artist Coalition.

Tickets can be purchased by calling 718.395.3214 or on the Jalopy website: www.Jalopy.biz .

The Jalopy Theater is located at
315 Columbia Street
Brooklyn, New York 11231
(718) 395 3214
www.Jalopy.biz

The Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition is located at:
499 Van Brunt Street
NY 11231-1048
(718) 596 2507
www.bwac.org

Eli Smith Interviewed on Brooklyn Independent Television

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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.”

The Carolina Chocolate Drops Live! at Jalopy

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[photo by Ann Chen]

Back in September the acclaimed old-time band The Carolina Chocolate Drops made a surprise appearance at The Jalopy Theater in Redhook, Brooklyn.  Luckily I had heard earlier that day what was going on and brought my recorder with me that night when I made the familiar trek down to Jalopy’s hallowed hall!  They played a great set and I got a good recording right off the board.  Here it is!

The Chocolate Drops performed as part of the Roots n Ruckus show, the awesome – free – weekly folk music show that happens every Wednesday night at The Jalopy Theater.  Well worth checking out.  I’m there almost every week!

Be sure to check out Jalopy’s new blog: www.jalopybrooklyn.wordpress.com

The Carolina Chocolate Drops are students of the elder African American fiddler Joe Thompson- check out my visit with Joe back in June of this year in the archives of Down Home Radio.

And big congratulations to the Chocolate Drops on their Grammy nomination for their new album, Genuine Negro Jig.