FolkNotes
By ED McKEON, Special to The Herald
May 16, 2003

You can almost smell festival season. Sun block. Blossom-scented breezes. Barbecue. Mid-May is when the lineups come together for all the major festivals.

The granddadddy of all New England folk festivals is, of course, the Newport Folk Festival (with its corporate header, it�s the Apple and Eve Newport Folk Festival).

After last year�s re-appearance by Bob Dylan for the first time in 30 years, we�ve all been wondering how the festivalproducers could top that.

The lineup at Newport is stellar, perhaps the best ever, including, Aimee Mann, Alison Brown, Angelique Kidjo, Ani DiFranco, The Armerdings , Eliza Gilkyson. Ellis Paul, Erin McKeown, the Georgia Sea Island Singers, Guy Clark, Jackie Greene , Jimmy LaFave, Joe Ely, John Herald, John Hiatt, John Prine, Kim Richey, Kris Delmhorst, Lyle Lovett, The Mammals, Mark Erelli, Mary Gauthier, Michael Fracasso, Nickel Creek, Precious Bryant, Rachael Davis, Ray Bonneville, Sam Bush, Slaid Cleaves, Susan Gibson, TiftMerritt, The Waifs and others.

In addition, the festival is taking a dip into star-search reality programming in the search for the "next big singer-songewriter." The festival is accepting video or DVD performance videos up until July 15. The winner will perform on the main stage. The festival runs the weekend of Aug. 15. For more info on the festival, visit www.festivalproductions.net.

Closer to home, and in fact, just around the calendar corner, is the Strawberry Park Bluegrass Festival and the Blast from the Bayou at Strawberry Park in Preston, just west of Norwich. The Bluegrass Festivaltakes place May 29 through June 1 with Del McCoury, Sam Bush, Tim O�Brien, Rhonda Vincent, Peter Rowan, Tony Rice, Dale Ann Bradley & Coon Creek, Gibson Brothers, Dry Branch Fire Squad, Northern Lights and others.

The Bayou Festfeatures Geno Delafose, Beausoleil, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Natalie MacMaster, The Derailers, Step Rideau, The Jambalaya Cajun Band, D.L. Menard, Chris Ardoin, Charivari, Keith Frank and others and takes place June 6, 7 and 8. For info visit www.strawberrypark.net.

A great midsummer festival takes place in Greenfield, Mass., on July 18 and 19, when the Green River Festival continues its reputation of bringing eclectic, interesting talent together in the heat.

This year festival guests include the Asylum Street Spankers, Balfa Toujours, Terrance Simien, They Might Be Giants, Patty Griffin, Brave Combo, Chip Taylor and Carrier Rodriguez, Slaid Cleaves and Kris Delmhorst, among others. Festival info isavailable at www.greenriverfestival.com.

If you can�t think of anything better than to spend four days with Fred Eaglesmith and several hundred Fredheads, you�ll want to plan to be in Bellows Falls,Vt., from June 5 to 8 for the annual Fred Fest, featuring Fred and his band in a number of combinations and special guests including Robbie Fulks, Amy Rigby, The Resophonics, the Laws, Mary McBride, Jeremy Wallace and many more, plus the ever-popular street hockey tournament. For more madnessand info visit www.flyingundertheradar.com.

This week there are a couple of notable entertainments at the Iron Horse in Northampton, including a Saturday visit by Luka Bloom, an evening of Irish fiddle with Eileen Ivers on Sunday, Linda and Teddy Thompson on Monday and a warm-up for his international tour by Beck on Thursday (this one sold out in three hours).

REVIEW: Feathermerchants -- "Unarmed Against the Dark" (Innocent 12th Street).

Usually it�s trouble when your lead singer takes a powder, but for Feathermerchants the arrival of new vocalist Shannon Kennedy has injected a powerful dynamic and the band has avoided a sophomore slump after its superb debut.

Her voice is lovely, expressive and versatile. While the band has shed none of its exoticism, Kennedy�s ability to handle sultry pop vocals has allowed main songwriter Pete Veru to hand her songs of subtle passion while the band arrangements veer from deep roots grooves to impossible-to-forget hooks.

As always, the melodies are complex and original, the words veering on the mystical and the deft production touch of Jim Chapdelaine (who is also lead guitarist and player of all things stringed) is subtle and rich without ever losing track of the vital backbone of each song.

While Veru shoulders the majority of the songwriting, delivering songs of dark mystery with a deep rhythmic pulse (aided by the insistent drumming of Jon Peckman), the rest of the band tries their hand at composition as well.

Chapdelaine offers a sparkling pop sensibility, Kennedy�s "Daffodils" is smoky dance-floor ballad, and Peckman leads the band on a dark journey down a path filled with exotic rhythms and found sounds.

This is one worth listening to repeatedly, because it reveals its splendors slowly and deliciously.

Ed McKeon hosts a folk, roots and Americana radio show each Wednesday from6 to 9 a.m. on WWUH, 91.3 FM.

website
www.feathermerchants.com