SFFMC Folknik July/August 2003

Camp Harmony – Ring in the New Year 2004

Time once again to register for SFFMC's annual New Year's bash known as Camp Harmony. This 5-day music/dance/tribal meeting/party for Club members and their immediate families is brought to you by you and me and everyone who participates: first-timers, old-timers, old pros, rank beginners, little kids, old geezers, singers, musicians and dancers.

If you've never experienced this camp, maybe this is the year to try it out. If you have been to camp before, we're sure you're already gently peeling your label from the back of this Folknik and sticking it to your registration form.

When & Where and How: 2:00 pm Tuesday, Dec 30, 2003 to 2:00 pm Sunday, Jan 4, 2004 at Camps Campbell and Harmon on Hwy 9 in the Santa Cruz mountains near Boulder Creek (a map will arrive with your acceptance letter). Facilities include heated cabins for 8-16 people each, many with indoor plumbing, and your registration includes 3 full meals in the dining hall every day.

To register, you must be a current SFFMC member. Early bird registrants whose membership was current on Sept 1 get first priority. Early registrations from those who did not have a current membership on Sept 1, but who joined or rejoined after that date, are priority 2. All members' registrations postmarked after Nov 1 are priority 3. Applications are sorted by postmark date within each priority. All Priority 1 registrations are accepted before any Priority 2s and so on.

Moral: Be a member and register early; however, for the last several years, we have been able to accept everyone who has wanted to come to camp.

Cost: Registrations postmarked on or before Nov 1 qualify for the Early Bird price. The Early Bird special price for the entire camp is $260 for adults, $135 for children 3-12. The Early Bird rate for 1-4 days is $55 for adults per day, $29 per day for children. After Nov 1, the price is on a daily basis only (2:00 pm to the next 2:00 pm - 1 day), and is $61 per day for adults and $32 per day per child.

Every camper age 6-100 is expected to do one chore for every day registered as part of their payment for camp. Giving a workshop does not count as a chore. On-site registration (also known as Drop In) is $43 per day for adults, $25 per day for children, plus one chore, but does not include any meals. Some meals may be available for purchase from other campers.

Financial Assistance: Camperships are available for those who need them. The limited funds are allocated first-come, first served, so again, register early. If you are flush this year, please consider adding something to the campership fund: it's tax deductible! We reduced prices for children this year to make camp more affordable for families. Families are still eligible to take additional campership funds, if necessary. Those who need financial assistance are encouraged to register early to take advantage of the reduced price and to endure that campership funds have not run out.

Workshops: There are many places around camp for workshops and all campers are invited to share their favorite activities by leading a workshop. All songs, crafts, dance, dance calling, jams, music, stories, instrument techniques, etc., are welcome and open to all. Sign-ups for workshop times and spaces will be posted at camp, but if you have something you already want to present, contact Katie Grist at (510) 548-4727, bellelaide@aol.com for pre-camp scheduling. Contact Joan Feinberg at (510) 451-1122, jhfeinberg@juno.com if you can offer a beginning workshop in any instrument or if you can loan an instrument for beginners to try at camp.

Special Needs: For concerns about health, diet restrictions, or limited access, contact Ray Frank (530) 756-7089 ray@muircommons.org. Families are welcome! Please contact Mary Luckhardt (510) 233-5065, mary@luckhardt.com, to find out about special housing arrangements.

About those Chores: Camp Harmony is a community-organized and volunteer effort. This means so that camp can happen, every attendee over age 6 must commit to doing one organized chore for every day registered. e have even designed some special chores for campers aged 6-11. Most adult chores require a one-hour commitment, but some chores (such as coffee making) cover a longer period of time and allow more flexibility. Some of the more onerous chores, such as parking lot duty and end of camp cleanup, count for more than one chore slot. Staying late on the last day of camp to help with clean up for 2-3 hours will fulfill your full-camp chore requirement. Contact Mary Luckhardt (510) 233-5065, mary@luckhardt.com, to reserve one of these special chore slots!

The Rules: As usual, NO PETS are allowed at camp. In keeping with all SFFMC events, computers, cell phones, beeping watches and other electronic noisemakers are strongly discouraged at camp. Help keep camp beep-free. Please don't save beds or cabins for folks arriving later. All camp activities are open to all campers, so please don't teach activates which exclude anyone. No outdoor shoes on the dance floor, please.

Button Making: Start Harmony early. Come to Mary Luckhardt's house in Richmond (510) 233-5065, , on Tuesday, Dec 2 for the pot-luck button making party. Make a custom name button for yourself, and help produce the 400 buttons we need for camp.

Finally: Please join us for a wonderful camp and a joyous beginning to the New Year.

Fold-In/Folk Sing : October 26
The fold-in is at noon, Sunday, Oct 26, at the home of Abe & Joan Feinberg.

The more, the merrier – to help with the Folknik, enjoy a meal afterwards, and to make music. Bring a potluck dish and instruments.

Calling All Songwriters: Members of the SFFMC have been cordially invited to enter the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. The contest started in 1997 and welcomes original entries in twelve different genres by both amateur and professional songwriters. Prizes include cash, equipment and contracts and there will be a total of 120 winners.

Visit the contest website, www.jlsc.com, for more information on the contest and to download an application (or upload your entry as an MP3 file). The deadline to enter is September 28, 2003.

Musical Meetings

Musical meetings of the San Francisco Folk Music Club are held every other Friday at 885 Clayton Street, between Carl and Parnassus Streets in San Francisco. Singing and jamming in three separate rooms start at 8:00 p.m. Snacks are provided through $1 food kitty donations or finger food contributions. Guests are always welcome, no one is expected to “perform”, and there is no charge.

“There is no standard set for the singing here, but we set a very high standard in listening.”

-- motto of the Góilín Traditional Singer's Club, Dublin, Ireland

Date	September 5*	September 19	October 3	October 17	October 31
Setup	Faith	Melissa Sarenac	Ken Hayes	Faith	Melissa Sarenac
Bulletin Board	Debbie Klein	Dean and June	Estelle Friedman	Faith	Estelle Friedman
Host/ess	Marisa Malvino	Grey Boutsikaris	Ed Hilton	Marisa Malvino	Alison Pryle
Host/ess	Faith	Phil Morgan	Shirley Baker	Carolyn Jayne	Debbie Klein
Singing Room	Phil Morgan	Melissa Sarenac	Ken Hayes	Chuck Oakes	Dean & June
Theme	Lost & Found	The Sky & the Sea	Substance Abuse	Justice For All	Ghosts, Goblins & Orange
Cleanup	Chuck Oakes	Don Murdock	John Kelly	Joe Lavelle	John Kelly

*September 5th we celebrate Faith’s 88th birthday! Her actual birthday is the 13th but she’ll be away, so . . . . She asks, “No big deal this year–just the usual gathering of friends making music together.”

NEXT FOLKNIK FOLD-IN: Noon, Sunday, Oct 26, at the home of Abe & Joan Feinberg.

Board Meetings

The SFFMC board meets on the second Tuesday of each month—potluck at 6:30 p.m., meeting at 8:00 p.m. All Club members are welcome to attend the potluck dinner and the Board meeting.

September 9: Marian Gade’s house
October 14: Phil Morgan’s

Club News

Kay Eskenazi, one of our folknik song editors, has just published a beautiful book of rounds from four centuries and half a dozen regions: “Pass it Around! Rounds from the Soul of the World.”For more information see www.PassItAround.org or email songbook@PassItAround.org.
From their holiday in Europe Dean and June Howard send greetings from the Music Museum in Stockholm (stockholm.music.museum), an institution which not only gives the history of Swedish music but displays instruments such as the dulcimer, harp, hurdy gurdy and others for visitors to play. They also went to a great folk instrument museum in Kaunas, Lithuania.
We’re completing our series on folk clubs in the British Isles with Bev and Jerry Praver’s report on English folk clubs. See the July-August folknik for their report on Irish folk clubs, Peter Ross’s report on Ed Miller’s folk tours of Scotland, and Estelle Friedman’s report on Dublin’s An Góilín.

Erik Wikner sends greetings from Portland—see his letter on page 3. Also on that page, see Julie Bidoux’s article on The Raging Grannies of the East Bay, who are looking for singers and an accompanist.
Did you lose something at the July 4 Campout? The lost and found list is on page 3.
The San Francisco World Music Festival is looking for folks to help pass out flyers before concerts September 4-18. To sign up, call (415) 861-2434 or email yafonne@doordog.org. This year’s Festival features Tuvan throat singers Chirgilchin and Kamchatkan folk dancers and musicians Elvel. For more information see www.sfworldmusicfestival.org.

To announce a marriage, a baby, a new CD, special gigs or events, instruments for sale, or other similar news, e-mail jmkelly@ieee.org.

English Folk Clubs

In May 2003 we visited six folk clubs in Cornwall and Devon, England, and on two previous trips we went to several clubs in London and other parts of England. Folk clubs in England are as varied as they are in the U.S., with some specializing in blues or bluegrass and others restricted to traditional English music. Many of them meet every week, and some every other week or once a month. They almost invariably meet in the back room or upstairs in a pub and beer is plentiful, but non-alcoholic drinks are also commonly consumed. This year we noted that most clubs do not permit smoking or at least separate smokers from non-smokers.

Many clubs have guests either all the time or some of the time. When there is a guest, it is a concert situation, usually consisting of two sets with a short break in between for filling glasses and emptying bladders. Each set is usually introduced by a few songs from club regulars called residents or from floor singers who have arranged with the club leader to perform.
On nights when there are no guests, the club leader calls on people to come up in front and perform or, if it's a small group, they may just sing from their seats. There's usually a small entrance fee even when there's no guest and maybe a raffle or two to help supplement the admissions when there is a guest.

One night we went to the Bodmin Folk Club to see a concert by Ryburn 3 Step, which consists of six people who play more instruments than the average music store contains. Before the concert and during the break, some of the performers were on the small stage jamming with anyone who cared to join in.

There were almost always some people who sang unaccompanied and others who accom-panied themselves or played tunes.
In every case we found the people to be very friendly, and we were made quite welcome. We generally arrived early to get a good seat and to meet the club leader and let them know that we sing. We were then called upon just like anyone else. Listeners are also quite welcome and there is no pressure to perform if you don't want to.

In England, folk clubs are easy to find. Go to your favorite search engine and type in “folk club” followed by the name of an English county such as Cornwall. Many clubs have their own web sites, and there are lists of clubs, such as:
www.barrattfolk.co.uk/html/clubs.html, which is mostly about Devon;
homepage.ntlworld.com/hazelmere, which covers Exmoor and environs (southwest England);
www.whatson.brighton.co.uk/folk, which is mostly Sussex;
web.ukonline.co.uk/martin.nail/regional.htm which covers most of England; and
www.users.waitrose.com/~cresby, the ever-popular Mr. Red's site.

You can also inquire on the Mudcat discussion group at www.mudcat.org/threads.cfm.
If you're planning a trip to England, plan to attend some folk clubs. Besides hearing some wonderful music you'll meet a lot of really nice people and maybe even make some lifelong friends. --Bev and Jerry Praver

Greetings from Portland !!

I was reading through the online folknik and saw the staff listing. It's been quite a while. How are things going down there?
I moved to the Portland, Oregon, area in 1995, after retiring from the federal government. Worked in computers for a while, retiring again last year, this time from the State of Oregon. Will take a third retirement next year, when I qualify for early Social Security (time flies when you're having fun). I really will stop working now (well, except maybe to finish that “great American novel” in the closet).

Decided recently to get back to playing music, so I dusted off the dulcimer, guitar, 12-string, and autoharp. Even started a little didgeridoo, pennywhistle, mandolin, keyboard, etc. A bit rusty, but I've been able to bumble through a song or two.

To get more involved with local music, I joined the board of the Portland Folklore Society, and in January (2003) took on editing our newsletter Local Lore, a bimonthly like the folknik. Am really enjoying working on it.

The online version of the folknik is great. Appreciated the notice on "Woodsongs Old-Time Radio", which I had never heard of before. Watched their terrific 90-minute video with Jean Ritchie. (Hooray for broadband Internet!!) Noticed that one of our Music Page editors (Barbara Millikan) also edits music for folknik. Small world. Barbara also knows a lot of the usual suspects in California, having lived down there herself for a time.
Best regards, and say “Hi” to all. --Eric Wikner

Hootenanny Night

The Hoot takes a two-month vacation in September and October—Café International will be closed in September, and the October Hoot will be pre-empted by the wedding of impresario Richard Rice and Lisa Whitman. The Hoot will return in November for its second anniversary show. For more information contact Richard Rice at (415) 775-0221, equalrice@yahoo.com, or visit sfhootenanny.homestead.com.

Folk Gold Discovered

If you’re looking for authentic folk music collected in California, try “California Gold” at the Library of Congress, on the web at memory.loc.gov/ammem/afccchtml/cowhome.html. Here are more than 800 songs collected by Sidney Robertson Cowell, a San Francisco native who worked with Charles Seeger, John A. Lomax and Frank C. Brown, and returned in 1938 to document the music of California for the Work Projects Administration.

The result is a collection you can browse for hours: sound recordings, transcriptions of songs, and photographs and even mechanical drawings of instruments of a dozen ethnic groups, collected all over the Bay Area and the Central Valley.

Raging Grannies seek singers, accompanist

The now-forming Raging Grannies of the East Bay are looking for singers and an accompanist who plays guitar, accordion or some other supporting instrument. The Raging Grannies are part of an international group, started in Canada, now with a growing number of chapters in the US and Europe, who sing new words with political content to well-known old melodies urging people to vote (we also have a voter registration crew) and to work for peace, justice and positive action.We write our own words, sometimes think-tank style, dress up in long skirts and beflowered hats, and sing at festivals, flea markets, on the street, anywhere we can, and also have fun!

Meetings are held at the Gray Panther office, 1403 Addison Street, Berkeley (near Sacramento—the entrance is in the parking lot behind Andronico's).You don’t have to be a real granny! Call Julie Bidoux at (510) 845-5183. --Julie Bidoux

Lost and Found from July 4 Campout

Instruments for Sale

Oud: Syrian-made oud by Georgie Nahat 1958, $500. Call Victor at Cafe Kaldi in San Rafael at (415) 457-6562.

Harp: Stoney End brand portable floor harp. Approximately 4 feet tall, 39 strings. Model is Lorraine, with custom sharping levers for C-F-G; $999 cash (includes padded carrying case). Call Merilee in San Rafael at (415) 258-9257.

Sea Music Concert Series:

San Francisco's Maritime National Historic Park presents its annual Sea Music Concert Series at Hyde Street Pier. Experience rare evenings of sailor's songs, sweet ballads and working chanteys, all reverberating from the wooden decks of an historic vessel. A vital and vibrant San Francisco traditional music celebration, the 15th annual Sea Music Concert Series presents a line-up of renowned sea music musicians and vocalists.

September 27: Tom Lewis. A 24-year veteran of the British Submarine Service, he brings a wealth of experience and authenticity to traditional chanteys and songs out of his own seafaring background. Born in Northern Ireland and now living in British Columbia, he accompanies himself on button accordion and ukulele.

October 18: Mystic Seaport Forebitter. Craig Edwards, Geoff Kaufman, and Rick Spencer blend intricate harmonies, a cappella singing, banjo, concertina, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, whistles and percussion into a fun and lively evening.

November 15: William Pint and Felicia Dale. They perform traditional and modern music and "songs reflecting the immense vitality of those who live and work on the sea." The energetic couple captivates audiences with vocals and guitar, mandola, Irish pennywhistles, percussion and the hurdy gurdy.

December 12: Alasdair Fraser. His richly expressive playing ranges from haunting laments from the Gaelic tradition to classically styled airs, raucous dance tunes and improvisations based on traditional themes. His repertoire spans several centuries of Scottish music and includes his own compositions.

Concerts take place aboard the pier's historic vessels at 8:00pm. Tickets range from $12 to $14, with season tickets for $40 each. Seating is limited and purchasing tickets in advance is recommended. For tickets, please call 415-561-6662. Tickets are also available at the Maritime Store, 2905 Hyde Street, 415-775-2665. More information at www.nps.gov.safr.concert.html.

Halloween Concerts:

Local folksinger and autoharp Adam Miller presents two free family concerts of traditional and not-so-traditional Halloween songs. The concerts are presented by libraries for the general public. Bring the kids and come sing along.

Tues., Oct 28, 7:30pm, San Carlos Library, 610 Elm Street, San Carlos, CA 94070, (650) 591-0341
Wed., Oct 29, 7:00pm, Brentwood Library, 751 Third Street, Brentwood, CA 94513, (925) 634-4101.

New Website on Sam Hinton:

Golden Apple Design of Amsterdam recently launched a new website, www.samhinton.org, devoted to the career of folksinger, folklorist, aquariologist, educator and author Sam Hinton. Hinton, 86, a longtime resident of La Jolla, California, is one of the most respected folk singers in the world and has recorded some 12 albums.

www.samhinton.org contains vintage photos, biographical information and a discography of Hinton's recording, as well as information on how to order albums still in print. Cooper (website designer and husband of Hinton's granddaughter, Katrina Hinton-Cooper) explains "I want to include absolutely everything I can that relates to Sam's career. Every day we receive letters from people who have just visited the site and they all pretty much say the same thing: that Sam has had a profound positive effect on their lives." Fans and friends and invited to contribute photographs, stories, drawings, and songs. Send submissions to webmaster@samhinton.org

Farmer's Market String Band Contest:

Announcing the Berkeley Farmer's Market String Band Convention on Sept. 27, 11am to 3pm! It features the contest and community dance with caller Evie Ladin.

Musicians of all ages and both old-time and bluegrass string bands are encouraged to enter the contest. Teachers are encouraged to bring students to perform as a group. Registration begins at 10:30am and the contest runs from 11am to about 2:30, and the dance runs from 2:30 to 3:00. The Saturday Berkeley Farmer's Market takes place in the Civic Center Park on Center Street between Milvia and MLK Jr Way. It's one block from the downtown Berkeley BART station, and easily accessible by bus. There is no entry fee, but the contest is limited to 15 bands. Bands can enter via email, snail mail, or during registration time on the contest day. Prizes go to the first three placeholders and all participants receive a souvenir Berkeley Farmer's Market pint glass; judges will also award certificates of encouragement to young contestants.
To pre-register, email the information below to: kirk@ecologycenter.org or mail it to: Attn: Kirk, Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley CA 94702.

For information and contest rules call: (510) 548-2220, ext. 227.
1. Band Name; 2. Number of members and instrumentation (including vocals) This can be tentative info. 3. Band's contact person, area code and phone number and email address.

Otter Opry Concert Series:

Check out the lineup at the world famous Otter Opry in Santa Cruz. It offers regular concerts of world class bluegrass from all over. Concerts take place at the United Methodist Church, 250 California Street in Santa Cruz. The next few are:
Sept 13: 7:30pm, Earthquake Country and All Wrecked Up
Oct 11: 7:30pm, Ron Spears & Within Tradition
For more information on these and other shows, please call (831) 338-0618.