Unplugged View
By Aaron Rowan
Gettin’ The Ladin Out
“What happens when a banjo player leaves Texas and goes to Oklahoma? The I.Q. goes up in both states.”
– Joke told by a local bluegrass friend of mine.
What will happen when a banjo player named Evie Ladin leaves Oakland and comes to Modesto? Find out for yourself when Moon & Sixpence Music And Art House welcomes Evie and her duo partner Keith Terry for a night of originals, deep interpretations of traditional songs, and the kinetic thrill of percussive dance. Evie & Keith are some of our most distinguished talent to date. The polyrhythmic heat of Evie’s clawhammer banjo has been heard from A Prairie Home Companion to the Lincoln Center to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Keith brings tonal percussion to stand-up bass, and is a renowned percussionist/rhythm dancer and the founder of the International Body Music Festival. These two have developed a musical routine that you need to experience up close, full of Appalachian flavor and slaphappy body percussion. They’re in town Wednesday evening June 20, starting at 7:30pm. Cole Hinkle is a young rising country star of our local area, based in Lodi, who will open with a few songs. $15 cash only at the door. Find Moon & Sixpence at 500 9th St. between E & F, in back of the courtyard.
Two nights later, George Cole & Eurocana will be in the moonhouse for my final presentation there until autumn. Bandleader and guitarist George Cole has dazzled audiences at musical landmarks from Carnegie Hall in New York to the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley. Eurocana features standup bassist & singer Kaeli Earle and guitarist/vocalist Madeline Tasquin, and is a little bit gypsy jazz, a little bit rock and roll, and a little bit French chanson. Come join this celebration of the Great American Songbook, with inspiration from Django Reinhardt thrown in. 8pm, $10.
June is also a month of some of my favorite festivals. 6/1-6/3, the Berkeley World Music Fest will highlight cumbia, Sufi, Moroccan trance, Balkan, Chinese guzheng and other unique styles. Three days of free entertainment in various venues around downtown Berkeley. Saturday 6/9, the San Francisco Free Folk Festival is packed with world folk dance sessions, bluegrass & jug band jams, sea shanties, instrument workshops, and a nonstop lineup of performers on two stages. 12-10 PM at Everett Middle School in SF. Saturday 6/30, a sort of sequel to the recent Modesto Porchfest, Patio-Fest will feature 16 different performers on the patios of all the dining hot spots along J St. starting at 6 PM. Visit the Downtown Improvement District FB page for locations & info…or just follow the music!
