PFS Presents Alice Howe and Freebo

Thursday, November 14, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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

About Alice Howe and Freebo

When Alice Howe wants to unlock a memory or understand an emotion, she steps outside. “There’s something about the stillness,” she says. “When I’m sitting with my guitar and looking out at a forest or the ocean, I have the space to reflect to on people and places. My muse strikes.”

Vistas and the faces and emotions they summon unfurl with compelling grace on Visions, Howe’s anticipated debut album. A modern love letter to 60s and 70s folk and timeless blues, Visions pays homage without succumbing to imitation, and offers an intimate snapshot of a young artist discovering her own power. Early praise for Visions has streamed in from gatekeepers such as American Blues Scene and smitten local press alike. “Sometimes we’re lucky enough to catch an up-and-coming artist as they fly into our radar,” critic JD Nash writes. “This is one of those times.”

Howe’s path to “up-and-coming” artist seems both fated and winding. She grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, in a home filled with music and art. Long outdoor walks were encouraged, and Howe would often disappear to wander through her grandmother’s garden next door or to journal and turn experiences into songs. “I can’t remember not singing,” she says with a laugh. Her mother always had a record to put on––Muddy Waters, Taj Mahal, and other blues giants were favorites. Howe sang with her brother and her dad, Sandy––a gifted painter turned successful architect––and sang alone to herself, improvising and composing constantly.

Howe left home to attend Smith College, graduated and moved to Seattle before finding her way back to Massachusetts. While music was always her companion, it didn’t become her profession until she decided to attend the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference in 2016. There, she met Freebo, Bonnie Raitt’s beloved bassist for a decade and veteran of performances and collaborations with Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Ringo Starr, Loudon Wainwright III, Neil Young, Dr. John, and more. Howe knew she’d found an ideal collaborator. “I feel like it all happened because I was open to it and ready for it to happen,” she says, then adds with a laugh, “I was ready, so the universe said yes to me.”

Freebo invited Howe to record in Southern California, and Bakersfield’s sun-bleached grit became a creative counterweight to Howe’s lush New England naturalism. American roots music became Howe’s playground: blues, bluegrass, folk, and pop––with celtic nods––take turns defining the sounds on Visions, anchored by her rich soprano. An ace band backed Howe like she’d never been backed before, and the resulting collection is polished but energized by a young artist’s hunger to prove herself.

Album opener “Twilight” is an intimate introduction to Howe’s use of pastoral vignettes to invite confessional introspection. Her vocal flutters conjure up memories of celtic storytelling over a bed of acoustic guitar, keys, and more.

When it comes to covers, Howe handpicked gems from masters. She saunters through Muddy Waters’ “Honey Bee” and gives Sam Cooke’s “Bring It on Home to Me” a slow blues-build that makes for an R&B lullaby. In her admiring care, Taj Mahal’s “Lovin’ in My Baby’s Eyes” shines like the classic it is. “Too Long at the Fair,” penned by Joel Zoss and made famous by Bonnie Raitt, could not have found a more suitable young interpreter, and Howe is also beautifully at home with Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” swollen with sad tenderness.

Howe cowrote most of the album’s originals with Freebo, excluding “What We Got is Gold,” which takes refuge in love that refuses to fade as an accordion blends wistfulness and warmth to lead the other instruments in a layered pop-folk stroll. Featuring a supporting cast buoyed by b3 organ and horns, “Getaway Car” is a blues-fueled romp, while “You Just Never Know” veers confidently into bluegrass territory as Howe traces the people and places that have come, gone, and shaped her.

As more and more listeners discover Howe, she is hopeful and thankful, not just for deeper connections, but for her life’s labor that has finally become her focus and brought her here. Reflecting on her time in Bakersfield with the incredible musicians who played on Visions, she cannot contain her joy. “I was so supported and given this space to do my best work, and now, I’m so happy,” she says, smiling. “I’m so excited for people to hear it.”

PFS Presents Front Country

Friday, November 15, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$12 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $15 Not-Yet-Members | $18 Doors

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About Front Country

One day in late February, the five members of Front Country were warming up for their record release show at the renowned bluegrass club the Station Inn, in their new home base of Nashville, Tenn. They’d never played most of these songs live before. It wasn’t a given that these musicians would wind up in anything remotely resembling a bluegrass band. Singer Melody Walker got into world music and belted out roots-rock. Bassist Jeremy Darrow studied jazz. Leif Karlstrom trained as a classical violinist, and still prefers that title to “fiddle player.” Mandolinist Adam Roszkiewicz studied classical guitar at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

The actual guitarist in the band, Jacob Groopman, did his share of exploring after college, too. “I was in an Afrobeat group for about five years, touring around in this 10-piece kind of hippie Afrobeat band,” Groopman says. In the bluegrass world, musicians tend to define themselves by their relationships to tradition — specifically, the tradition of high-and-lonesome singing and a hard-driving sound. There are regional variations from Virginia to Colorado. The West Coast has its own freewheeling tradition, and that’s where Front Country started out: at a monthly jam in San Francisco. Then its members heard about a band contest at a bluegrass festival. “And we ended up winning that band competition,” Walker says. “The very next day, I made a website for the band because I thought maybe people will be Googling Front Country at that point, possibly.”

From that point on, Front Country was a serious band. The group made a mixtape reimagining songs by Don Henley, King Crimson and the indie-pop band tUnE-yArDs. Front Country does play traditional tunes on the new album, like the Carter Family’s “The Storms Are On The Ocean” — though Roszkiewicz admits their arrangement makes it sort of unrecognizable. “It’s not so much to ruin it on principle with the rock music,” he laughs. “We might be doing things differently, but at the heart of it, it’s just songs, good songs we like that we can get behind.” Most of the new material, though, is original. Walker is the band’s primary songwriter, and for the album, she submitted 20 songs to her bandmates for a vote. One, called “Good Looking Young People,” seemed an especially unlikely candidate. “When I wrote it, I had an iPad drum machine app that I was using,” she explains. “So I had this beat that was kind of this super 808-sounding thing… Like, very Phil Collins, ‘In the Air Tonight.’ ”

The group decided to keep the rhythmic ideas and ditch the drum machine. And while Front Country’s members are more than capable of using traditional techniques on their instruments, they often choose not to. “We’re always trying to do things we’ve never done before on our instruments,” Roszkiewicz says. “I’ll be listening to the song, we’ll be working on the song and I’ll hear a synth line.” All of the musicians in Front Country also actually listen to, and respect, music made with beats, samples and electronic effects. “I think sometimes, when people dismiss pop, one of the things they’re dismissing is the craft aspect of it. Because obviously bluegrass and string-band music requires an enormous amount of craftsmanship,” Darrow says. “I think one of the things that we put on display is [that] rather than an element to be dismissed, the craft of pop music is just as intricate as it is in any other style. And maybe that’s a little clearer to see when we’re playing it on wooden instruments.” At this point, they realize it’s probably a stretch to call what they’re doing bluegrass at all. String-band pop is more like it. [ from NPR All Things Considered, by Jewly Hight ]

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF FRONT COUNTRY

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PFS Presents Irish Mythen with Andrea Nardello

Saturday, November 16, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$14 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $17 Not-Yet-Members | $20 Doors

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About Irish Mythen

Irish Mythen was born in Ireland and now resides in Charlottetown Prince Edward Island Canada.

“This Island creates music and musicians, art and artists. I found a shift to take things more seriously when I moved here.” And she did just that. Her latest release, the self titled Irish Mythen, gained her recognition around the globe with nominations and wins coming from Music PEI, East Coast Music Association, Folk Alliance International and Socan. Write-ups in Australian Guitar Magazine, the Rolling Stone, and a plethora of online publications world wide have helped plant Irish firmly on the map of ‘Must See Artists’.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF IRISH MYTHEN

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OPENING ACT: ANDREA NARDELLO

Philly’s Andrea Nardello has garnered favorable comparisons to Melissa Etheridge and Shawn Colvin for melding pop songwriting smarts with a confessional and literate songwriting style, exploring relationships, romance, and her out family life. Nardello’s refined accessibility draws from folk, pop, rock, and even the swagger of hip-hop. She can tug at your heartstrings with her softer tunes and get you dancing on your feet with her upbeat songs and powerful voice. Fans ride an unforgettable emotional roller coaster during her live shows.

Nardello has been busy touring and has opened for well known artists like Colbie Caillat, Brandi Carlile, Tony Lucca, Gabe Dixon, Ron Pope, Emerson Hart of Tonic Fame, and Tim Reynolds of The Dave Matthews Band. After releasing ECHO, Nardello won the prestigious Philadelphia Songwriter’s Project Contest and won Tri-State Indie’s “Acoustic Artist Of The Year.” Her songs, “Leave The Light On” and “Home To Me” each won WSTW’s Award for Folk Song Of The Year.

Nardello also spends time fundraising for important causes like The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and The MILE (Music Is Love Exchange). Nardello completed two service trips to Guatemala in support of the MILE. The MILE is a network of artists, musicians, and music lovers that bring positivity and change to the lives of disadvantaged and underserved children, strengthening families and communities both in the U.S. and abroad. Nardello is always willing to help, offer her time and believes that music is a universal language that helps heal and connects us all.

Nardello teamed up with long time friend and collaborator, Matt Duke, to produce her new EP, Human, which was released on Noble Steed Music, last year. This beautifully haunting EP was recorded in Nardello’s home. She is excited to share it with her fans and expects to tour in the fall.

“For me, “Human” is a collection of songs that explores vulnerable topics. Loving someone when they are broken. Striving to challenge yourself when you are stuck. The final stages of life and all that is unknown. It is truly a soundtrack of my life and the people in it. I always get nervous before releasing new music and my only hope is that anyone who listens can connect to these songs in some special way.”

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF ANDREA NARDELLO

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Join us for open mic at our venue at 6156 Ridge Ave, Philly with Philadelphia Music Co-op member, Rob Lincoln, as our host and featured performer!

Doors open at 7:00pm
Performances at 7:30pm
Guests will perform 2 songs
Featured Artists/Host will perform 4 songs
Sound will be provided.
We ask for a donation of $3 for members and $5 for non-members in order to continue our programming.
PFS Venue events are BYOB. BYO wristbands are $2 and require proof of ID.

Open mics will be held on first and third Wednesdays and will feature different hosts and different artists. If you would like to host an open mic or have your act considered as a featured act, please email jnordell@pfs.org (featured acts perform 4 songs around mid-evening).

PFS Presents Kirsten Maxwell and Rachael Kilgour

Friday, November 22, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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$8 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $10 Not-Yet-Members | $13 Doors

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About Kirsten

“I once saw Kirsten Maxwell take the stage in a raucous bar. The patrons were there to drink, not listen. She began a delicate ballad, and by the third line, she had them in the palm of her hand. Kirsten is a strikingly special performer.” Paul Shaffer

New York raised, Nashville based singer, songwriter, and artist Kirsten Maxwell, was 5 years old when she made her stage debut. Born into a family of opera singers, Maxwell found her voice early. She performed a number of roles at the Amato Opera in NYC, including the First Spirit in Mozart’s, The Magic Flute. With support and encouragement from her musical parents, Maxwell continued to develop her talents into high school where she embraced musical theater, and took up the guitar. By college, Maxwell was writing songs and laying the foundation for an ever expanding musical career.

The pace of her progress has been measured in songwriting competition wins and a steady graduation to bigger and better stages. Her ability to charm new audiences often ends in standing ovations and an invitation to return. Maxwell’s professionalism and commitment to her craft have awarded her the opportunities to open for rock icon Melissa Etheridge, country star Tanya Tucker, Americana/Rock duo The Bacon Brothers, and renowned comedian Robert Klein. She was also asked to participate in a gala honoring Judy Collins, sharing the stage with such notable artists as Jimmy Webb, Suzanne Vega, Nona Hendrix, and Judy herself. She has since opened for Judy Collins twice. Maxwell has also shared the stage with the great Paul Shaffer, who brings a gorgeous piano accompaniment to her rendition of Joni Mitchell’s A Case Of You.

About Rachael

Rachael Kilgour is a Minnesotan songwriter and performing artist whose sincere, lyric-driven work has been called both brave and humane. The 2015 grand prize winner of the esteemed international NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition and winner of the 2017 Kerrville New Folk Contest, Kilgour has been featured at NYC’s Lincoln Center, at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and by the ASCAP Music Cafe at the Sundance Film Festival.

Married in her early twenties, Kilgour devoted her young adulthood to parenting her stepchild and building family and community. Her work from that time (Self-Titled 2008, Will You Marry Me? 2011, Whistleblower’s Manifesto 2013) chronicled her life as a young parent in a same-sex partnership and addressed sociopolitical issues from government corruption to income inequality and religious hypocrisy. Kilgour’s music career took a backseat during those years as she lived a slow, home-focused life.
In 2014, divorce brought an unwanted end to her role as a member of the family she had helped to grow. In the aftermath, Kilgour found solace in songwriting. Her third full-length album, Rabbit in the Road (2017), was born out of that time.

Called “…a heartfelt slice of master crafted indie folk brimming with the battle-tested capacity to endure the worst in others” by Billboard, Rabbit in the Road took an intimate and often painful look at the failed marriage and loss of family. Kilgour’s writing and delivery cut deep, with resolute simplicity. Ravelin Magazine observed “this sort of metonymic ability to evoke the whole of someone or the entirety of a feeling is typical of Kilgour’s poetic songwriting.”
In February of 2019, Kilgour follows up with the release of her new EP, Game Changer. The aptly titled work examines the artist’s tentative first steps into a new world, post-heartbreak. With a clear head, Kilgour touches on the complicated nature of romance and relationship, sets up a stunning defense of queer love, and reassesses her priorities as a citizen of a changing wider world.
Recorded in Asheville, NC at Echo Mountain Studios and produced by Gar Ragland, the EP will be released on NewSong Recordings and features string arrangements by violinist/composer Sara Pajunen.

Here’s what music insiders are saying about Rachel Kilgour…

“…a heartfelt slice of master-crafted indie folk brimming with the battle-tested capacity to endure the worst in others.”
— Chris Payne, Billboard

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF KIRSTEN

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CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF RACHAEL

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PFS Presents The River Drivers Big Oak Road Release Tour

Saturday, November 23, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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

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About The River Drivers

Philadelphia-based Celtic-tinged folk rock collective River Drivers is a four-piece band whose unique passion-infused style of music draws from Celtic, Americana, and Appalachian influences and features powerful and distinctive vocals. Influenced by the likes of Billy Bragg, Christy Moore, Ewan MacColl, Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, the Paul McKenna Band and Altan, among many others, their repertoire strikes a fine balance of original songs and more obscure folk songs, resurrected from deep folk vaults.

Anchored by Kevin McCloskey (vocals, guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass) and Mindy Murray (vocals, guitar, banjo, bass) with accompaniment by Marian Moran (tin whistle, low whistle, concertina, melodica) and Meagan Ratini (fiddle, Irish flute, tin whistle), their high energy music explores pervasive themes of hard-working people and social justice.

River Drivers’ distinct flavor of music is a sum of its parts. Kevin McCloskey’s passion for songs portraying the plight of working men and women was kindled by a childhood of performing Irish standards with his father, Irish tenor Tommy McCloskey. The intensity he brings to his music was shaped by years with the hardcore punk band Wrong Answer.

Mindy Murray’s works are infused with the music of the mountains and the miners, having witnessed firsthand the struggles of day-to-day life in Appalachia during medical school. Years later, she and daughter Meagan Ratini formed the duo Port Murray. Meagan herself fell into Irish music over many years of mastering instrument after instrument. She became further immersed while helping to run the New Jersey Folk Festival.

Marian’s roots lie in Ardara, County Donegal, an epicenter of Irish traditional music. Whenever she can break away, she steals back to the rugged coastline village to recharge at its nightly sessions and music festivals, eventually bringing River Drivers over to perform at its famous Cup of Tae festival.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF THE RIVER DRIVERS

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PFS Presents Molsky’s Mountain Drifters

Thursday, December 5, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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

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About Molsky’s Mountain Drifters – Tradition steeped in possibility.

Bruce Molsky, “one of America’s premier fiddling talents” (Mother Jones) and Grammy-nominated artist on fiddle, banjo, guitar and song is delighted to present his new group already on tour in the US. Bruce’s previous collaborations, with Anonymous 4, 1865 – Songs of Hope and Home from the American Civil War, was released to rave reviews and was on the top 10 Billboard charts for weeks. He is also a special guest on legendary guitarist Mark Knopfler’s latest CD, Tracker and is working on his 3rd album with Andy Irvine & Donal Lunny’s supergroup Mozaik. You can also hear Bruce on BBC TV Transatlantic Sessions singing with Joan Osborne, Julie Fowlis and fiddling with Scottish legend Aly Bain and America’s great dobroist Jerry Douglas. Bruce is also Berklee College of Music’s Visiting Scholar in the American Roots Program.

Allison de Groot combines wide ranging virtuosity and passion for old-time music. With her own bands The Goodbye Girls and Oh My Darling, she has played Trafalgar Square in London, Newport Folk Festival, Stockholm Folk Festival, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and Tønder Festival in Denmark. Like Bruce, Allison loves collaborating and bringing new ideas to old music, and brings a fresh approach to the trio.

Boston-based Stash Wyslouch is one of bluegrass’s great young genre-bending pioneers. He got his start as a guitarist in metal bands before immersing himself in roots music as a member of The Deadly Gentlemen. Stash is a veteran festival performer, having played at Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Rockygrass, Merlefest, Savannah Music Festival and others. Coming over from the punk-metal world, Stash brings great sensitivity and real emotion to the trio, plus some superb guitar and vocal chops.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF MOLSKY’S MOUNTAIN DRIFTERS

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PFS Presents Hank, Pattie & The Current

Saturday, December 7, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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

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About Hank, Pattie & The Current

Bluegrass ambassadors Hank Smith and Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw join forces once again with their original and energetic new soulgrass band, Hank and Pattie. Hank and Pattie take traditional bluegrass and infuse it with their own flair, drawing from a melting pot of styles including Latin and Jazz, which adds up to an authentic and unique reflection of American music. While some of the music sounds old school and some sounds fresh and new, their overall musicianship, vocal harmonies, impassioned delivery and innovative arrangements captivate all generations of music lovers.

Hank and Pattie are backed by an all-star band comprised of North Carolina musicians Jonah Freedman on Bass and vocals, Billie Feather on guitar, and Robert Thornhill on mandolin and vocals.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF HANK, PATTIE & THE CURRENT

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PFS Presents Barnes, Gordy, Walsh Trio

Sunday, December 8, 2019
Doors 7:00pm | Music 7:30pm

$12 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $15 Not-Yet-Members | $18 Doors

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About Barnes, Gordy, Walsh Trio

In the world of bluegrass and folk, where the collaborative possibilities are endless, what draws some musicians together in formal collaborations is hard to pinpoint. For Joe K. Walsh, Grant Gordy, and Danny Barnes, a newly formed bi-coastal trio, curiosity is the rule, and tunes are just a starting point. “We approach every tune with an open attitude everyday. There’s a sort of tacit undiscussed flexibility that we all honor when we play together”, explains Walsh. For three musicians who have vibrant solo careers, as well as multifaceted musical collaborations under their belts, the trio has sparked a new level of creative inspiration, a venue to push and pull, learning and speaking with one another through improvisation. “We are in some ways three very different musical pieces, but the thing that unites us is a deep respect and affinity for anybody who is improvising,” says Walsh. The trio is anchored by banjo player and singer/songwriter Danny Barnes. Barnes is best known as the frontman of the Bad Livers, for his collaborations with Dave Matthews and Bill Frisell, and as the 2015 winner of the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. He is an innovative banjo player and songwriter originally from Texas whose solo album “Pizza Boz”, garnered him a sort of cult following, and led Sam Bush to describe him as “The Great American Un-Sung Hero”. The elder of the group, Barnes brings an element of fierce individuality to the trio, with wisdom-infused vocals and straightforward, no nonsense banjo picking.

Gordy and Walsh come from a more jazz and swing influenced background, having first bonded over their mutual obsession with learning David Grisman solos. For Walsh, hearing some of the early Dawg records was his first impetus to learn the mandolin. However, he is now equally renowned for his bluegrass and old-time sensibilities. Growing up in Illinois and later Minnesota, Walsh first established himself on the East Coast as the co-founder of progressive bluegrass band Joy Kills Sorrow, and as a long time member of The Gibson Brothers. He went on to become a faculty member at The Berklee College of Music, and launch a solo career with his albums Sweet Loam and Borderland.

Gordy, who is originally from Colorado and now lives in Brooklyn, went from being a fan of David Grisman, to playing in his band. Having spent six years in the David Grisman Quintet, Gordy released a self titled solo album in 2010 to critical acclaim, and has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, Tiny Desk Concerts, and All Things Considered, as well as The Fretboard Journal, Acoustic Guitar Magazine, and Flatpicking Guitar Magazine. Darol Anger, with whom Gordy has collaborated frequently, describes his playing as containing “Kaleidoscopic excellence, startling emotion, and personal revelation”.

The three friends first crossed paths at a music camp in Grand Targhee, Wyoming, where they were each employed separately to teach and perform. But rather than sitting down to play together, they first bonded during a game of disc golf, which became a venue for philosophical musing and discussion. A desire for intellectual growth and challenge became a theme for the three, and their tours often involve car discussions on everything from French Literature to meditation. Perhaps because of this, their music feels like an infinitely extending plane. “When we play, everybody is leading with their ears, and everything is possible, it’s hugely omnivorous”, says Walsh.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BARNES, GORDY, WALSH TRIO

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Join us for open mic at our venue at 6156 Ridge Ave, Philly!

Doors open at 7:00pm
Performances at 7:30pm
Guests will perform 2 songs
Sound will be provided.
We ask for a donation of $3 for members and $5 for non-members in order to continue our programming.
PFS Venue events are BYOB. BYO wristbands are $2 and require proof of ID.

Open mics will be held on first and third Wednesdays and will feature different hosts and different artists. If you would like to host an open mic or have your act considered as a featured act, please email jnordell@pfs.org (featured acts perform 4 songs around mid-evening).

PFS December House Concert with House of Hamill

Friday, December 13, 2019
Potluck/Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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About House of Hamill

Rose Baldino and Brian Buchanan met 10 years ago, late one night backstage at a theatre in rural Pennsylvania.

Brian’s band Enter the Haggis and Rose’s group Burning Bridget Cleary were sharing a stage that evening, and the two bonded over a love of Irish fiddle tunes, Radiohead, and 4 AM whiskey. Their paths crossed a dozen times over the next decade on the road, but it wasn’t until the Folk Alliance 2014 conference in Kansas City that they finally became musical collaborators.

Burning Bridget Cleary’s guitarist and drummer had their flights canceled at the last minute, and in desperation, Rose asked Brian to grab a guitar and join her onstage. The two performed with virtually no rehearsal for over an hour, and their connection was powerful and immediate. A few months later Brian moved from Canada to Philadelphia, and as a tribute to the first tune Rose ever taught Brian, House of Hamill was born.

Both Baldino and Buchanan are accomplished traditional fiddle players and classical violinists, with over 25 years of writing and performance experience between them. Together, they write unusual new fiddle tunes and exciting, unpredictable original songs while breathing new life into traditional and contemporary songs. Both are confident and unique lead vocalists, and the blend of their two voices in harmony is hypnotic and irresistible.

Whether House of Hamill is playing songs from their debut album “Wide Awake” (2016) or stomping through a set of original jigs and reels from their follow-up “March Through Storms” (2018), their chemistry onstage is always engaging and often hilarious. In the summer of 2018, their quirky all-violin cover of “Sweet Child Of Mine” went viral, amassing over 15 million views and more than 400,000 shares on Facebook in just a few weeks, and was picked up by publications all over the world.

House of Hamill is on the bleeding edge of a new generation of traditional musicians.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOUSE OF HAMILL

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PFS and the hosts ask that guests act in a respectful manner and be considerate of the performers and other attendees–if you do not, you may be asked to leave by PFS staff or the hosts.

Advance registrations for this performance are REQUIRED.

Admission is free for PFS members and $10 for Advanced Tickets for non-members.

The event will be held at the Spears’ residence located in the West Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA. You will receive the exact address upon registering.

Please bring something to share! Potluck at 7:30pm, music at 8pm.

PFS Presents Driftwood Soldier and Greg Klyma

Friday, December 14, 2019
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

About Driftwood Soldier

Bassist Bobby Szafranski first lent his velvet touch to the back-handed poetry and full-throated ruckus of mandolinero Owen Lyman-Schmidt’s solo work in 2013. Since then the duo has been leapfrogging their way up and down the East coast bringing their unlikely sound to bars, living rooms, roof tops, and back alleys.

Scavenger’s Joy, Driftwood Soldier’s 2015 debut, established their musical range for audiences everywhere, with two-thirds of the songs receiving radio play on dozens of radio stations around the country including WFUV, WNCW, and WXPN, where Bruce Warren called the duo “a bluesy version of Nick Cave with a nod to Tom Waits.”

In early 2017, they followed the breadth of Scavenger’s Joy with the focused intensity of Blessings & Blasphemy, a concept EP exploring the tension between spirituality and dogma by reinterpreting gospel traditionals alongside anti-religious originals.

Their new full-length record, Stay Ahead of the Wolf, was produced with Erin McKeown and mixed by Grammy winner Ted Hutt (Old Crow Medicine Show, Lucero, Devil Makes Three).

With this bellowing, crooning testimony to the power of storytelling in hand, Driftwood Soldier is back out on the road bringing their liver-shaking live show to audiences both devoted and unfamiliar. This isn’t some nostalgic reproduction of an imagined past, or a feel-good celebration of a rosy future. It’s a bittersweet love song to an imperfect world, a lullaby that leaves you bleeding. Find Driftwood Soldier, wherever they’re playing, and hear this new beast howl!

About Greg Klyma

Greg Klyma is a road-tested troubadour and relentless songwriter out to make the world a better place one song at a time. In 2019, he has released 3 new albums on his Bandcamp page while maintaining an active touring schedule. For over 20 years, he’s been weaving lanes between Tom Petty and Merle Haggard on music’s highway, keeping the American folk tradition alive with his enduring themes, articulate and amusing stories, and populist ideals. He rolls in off the road, pulls out a guitar, and proceeds to take us back to the basics: family, love, gratitude, and laughter.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF DRIFTWOOD SOLDIER

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO DRIFTWOOD SOLDIER ON SPOTIFY

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DRIFTWOOD SOLDIER

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF GREG KLYMA

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO GREG KLYMA ON SPOTIFY

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT GREG KLYMA

Join us for open mic at our venue at 6156 Ridge Ave, Philly with Philadelphia Music Co-op member, Rob Lincoln, as our host and featured performer!

Doors open at 7:00pm
Performances at 7:30pm
Guests will perform 2 songs
Featured Artists/Host will perform 4 songs
Sound will be provided.
We ask for a donation of $3 for members and $5 for non-members in order to continue our programming.
PFS Venue events are BYOB. BYO wristbands are $2 and require proof of ID.

Open mics will be held on first and third Wednesdays and will feature different hosts and different artists. If you would like to host an open mic or have your act considered as a featured act, please email jnordell@pfs.org (featured acts perform 4 songs around mid-evening).

PFS Presents Zoe Mulford

Saturday, January 4, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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

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About Zoe Mulford

Zoe Mulford is becoming best known as the writer of “The President Sang Amazing Grace,” which Joan Baez covered on her album “Whistle Down the Wind” in 2018. An American songwriter now living in the north of England, Zoe backs her clear voice with guitar or claw-hammer banjo to deliver powerful, evocative songs that draw on the traditional music of the US and the British Isles to make sense of the modern world.

“supremely evocative and sometimes cheekily humorous” – fRoots Magazine

Zoe grew up just outside Philadelphia, in Swarthmore. She took up the guitar and fell in love with the banjo during a twelve-year stint in Durham, North Carolina. Four years in Washington, DC introduced her to the community of contemporary songwriters, including the Azalea City Recordings cooperative. In 2006, she moved to the north of England. She now divides her time between Pennsylvania and Manchester, UK and tours on both sides of the Atlantic.

“The President Sang Amazing Grace” first appeared on Zoe’s 2017 album “Small Brown Birds” (Folk-DJ #1 Album, February 2017 and #4 Album of the Year.) Joan Baez heard the song on KPFA while driving near her home in California.

“It’s an amazing little tune,” said Baez in an interview on NPR News. “When I first heard it, I had to pull the car over, because I started crying. And then for the first two weeks of trying to figure it out on the guitar, I kept crying. I was afraid that when I got in the studio, it wouldn’t be over. But I went into the studio, and then I just looked at the musicians and I said, “Let’s go to church.”

Thoroughly engaging as a solo performer, Zoe has also collaborated onstage with performers as diverse as slide guitarist Pat Wictor, saxophonist Brad Yoder, and English fiddler Tom Kitching.

Other artists who have performed Zoe’s work include Rhiannon Giddens (in a very early recording with the Irish band Gaelwynd), the Kronos Quartet, and John Roberts & Tony Barrand in their “Nowell Sing We Clear” Christmas review. She is a past Kerville Newfolk Finalist and Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist and has had work published in Sing Out! Magazine.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF ZOE MULFORD

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO ZOE MULFORD

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ZOE MULFORD

January House Concert with Mike Agranoff

PFS Presents Daniel Champagne

Friday, February 7, 2020
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$12 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $15 Not-Yet-Members | $18 Doors

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About Daniel Champagne

One reviewer recently wrote – ‘Daniel Champagne exudes a natural ease on stage, as he sings poignant lyrics and beautifully crafted melodies that invariably whisk the heart up with grand romanticism. Coupled with an exhilarating guitar talent that transcends mere acoustic playing to replicate a whole band, Champagne is just magical’ (themusic.com.au)

The story goes that the young Australian singer, songwriter and one-of-a-kind guitar virtuoso first picked up his instrument of choice as a five-year-old following in the footsteps of a musical father. He began writing songs at 12, training classically throughout his teens and performing solo wherever he could, honing his craft and developing what would become the dynamite live show that he is renowned for today. At 18 he left school, turned professional and hit the road.

The next several years saw him traversing North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, New Zealand and of course, his homeland Australia playing such festivals as California WorldFest, Winnipeg Folk Fest, Vancouver and Mariposa Folk (Canada), Belgium’s Labadoux Festival and Australia’s Woodford, Falls Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival and the legendary Byron Bay Bluesfest. He has toured and shared stages with Jake Shimabukuro, Jesse Cook, Roderigo Y Gabriela, Richard Shindell, The Ragbirds, The Waifs, Lucinda Williams, Judy Collins, INXS, John Butler, KT Tunstall and Ani DiFranco.

As one reviewer recently wrote, “still in his early twenties, the distances he has been would be more frequently associated with veterans of the Folk scene” (The Dwarf).

Daniel has accomplished all of this while writing, producing and independently releasing two Eps, Gypsy Moon Volumes 1 and 2, his first long player ‘Pint of Mystery’ (2011) ‘My Own Design’ (2009), ‘Wide Eyed and Open’ (2010), ‘Real Live’ (2012), and ‘The Heartland Hurricanes’ (2014), and ‘Fault Lines’ (2017). His latest release the ‘Satellite City EP’ (2018) is comprised of three singles, Satellite City (out Sept 14), Indigo (out Oct 12), and The Great Divide (out Nov 1).

A review of his two Gypsy Moon releases said the following: ‘Champagne has gone a step further this time, it’s like he’s realized his own potential, his confidence is sky-high and he’s truly ready to explore’ – Australia’s roots music bible Rhythms Magazine

Now regarded as a leading light in acoustic music, with a firm reputation for making festivals buzz, holding crowds in his palm, dropping jaws and breaking guitars wherever he goes. Daniel Champagne has relocated to North America where he continues his exciting career as an international touring and recording artist.

PRESS QUOTES

“Daniel Champagne is a crossroads. Fusing the strong traditions of Blues, Folk and other roots art with pop showmanship and admirable lyrical ability. I firmly believe that he will become an ambassador for roots music in a time where it desperately needs representation.”
The Indie Blender, Canada

“One of the more amazing young percussive guitarists touring the world right now”
Blank, Gold Coast, Australia

“Today I saw the future of Folk – Festival goers flocking in their thousands towards the main stage to witness the young musical phenomenon from Australia dish out an absolute show-stopper at the evening’ send.”

Firefly Column, USA

“Watching Daniel Champagne perform is a once in a lifetime experience. He is a true prodigy that plays like no one else could possibly play unless they spent at least two lifetimes studying the art.”

BW Review, New Zealand

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DANIEL CHAMPAGNE

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A DANIEL CHAMPAGNE VIDEO

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PFS Presents Talisk

**Please Note: This is a dancing room only show. The only seating available will be in the mezzanine**

Saturday, March 21, 2020
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF TALISK

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO TALISK ON SPOTIFY

About Talisk

In their five years, Scottish firebrands Talisk have stacked up several major awards for their explosively energetic yet artfully woven sound, including 2018’s Belhaven Bursary for Innovation & 2017’s Folk Band of the Year both at the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, and a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award.

Mohsen Amini – the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Musician of the Year 2018, Hayley Keenan and Graeme Armstrong seamlessly meld concertina, fiddle and guitar to produce a multi-layered, enthralling signature that has effortlessly captivated audiences from the USA to Australia, and throughout the UK.

Appearances at world-leading festivals – including the Cambridge Folk Festival, Denmark’s Tønder, WOMAD UK and Las Palmas, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Celtic Colours, Milwaukee Irish Festival and five successive outings at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections – have amassed a die-hard following, whilst the world’s folk and world music media have also lauded high credits upon the trio. The release of their hotly anticipated second album, Beyond, in October 2018 was met with a five-star ‘Top of the World’ review in Songlines, praising the band as “incredibly infectious and endearing… fresh, invigorating, accomplished and playfully frisky.”

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT TALISK

PFS Presents An Intimate Afternoon with Talisk

Sunday, March 22, 2020
Doors 2:30pm | Music 3:00pm

**Please note: This is a SEATED matinee show**

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

CLICK HERE TO RSVP ON FACEBOOK

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF TALISK

About Talisk

In their five years, Scottish firebrands Talisk have stacked up several major awards for their explosively energetic yet artfully woven sound, including 2018’s Belhaven Bursary for Innovation & 2017’s Folk Band of the Year both at the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, and a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award.

Mohsen Amini – the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Musician of the Year 2018, Hayley Keenan and Graeme Armstrong seamlessly meld concertina, fiddle and guitar to produce a multi-layered, enthralling signature that has effortlessly captivated audiences from the USA to Australia, and throughout the UK.

Appearances at world-leading festivals – including the Cambridge Folk Festival, Denmark’s Tønder, WOMAD UK and Las Palmas, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Celtic Colours, Milwaukee Irish Festival and five successive outings at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections – have amassed a die-hard following, whilst the world’s folk and world music media have also lauded high credits upon the trio. The release of their hotly anticipated second album, Beyond, in October 2018 was met with a five-star ‘Top of the World’ review in Songlines, praising the band as “incredibly infectious and endearing… fresh, invigorating, accomplished and playfully frisky.”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO TALISK ON SPOTIFY

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT TALISK

PFS Presents AJ Ghent

Saturday, April 25th, 2020
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

$12 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $15 Not-Yet-Members | $18 Doors

About AJ Ghent

AJ Ghent [j-ent] and His Singing Guitar construct a musical sound that can be heard howling from the church to the streets to the clubs. His style can be defined as fresh, nostalgic, electrifying and roots rock, — fusing blues, funk, rock, and pop, mashing it into a genre he likes to call, NEO BLUES. The energy and passion which resonates from AJ’s music, from the strum of the guitar and the conviction of the vocals, the pounding rhythm of the drums, to the thought provoking lyrics, is sure to be felt by any crowd. AJ aims to create an unforgettable experience for music lovers, with the hopes of taking them to a musical paradise. A little hip-shaking, finger snapping, head nodding is all you need for this tuneful travel excursion. He calls James Brown, Prince, and his family heritage as influences. He can be heard picking, sliding and strumming all over those strings, whether it’s one of his custom built 6 or 8-string lap steel hybrids or his acoustic resonator. What is different from most lap steel players is AJ performs standing upright like a guitar player, using his over handed technique to play slide, so that he can dance, and have more mobility during his live shows. AJ was born to fly!

AJ Ghent [J-ent] is a musician hailing from Fort Pierce, Florida and growing up was all about the music. Music has truly been running through his family for generations; such as his great uncle Willie Eason, the creator of the “Sacred Steel Tradition,” and his grandfather Henry Nelson, the founder of the “Sacred Steel” rhythmic guitar style. This style is played by many names today, such as Robert Randolph, The Campbell Brothers, and more. “Forged in the congregational hotbox of the Southern Pentecostal House of God church, sacred steel music is an electrified rhythm, punctuated by sharp blasts of soaring solos, played on amplified lap steel guitar. It’s an open tuning, on an eight-stringed instrument, and sometimes it can sound like the roaring, whooping and hollering voice of God himself has joined the gospel fervor.” (reference Connect Savannah, 2013) So around 12 years old, the young AJ got a hold of something special; “it was one of the first sacred steel CDs, with my father, my grandfather and my great uncle on there. At that point, I became interested in the instrument, and I would listen to that thing until I broke it.” (reference: Connect Savannah August 2013) After High School, AJ traveled down to the West Palm Beach, FL area with his sister, Tiffany Ghent to explore the city’s range of genres, from hip-hop to R&B, while playing in Top 40 music bands. However, AJ was in search of something more, a style that was uniquely his own.

Something was bubbling…Fresh with his marriage to his bride MarLa, a singer herself, he set his eyes on Atlanta, GA. When he arrived in Atlanta, AJ took on sideman jobs, studio session work. Not long after, AJ met the legendary Colonel Bruce Hampton who began to mentor him; teaching him what mattered the most; “time – tone and space” for all his music and life journeys. AJ was invited to play in Hampton’s band, Pharaoh’s Kitchen, which he did for about a year — and like true Colonel Bruce style, the elder statesman always reminded AJ to be ‘true to himself.’

He has had a colorful career thus far playing and opening for such legendary acts like Zac Brown, The Allman Brothers Band, Derek Trucks, Robert Cray, and Gov’t Mule. He can be heard on various recordings with Zac Brown, Luther Dickinson, and featured on Zac Brown’s 2013 Grohl Sessions Vol. 1 alongside Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters). AJ’s band has had various formations, from a trio to a full-size live band with horns, playing small clubs to mid-large sized festivals and arenas; dazzling audiences everywhere. In 2015, he released a DVD/CD called LIVE AT TERMINAL WEST – recorded and filmed at the Terminal West venue in the old King Plow factory in Atlanta, GA. This was well-received by fans and critics praising the fearless leader! “The 11-song album is a relentless, high-energy romp through gospel, soul and funk-infused landscapes, with a couple of cool-down moments just so the audience can catch their collective breath.” (Relix, 2015)

At the age of 31, AJ Ghent [J-ent] knows where his talent comes from and isn’t afraid to explore other sounds. His new album titled The Neo Blues Project is something different: A musical fusion form that takes art and skill to master, something that AJ Ghent [J-ent] has spent his whole life perfecting. The album debuted #7 on the Billboard Blues Charts on its release week in March 2018.

PFS Presents Alice Howe and Freebo

Thursday, November 14, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

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

About Alice Howe and Freebo

When Alice Howe wants to unlock a memory or understand an emotion, she steps outside. “There’s something about the stillness,” she says. “When I’m sitting with my guitar and looking out at a forest or the ocean, I have the space to reflect to on people and places. My muse strikes.”

Vistas and the faces and emotions they summon unfurl with compelling grace on Visions, Howe’s anticipated debut album. A modern love letter to 60s and 70s folk and timeless blues, Visions pays homage without succumbing to imitation, and offers an intimate snapshot of a young artist discovering her own power. Early praise for Visions has streamed in from gatekeepers such as American Blues Scene and smitten local press alike. “Sometimes we’re lucky enough to catch an up-and-coming artist as they fly into our radar,” critic JD Nash writes. “This is one of those times.”

Howe’s path to “up-and-coming” artist seems both fated and winding. She grew up in Newton, Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, in a home filled with music and art. Long outdoor walks were encouraged, and Howe would often disappear to wander through her grandmother’s garden next door or to journal and turn experiences into songs. “I can’t remember not singing,” she says with a laugh. Her mother always had a record to put on––Muddy Waters, Taj Mahal, and other blues giants were favorites. Howe sang with her brother and her dad, Sandy––a gifted painter turned successful architect––and sang alone to herself, improvising and composing constantly.

Howe left home to attend Smith College, graduated and moved to Seattle before finding her way back to Massachusetts. While music was always her companion, it didn’t become her profession until she decided to attend the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference in 2016. There, she met Freebo, Bonnie Raitt’s beloved bassist for a decade and veteran of performances and collaborations with Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Ringo Starr, Loudon Wainwright III, Neil Young, Dr. John, and more. Howe knew she’d found an ideal collaborator. “I feel like it all happened because I was open to it and ready for it to happen,” she says, then adds with a laugh, “I was ready, so the universe said yes to me.”

Freebo invited Howe to record in Southern California, and Bakersfield’s sun-bleached grit became a creative counterweight to Howe’s lush New England naturalism. American roots music became Howe’s playground: blues, bluegrass, folk, and pop––with celtic nods––take turns defining the sounds on Visions, anchored by her rich soprano. An ace band backed Howe like she’d never been backed before, and the resulting collection is polished but energized by a young artist’s hunger to prove herself.

Album opener “Twilight” is an intimate introduction to Howe’s use of pastoral vignettes to invite confessional introspection. Her vocal flutters conjure up memories of celtic storytelling over a bed of acoustic guitar, keys, and more.

When it comes to covers, Howe handpicked gems from masters. She saunters through Muddy Waters’ “Honey Bee” and gives Sam Cooke’s “Bring It on Home to Me” a slow blues-build that makes for an R&B lullaby. In her admiring care, Taj Mahal’s “Lovin’ in My Baby’s Eyes” shines like the classic it is. “Too Long at the Fair,” penned by Joel Zoss and made famous by Bonnie Raitt, could not have found a more suitable young interpreter, and Howe is also beautifully at home with Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” swollen with sad tenderness.

Howe cowrote most of the album’s originals with Freebo, excluding “What We Got is Gold,” which takes refuge in love that refuses to fade as an accordion blends wistfulness and warmth to lead the other instruments in a layered pop-folk stroll. Featuring a supporting cast buoyed by b3 organ and horns, “Getaway Car” is a blues-fueled romp, while “You Just Never Know” veers confidently into bluegrass territory as Howe traces the people and places that have come, gone, and shaped her.

As more and more listeners discover Howe, she is hopeful and thankful, not just for deeper connections, but for her life’s labor that has finally become her focus and brought her here. Reflecting on her time in Bakersfield with the incredible musicians who played on Visions, she cannot contain her joy. “I was so supported and given this space to do my best work, and now, I’m so happy,” she says, smiling. “I’m so excited for people to hear it.”

PFS Presents Front Country

Friday, November 15, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$12 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $15 Not-Yet-Members | $18 Doors

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

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About Front Country

One day in late February, the five members of Front Country were warming up for their record release show at the renowned bluegrass club the Station Inn, in their new home base of Nashville, Tenn. They’d never played most of these songs live before. It wasn’t a given that these musicians would wind up in anything remotely resembling a bluegrass band. Singer Melody Walker got into world music and belted out roots-rock. Bassist Jeremy Darrow studied jazz. Leif Karlstrom trained as a classical violinist, and still prefers that title to “fiddle player.” Mandolinist Adam Roszkiewicz studied classical guitar at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

The actual guitarist in the band, Jacob Groopman, did his share of exploring after college, too. “I was in an Afrobeat group for about five years, touring around in this 10-piece kind of hippie Afrobeat band,” Groopman says. In the bluegrass world, musicians tend to define themselves by their relationships to tradition — specifically, the tradition of high-and-lonesome singing and a hard-driving sound. There are regional variations from Virginia to Colorado. The West Coast has its own freewheeling tradition, and that’s where Front Country started out: at a monthly jam in San Francisco. Then its members heard about a band contest at a bluegrass festival. “And we ended up winning that band competition,” Walker says. “The very next day, I made a website for the band because I thought maybe people will be Googling Front Country at that point, possibly.”

From that point on, Front Country was a serious band. The group made a mixtape reimagining songs by Don Henley, King Crimson and the indie-pop band tUnE-yArDs. Front Country does play traditional tunes on the new album, like the Carter Family’s “The Storms Are On The Ocean” — though Roszkiewicz admits their arrangement makes it sort of unrecognizable. “It’s not so much to ruin it on principle with the rock music,” he laughs. “We might be doing things differently, but at the heart of it, it’s just songs, good songs we like that we can get behind.” Most of the new material, though, is original. Walker is the band’s primary songwriter, and for the album, she submitted 20 songs to her bandmates for a vote. One, called “Good Looking Young People,” seemed an especially unlikely candidate. “When I wrote it, I had an iPad drum machine app that I was using,” she explains. “So I had this beat that was kind of this super 808-sounding thing… Like, very Phil Collins, ‘In the Air Tonight.’ ”

The group decided to keep the rhythmic ideas and ditch the drum machine. And while Front Country’s members are more than capable of using traditional techniques on their instruments, they often choose not to. “We’re always trying to do things we’ve never done before on our instruments,” Roszkiewicz says. “I’ll be listening to the song, we’ll be working on the song and I’ll hear a synth line.” All of the musicians in Front Country also actually listen to, and respect, music made with beats, samples and electronic effects. “I think sometimes, when people dismiss pop, one of the things they’re dismissing is the craft aspect of it. Because obviously bluegrass and string-band music requires an enormous amount of craftsmanship,” Darrow says. “I think one of the things that we put on display is [that] rather than an element to be dismissed, the craft of pop music is just as intricate as it is in any other style. And maybe that’s a little clearer to see when we’re playing it on wooden instruments.” At this point, they realize it’s probably a stretch to call what they’re doing bluegrass at all. String-band pop is more like it. [ from NPR All Things Considered, by Jewly Hight ]

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF FRONT COUNTRY

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO FRONT COUNTRY

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT FRONT COUNTRY

PFS Presents Irish Mythen with Andrea Nardello

Saturday, November 16, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$14 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $17 Not-Yet-Members | $20 Doors

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CLICK HERE TO RSVP ON FACEBOOK

About Irish Mythen

Irish Mythen was born in Ireland and now resides in Charlottetown Prince Edward Island Canada.

“This Island creates music and musicians, art and artists. I found a shift to take things more seriously when I moved here.” And she did just that. Her latest release, the self titled Irish Mythen, gained her recognition around the globe with nominations and wins coming from Music PEI, East Coast Music Association, Folk Alliance International and Socan. Write-ups in Australian Guitar Magazine, the Rolling Stone, and a plethora of online publications world wide have helped plant Irish firmly on the map of ‘Must See Artists’.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF IRISH MYTHEN

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO IRISH MYTHEN ON SPOTIFY

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT IRISH MYTHEN

OPENING ACT: ANDREA NARDELLO

Philly’s Andrea Nardello has garnered favorable comparisons to Melissa Etheridge and Shawn Colvin for melding pop songwriting smarts with a confessional and literate songwriting style, exploring relationships, romance, and her out family life. Nardello’s refined accessibility draws from folk, pop, rock, and even the swagger of hip-hop. She can tug at your heartstrings with her softer tunes and get you dancing on your feet with her upbeat songs and powerful voice. Fans ride an unforgettable emotional roller coaster during her live shows.

Nardello has been busy touring and has opened for well known artists like Colbie Caillat, Brandi Carlile, Tony Lucca, Gabe Dixon, Ron Pope, Emerson Hart of Tonic Fame, and Tim Reynolds of The Dave Matthews Band. After releasing ECHO, Nardello won the prestigious Philadelphia Songwriter’s Project Contest and won Tri-State Indie’s “Acoustic Artist Of The Year.” Her songs, “Leave The Light On” and “Home To Me” each won WSTW’s Award for Folk Song Of The Year.

Nardello also spends time fundraising for important causes like The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and The MILE (Music Is Love Exchange). Nardello completed two service trips to Guatemala in support of the MILE. The MILE is a network of artists, musicians, and music lovers that bring positivity and change to the lives of disadvantaged and underserved children, strengthening families and communities both in the U.S. and abroad. Nardello is always willing to help, offer her time and believes that music is a universal language that helps heal and connects us all.

Nardello teamed up with long time friend and collaborator, Matt Duke, to produce her new EP, Human, which was released on Noble Steed Music, last year. This beautifully haunting EP was recorded in Nardello’s home. She is excited to share it with her fans and expects to tour in the fall.

“For me, “Human” is a collection of songs that explores vulnerable topics. Loving someone when they are broken. Striving to challenge yourself when you are stuck. The final stages of life and all that is unknown. It is truly a soundtrack of my life and the people in it. I always get nervous before releasing new music and my only hope is that anyone who listens can connect to these songs in some special way.”

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF ANDREA NARDELLO

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CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ANDREA NARDELLO

Event Details:  Lansdowne Folk Club presents Philadelphia blues-soul artist Deb Callahan on Thursday, November 21, 2019.  Check her out at http://www.debcallahanband.com.

Show Time: 7:30 pm EST

Tickets: $17 with advance purchase or reservation and $20 without an advance reservation.

Location: Lansdowne Folk Club, 84 S. Lansdowne Avenue, Lansdowne, PA

Website: www.folkclub.org

PFS Presents Kirsten Maxwell and Rachael Kilgour

Friday, November 22, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

$8 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $10 Not-Yet-Members | $13 Doors

CLICK HERE TO RSVP ON FACEBOOK

About Kirsten

“I once saw Kirsten Maxwell take the stage in a raucous bar. The patrons were there to drink, not listen. She began a delicate ballad, and by the third line, she had them in the palm of her hand. Kirsten is a strikingly special performer.” Paul Shaffer

New York raised, Nashville based singer, songwriter, and artist Kirsten Maxwell, was 5 years old when she made her stage debut. Born into a family of opera singers, Maxwell found her voice early. She performed a number of roles at the Amato Opera in NYC, including the First Spirit in Mozart’s, The Magic Flute. With support and encouragement from her musical parents, Maxwell continued to develop her talents into high school where she embraced musical theater, and took up the guitar. By college, Maxwell was writing songs and laying the foundation for an ever expanding musical career.

The pace of her progress has been measured in songwriting competition wins and a steady graduation to bigger and better stages. Her ability to charm new audiences often ends in standing ovations and an invitation to return. Maxwell’s professionalism and commitment to her craft have awarded her the opportunities to open for rock icon Melissa Etheridge, country star Tanya Tucker, Americana/Rock duo The Bacon Brothers, and renowned comedian Robert Klein. She was also asked to participate in a gala honoring Judy Collins, sharing the stage with such notable artists as Jimmy Webb, Suzanne Vega, Nona Hendrix, and Judy herself. She has since opened for Judy Collins twice. Maxwell has also shared the stage with the great Paul Shaffer, who brings a gorgeous piano accompaniment to her rendition of Joni Mitchell’s A Case Of You.

About Rachael

Rachael Kilgour is a Minnesotan songwriter and performing artist whose sincere, lyric-driven work has been called both brave and humane. The 2015 grand prize winner of the esteemed international NewSong Music Performance & Songwriting Competition and winner of the 2017 Kerrville New Folk Contest, Kilgour has been featured at NYC’s Lincoln Center, at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and by the ASCAP Music Cafe at the Sundance Film Festival.

Married in her early twenties, Kilgour devoted her young adulthood to parenting her stepchild and building family and community. Her work from that time (Self-Titled 2008, Will You Marry Me? 2011, Whistleblower’s Manifesto 2013) chronicled her life as a young parent in a same-sex partnership and addressed sociopolitical issues from government corruption to income inequality and religious hypocrisy. Kilgour’s music career took a backseat during those years as she lived a slow, home-focused life.
In 2014, divorce brought an unwanted end to her role as a member of the family she had helped to grow. In the aftermath, Kilgour found solace in songwriting. Her third full-length album, Rabbit in the Road (2017), was born out of that time.

Called “…a heartfelt slice of master crafted indie folk brimming with the battle-tested capacity to endure the worst in others” by Billboard, Rabbit in the Road took an intimate and often painful look at the failed marriage and loss of family. Kilgour’s writing and delivery cut deep, with resolute simplicity. Ravelin Magazine observed “this sort of metonymic ability to evoke the whole of someone or the entirety of a feeling is typical of Kilgour’s poetic songwriting.”
In February of 2019, Kilgour follows up with the release of her new EP, Game Changer. The aptly titled work examines the artist’s tentative first steps into a new world, post-heartbreak. With a clear head, Kilgour touches on the complicated nature of romance and relationship, sets up a stunning defense of queer love, and reassesses her priorities as a citizen of a changing wider world.
Recorded in Asheville, NC at Echo Mountain Studios and produced by Gar Ragland, the EP will be released on NewSong Recordings and features string arrangements by violinist/composer Sara Pajunen.

Here’s what music insiders are saying about Rachel Kilgour…

“…a heartfelt slice of master-crafted indie folk brimming with the battle-tested capacity to endure the worst in others.”
— Chris Payne, Billboard

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF KIRSTEN

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CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF RACHAEL

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PFS Presents The River Drivers Big Oak Road Release Tour

Saturday, November 23, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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

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About The River Drivers

Philadelphia-based Celtic-tinged folk rock collective River Drivers is a four-piece band whose unique passion-infused style of music draws from Celtic, Americana, and Appalachian influences and features powerful and distinctive vocals. Influenced by the likes of Billy Bragg, Christy Moore, Ewan MacColl, Phil Ochs, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, the Paul McKenna Band and Altan, among many others, their repertoire strikes a fine balance of original songs and more obscure folk songs, resurrected from deep folk vaults.

Anchored by Kevin McCloskey (vocals, guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass) and Mindy Murray (vocals, guitar, banjo, bass) with accompaniment by Marian Moran (tin whistle, low whistle, concertina, melodica) and Meagan Ratini (fiddle, Irish flute, tin whistle), their high energy music explores pervasive themes of hard-working people and social justice.

River Drivers’ distinct flavor of music is a sum of its parts. Kevin McCloskey’s passion for songs portraying the plight of working men and women was kindled by a childhood of performing Irish standards with his father, Irish tenor Tommy McCloskey. The intensity he brings to his music was shaped by years with the hardcore punk band Wrong Answer.

Mindy Murray’s works are infused with the music of the mountains and the miners, having witnessed firsthand the struggles of day-to-day life in Appalachia during medical school. Years later, she and daughter Meagan Ratini formed the duo Port Murray. Meagan herself fell into Irish music over many years of mastering instrument after instrument. She became further immersed while helping to run the New Jersey Folk Festival.

Marian’s roots lie in Ardara, County Donegal, an epicenter of Irish traditional music. Whenever she can break away, she steals back to the rugged coastline village to recharge at its nightly sessions and music festivals, eventually bringing River Drivers over to perform at its famous Cup of Tae festival.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF THE RIVER DRIVERS

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Description

PFS Presents Molsky’s Mountain Drifters

Thursday, December 5, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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

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About Molsky’s Mountain Drifters – Tradition steeped in possibility.

Bruce Molsky, “one of America’s premier fiddling talents” (Mother Jones) and Grammy-nominated artist on fiddle, banjo, guitar and song is delighted to present his new group already on tour in the US. Bruce’s previous collaborations, with Anonymous 4, 1865 – Songs of Hope and Home from the American Civil War, was released to rave reviews and was on the top 10 Billboard charts for weeks. He is also a special guest on legendary guitarist Mark Knopfler’s latest CD, Tracker and is working on his 3rd album with Andy Irvine & Donal Lunny’s supergroup Mozaik. You can also hear Bruce on BBC TV Transatlantic Sessions singing with Joan Osborne, Julie Fowlis and fiddling with Scottish legend Aly Bain and America’s great dobroist Jerry Douglas. Bruce is also Berklee College of Music’s Visiting Scholar in the American Roots Program.

Allison de Groot combines wide ranging virtuosity and passion for old-time music. With her own bands The Goodbye Girls and Oh My Darling, she has played Trafalgar Square in London, Newport Folk Festival, Stockholm Folk Festival, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and Tønder Festival in Denmark. Like Bruce, Allison loves collaborating and bringing new ideas to old music, and brings a fresh approach to the trio.

Boston-based Stash Wyslouch is one of bluegrass’s great young genre-bending pioneers. He got his start as a guitarist in metal bands before immersing himself in roots music as a member of The Deadly Gentlemen. Stash is a veteran festival performer, having played at Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Rockygrass, Merlefest, Savannah Music Festival and others. Coming over from the punk-metal world, Stash brings great sensitivity and real emotion to the trio, plus some superb guitar and vocal chops.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF MOLSKY’S MOUNTAIN DRIFTERS

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PFS Presents Hank, Pattie & The Current

Saturday, December 7, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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

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About Hank, Pattie & The Current

Bluegrass ambassadors Hank Smith and Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw join forces once again with their original and energetic new soulgrass band, Hank and Pattie. Hank and Pattie take traditional bluegrass and infuse it with their own flair, drawing from a melting pot of styles including Latin and Jazz, which adds up to an authentic and unique reflection of American music. While some of the music sounds old school and some sounds fresh and new, their overall musicianship, vocal harmonies, impassioned delivery and innovative arrangements captivate all generations of music lovers.

Hank and Pattie are backed by an all-star band comprised of North Carolina musicians Jonah Freedman on Bass and vocals, Billie Feather on guitar, and Robert Thornhill on mandolin and vocals.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF HANK, PATTIE & THE CURRENT

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PFS Presents Barnes, Gordy, Walsh Trio

Sunday, December 8, 2019
Doors 7:00pm | Music 7:30pm

$12 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $15 Not-Yet-Members | $18 Doors

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About Barnes, Gordy, Walsh Trio

In the world of bluegrass and folk, where the collaborative possibilities are endless, what draws some musicians together in formal collaborations is hard to pinpoint. For Joe K. Walsh, Grant Gordy, and Danny Barnes, a newly formed bi-coastal trio, curiosity is the rule, and tunes are just a starting point. “We approach every tune with an open attitude everyday. There’s a sort of tacit undiscussed flexibility that we all honor when we play together”, explains Walsh. For three musicians who have vibrant solo careers, as well as multifaceted musical collaborations under their belts, the trio has sparked a new level of creative inspiration, a venue to push and pull, learning and speaking with one another through improvisation. “We are in some ways three very different musical pieces, but the thing that unites us is a deep respect and affinity for anybody who is improvising,” says Walsh. The trio is anchored by banjo player and singer/songwriter Danny Barnes. Barnes is best known as the frontman of the Bad Livers, for his collaborations with Dave Matthews and Bill Frisell, and as the 2015 winner of the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass. He is an innovative banjo player and songwriter originally from Texas whose solo album “Pizza Boz”, garnered him a sort of cult following, and led Sam Bush to describe him as “The Great American Un-Sung Hero”. The elder of the group, Barnes brings an element of fierce individuality to the trio, with wisdom-infused vocals and straightforward, no nonsense banjo picking.

Gordy and Walsh come from a more jazz and swing influenced background, having first bonded over their mutual obsession with learning David Grisman solos. For Walsh, hearing some of the early Dawg records was his first impetus to learn the mandolin. However, he is now equally renowned for his bluegrass and old-time sensibilities. Growing up in Illinois and later Minnesota, Walsh first established himself on the East Coast as the co-founder of progressive bluegrass band Joy Kills Sorrow, and as a long time member of The Gibson Brothers. He went on to become a faculty member at The Berklee College of Music, and launch a solo career with his albums Sweet Loam and Borderland.

Gordy, who is originally from Colorado and now lives in Brooklyn, went from being a fan of David Grisman, to playing in his band. Having spent six years in the David Grisman Quintet, Gordy released a self titled solo album in 2010 to critical acclaim, and has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, Tiny Desk Concerts, and All Things Considered, as well as The Fretboard Journal, Acoustic Guitar Magazine, and Flatpicking Guitar Magazine. Darol Anger, with whom Gordy has collaborated frequently, describes his playing as containing “Kaleidoscopic excellence, startling emotion, and personal revelation”.

The three friends first crossed paths at a music camp in Grand Targhee, Wyoming, where they were each employed separately to teach and perform. But rather than sitting down to play together, they first bonded during a game of disc golf, which became a venue for philosophical musing and discussion. A desire for intellectual growth and challenge became a theme for the three, and their tours often involve car discussions on everything from French Literature to meditation. Perhaps because of this, their music feels like an infinitely extending plane. “When we play, everybody is leading with their ears, and everything is possible, it’s hugely omnivorous”, says Walsh.

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BARNES, GORDY, WALSH TRIO

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PFS December House Concert with House of Hamill

Friday, December 13, 2019
Potluck/Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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About House of Hamill

Rose Baldino and Brian Buchanan met 10 years ago, late one night backstage at a theatre in rural Pennsylvania.

Brian’s band Enter the Haggis and Rose’s group Burning Bridget Cleary were sharing a stage that evening, and the two bonded over a love of Irish fiddle tunes, Radiohead, and 4 AM whiskey. Their paths crossed a dozen times over the next decade on the road, but it wasn’t until the Folk Alliance 2014 conference in Kansas City that they finally became musical collaborators.

Burning Bridget Cleary’s guitarist and drummer had their flights canceled at the last minute, and in desperation, Rose asked Brian to grab a guitar and join her onstage. The two performed with virtually no rehearsal for over an hour, and their connection was powerful and immediate. A few months later Brian moved from Canada to Philadelphia, and as a tribute to the first tune Rose ever taught Brian, House of Hamill was born.

Both Baldino and Buchanan are accomplished traditional fiddle players and classical violinists, with over 25 years of writing and performance experience between them. Together, they write unusual new fiddle tunes and exciting, unpredictable original songs while breathing new life into traditional and contemporary songs. Both are confident and unique lead vocalists, and the blend of their two voices in harmony is hypnotic and irresistible.

Whether House of Hamill is playing songs from their debut album “Wide Awake” (2016) or stomping through a set of original jigs and reels from their follow-up “March Through Storms” (2018), their chemistry onstage is always engaging and often hilarious. In the summer of 2018, their quirky all-violin cover of “Sweet Child Of Mine” went viral, amassing over 15 million views and more than 400,000 shares on Facebook in just a few weeks, and was picked up by publications all over the world.

House of Hamill is on the bleeding edge of a new generation of traditional musicians.

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PFS and the hosts ask that guests act in a respectful manner and be considerate of the performers and other attendees–if you do not, you may be asked to leave by PFS staff or the hosts.

Advance registrations for this performance are REQUIRED.

Admission is free for PFS members and $10 for Advanced Tickets for non-members.

The event will be held at the Spears’ residence located in the West Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA. You will receive the exact address upon registering.

Please bring something to share! Potluck at 7:30pm, music at 8pm.

PFS Presents Driftwood Soldier and Greg Klyma

Friday, December 14, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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

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About Driftwood Soldier

Bassist Bobby Szafranski first lent his velvet touch to the back-handed poetry and full-throated ruckus of mandolinero Owen Lyman-Schmidt’s solo work in 2013. Since then the duo has been leapfrogging their way up and down the East coast bringing their unlikely sound to bars, living rooms, roof tops, and back alleys.

Scavenger’s Joy, Driftwood Soldier’s 2015 debut, established their musical range for audiences everywhere, with two-thirds of the songs receiving radio play on dozens of radio stations around the country including WFUV, WNCW, and WXPN, where Bruce Warren called the duo “a bluesy version of Nick Cave with a nod to Tom Waits.”

In early 2017, they followed the breadth of Scavenger’s Joy with the focused intensity of Blessings & Blasphemy, a concept EP exploring the tension between spirituality and dogma by reinterpreting gospel traditionals alongside anti-religious originals.

Their new full-length record, Stay Ahead of the Wolf, was produced with Erin McKeown and mixed by Grammy winner Ted Hutt (Old Crow Medicine Show, Lucero, Devil Makes Three).

With this bellowing, crooning testimony to the power of storytelling in hand, Driftwood Soldier is back out on the road bringing their liver-shaking live show to audiences both devoted and unfamiliar. This isn’t some nostalgic reproduction of an imagined past, or a feel-good celebration of a rosy future. It’s a bittersweet love song to an imperfect world, a lullaby that leaves you bleeding. Find Driftwood Soldier, wherever they’re playing, and hear this new beast howl!

About Greg Klyma

Greg Klyma is a road-tested troubadour and relentless songwriter out to make the world a better place one song at a time. In 2019, he has released 3 new albums on his Bandcamp page while maintaining an active touring schedule. For over 20 years, he’s been weaving lanes between Tom Petty and Merle Haggard on music’s highway, keeping the American folk tradition alive with his enduring themes, articulate and amusing stories, and populist ideals. He rolls in off the road, pulls out a guitar, and proceeds to take us back to the basics: family, love, gratitude, and laughter.

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CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF GREG KLYMA

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PFS Presents Zoe Mulford

Saturday, January 4, 2019
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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

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About Zoe Mulford

Zoe Mulford is becoming best known as the writer of “The President Sang Amazing Grace,” which Joan Baez covered on her album “Whistle Down the Wind” in 2018. An American songwriter now living in the north of England, Zoe backs her clear voice with guitar or claw-hammer banjo to deliver powerful, evocative songs that draw on the traditional music of the US and the British Isles to make sense of the modern world.

“supremely evocative and sometimes cheekily humorous” – fRoots Magazine

Zoe grew up just outside Philadelphia, in Swarthmore. She took up the guitar and fell in love with the banjo during a twelve-year stint in Durham, North Carolina. Four years in Washington, DC introduced her to the community of contemporary songwriters, including the Azalea City Recordings cooperative. In 2006, she moved to the north of England. She now divides her time between Pennsylvania and Manchester, UK and tours on both sides of the Atlantic.

“The President Sang Amazing Grace” first appeared on Zoe’s 2017 album “Small Brown Birds” (Folk-DJ #1 Album, February 2017 and #4 Album of the Year.) Joan Baez heard the song on KPFA while driving near her home in California.

“It’s an amazing little tune,” said Baez in an interview on NPR News. “When I first heard it, I had to pull the car over, because I started crying. And then for the first two weeks of trying to figure it out on the guitar, I kept crying. I was afraid that when I got in the studio, it wouldn’t be over. But I went into the studio, and then I just looked at the musicians and I said, “Let’s go to church.”

Thoroughly engaging as a solo performer, Zoe has also collaborated onstage with performers as diverse as slide guitarist Pat Wictor, saxophonist Brad Yoder, and English fiddler Tom Kitching.

Other artists who have performed Zoe’s work include Rhiannon Giddens (in a very early recording with the Irish band Gaelwynd), the Kronos Quartet, and John Roberts & Tony Barrand in their “Nowell Sing We Clear” Christmas review. She is a past Kerville Newfolk Finalist and Falcon Ridge Emerging Artist and has had work published in Sing Out! Magazine.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF ZOE MULFORD

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January House Concert with Mike Agranoff

PFS Presents Daniel Champagne

Friday, February 7, 2020
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

$12 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $15 Not-Yet-Members | $18 Doors

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About Daniel Champagne

One reviewer recently wrote – ‘Daniel Champagne exudes a natural ease on stage, as he sings poignant lyrics and beautifully crafted melodies that invariably whisk the heart up with grand romanticism. Coupled with an exhilarating guitar talent that transcends mere acoustic playing to replicate a whole band, Champagne is just magical’ (themusic.com.au)

The story goes that the young Australian singer, songwriter and one-of-a-kind guitar virtuoso first picked up his instrument of choice as a five-year-old following in the footsteps of a musical father. He began writing songs at 12, training classically throughout his teens and performing solo wherever he could, honing his craft and developing what would become the dynamite live show that he is renowned for today. At 18 he left school, turned professional and hit the road.

The next several years saw him traversing North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, New Zealand and of course, his homeland Australia playing such festivals as California WorldFest, Winnipeg Folk Fest, Vancouver and Mariposa Folk (Canada), Belgium’s Labadoux Festival and Australia’s Woodford, Falls Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival and the legendary Byron Bay Bluesfest. He has toured and shared stages with Jake Shimabukuro, Jesse Cook, Roderigo Y Gabriela, Richard Shindell, The Ragbirds, The Waifs, Lucinda Williams, Judy Collins, INXS, John Butler, KT Tunstall and Ani DiFranco.

As one reviewer recently wrote, “still in his early twenties, the distances he has been would be more frequently associated with veterans of the Folk scene” (The Dwarf).

Daniel has accomplished all of this while writing, producing and independently releasing two Eps, Gypsy Moon Volumes 1 and 2, his first long player ‘Pint of Mystery’ (2011) ‘My Own Design’ (2009), ‘Wide Eyed and Open’ (2010), ‘Real Live’ (2012), and ‘The Heartland Hurricanes’ (2014), and ‘Fault Lines’ (2017). His latest release the ‘Satellite City EP’ (2018) is comprised of three singles, Satellite City (out Sept 14), Indigo (out Oct 12), and The Great Divide (out Nov 1).

A review of his two Gypsy Moon releases said the following: ‘Champagne has gone a step further this time, it’s like he’s realized his own potential, his confidence is sky-high and he’s truly ready to explore’ – Australia’s roots music bible Rhythms Magazine

Now regarded as a leading light in acoustic music, with a firm reputation for making festivals buzz, holding crowds in his palm, dropping jaws and breaking guitars wherever he goes. Daniel Champagne has relocated to North America where he continues his exciting career as an international touring and recording artist.

PRESS QUOTES

“Daniel Champagne is a crossroads. Fusing the strong traditions of Blues, Folk and other roots art with pop showmanship and admirable lyrical ability. I firmly believe that he will become an ambassador for roots music in a time where it desperately needs representation.”
The Indie Blender, Canada

“One of the more amazing young percussive guitarists touring the world right now”
Blank, Gold Coast, Australia

“Today I saw the future of Folk – Festival goers flocking in their thousands towards the main stage to witness the young musical phenomenon from Australia dish out an absolute show-stopper at the evening’ send.”

Firefly Column, USA

“Watching Daniel Champagne perform is a once in a lifetime experience. He is a true prodigy that plays like no one else could possibly play unless they spent at least two lifetimes studying the art.”

BW Review, New Zealand

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT DANIEL CHAMPAGNE

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PFS Presents Talisk

**Please Note: This is a dancing room only show. The only seating available will be in the mezzanine**

Saturday, March 21, 2020
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

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CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF TALISK

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About Talisk

In their five years, Scottish firebrands Talisk have stacked up several major awards for their explosively energetic yet artfully woven sound, including 2018’s Belhaven Bursary for Innovation & 2017’s Folk Band of the Year both at the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, and a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award.

Mohsen Amini – the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Musician of the Year 2018, Hayley Keenan and Graeme Armstrong seamlessly meld concertina, fiddle and guitar to produce a multi-layered, enthralling signature that has effortlessly captivated audiences from the USA to Australia, and throughout the UK.

Appearances at world-leading festivals – including the Cambridge Folk Festival, Denmark’s Tønder, WOMAD UK and Las Palmas, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Celtic Colours, Milwaukee Irish Festival and five successive outings at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections – have amassed a die-hard following, whilst the world’s folk and world music media have also lauded high credits upon the trio. The release of their hotly anticipated second album, Beyond, in October 2018 was met with a five-star ‘Top of the World’ review in Songlines, praising the band as “incredibly infectious and endearing… fresh, invigorating, accomplished and playfully frisky.”

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT TALISK

PFS Presents An Intimate Afternoon with Talisk

Sunday, March 22, 2020
Doors 2:30pm | Music 3:00pm

**Please note: This is a SEATED matinee show**

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CLICK HERE TO RSVP ON FACEBOOK

CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF TALISK

About Talisk

In their five years, Scottish firebrands Talisk have stacked up several major awards for their explosively energetic yet artfully woven sound, including 2018’s Belhaven Bursary for Innovation & 2017’s Folk Band of the Year both at the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards, and a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award.

Mohsen Amini – the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards’ Musician of the Year 2018, Hayley Keenan and Graeme Armstrong seamlessly meld concertina, fiddle and guitar to produce a multi-layered, enthralling signature that has effortlessly captivated audiences from the USA to Australia, and throughout the UK.

Appearances at world-leading festivals – including the Cambridge Folk Festival, Denmark’s Tønder, WOMAD UK and Las Palmas, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Celtic Colours, Milwaukee Irish Festival and five successive outings at Glasgow’s Celtic Connections – have amassed a die-hard following, whilst the world’s folk and world music media have also lauded high credits upon the trio. The release of their hotly anticipated second album, Beyond, in October 2018 was met with a five-star ‘Top of the World’ review in Songlines, praising the band as “incredibly infectious and endearing… fresh, invigorating, accomplished and playfully frisky.”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO TALISK ON SPOTIFY

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT TALISK

PFS Presents AJ Ghent

Saturday, April 25th, 2020
Doors 7:30pm | Music 8pm

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

$12 for Members *While Supplies Last* | $15 Not-Yet-Members | $18 Doors

About AJ Ghent

AJ Ghent [j-ent] and His Singing Guitar construct a musical sound that can be heard howling from the church to the streets to the clubs. His style can be defined as fresh, nostalgic, electrifying and roots rock, — fusing blues, funk, rock, and pop, mashing it into a genre he likes to call, NEO BLUES. The energy and passion which resonates from AJ’s music, from the strum of the guitar and the conviction of the vocals, the pounding rhythm of the drums, to the thought provoking lyrics, is sure to be felt by any crowd. AJ aims to create an unforgettable experience for music lovers, with the hopes of taking them to a musical paradise. A little hip-shaking, finger snapping, head nodding is all you need for this tuneful travel excursion. He calls James Brown, Prince, and his family heritage as influences. He can be heard picking, sliding and strumming all over those strings, whether it’s one of his custom built 6 or 8-string lap steel hybrids or his acoustic resonator. What is different from most lap steel players is AJ performs standing upright like a guitar player, using his over handed technique to play slide, so that he can dance, and have more mobility during his live shows. AJ was born to fly!

AJ Ghent [J-ent] is a musician hailing from Fort Pierce, Florida and growing up was all about the music. Music has truly been running through his family for generations; such as his great uncle Willie Eason, the creator of the “Sacred Steel Tradition,” and his grandfather Henry Nelson, the founder of the “Sacred Steel” rhythmic guitar style. This style is played by many names today, such as Robert Randolph, The Campbell Brothers, and more. “Forged in the congregational hotbox of the Southern Pentecostal House of God church, sacred steel music is an electrified rhythm, punctuated by sharp blasts of soaring solos, played on amplified lap steel guitar. It’s an open tuning, on an eight-stringed instrument, and sometimes it can sound like the roaring, whooping and hollering voice of God himself has joined the gospel fervor.” (reference Connect Savannah, 2013) So around 12 years old, the young AJ got a hold of something special; “it was one of the first sacred steel CDs, with my father, my grandfather and my great uncle on there. At that point, I became interested in the instrument, and I would listen to that thing until I broke it.” (reference: Connect Savannah August 2013) After High School, AJ traveled down to the West Palm Beach, FL area with his sister, Tiffany Ghent to explore the city’s range of genres, from hip-hop to R&B, while playing in Top 40 music bands. However, AJ was in search of something more, a style that was uniquely his own.

Something was bubbling…Fresh with his marriage to his bride MarLa, a singer herself, he set his eyes on Atlanta, GA. When he arrived in Atlanta, AJ took on sideman jobs, studio session work. Not long after, AJ met the legendary Colonel Bruce Hampton who began to mentor him; teaching him what mattered the most; “time – tone and space” for all his music and life journeys. AJ was invited to play in Hampton’s band, Pharaoh’s Kitchen, which he did for about a year — and like true Colonel Bruce style, the elder statesman always reminded AJ to be ‘true to himself.’

He has had a colorful career thus far playing and opening for such legendary acts like Zac Brown, The Allman Brothers Band, Derek Trucks, Robert Cray, and Gov’t Mule. He can be heard on various recordings with Zac Brown, Luther Dickinson, and featured on Zac Brown’s 2013 Grohl Sessions Vol. 1 alongside Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters). AJ’s band has had various formations, from a trio to a full-size live band with horns, playing small clubs to mid-large sized festivals and arenas; dazzling audiences everywhere. In 2015, he released a DVD/CD called LIVE AT TERMINAL WEST – recorded and filmed at the Terminal West venue in the old King Plow factory in Atlanta, GA. This was well-received by fans and critics praising the fearless leader! “The 11-song album is a relentless, high-energy romp through gospel, soul and funk-infused landscapes, with a couple of cool-down moments just so the audience can catch their collective breath.” (Relix, 2015)

At the age of 31, AJ Ghent [J-ent] knows where his talent comes from and isn’t afraid to explore other sounds. His new album titled The Neo Blues Project is something different: A musical fusion form that takes art and skill to master, something that AJ Ghent [J-ent] has spent his whole life perfecting. The album debuted #7 on the Billboard Blues Charts on its release week in March 2018.