Copyright 2005 The Patriot Ledger 
The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, MA)

September 15, 2005 Thursday 
ROP Edition
SECTION: FEATURES; Pg. 31
BOSTON FOLK FESTIVAL;
ANNUAL EVENT STAYS IN TUNE WITH ITS ROOTS
By Stephen A. Ide
     
     When the two-day Boston Folk Festival kicks off Sept. 24, it's not just another festival. It brings together music and artists who helped shape the folk genre over the past half century. And Boston is a central part of that history. Pop-folk icon Suzanne Vega will bring her edgy slice-of-life melodies, like '80s hit "Luka" or her a cappella "Tom's Diner." Meanwhile, a quartet called Work o' the Weavers performs the memorable melodies that helped fuel the folk revival of the 1950s and '60s. "That kind of music always seemed to go well in New England, and Boston was the hub," said David Buskin of the trio Modern Man, which is playing at this year's festival.
     He said the many colleges here helped bolster the folk music scene from the beginning. "For Boston not to have a folk festival would be like Manassas not to do a Civil War re-enactment," Buskin said. 
     This is the eighth year for the festival, to be held on the University of Massachusetts campus in Boston and presented by folk radio station WUMB (91.9 FM). This year it features three stages with 18 acts. Regulars may notice that it will be a slightly smaller festival than in the past, with fewer stages, partly due to construction on campus, according to Pat Monteith of Randolph, executive director of the festival and general manager of the radio station. She said the festival was asked by the university to cap attendance each day at 3,000 people. Past years have brought in 7,000-8,000. And to reduce costs, the festival cut two stages and will not offer a harbor cruise. Returning to the Coffeehouse Stage this year is the wacky Modern Man, with Buskin, along with Rob Carlson and George Wurzbach. Buskin said he always enjoys playing in Boston. He played his first gig as a solo performer at Club 47 (now Club Passim) around 1970. He played here through the '70s, when he teamed up with Robin Batteau, and in the '80s, when the duo performed with Tom Rush. The thriving coffeehouses around the area keep the folk scene alive to this day. Buskin credits organizers at the Mozaic Room Coffeehouse in Avon and the Rose Garden Coffeehouse in Mansfield for bringing Modern Man to the Boston Folk Festival. "They championed us," Buskin said, laughing. "Usually after we work someone's place they don't want us at all." While Vega will close out the show on Saturday, Patty Griffin headlines on Sunday. Griffin, an engaging singer-songwriter, is a another product of the Cambridge folk scene (now from Texas), who has had her songs recorded by Emmylou Harris, Reba McEntire, the Dixie Chicks and others. Folk legend Janis Ian, known for her songs "Society's Child" and "At Seventeen," will be a first-timer. Ian has traveled the world with her music and her guitar work takes its influence from the late Chet Atkins. Festival spokeswoman (and on-air host) Marilyn Rea Beyer added that the children's area will be in full view of the main stage this year. Several musicians from New England will perform, including Stoughton's Lori McKenna, Cambridge blue-guitar player Chris Smither, the Worcester country-folk duo of Valerie & Walter Crockett and the roots group of Alastair Moock & Pastures of Plenty, from Medford. The New York-based gospel blues band Ollabelle, chosen as WUMB's Best New Artists of the Year in 2004, will return this year. Bluesman Guy Davis and Texas performer Ruthie Foster also will perform.
     Modern Man will perform courtesy of Festivals for Food, a Berkshires-based non-profit agency that raises money for local food banks. Festivals for Food also is sponsoring Work o' the Weavers, a quartet performing songs like "If I Had A Hammer," "Midnight Special," "The Sloop John B," "Goodnight, Irene," "This Land Is Your Land" and many others that were signatures of the seminal group The Weavers, formed by Pete Seeger, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman and Ronnie Gilbert in 1948. Festival organizers are asking people to bring canned and dried food for the Greater Boston Food Bank and there will be collections for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. A silent auction of items donated by performers will help support the festival. In addition, all vendors' booths will be solar powered by The Great Renewable Energy Show. "This is our audience," Monteith said. "They're very socially conscious. It's all about preserving the environment and preserving energy. It's a beautiful marriage." Other performers will include David Massengill, Maria Sangiolo, Annie Gallup, Cosy Sheridan, the group Redbird (Peter Mulvey, Kris Delmhorst, Jeffrey Foucault, and David "Goody" Goodrich) and the French Canadian traditional group Matapat, with Simon LePage and Gaston Bernard. On Sunday, Randy Parsons, of Easthampton, N.Y., winner of the 2005 Boston Folk Festival Songwriting Competition in June, will perform his winning song "Morning Sky" on the Field Stage. In addition to the music, the festival will offer dozens of craft and food vendors, from gourmet coffee and hot dogs to hand-dyed clothing and hand-crafted jewelry. Boston Folk Festival Sept. 24-25 at UMass Boston campus. Tickets: $60 for both days, or $35 each day; $10 per day for children ages 6-14; under 6 are free. Prices rise after Sept. 22. Patron tickets are $100 per day, but offer 50 people reserved blanket or chair space in front at the Field Stage. Discounted tickets are available to members of WUMB. Tickets are available at Strawberries, online at bostonfolkfestival.org or by phone at 617-287-6911. Stephen Ide may be reached at side@ledger.com.
     LOAD-DATE: September 23, 2005