Something to look forward to: Eight acts have signed up for 2008 American Folk Festival

BANGOR – Eight performing acts ranging in style from North Indian Kathak dance to Norwegian folk music, along with a country guitarist who is a Maine native, have been added to the lineup for the 2008 American Folk Festival on the Bangor Waterfront, organizers announced Thursday.

More than 20 acts will perform on five stages at the festival, which will be held Aug. 22-24.

The acts announced Thursday are Jason Samuels Smith and Pandit Chitresh Das; Sana Ndiaye; Hector Del Cuerto’s Eternal Tango Quartet; Maggie Ingram & The Ingramettes; CASYM Steel Orchestra; Johnny Hiland; the Appalachian trio of Wayne Henderson, Steve Barr and Jacob Eller; and Benedicte Maurseth.

Hiland, who is from Woodland, is based in Nashville, Tenn.

Smith and Das combine African-American tap with North Indian Kathak dance. Ndiaye, a master musician of the Jola people of Africa, performs on the ancient three-stringed akonting, the West African ancestor of the American banjo.

Del Cuerto will perform music and dance with his tango quartet.

Ingram, a gospel singer from Virginia, will perform with three generations of her family, which has been performing for five decades. The CASYM Steel Orchestra, which grew out of the West Indian community in Brooklyn, N.Y., represents Trinidad and Tobago’s steel pan tradition.

Henderson, considered a master of Appalachian fingerpicked guitar, will play with bluegrass banjo player Barr and bassist Eller. Maurseth, who was named Norway’s Young Folk Musician of the Year in 2007, will perform traditional songs on the Hardanger fiddle.

The American Folk Festival celebrates the variety of American culture through music, dance, traditional crafts, storytelling and food. All performances are free.

The Folk Festival is produced by the Bangor Folk Festival in partnership with the city of Bangor, Eastern Maine Development Corp., the National Council for the Traditional Arts, the Maine Discovery Museum and the Maine Folklife Center at the University of Maine.

For information on the 2008 American Folk Festival, visit www.americanfolkfestival.com or contact the American Folk Festival at 40 Harlow St., Bangor 04401, or 992-2630.