...One woman saw visions--of movies that haven't been made yet! Who comes up with new ideas for films, anyway? And why hasn't anyone made films of my favorite novels and historical figures yet, not to mention fresh remakes of earlier cinematic...
What's the difference between Bumbershoot Arts Festival and the Northwest Folklife Festival? They're both held in Seattle, and at the same venue (the Seattle Center, in the shadow of the infamous Space Needle), after all. Well...Bumbershoot: 1) is...
Liam Clancy, guitarist and singer with The Clancy Brothers and Makem & Clancy, has been among my favorite folk artists during most of my life. I created this page for him after his passing in 2009.
Seattle's annual Hempfest is about marijuana and hemp products; but it's not just about toking up and selling products to help you get stoned. This is a large, well-organized yearly event, usually held at Myrtle Edwards Park (with a gorgeous view of...
A crazy thing happens in Seattle during the Summer Solstice every year. Thousands of people gather in the Fremont neighborhood to watch a parade that includes political floats, naked bicyclists, and giant puppets on stilts. Buskers perform among...
In my adventures in world music, I have sampled many of the world's musical traditions. I've been active in Irish and other Celtic musics for more than 25 years. More recently, thanks to the ecstatic inspiration of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, I...
Seattle's Northwest Folklife Festival has now been around for 40 years; and I have attended, performed, busked, volunteered and won Band Scramble contests at this festival every year since 1991. Folklife is one of the biggest festivals dedicated to...
Seattle's own World Rhythm Festival will next be erupting across the Seattle Center on April 5-6, 2014--its 21st consecutive year!--and anyone within driving distance who owns anything resembling a drum, rattle or tambourine simply must not miss it....
Who was Tommy Makem? He seemed to go through numerous incarnations and redefinitions. He was the son of ballad singer Sarah Makem and fiddler Peter Makem, heads of a household frequented by American folklorists and folksong collectors. He was the...
I grew up in both Rockville, Maryland and Frederick, Maryland; and spent the majority of my youth in Frederick. Hence, I was exposed to a certain amount of historical lore and folktales about the city and county of Frederick--some the sort of thing...
I have been busking on the streets of Seattle off and on since 2001, and doing a little bit of street music before then. Seattle is one of the more busker-friendly cities in the United States, with a fair number of legal places to perform, and loads...
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan has been described as Pakistan's finest cultural and artistic export. He was countless people's first introduction to Qawwali music, a tradition of ecstatic singing and musical improvisation associated with South Asian Sufism...