Meri's Musings

This time, when I'm talking about Bric-a-Brac I'm not talking about the things I find in my browsing trips. . . not old medicine bottles or vintage children's toys or piles of stars or even tons of candle jars. A few days ago, I mentioned the new-to-me group I discovered called Bric-a-Brac . And I captured their sound on video -- a first for me-- and then I uploaded it on YouTube because I didn't know how to load a video directly on blogger. So here goes. . . .

For a little fun and festivity on Memorial Day Weekend, there's nothing quite like the excess, spectacle and humor, music,  whether street performers or scheduled appearances by groups like this one (more about them later this week) dancing to live music with a zydeco group ,  food, vendors (there's my reflection as I admire the earrings) and general frivolity of the Northwest Folk Life Festival now in its 40th year. It's held at the Seattle Center, home of the iconic Space Needle.

One of the artists who shared the stage at Cafe Impromptu with Mark Ward last weekend was a sassy young woman named Jerin Falkner . Jerin has released four albums, the newest being Pyro Aesthetic. I bought her 2007 Acoustic Journal during her performance at Cafe Impromptu. During the Folklife gig, she mentioned that she grew up around Spokane. She also mentioned that she has a little problem with electricity and getting electrocuted occasionally. Like when she used a curling iron with a frayed cord and ended up with singe marks on her face and her hand numb for four hours. PLEASE Buy a CD from this woman so she can afford to buy a new curling iron! Just click on her name up at the top of this post and you can visit her website. And just so you can see and hear how talented she is, I've inserted a You-Tube video she recorded herself, walking along with her flip-camera and singing her song, "Count of Three." And if you want more, click here to listen to some more cuts, incl...

One of the Sunday performers at Café Impromptu, a Northwest Folklife Festival venue in McCaw Hall, was a young man named Mark Ward . He's from Spokane, Washington and describes his music as folk rock, acoustic guitar, and indie sounds. For you oldies but goodies, he says he sounds like Neil Young. He was selling CD's with four cuts: Fighting with Lightning; Little Lights; You Are Light; and Meant the Most . I brought one home -- you can purchase from his website (click on his name to go to his myspace page). I hope Mark doesn't mind me cribbing some of the accolades on his website, but these comments aptly honor Mark's music. " When you're one person with a guitar, you better have something compelling to separate yourself from all your like-minded compatriots. Ward definitely does-a magnetic, spine-tinglingly beautiful voice ." -Jeff Echert, The Inlander (Oct 20, 2008) " The incandescent crackle of a young songwriter taking the lens of his musical id...

At the Folklife Festival music filled the air. In official venues, in unofficial venues lining pedestrian walkways, music was the star. Celtic Bagpipe Band piper playing in late afternoon outside McCaw Hall. I don't meditate before I play or compose, but I see playing and composing as meditative acts. - Steve Swallow Adam Hurst with his five string cello playing opposite Experience Music Project and the Science Fiction Museum (More about Adam in a post later this week!) Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. - Berthold Auerbach Musicians in an unofficial venue near the Monorail Station. Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness. - Maya Angelou A trio entertains listeners while they dine or soak up the sun. Music is the poetry of the air. - Richter Drumming near the Children's Theater. Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence. - Robert Fripp Guitarist near the west entrance to the Seattle C...

This weekend, Seattle once again hosted the Northwest Folk Life Festival. It's the largest free festival of its kind in the world. Throngs of people siddled onto the Seattle Center grounds to enjoy the fun. There were loads of activities to participate in, if you were so inclined, and dozens upon dozens of opportunities to pull up a chair (if you brought on) or hunker down on the grass while you listened to music. The first "official" musical venue I sampled was the early afternoon event at the Mural Stage. The music was Louisiana Cajun and Zydeco, such rousing good fun that people just had to dance. I think the group playing when I took this picture was the Folichon Cajun Band. To hear a sample of their toe-tapping, can't-help-dancin music, play the You-Tube piece below. In the background, behind the stage, you can see a splash of color from the mural behind the Mural Stage. It's a mosaic mural installation by artist Paul Horiuchi (1906 - 1999) done for the 1...