Virginia Folklife Program http://virginiafolklife.org A program of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities Mon, 07 May 2012 14:42:28 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 A program of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities Virginia Folklife Program no A program of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities Virginia Folklife Program http://virginiafolklife.org/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://virginiafolklife.org Keeping Traditions Alive – A Special Offer http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/05/keeping-traditions-alive-a-special-offer/ http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/05/keeping-traditions-alive-a-special-offer/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 14:40:47 +0000 Jeanne Siler http://virginiafolklife.org/?p=1795 In honor of the upcoming 10th anniversary of the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program, In Good Keeping is available for purchase through the University of Virginia Bookstore at a special discount.

Told in the voice of the master artists from the first five years of the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship program, In Good Keeping pairs Morgan Miller’s photographs and State Folklorist Jon Lohman’s reflective text to showcase a wide range of folk traditions and master practitioners — from canning to decoy carving, from bluegrass fiddling to steel drum making.  This book rewards readers who are familiar with Virginia’s traditional arts and newcomers alike, while reaffirming the importance of passing these cherished traditions on to future generations.

From now through the month of June, In Good Keeping can be purchased for the discounted price of $19.50, plus tax and shipping, a 50-percent savings. Use the discount code “folklife” and order a copy of In Good Keeping now from The VFH Store.

]]> http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/05/keeping-traditions-alive-a-special-offer/feed/ 0 New Apprenticeship Cycle Approaches http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/05/new-apprenticeship-cycle-approaches/ http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/05/new-apprenticeship-cycle-approaches/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 14:35:45 +0000 Jeanne Siler http://virginiafolklife.org/?p=1731 For the past ten years, eight experienced masters have been awarded Virginia Folklife Apprenticeships and paired with eager apprentices for a one-on-one, nine-month learning experience that helps ensure that a particular art form is passed on in ways that are conscious of history and faithful to tradition.

Spanning regions and disciplines, these recipients embody Virginia folklife in all its richness and diversity.

Applications for Virginia Folklife Apprenticeships are welcome in all forms of Virginia’s traditional, expressive culture—from decoy carving to fiddle making, from crab-trap building to quilt stitching, from apple butter making to old time banjo playing, from African-American gospel singing to Cambodian-American costume making.

For the 2012-2013 cycle, the Apprenticeships will begin on September 1, 2012 and run through May 31, 2013; applications must be postmarked by June 30, 2012, and earlier applications are especially welcome.

For complete details download our Guidelines & Application.

]]> http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/05/new-apprenticeship-cycle-approaches/feed/ 0 Full House at The Haven http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/05/full-house-at-the-haven/ http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/05/full-house-at-the-haven/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 08:44:35 +0000 Jeanne Siler http://virginiafolklife.org/?p=1729 The Folklife Program and the Virginia Festival of the Book hosted a special evening of tribute to the late Mike Seeger in March by hosting author Bill C. Malone and musicians Elizabeth LaPrelle, James Leva, Danny Knicely, Aimee Curl, and Alexia Smith at The Haven in downtown Charlottesville.

Folklife Director Jon Lohman joined Malone and the traditional musicians on stage as Malone spoke about how he came to chronicle Seeger’s life and work in his new biography of the Rockbridge County resident, Music From the True Vine: Mike Seeger’s Life and Musical Journey.


Sponsored by RoseWood Village and Davenport and Company, the free program captivated the capacity crowd which filled the pews of the former sanctuary; all were treated to a lively program of songs and sounds, including recordings of Seeger talking about and playing some of the heritage music he loved and studied during his lifetime. An Old Time Jam, organized by the Charlottesville Friends of Old Time Music concluded the evening.

An audio recording of the evening is available via the VFH Festival of the Book home web page, or by clicking here.

ALSO: James Leva and Jon Lohman stopped by WTJU FM’s “Walk Right In” on March 6th to share some memories and songs they associate with Mike. Listen to the podcast including some recordings of Mike from the Prism Coffee House.

]]> http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/05/full-house-at-the-haven/feed/ 1 Houston Caldwell http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/05/houston-caldwell-2/ http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/05/houston-caldwell-2/#comments Thu, 03 May 2012 12:24:25 +0000 VFHwebdev http://virginiafolklife.org/?p=1128 Come join us this weekend in Galax for HoustonFest, honoring the memory of our good friend Houston Caldwell. Houstonfestgalax.com

Watch the Video>

]]> http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/05/houston-caldwell-2/feed/ 0 Tune In and Support WTJU Folk Marathon http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/04/tune-in-and-support-wtju-folk-marathon/ http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/04/tune-in-and-support-wtju-folk-marathon/#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 01:44:29 +0000 Jeanne Siler http://virginiafolklife.org/?p=1846 Please support our good friends at WTJU (91.1 FM, Charlottesville) as they embark on their annual Folk Marathon fundraiser, with special programming throughout the week of April 30th – May 6th.

Some of the wonderful programs include:

* A tribute to Smithsonian Folkways, “Seeking Out the Cuckoo’s Nest” (featuring variations of traditional ballads from England, Ireland, and Scotland)

* “Music of Coal” (featuring Hazel Dickens, our dear friend Nat Reese and many others)

* “Fretless Banjo” (co-hosted by the legendary Joe Ayers)

* A tribute to Dr. Ralph Stanley, and much more!

Tune in to help our friends at WTJU, who work tirelessly to keep traditional music on the airwaves!

Click here for a complete schedule listing.

]]> http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/04/tune-in-and-support-wtju-folk-marathon/feed/ 0 A March Tribute to Mike Seeger http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/02/a-march-tribute-to-mike-seeger/ http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/02/a-march-tribute-to-mike-seeger/#comments Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:41:21 +0000 Jeanne Siler http://virginiafolklife.org/?p=1611 Our late friend Mike Seeger liked to describe the kind of music rural Southern families played at home with each other as “music from true vine” – songs and sounds which blended hundreds of years of British traditions with equally ancient African traditions to create a music heritage uniquely American.

Author Bill C. Malone has chronicled Seeger’s life and work in his new biography of the Rockbridge County resident, Music From the True Vine: Mike Seeger’s Life and Musical Journey.

The Folklife Program and the Virginia Festival of the Book will host a special evening with Malone with some of Seeger’s friends and favorite musicians on Wednesday evening, March 21. James Leva, Danny Knicely, Aimee Curl, and Elizabeth LaPrelle will be joining Malone and Alexia Smith at The Haven in downtown Charlottesville.

The free program kicks off at 7 pm at The Haven, 112 West Market Street in Charlottesville. An Old Time Jam, hosted by the Charlottesville Friends of Old Time Music and sponsored by RoseWood Village and Davenport and Company, concludes the evening.

  • James Leva and Jon Lohman stopped by WTJU FM’s Walk Right In on March 6th to share some memories and songs they associate with Mike. Listen to the podcast including some recording of Mike from the Prism Coffee House.
]]> http://virginiafolklife.org/2012/02/a-march-tribute-to-mike-seeger/feed/ 0 We Support In Your Ear on WCVE http://virginiafolklife.org/2011/10/inyourear/ http://virginiafolklife.org/2011/10/inyourear/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:57:35 +0000 tlt8a http://virginiafolklife.org/?p=1600 In Your Ear is a new series presented by JAMinc and hosted by Tim Timberlake on WCVE Public Radio. For 10 years, the Richmond non-profit JAMinc has brought musical artists to Richmond concert halls and schools. Most of the performances have been within the intimate and acoustically pristine confines of In Your Ear Music and Recording in Shockoe Bottom, where they were carefully recorded on state-of-the-art multi-track equipment. Now many of those performances will gain a wider audience, as WCVE Public Radio will air 13 hour-long sessions of In Your Ear, featuring a compilation of the best of JAMinc’s continuing monthly concert series. Tune in to the show Saturdays at 1:00 p.m on WCVE.

]]> http://virginiafolklife.org/2011/10/inyourear/feed/ 0 Richmond Folk Festival Recap http://virginiafolklife.org/2011/10/rffrecap/ http://virginiafolklife.org/2011/10/rffrecap/#comments Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:06:33 +0000 tlt8a http://virginiafolklife.org/?p=1585

What an incredible weekend on the Virginia Folklife Stage at the Richmond Folk Festival! Record crowds watched from the edge of their seats as some of Virginia’s most talented musicians and artists competed in a wide range of folk traditions. This year’s Virginia Folklife Area at the Richmond Folk Festival, curated by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities’ Virginia Folklife Program, showcased diverse contest traditions from across the Commonwealth.

The contestants were chosen based on their previous success in their field, as well as through years of fieldwork by the Virginia Folklife Program. The results were nothing short of dazzling. Sunday’s Old Time Fiddle contest featured contestants ranging in age from 10 to 87. The Step Competition brought members of six fraternities and sororities from Virginia colleges and universities, who nearly took down the stage with their powerful, athletic, highly coordinated syncopated steps. Oysters were shucked, hot dogs were scarfed down, and turkeys were called. And, as entertaining as these contests were, they weren’t simply exhibitions­—the contestants battled for some serious prizes, including homemade instruments built by some of Virginia’s finest luthiers: Wayne Henderson, Gerald Anderson, and Richmond’s own Don Leister.

Virginia’s material craft traditions were in fine display as well. A colossal quilt show, featuring seven chapters of the Richmond Quilters Guild, invited visitors to offer their “Viewer’s choice.” The Virginia Folklife Area was also home to one of the festival’s greatest attractions, the spectacular homemade Caribbean Carnival Costumes of Earl Blake and his family, which, when paraded around the sunshine of the Tredegar Bluestone on the beautiful RFF waterfront site, stood more than 15 feet high and 25 feet in diameter.

For great coverage on the Virginia Folklife Area and the Richmond Folk Festival, please visit,  The Richmond Folk Festival and the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Winners of the Virginia Folklife Area Contests were:

Mandolin Contest:
1. Chase Johner, Marion
2. Aaron Williams, Blacksburg
3. Ryan Blevins, Chilhowie

Guitar Contest:
1. Eric Hardin, Jefferson, N.C.
2. Brandon Davis, Independence
3. Aaron Williams, Blacksburg

Step Contest:
1. Delta Sigma Theta, Virginia State University
2. Sigma Gamma Rho, James Madison University
3. Alpha Phi Alpha, Virginia Union University

Fiddle Contest:
1. Nate Leath, Natural Bridge
2. Erika Godfrey, Mt. Airy, N.C.
3. Erynn Marshall, Galax

Viewer’s Choice: Quilt Show
Shelia Harlin, Quilt # 3 titled “Stars Around My Garden,” Hospitality Quilters

Hot Dog Eating Contest:
Bobby Stultz, Mechanicsville – 11 hot dogs

Oyster Shucking Contest:
Deborah Pratt defeated Clementine Macon

]]> http://virginiafolklife.org/2011/10/rffrecap/feed/ 1 Apprenticeship Showcase Recap http://virginiafolklife.org/2011/09/apprenticeshipslideshow/ http://virginiafolklife.org/2011/09/apprenticeshipslideshow/#comments Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:56:37 +0000 tlt8a http://virginiafolklife.org/?p=1468 The Virginia Folklife Program celebrated its eighth annual Apprenticeship Showcase on September 11. Festival-goers were treated to the food, music, and crafts of the Commonwealth. We congratulate all graduating Virginia Folk Masters and welcome the new class of masters and apprentices. View the slideshow below to see the wonderful images captured from the afternoon.


Video: Northern Neck Chantey Singers

]]> http://virginiafolklife.org/2011/09/apprenticeshipslideshow/feed/ 0 Virginia Folklife Program Celebrates Contest Traditions at Richmond Folk Festival October 15 and 16 http://virginiafolklife.org/2011/09/virginia-folklife-program-celebrates-contest-traditions-at-richmond-folk-festival-october-15-and-16/ http://virginiafolklife.org/2011/09/virginia-folklife-program-celebrates-contest-traditions-at-richmond-folk-festival-october-15-and-16/#comments Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:10:32 +0000 Jeanne Siler http://virginiafolklife.org/?p=1441 When asked how he became a world famous guitarist, Wayne Henderson answered simply, “I wanted to win blue ribbons.”

Oyster shuckingFiddlers, banjo players, and guitarists are just a few of the musicians who regularly attend competitions – such as the annual Old Time Fiddlers’ Conventions in Galax, Virginia – for ribbons, cash prizes and the bragging rights that come to the winners. More than just fun and games, these contests often are fiercely competitive, motivating participants to constantly improve their skills.

Contests span broad reaches of Virginia’s traditional art forms and help keep many of these traditions strong and vibrant, re-energizing old masters and encouraging new generations. This year’s Virginia Folklife Area at the Richmond Folk Festival, curated by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities’ Virginia Folklife Program, showcases and highlights these diverse contest traditions. Some of the state’s finest musicians, oyster shuckers, dancers, and crafts people will be competing for coveted prizes.

“The contestants have been chosen based on their previous performances – these are folks that we’ve met over the course of ten years of fieldwork in the Valley, in Southwest Virginia, from the Piedmont, really from all over the state,” noted Virginia Folklife Program Director Jon Lohman. “Like an invitational, these contests allow them an incredible forum for their talents – and a chance for some exceptional prizes.”

Henderson GuitarWayne Henderson built his first guitar using wood from the bottom of a dresser drawer, but has since built more than 400 on his way to becoming a world-renowned guitar maker. A sunburst-style Henderson guitar will be the prize young hot-shot players Travis Starkey, Aaron Williams, Thomas C. Coleman, Seth Taylor, Brandon Davis, and Eric Hardin will be competing for during their 3 pm Saturday afternoon  performances.

Gerald Anderson, a blue-ribbon winning musician himself, has create an F-model mandolin as the top prize for the Saturday mandolin contest featuring Chase Johner, Ryan Blevins, Aaron Williams, and Andy Thacker at 1 pm on the Richmond Times-Dispatch Virginia Folklife Stage.

Cremona, Italy, is the birthplace of the violin inspiring Virginia instrument maker Don Leister to follow the old masters’ patterns. He uses his own oil varnishes, stains and sealers in creating hand-built Southwestern Virginia fiddles. Either Scott Freeman, Jason Phillips, Erika Godfrey, Danny Knicely, Erynn Marshall, Mike Ford and Lovell Coleman will go home with a Leister fiddle after Sunday afternoon’s 3 pm contest.  This and all instrument contests will be emceed by Galax native Harold Mitchell, the famed voice of the Galax Fiddlers’ Convention for the last 40 of the convention’s 75-year history.

Step dancingSaturday’s events kick off with a flat-footing contest and workshop at noon on Saturday, and will be followed by competitions between hot-dog eaters, oyster shuckers, turkey callers and Caribbean Carnival costume makers during the course of the weekend.   A special marquee event will be a Step Competition, featuring members of various chapters of fraternities and sororities from historically black colleges and universities from throughout Virginia.Harold Mitchell

For more information about these traditional contests, all taking place Saturday and Sunday afternoon, October 15 and 16, see www.richmondfolkfestival.org

or Sunday, Oct. 9th’s feature stories in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

 

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