Every once in a while you come across an artist that just wows you. The Virginia Folklife Program has been lucky enough to capture a few of these artists in the studio. Below you will find a diverse selection of music from some of these wonderful musicians.
These CDs are available for purchase online through the VFH Store.
It takes only a few opening notes for the artistry of the Paschalls to claim the listener’s ear. The group’s four-part a cappella vocal style is disarmingly fresh in a musical world typically drenched in instrumentation. Their lyrical message, too, speaks to straight-up religious praise. Every audience that hears them recognizes the Paschalls as distinctive.
In 2002, The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities invited Susan Gaeta to participate in the Master/Apprenticeship program with Sephardic musician and composer Flory Jagoda.
Flory Jagoda, a 2002 recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship, is known as “the keeper of the flame” of the once rich Saphardic Jewish song tradition.
Susan Gaeta, an accomplished musician in her own right, demonstrates a deep intellectual and personal interest in carrying on this precious traditional art form.
On a hot summer night in 2006, two friends took the stage at the storied old-time and bluegrass music festival in Galax, Virginia. One would would sing while the other played along. When the next friend’s turn to compete arrived, they would switch roles. While neither friend is a musical virtuoso, their love for the music and their belief in each other resulted in a very special sound that embodies much of the great musical tradition of southwest Virginia.
