Festival-goers invited to dip into a musical feast

Think of this weekend’s American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront as a musical smorgasbord.

You’ll want to try a little of this and a little of that. But everything looks so good, and you don’t know where to start.

To help sort this out, let’s turn to musical gourmet Julia Olin, associate director of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, who worked with local American Folk Festival administrators to assemble this year’s diverse lineup.

When caught on her cell phone Tuesday in Bangor, where she’s helping out with the preparations for the second American Folk Festival, Olin was at first at a loss for words.

After all, she more than almost any other festival visitor knows how good these performers are.

But she recovered and soldiered on, starting with a few acts the NCTA had been trying to book for years.

The first artist Olin mentioned was Zimbabwean musician Oliver Mtukudzi. He is known for creating the musical style of Tuku, which blends elements of traditional and contemporary African music.

“We’ve been trying to get Oliver into a festival for five or six years,” Olin said. “His music is so extraordinary, and he rarely comes to the U.S. I have only heard Oliver’s recordings, but I have it on good authority that his live performances are very exciting.”

For guitar fans, there will be the Redd Volkaert Band. Based in Austin, Texas, Volkaert, who was Merle Haggard’s longtime lead guitarist, is known as the “Telecaster Master of Twang.” He will be joined by Cindy Cashdollar, who has been called the “First Lady of Steel Guitar.”

“Redd is a guitar player’s guitar player,” Olin said. “He’ll also be a wonderful surprise for those who haven’t discovered him yet. He’s a great musician who has been in the background who we’re now bringing to the foreground.”

After several unsuccessful tries, the NCTA booked Karl & the Country Dutchmen a year ago for The American Folk Festival. Karl Hartwich is a leader in the Midwest polka style known as “Dutchman” music and a top Dutchman-style concertina player. Dutchman bands also use tubas, drums and harmonizing brass and reed instruments.

Another long-awaited act that will be at this year’s festival is the bluegrass and acoustic country band The Whites. Father Buck White (vocals, piano, mandolin) and his daughters Sharon (vocals, guitar) and Cheryl (vocals, bass) have been playing together as a trio since the early 1980s.

Part of the challenge of booking talent for a folk festival is finding the right balance of new and established.

“There are American music traditions that are really popular, such as music from Louisiana, Celtic and the blues,” Olin said. “But we try to put in things that are totally new.”

One such style is Japanese taiko drumming, as performed by Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka and the San Francisco Taiko Dojo. The ancient ritual drumming blends percussive sound and physically demanding choreographic movement.

Another new form is the Tuvan throat singing that Huun Huur Tu will bring to the Folk Festival. The Tuvan Republic is an autonomous region between Mongolia and Siberia. Throat singing is a type of overtone singing, in which one person produces two or more simultaneous pitches that are shaped into melodies.

New England regional acts also are represented at the festival. These include Nipmuc flute player Hawk Henries, contradance band Rodney Miller and Airdance, and Vermont-based Franco-American singer Michele Choiniere.

Like The National Folk Festival, which was staged in Bangor from 2002 to 2004, The American Folk Festival also promotes up-and-coming acts. An example this year is the bluegrass band No Speed Limit, a Virginia group showcased in last year’s National Folk Festival in Richmond, Va., and which Olin called “the governor of Virginia’s favorite band.”

For children (and their parents), there’s the Alberti Flea Circus, as Jim Alberti, the third generation of his family to run such a circus, puts his tiny insect performers through acrobatic feats.

As Olin warmed to her task, she had a hard time stopping. It’s clear she’s enthusiastic about this year’s American Folk Festival lineup.

“I’m really excited about this festival,” she said. “Everyone on the program is really special.”

For more information about festival performance times, call 992-2630 or visit www.americanfolkfestival.com.