Join the Philadelphia Folksong Society for a getaway weekend back at the beloved Camp Green Lane, filled with workshops, song circles, sings, and jams in a beautiful lake-side setting! Reconnect with music and nature in a welcoming and creative community.

2022 Fall Fling at Camp Green Lane

PFS Presents Philly Songwriters in The Round – Hosted by Aaron & Avi

Featuring: Adam Monaco, Chana Rothman, Valentina Sounds

and Avi Wisnia

       Thursday, October 6th, 2022
  Doors 7pm | Music 7:30pm
            $15 Members | $18 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Streaming

Come experience a unique showcase of incredible songs, storytelling, collaboration and community. Avi Wisnia & Aaron Nathans host a monthly concert in the round where 4 talented songwriters take turns performing an eclectic variety of songs. The artists reveal the stories behind their songs, while also speaking to the unique perspective that comes with having strong connections to the Philadelphia music scene.

The Artists:

Adam Monaco – makes songs for the human spirit. His music is lush and colorfully melodic. Lyrically, his work is personal, deep, sometimes funny, and often evocative. Adam’s performance resonates so authentically with listeners that it’s not unusual to find a handful of people in tears before Adam lifts the audience back up with some friendly commentary or well-placed comedic relief.

Chana Rothman – is a Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter. She has traveled and performed internationally from Berlin to Cape Town to Tel Aviv. Chana plays guitar and has recently been composing on the ukulele, often commissioned to write songs for young people. Her most recent song, Grow, can be heard at Jewish summer camps across North America. Currently she enjoys engaging in local projects, having recently completed RealWomenRealSongs Season 3, a song-a-week community songwriting challenge spanning a year.

PFS Presents Marion Halliday & Roger Street Friedman

      Saturday, October 8th, 2022
  Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm
            $10 Members | $12 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Streaming

About Marion Halliday

Marion Halliday, a native Kentuckian now living in Philadelphia PA, is proud purveyor of her own special blend of bluegrass and bourbon-infused, original, women-powered, Americana. While she has been a professional singer for many years, Marion only began focusing on her songwriting in 2016. She released her debut solo album Rings Around Saturn on July 1, 2019 and in its first month, both the album and Marion (as artist) were ranked #3 on the US/International Folk DJ charts (data compiled by Folk Alliance International); Marion was also #3 artist that month and had two songs in the top 10.

Marion has great breadth as a songwriter. She has found inspiration, for example, in the history of her new home-town, writing a range of songs that touch on Philly’s rich and varied past. This includes songs about an escaped convict from Eastern State Pen, the forlorn beauty of Laurel Hill Cemetery, the statue to the Lenape in Wissahickon Park, and the revolutionary war memorial at Washington Square, among others. Through her “Philly Songs Project,” Marion is available for special programs in schools and organizations around Philly that might wish to have her share with audiences interesting and historical tales through the medium of her beautiful, Philly-oriented original music.

Marion has also written songs on more universal, contemporary topics such as domestic abuse, gun violence, suicide, and the scourge of heroin and meth addiction ravaging our country. Lastly, Marion’s music also includes amusing reflections on the challenges of relationships, as well as an abiding love of bourbon.

About Roger Street Friedman

Roger Street Friedman is an award winning singer-songwriter based in Sea Cliff, NY. His critically acclaimed 2017 album Shoot The Moon reached #2 on the Roots Music Report Americana Country Album Chart. The album recalls the singer-songwriter tradition of Marc Cohn, Randy Newman, Warren Zevon, Mark Knopfler and Robbie Robertson. Roger’s song “Sun Never Sets” is being used in human rights curriculum in universities and high schools in the Northeast. Roger’s live shows are infused with emotion and will make you laugh and maybe even shed a happy tear. He’s a frequent performer on the music festival circuit and actively tours with his band. Roger’s third full-length album, Rise, produced by the Grammy-winning Larry Campbell (known for his work with Bob Dylan, Levon Helm, David Bromberg, Hot Tuna and more) will be out this spring.

“One moment he’s turning out harmonically rich Paul Simon-esque art-folk; the next he’s digging into the kind of good ‘n’ greasy Americana groove John Hiatt would kill for.”—Jim Allen, CultureSonar

PFS Presents Michael Braunfeld, Andrew Delaney & Kate Klim

       Sunday, October 9th, 2022
  Doors 6:30pm | Music 7pm
            $15 Members | $18 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Streaming

About the Artists:

Michael Braunfeld

is, first and foremost, a storyteller. His songs capture the everyday triumphs and struggles of ordinary people. His characters – though trapped in the particular circumstances of their own lives – appeal to a universal audience.  Michael was welcomed into the Writers Night Family at The Bluebird Cafe in 2014 and was named a finalist in the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition in 2016, 2018 and 2019. From sold out listening rooms to main stages at festivals, whether solo or with his band, the Boneyard Hounds, Michael is delighting old fans and winning over new audiences at every stop.

Recorded at MorningStar Studios outside of Philadelphia, Driver was co-produced by two time GRAMMY® winner Glenn Barratt, and Kyle Swartzwelder. With help from the Boneyard Hounds and some of the best studio musicians in the area, Michael Braunfeld has made the record that he has always wanted to make. From stripped down folk to full-on rock and roll, there is a little bit of everything Michael is known for on the LP. Simply put, there is something for everyone on Driver.

A unique, triple threat artist at the height of his craft, Michael Braunfeld is writing his best songs yet. And onstage, he is a commanding presence. Whether creating compelling everyman characters out of whole cloth, mining his personal history, or addressing topical issues, Michael’s performances combine a powerful guitar style with a seemingly endless supply of urgency. And he has a pretty sneaky sense of humor too.

Andrew Delaney

is an unorthodox singer /songwriter, storyteller, and producer from Arlington, TX. He has spent the last few years touring throughout the U.S. and winning numerous awards and accolades for his writing, as well as having his songs performed and recorded by other artists. Legendary folk DJ Rich Warren once called him “The Alfred Hitchcock of singer/songwriters”. His songs are informed as much by the lyrics-as-literature styles of Tom Waits and James McMurtry as they are by the camp and audacity of The Rocky Horror Picture Show; and are notable for their wit, candor, and often their dark humor. He sells them on the internet for about a dollar.

Delaney has been writing songs since he was eleven years old, when he produced a demo of terrible middle school country tunes. He has made few missteps since then, however, creating a slew of quality albums like Whatever Still Remains (2018), The Escape Artist (2017), and Stricken, Smitten, & Afflicted (2015). His newest album, The Villain is Right! (2021) finds Andrew wandering further afield from his twangy, folky beginnings and embracing electric guitars and sweeping strings.

The Villain is Right! is a co-production by Andrew Delaney and Justin Farren, recorded during Covid-19 quarantine in the summer of 2020. Contributing musicians Emerald Rae, Josh Blue, and Tracy Walton recorded their own parts remotely from their homes in Vermont, Texas, and Connecticut; and then sent them to Farren in Sacramento, CA to be mixed. On The Villain is Right!, Delaney leans into his awkward, nerdy life experience and doesn’t shy away from making jokes in serious moments. The end result is not so much comedic as it is charmingly absurdist.

Andrew has toured extensively all over the U.S., playing listening rooms, festivals, and house concerts where his heavy-to-hilarious storytelling elevates his already engaging catalog of songs. Aside from music, Delaney has dabbled in filmmaking (his music video / short horror film “Howard” was an official selection at the 2017 H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland, OR) and stand-up comedy.

Kate Klim

was five years old when her family inherited a piano, 9 years old when she received her first lesson, and 11 years old when an unsuccessful audition for the film “Life with Mikey” caused her to rethink her planned career as a movie star.

This was fortunate, because the singer/songwriter the Boston Herald has called a “best bet for folk-pop stardom” then turned to music.

With roots in Illinois and Pennsylvania, Kate discovered her parents’ record collection early. She fell in love with iconic songwriters like Carole King, Paul Simon, Billy Joel and Neil Young, but also with her mother’s stack of Motown 45s and classic 80s artists like Cyndi Lauper and Tina Turner. (She will forever have a soft spot for the Bangles, and her first official “cover song” was performed at seven years old – a very passionate rendition of Don Henley’s “Heart of the Matter” delivered after a falling out with her then 6-year-old sister.) While Kate had been tinkering with melodies since she was a toddler, as she grew up they evolved into full-fledged songs and by college she found herself majoring in songwriting at Boston’s acclaimed Berklee College of Music. It was here that Kate worked on her skills as a writer and performer, and became involved with the music community known for producing icons like Bob Dylan, Tracy Chapman, Patty Griffin, and many more. Within a few years of her debut as a singer/songwriter, she was opening for artists like Shawn Colvin, Lucy Kaplansky, and Richard Shindell and a regular on stages like Club Passim and Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe.

Kate has been recognized by some of the country’s premier songwriting contests. She won the 2010 Kerrville New Folk competition, was selected as an Emerging Artist by the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. She has also been a finalist in the Mountain Stage Newsong Contest (as Kate puts it, “if you need to lose a song contest to someone, you could do worse than Ingrid Michaelson”), the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, and Telluride Troubadour Competition, among others.

Her first release “Up and Down and Up Again” was created with the help of renowned producer Crit Harmon (Martin Sexton, Susan Werner, Lori McKenna), and was dubbed a “gem” by Performing Songwriter Magazine. Crit’s experience with Lori McKenna led him to suggest Nashville, TN as a place for Kate to explore – she ended up moving there permanently in 2009. Her second release, “Kamikaze Love,” was produced by friend and bandmate Brian Packer. A good marriage of her folk and pop sensibilities, its songs were featured in several TV shows, including the pinnacle of high-brow, intellectual social commentary: “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” Her third studio album, 100 Million Years, was released in the late summer of 2014 – an album Kate described as having “a little more maturity and a little more quirk.

After a hiatus of several years surrounding the birth of her two sons, Kate returned to the studio in early spring 2020 with new experiences to share and new songs to sing. While the initial recording session wrapped in early March of 2020, the final sessions were postponed as the first wave of Covid shutdowns hit. The album, which chronicled change and growth through the lens of her ending marriage, was completed at home while she finalized divorce proceedings with her then-husband under the same roof.

The result is her 2022 release “Something Green.” Despite the album’s roots, she is quick to point out that they aren’t songs about loss. “It’s an album about hope, love, change, and new growth.” Kate looks forward to return to live shows in support of the album, which she views as her strongest release yet. While the subject matter and recording experience were far from what she envisioned, what came of it was something positive and something healing. The lyrics from the title track seem fitting: “Sometimes you burn it down, so the rest don’t go. Sometimes you burn it down… so something new can grow.”

PFS & PASA – Digital Open Mic Night 10/19/22 at 7pm EST

SIGN UP HERE

PFS Presents The Sea The Sea 

      Thursday, October 20th, 2022
  Doors 7pm | Music 7:30pm
            $13 Members | $15 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Streaming

Chuck E. Costa and Mira Costa, is an Upstate New York based indie folk-pop duo featuring what Bob Boilen (NPR’s All Songs Considered) calls “excellent harmonies” & Huffington Post calls, “Two of the loveliest male-female voices you might ever hear this or any other year.” The group’s 2020 release, Stumbling Home, dubbed “otherworldly” by RollingStone marks the duo’s third full-length album, and the duo’s first primary recording / engineering credits on one of their albums, as well as that of co-producers—teaming up with recent Grammy and Tony award winner Todd Sickafoose (Hadestown, Anais Mitchell, Ani DiFranco, Andrew Bird). Previous releases from The Sea The Sea—Love We Are We Love (2014), In the Altogether (2016 / EP), and From The Light (2018)—have been praised by outlets including NPR, American Songwriter, and No Depression, and the animated video for their song “Waiting” sparked viral interest from Buzzfeed and Pitchfork, as well as inclusion at the international TED 2015 conference. The band has garnered features across all music platforms including Apple Music “Best of the Week” and “A-List Singer/Songwriter,” gathering 20+ million streams on Spotify to-date. Live performance broadcast appearances of The Sea The Sea include Mountain Stage, whose host Larry Groce calls them “ready to take their place among the best young male/female duos now performing,” Audiotree, and Paste Music / Daytrotter—recently describing the band as “defined by their infallible vocal harmonies and their unconventional song arrangements. The Sea The Sea is a pop band only in their melodic infectiousness—otherwise they are at their best when subverting conventions.”

PFS Presents Mick Flannery

      Saturday, October 29th, 2022
  Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm
            $15 Members | $17 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Streaming

A cliché has it that you have to beware of the quiet ones, because most of the time their voices speak sharper and with more range than the loudmouths. Every cliché, however, has a grain of truth in it, and so it’s fair to say that while County Cork singer-songwriter Mick Flannery is outwardly reserved, his songs are fluent in expressing layered aspects of the human condition, its flaws, triumphs, and general uncertainty.

An award-winning, double-platinum selling artist, Mick Flannery is on the brink of releasing not only his self-titled sixth album, but also overseeing the worldwide premiere of the stage musical, Evening Train (so named after his 2007 debut album). He began to write songs as a teenager in his home of Blarney, County Cork. As musical influences from albums by the likes of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Tom Waits seeped into his creative DNA, Mick absorbed, learned and honed the craft that would send him on his way into the world. The path was smoothed somewhat when, at the age of 19, he became the first Irish songwriter to win the Nashville-based International Songwriting Competition. By the time he turned 21, he had signed to a major label and released his debut album.

With his latest release, Mick touches on loose themes of ambition and the search for a meaningful life in the context of a musician’s sometimes feckless and dysfunctional lifestyle. The central character, he reveals, is someone like him, “although this person achieves more notoriety than I have. He is properly famous, and he has to deal with that.” The loose theme is just that, however. “I’m not going to hammer it home. Facets of the theme are on the album, but the storyline itself isn’t an overarching one – each song can stand on its own, and not need to be part of a narrative.”

Songs on the album reference reputation and ego (Wasteland), emotional search and rescue (Come Find Me), socio-cultural intransigence (I’ve Been Right), flawed or unreliable love (How I Miss You, Way Things Go), moral collapse (Light A Fire) and loss of status Star to Star. Whether or not the listener locks onto the themes or topics is irrelevant, says Mick. “There are a few relationship songs on the album that don’t necessarily marry into anything; I see them as a background thing, although with value.”

Threading a line throughout is Mick’s uncanny knack for blending melody with thought-provoking lyrics. Now in his mid-30s, and somewhat reflective of the musician he sings about on his self-titled album, Mick is fully aware of the internal struggles that come with trying to balance ambitions with whatever life throws their way.

“What happens to a person, sometimes, is that they attach self-worth to their career, and once the career fails then self-worth also plummets. The more weight you put into this persona you’re trying to be, you set yourself up for a bigger fall. It’s the danger of having big ambitions that are based on the external rather the internal.”

Mick Flannery has, of course, experienced and processed enough in the past fifteen years to know what his views are. He smiles when he says that for the sake of the songs he ever so slightly embroiders certain facts for creative effect.

“Obviously, I don’t equate to the levels of conflict I’m describing in the songs. I know the spectrum because of how reserved I am, and how – in my years of being in the music industry, and through varying levels of being noticed – it can change your life a bit. You’re not anonymous in certain places, and when that modifies your behaviour things can happen to you that are unknown to the general public. It’s a strange thing, a balancing act. Most of the time, however, I can go out for a quiet night and not be recognised. I wouldn’t want to give up that freedom.”

Such freedom is hard earned and comes at a price, yet Mick wouldn’t dream of giving up songwriting. Why would he when, he says, it’s getting easier.

“I mess around with all sorts of ways to write a song – silly songs, impromptu songs, joke songs that I co-write with a buddy of mine in America. We have about 200 of them by this point. I’m a little bit addicted to it, I think; it is certainly my favourite thing, and I’d like to keep doing it. I put a lot of hours into the craft, and it would be a shame to change tack. I like the merging of lyrics and melodies. I have a passion and a facility for it, which I know I’m lucky to have.”

This self-titled release is Mick’s sixth album – that is a sizeable back catalogue, a genuine body of work. For live shows, he says, it’s comforting.

“I remember feeling at the beginning of my performing career that I didn’t have an armoury of material. If a gig wasn’t going well, I knew there was no cavalry of songs coming over the hill to rescue it. Different songs call in different moods, and at the start all I had was a handful.”

He has six times that now, with decades ahead for many more, whatever his age. Mick has long since disregarded the view that anyone over the age of 30 has little to write about. “The outside perception is that the people who buy music are young, that the music they buy is what gets played on the radio. There’s such a wealth of experience in older people, however, that’s as valid as anything a young songwriter brings.”

As a mature songwriter, he reasons, he’s trying to hold on to what is essential to him, and resigning himself to the fact that the naïve, passionate 20-something ‘Mick Flannery’ is gone. What comes next, he contends, is much more interesting and experienced. “You have a larger worldview and are more learned, each of which combine to create something new.”

At the core of it all is a precise and skilled art form, of which the album is a fine, individualistic example from a songwriter who still aims to knock the competition out of the frame.

“When I mess about with songs, with choruses,” explains Mick, “I try to write the best ones. It’s like a kid kicking around a football on the street – he wants to be Lionel Messi, not a player in a lower division. It’s hard to kill off that level of ambition – I just want to be good at the craft.”

Beware of the quiet ones? You have been duly advised.

Rescheduled From 2020: PFS Presents The Black Feathers

November 5, 2022

Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$10 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $12 Not-Yet-Members | $15 Doors

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

CLICK HERE TO RSVP ON FACEBOOK 

CLICK HERE TO SEE A LIVE VIDEO OF THE BLACK FEATHERS 

About The Black Feathers

A favorite of the 2018 Philadelphia Folk Festival, and a smash show at PFS in 2019, we are delighted to bring back The Black Feathers to the PFS venue!

The ability to write songs that are both modern and ancient is a rare thing. The product of an arcane art of weaving in traditional influences so thoroughly that they become the warp and weft of fresh creations. The Black Feathers, made up of Ray Hughes and Sian Chandler, are two such talents. They first became aware of the magic between them while collaborating on several musical projects, becoming The Black Feathers and life partners in 2012.

“Once in a blue moon, the whole soars far above the sum of its parts. That’s what happens when The Black Feathers perform live”

– Black Mountain News, North Carolina

Americana, Folk, and Acoustic Indie Rock sensibilities coexist comfortably in their musical world, with Hughes’ guitar work buoying the kind of harmonies often only heard in family bands. Their music quickly draw the interest of listeners, but it is the stage chemistry that will keep them riveted.

Having already built up a loyal following in the UK, The Black Feathers have been spreading their wings across the US. They have performed at Philadelphia Folk Festival and AmericanaFest, and have also been awarded official showcases at the North East Regional and Far-West Folk Alliance conferences.

With a new single and a live album in the pipeline, these are exciting times for what FATEA refer to as “a duo of undeniable talent”.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A MUSIC VIDEO OF THE BLACK FEATHERS

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE BLACK FEATHERS ON SPOTIFY

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BLACK FEATHERS

CLICK HERE TO RSVP ON FACEBOOK

Due to the constantly changing reality surrounding the global health crisis of COVID-19, the FIRST priority of the Society is the health and well-being of our community. After raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for artists through our Digital Concert Venue, we are thrilled to welcome you back to our Roxborough Venue, 6156 Ridge Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19128 while still offering streaming options when available!

All persons entering the Philadelphia Folksong Society at 6156 Ridge Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19128 must provide proof of vaccination or negative PCR test within 72 hours and wear a face mask per Philadelphia mandate starting April 18th. If the person does not have an appropriate face mask, per CDC guidelines no vented masks or gaiters, PFS will provide one. Inability to adhere to these protocols will lead to a warning then a removal without refund. PFS’ COVID protocols will be reviewed at each board meeting as the pandemic continues.

PFS is excited to re-open our Philadelphia Folksong Society Music Venue! Please join us in welcoming these incredible acts to #KeeptheMusicPlaying

PFS Presents Talisk 

      Sunday, February 19th, 2022
  Doors 7pm | Music 7:30pm
         $35 Seated | $20 Members | $25 Not-Yet-Members

One of Scotland’s most popular folk-based groups to emerge in the last decade, chart-toppers Talisk have toured the world stacking up major awards for their explosively energetic yet artfully woven sound, including Folk Band of the Year at the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award, and the Belhaven Bursary for Innovation.

Mohsen Amini (BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Musician of the Year 2018), Hayley Keenan and Graeme Armstrong fuse concertina, fiddle and guitar to produce a ground-breaking, multi-layered and instantly enthralling signature sound that has captivated audiences around the globe.

Appearances at leading festivals – including closing out Saturday night’s main stage at the 2019 Cambridge Folk Festival, Denmark’s Tønder Festival, the Rainforest World Music Festival in Malaysian Borneo, WOMADs UK, Chile and Las Palmas, Edmonton Folk Festival, Milwaukee Irish Festival, three back-to-back years at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and five successive outings at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections – have amassed a die-hard following, whilst folk and world music media have also lauded high praise upon the genre-bending trio.

Their hotly anticipated second album, Beyond, quickly rose to No.1 in the iTunes world music charts upon its late 2018 release, meeting a five-star ‘Top of the World’ review in leading world music magazine Songlines, who brilliantly summarised the band: “incredibly infectious and endearing… fresh, invigorating, accomplished.”

The Philadelphia Folksong Society is SO excited to be teaming up with Ardmore Music Hall for this spectacular event! Limited Seating is available and over 100 tickets were sold at Fest so get your tickets today!