Richmond Folk Festival 2015 Playlist
We look forward to the Richmond Folk Festival year after year. As one of the largest events our fine city hosts, the Folk Fest (as the locals say) serves as the unofficial beginning of fall for many locals. Early autumn weather in central Virginia is bright and brisk — perfect for walking around the riverfront, drinking a few beers and getting down to some folk music from all over the world.
One of our favorite things about the Folk Fest is the range of artists who participate each year. After looking back through previous pieces we’ve written on the festival, this excerpt from last year’s post sums up the event pretty nicely:
In the context of the festival, “folk” serves as an umbrella of sorts for anything and everything with a cultural lineage. Over the past 10-years, the festival has hosted artists of every walk: legendary rhythm & blues singers, high-energy rockabilly bands, Appalachian bluegrass storytellers, innovators of funk, and numerous international heritage acts. The sheer breadth of culture, style, tradition and talent is, to put it lightly, impressive.
We were incredibly delighted to receive requests to cue up a playlist of artists to keep an eye out for this year. For those of you who aren’t able to make it to this year’s festival, we hope this gives you a little taste of Richmond from afar.
This playlist includes artists featured at this year’s festival, as well as side projects or preferences of featured artists, curated by one of our Art Directors and in-house resource for all things music, Reid Collier. Stream “Walkin’ Boss” on Spotify here, or through the media player below.
Reid’s Anecdotes:
Walkin’ Boss - John Doyle of The Alt played guitar on this Tim O’Brien album.
Old Richmond Prison – Frank Newsome has open for Ralph Stanley with a hymn in the past.
Sweeter Than Flowers – A Stanley Brother’s tune. George Jones does a nice version here.
Navajo Trail - Harold Mitchell posted on his FB page that he would play this album everywhere.
Yasdetal - Mahmoud Ahmed is the giant of Ethiopia's '70s scene. The Fedeel Band takes its cue from that genre of music.
The Prodigal Son - Written by Rev. John Wilkin’s father, Robert Wilkins, and performed by the Rolling Stones.
Dr. John produced Shameika Copeland’s “Talking To Strangers”.
Steve Cropper of Booker T and the M.G.’s produced Shameika Copeland’s “The Soul Truth”.
All photos courtesy of Richmond Folk Festival.