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Folk
Folk music in Philadelphia is something to sing about
At the heart of all this activity is The Philadelphia Folksong Society, a non-profit educational organization that was founded over 45 years ago. The Society brings folk artists to the area for monthly concerts and generates folk music programs year round in schools, libraries, prisons and old age homes. Each summer for over 40 years the Society has produced the world famous Philadelphia Folk Festival, a three-day event that draws tens of thousands of music lovers to the Old Pool Farm near Schwenksville to see artists as diverse as Arlo Guthrie, the Throat Singers of Tuva, Richie Havens, and the Scottish band Shooglenifty. The Folksong Society also acts as a folk music resource center for the area. Its monthly newsletter includes news about folk artists, a calendar of folk events and contact information for more than 80 venues. Many of these are the smaller clubs, coffeehouses, and cultural centers and, of late, dozens of new house concert groups who enjoy putting folk acts on their stages or in their living rooms.
The University of Pennsylvania, with its famed folklore courses and its popular radio station, WXPN, also keeps the folk harmony going. And programs like the Folk Show with Gene Shay on Sundays and the syndicated Philadelphia-based World Café come in loud and clear with an array of local, national and even World Beat folk artists. This popular radio resource helps spread the word about which performers are coming through town and where they can be seen.
Through the years, and thanks to the instant communication offered by the Internet, the local folk community has networked together harmoniously. Other Folk Music organizations have joined in the chorus-many with their own special interests and areas to promote. The Green Willow Club brings in Celtic performers from Ireland and Scotland for concerts in nearby Delaware. The Brandywine Friends of Old Time Music focuses on country music, Appalachian fiddlers and bluegrass bands. The Folk Factory presents topical and protest songs. The Philadelphia Blues Machine presents…you've got it, blues!
The areas bordering Philadelphia teem with folk music too. There are folksong societies in Bucks County, in the Susquehanna area and the Lehigh Valley. Sing Out!, the national folk music magazine founded by Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie in the 1950s, is published in Bethlehem, PA, where the legendary Godfrey Daniels Folk Club still operates weekly. Martin Guitar, long associated with American folk music, is located in Nazareth, PA.
Ah, what sweet harmony! People living here, or just visiting, are surrounded by a rich tradition of folk music. So please, don’t be shy, feel free to join in!
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