Folk Festival promises variety of music, culture

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Now in its fifth year, the folk festival – three as the National Folk Festival and two as the American Folk Festival – has become a tradition in Bangor, the perfect way to move and groove through some of the last lazy days of summer.

And what a celebration it is – a fine blend of music, food and crafts spread out along the banks of the Penobscot River on Bangor’s waterfront. The cost to attend? Not one thin dime, thanks to generous sponsors and a legion of dedicated volunteers who show up year after year to make certain the beat goes on.

This year festival-goers, young and old alike, have a lineup of outstanding performers to entertain them:

. Oliver “Tuku” Mtukudzi of Zimbabwe. Mtukudzi created the “Tuku” sound that bears his name. His music evolved when Zimbabwe was known as Rhodesia and a fight for independence had the country in turmoil. His album “Africa” personified the spirit of the new nation and is said to be one of the most important albums of its time. Mtukudzi created his music from several elements of traditional African music, including the drumming of his clan, the Korekore.

. Alberti Flea Circus. It’s a bug’s life for Jim Alberti, who brings his flea circus to the folk festival. Alberti will delight children and adults with the acrobatic antics of his flea friends Paddy O’Reilly Shaunessey, Merlin, Captain Spaulding and Dardenell. He will put his circus through its paces in the festival’s children’s area.

. American Piano Styles. Old West saloon, boogie-woogie and rockabilly played in three separate shows by piano masters Dave Bourne, Daryl Davis and Jeff Little. Bourne plays Old West saloon piano, tunes written no later than 1875. Davis plays boogie-wooogie and has performed with Chuck Berry. Little plays rockabilly and traditional Appalachian music, which owes some inspiration to Jerry Lee Lewis.

. Bahamas Junkanoo Revue. Hurricane Katrina foiled their appearance last year. The revue will give the official kick-off this year when it parades from the Heritage stage to the Railroad stage at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25. The group wears ornate costumes and plays vibrant percussive music.

. Beolach. From Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island, the ensemble performs Scottish and Irish tunes on piano, pipes, whistles, guitar and two fiddles. They incorporate step dancing into their show.

. Bob French’s Original Tuxedo Jazz Band. The group has been around for nearly a century and plays the jazz of New Orleans. Led by drummer Bob French, the band plays music that has been described as “a tribute to the past and an invocation of the future.”

. Chinese Folk Art Workshop. The youth group from Boston will perform in the festival’s children’s area. They will do the Chinese Dragon Dance, the Chinese Lion Dance and other dances, and conduct the Chinese yo-yo Exhibition.

. Cowboy Poetry, Songs, Big Windy Stories (and outright lies), with Glenn Ohrlin of Mountain View, Ark., and Pat Richardson of Merced, Calif. Ohrlin offers traditional material 1875-1925, old ballads, mid-19th century sentimental tunes, bawdy songs, cowpuncher tunes and his own compositions. Richardson was named Best Male Poet by the Academy of Western Arts. He draws on the genre of rhyming that celebrates both the mundane and the epic in cowboy life.

. The Ethel Caffie-Austin Singers. Caffie-Austin is known as the “First Lady of Gospel Music” in West Virginia. She has traveled worldwide teaching and performing gospel music. She also is minister of music of the West Virginia Jurisdiction of the Churches of God in Christ.

. Geno Delfose and French Rockin’ Boogie. Zydeco is the way it goes for this band. Dubbed the Creole Cowboy because he grew up on a Louisiana farm, Delafose learned to play drums and taught himself to play accordion at age 13. He mixes traditional Cajun and Creole music with other genres and his own compositions to create a blend of zydeco, R&B, Cajun, country and the blues.

. Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka and San Francisco Taiko Dojo group. Members engage in ritual drumming that includes dance, music, martial arts and philosophy. The group has performed in the movies “Apocalypse Now,” “Rising Sun,” “Return of the Jedi” and “The Right Stuff.”

. Grupo Fantasma. A dozen musicians with roots in Hispanic culture play a fusion of traditional cumbias, salsa, mambo and rancheras with funk, progressive jazz and hip-hop to create an exciting Latino dance band.

. Hawk Henries of North Sullivan. Henries makes his own wooden flutes and shares his music, humor and stories about life. He is a member of the Chaubunagungamaug Band of the Nipmuc Nation.

. Huun Huur Tu, also known as the Throat Singers of Tuva. The singers perform one of the oldest vocal traditions of mankind. In the method of overtone singing, one person produces two or more simultaneous pitches. Tuvans, riding on horseback across the steppes of Central Asia, sing to one another to communicate.

. Karl and the Country Dutchmen. The musicians play the Midwest style of polka known as “Dutchman” music. Bandleader Karl Hartwich is the leading Dutchman-style concertina player of his generation. The band, based in Wisconsin, plays dances from coast to coast and has appeared on “A Prairie Home Companion.”

. Kieran O’Hare and Friends, traditional Irish music. O’Hare is a master of the uilleann pipes, played sitting down, which produces a sweeter, quieter sound than the Highland bagpipes.

. Michele Choiniere, Franco-American singer. Choiniere sings traditional French-Canadian songs she learned growing up in Burlington, Vt. Choiniere will appear at the festival with her father, Fabio, on harmonica, Sabin Jacques on accordion and Rachel Aucoin on piano.

. No Speed Limit. Although the members of this bluegrass band are still in their teens, all are veteran musicians from musical families. Known for the power and precision of their music, they play classic bluegrass tunes as well as their own compositions.

. Redd Volkaert Band with Cindy Cashdollar. In the world of “twang” guitar, Redd Volkaert is IT. He played lead guitar for Merle Haggard for seven years. Cindy Cashdollar is known as the “First Lady of Steel Guitar.” She is one of the few women to play lap steel and slide guitars. She was a member of the Grammy Award-winning Western swing group, Asleep at the Wheel.

. Robert Belfour. Described as one of the best and most traditional bluesmen from the Mississippi hill country, Belfour offers a sound which harks back to a time and place in a way that is rare in today’s world.

. Rodney Miller and Airdance, contra dance music. Contra dancing comes from British country dancing, blended with French and Irish set dancing in New England, done with sets of partners. Partners begin the dance facing one another, hence the name. In 1983, Miller was designated a master fiddle player by the National Endowment of the Arts. Caller Chrissy Fowler of Belfast will join Rodney Miller and Airdance at the folk festival.

. The Whites, country music. Buck White and his daughters Sharon and Cheryl have been playing as The Whites since the early 1980s. They have toured with Emmylou Harris and in 2001, won a Grammy in the Album of the Year category.

. Yorick’s Marionette Theater. The art comes out of traditional Czech puppetry, which dates back 500 years and has been used to make political statements in times of national peril, such as when the Nazis overran Czechoslovakia during World War II. Master puppeteer Dusan Petran and his puppets will present “The Blind Dates of Columbine” in the children’s area at the folk festival.

And to sweeten the weekend, festival-goers will find the Folk Marketplace overflowing with works by hand made by skilled artisans.

Food at the festival will embody tastes of the world – Maine crabmeat rolls, Thai dumplings, Bengali food, Coney Island hot dogs, Indian curry, Greek gyros, crab Rangoon, Italian sausages, Louisiana crawfish, burritos and shish kebab to name just a few of the international food delights on the festival menu.