Philly Folk Parade at the Fire in May

There are two more weeks of this great event left:

~ 4 Nights, 28 bands
~ 7 bands a night ~ Front stage/back stage = continuous music!
~ 9 PM SHARP ~ lots to do
~ sponsored by Yuengling = plenty o beer
~ 7 bucks - a dollar a band

FEATURING PERFORMANCES BY ~~~~~~~~~~~

Cowmuddy, Hezekiah Jones, Johnny Miles and the Waywards, Sisters3, The Doublewides, Hoots and Hellmouth, Josh Park, Hey Nude Friend I'm Tired, Jim Boggia, The Spinning Leaves, Wissahickon Chicken Shack, Andrew Lipke, Up the Chain, Chris Kasper, Brittany Ann, The Matt Helm Scream, The Great Unknown, The Phil D'Agostino Quintet, Shannon Pelcher, Psalmships, Birdie Busch, Daniel of the Moonlight, Jack Ohly, Sean Hoots, Spirit and Dust, Joe Duffey and his Underwater Window Garden, and some Special Mystery Guests!!!

18th hosted by Chris Kasper
25th hosted by Hezekiah Jones

the rest of each night is a mystery, ya dig.................

Hope to see ya there!!!!!! Bring someone who never comes!!!! We all need to meet someone new ~


The Philly Folk Parade is a sounding bell of human musical freedom and a celebration of brotherly love! Made of the intermingling inspirations and revelry of 30 to 40 Philadelphia artists, it is absolutely alive with the sounds of people power - a stage busting full of stomps, claps, choirs, and movement. The Philly Folk Parade is organized around the premise that building community empowers everyone, and to that end, the collective is responsible for a series of large concerts and a tour with the aim of showcasing to the world the incredibly vibrant music scene of Philadelphia and the flourishing new folk movement blooming in its streets.

Taken from the Philly Folk Parade Facebook event

Chris Kasper tribute to John Lennon

The Beatles had their first British hit (Love Me Do) in 1962. Eighteen years later, one half of their timeless writing partnership was assassinated in New York City. Amazingly, it has now been twenty-nine years since John Lennon's death, but his impact on popular music is still profound. To commemorate this tragedy, top Philadelphia singer-songwriter Chris Kasper has recorded a cover of Lennon's "Mother" and posted it to his Myspace page.

The Beatles group and solo influence is so diverse, with everyone from heavy metal to country acts drawing inspiration from their catalogue. Acoustic music aficionados can point to such song's as "Blackbird" and "Cry Baby Cry." They would also do well to look to the first solo albums by both Lennon and McCartney. McCartney's eponymous effort is a stripped down offering that produced such classics as "Maybe I'm Amazed" and "That Would Be Something"; it's no coincidence that this album was the most heavily featured in McCartney's landmark appearance on the MTV series Unplugged.

Lennon's debut solo album (discounting experimental earlier offerings) was the brilliant Plastic Ono Band LP. Featuring Ringo Starr on drums and Klaus Voormann (designer of the Beatles' Revolver cover and a friend of Lennon's since the band's Hamburg days) on bass, the album was a raw and personal effort, heavily influenced by Lennon's experiments with primal scream therapy. Plastic Ono Band features an acoustic player's favorite in "Working Class Hero" and the sublime "God" before culminating in "Mother."

"Mother" is a deeply personal exploration of Lennon's feelings towards his mother, who died in 1958 (two years after McCartney lost his own mother, a shared experience that would bond the two young musicians). Kasper's version of the song looks more toward the version on Lennon's anthology, forsaking the album version's driving piano for a more subtle acoustic guitar. The result is a subdued but still powerful tribute to the great songwriter by one of the preeminent names of the Philly acoustic music scene.

Listen to it while you can: myspace.com/chriskasper.

Upcoming Kasper gig in Philly:
December 26th at the Tin Angel (with the Great Unknown)

Chris Kasper on TV

Chris Kasper video, "The Treehouse" from his new album Chasing Another Sundown

Chris Kasper, Birdie Busch, and Carsie Blanton at the Philadelphia Art Alliance

The Philadelphia Art Alliance is one of my favorite venues in Philadelphia. They have a several galleries of artwork in a large 19th-century mansion on Rittenhouse Square and host free play readings and several music events each month. Unfortunately, the venue is generally used just for jazz or classical shows. (There’s a great free string quartet recital the last Friday of every month.) I was delighted when i saw on their calendar an XPN-sponsored event featuring three excellent local acoustic acts: Chris Kasper, Birdie Busch, and Carsie Blanton. It was while listening to their three well executed sets in a beautiful acoustic setting that i first thought, “i’d like to cover this great local music scene.”

If i remember correctly (this was about a month ago, my motivation did not directly follow my inspiration... too often the case), Carsie went first. Both her and Birdie Busch were accompanied by an excellent guitarist whose name i forget [update: he is Ross Bellenoit, and as one comment noted, "he's the sh*t]. Carsie plays an excellent subdued finger-picking style of acoustic guitar, best exemplified on her song “Ain’t So Green,” from her album of the same name. I had that song stuck in my head for about a fortnight afterwards. (You can listen to that song on her myspace site.) The first time i saw her it was in a loud bar, and her quiet solo acoustic set was drowned out. I don’t know her personally, but she has a humble, somewhat meek stage demeanor that begs for a venue like this where she will be the center of attention.

Birdie Busch, a longtime stalwart of the Philly acoustic scene, turned things up slightly with an attractive large body electric guitar. There wasn’t any song particular that stood out, but this was partly due to the generally excellent sound of the set.

I was most looking forward to seeing Chris Kasper in this setting. I’ve been seeing Kasper play for years, in such long-forgotten groups as PoCKet ScHwa and the Whiskey Dicks, and more recently in the excellent urbangrass band, the Lowlands. For a long time his solo shows were just that: him and an acoustic guitar. After a tour with Amos Lee he began increasingly to play with supporting musicians. He has put together an excellent cast of players and they serve him well at the larger venues he now plays, but I was hoping this set would be a return to his solo roots.

Kasper instead chose to play with his whole band, but kept a generally low key sound (the drummer used brushes). A young and talented female singer whose name i forget [update: her name was Dawn Iulg] took Adrien Reju’s singing parts. The set was mostly composed of songs from his older album, the excellent Flying Boy, including two favorites of mine: "And You Wait" and "Gone the Summer." I spoke to Chris after the show and he said the songs from his new album (released May 17 with a party at the World Cafe) were more upbeat and fitting for louder venues. In any case, Kasper is a real ambassador for Philly acoustic music and his new album is as eagerly anticipated as his last is warmly appreciated. He helped inspire this site.


Carsie Blanton singing "Ain't So Green" (live version)