The Back Porch News

After much thought I’ve decided to put The Back Porch News up for sale. My time and energy are going into new projects and as much as I keep thinking I’ll get back to ‘The News’ it just hasn’t happened. I’ve put a lot of time and effort into the site over the last four years and I’d really like to see it continue.

If you are looking for fame and fortune traditional music probably isn’t the best subject to write about but as weblogs go Back Porch News is modestly successful. It has about 172 subscribers and and gets about 1900 page views a month. It makes a tiny amount of advertising revenue. It could bring in more if properly handled but we are talking about folk music.

However if you love folk music and want to share that love with other people AND you want to help the community grow and prosper this could be your chance.

The price depends, frankly on who you are and what you want to do with the site. For a strictly commercial sale I’d be looking for about $2,500. For someone with the right plans for the site it could be considerably less. If you think you might be interested use the contact form to get in touch with me.

Folk radio pioneer Henrietta Yurchenco died last week at 91. The following is from Eli Smith co-producer of her latest project “Down Home Radio”.

-Ken

Dear Friends,

I am very sorry to report that Henrietta Yurchenco, my friend and co-creator of Down Home Radio, died on the morning of Monday Dec. 10th at the age of 91. Although she had not been feeling well for some time, her death was never-the-less sudden and shocking. She was an extraordinary person, incredibly full of life, energy and love for people and for music. Henrietta leaves behind untold numbers of friends, devoted students and people who she influenced in any number of ways. The value of her work documenting and promoting the indigenous cultures of Mexico, the United States and many other parts of the world is extraordinary.

The Down Home Radio project was not Henrietta’s first time around with radio, it was more like her fourth or fifth, and yet she approached it with all the zeal of someone a quarter her age. Continue Reading

Tommy Makem died Wednesday after a long battle with lung cancer. Born in Armagh Ireland he came to the United States in 1955 looking for work as an actor. The folk music revival was booming in New York city in the late 1950s.
After teaming up with Liam, Tom, and Paddy Clancy they found a ready audience for the songs all of them had learned in childhood. Together they largely introduced irish music to the U.S.

Condolences and Mass Cards can be sent to PO Box 336, Dover, NH 03821-0336. New York Times Article

Hi Everyone,

I know things have been rather slow here of late. I haven’t gone away or given up. I’ve been quite busy with another project and I’ll continue to be pretty busy and or traveling for the rest of this month.

After that I’ll begin to get through the huge pile of CD’s and that DVD that people have sent for review. There’s lot of good stuff to post about.

Perhaps I’ll see some of you at the Falcon Ridge Festival later this summer and I plan to be at NERFA again this fall.

I hope you all have a great summer and hear lots of great music.

Thanks for reading,

-Ken

Main Showcase applications are now being accepted for the 2007 Folk Alliance Region West (FAR-West) annual conference.

This year’s conference will be held November 2-4, 2007 at the Hilton Vancouver Washington near Portland, Oregon.

Join the best of the west at the 4th Annual Folk Alliance Western Regional Conference. Meet the people who are making things happen in folk music from all over the west. The FAR-West Annual conference is ideal for Performing Artists, Presenters, Record Industry, Agents & Managers, Media, Arts Administrators, Folk Societies/Clubs, Folklorists, and DJs. Help build a stronger music community on the west coast while advancing your career and gaining valuable contacts at the same time!

Continue Reading

From mvyradio.com …. Merlefest 2007 begins this Thursday, April 26th, on the campus of Wilkes Community College in North Carolina. It’s one of the largest Americana music festivals in the country. This year, Main Stage performers include Doc Watson, Alison Krauss, Pam Tillis, The Waybacks, Sam Bush, Earl Scruggs, The Duhks and more. The Wilkes Community […]

Red Truck Radio is a monthly streaming radio show which bills its self as “Real Music from Real Places”.

I’ve posted before about Pete Seegers short lived PBS show ‘Rainbow Quest’. PCL LinkDump has compiled a list of dozens of Rainbow Quest clips available on YouTube. Included are Jean Ritchie, Elizabeth Cotton, Mississippi John Hurt, Reverend Gary Davis, Mimi and Richard Farina, Buffy St. Marie and Judy Collins to name just a few. […]

Howard Larman died Sunday April 22. He and his wife Roz created the FolkScene radio program.

Rae Anne Donlin died March 15th of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. She and her husband Bob ran the legendary Passim coffee house in Boston for 25 years.

The Swallow Hill Music Association seeks a dynamic, experienced and creative Executive Director to lead, develop and operate the organization. Located in Denver, Colorado, The Swallow Hill Music Association is the largest folk, roots and acoustic music organization west of the Mississippi. Swallow Hill is an award winning 30-year-old non-profit corporation dedicated to the preservation […]

Long-time civil rights activist and co-founder of the Freedom Song Network, Eleanor Walden has organized a petition to urge the American Friends Service Committee to nominate Pete Seeger for the Nobel Peace Prize. Pete Seeger has been a crusader for Peace and Social Justice over the course of his 87 […]

A while back, actually quite a while back. I posted about Patrick Costello’s Creative Commons licensed [banjo and guitar instruction books…Patrick wrote recently to let me know that he’s still at it. He’s added two instruction videos, one for Banjo and one for guitar. Like his books they’re licensed under creative commons and can be downloaded for free…

This Dylan spoof features Dr Seuss performed by a pretty good Dylan impersonator along with artwork for the “album”. Some of tracks work better than others but all in all it’s quite funny and weird. I particularly like “Green Eggs and Ham”. What’s your favorite? www.dylanhearsawho.com

Tom Paxton has updated his Vietnam era ‘Lyndon Johnson Told The Nation’ and posted it on his web site as one of his ’short shelf life’ songs.

Connie Kaldor nas been named a member of Order of Canada. Canada’s highest civilian honour, ‘The Order of Canada’ recognizes “a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation”. Susan Forbes Hanson points us to a delightful profile of Kaldor and her reaction to the award. “On Wednesday morning, […]

Sadly Mark Spolestra passed away this week at 66. Active in the 6o’s folk scene and an early friend of Bob Dylan’s he sought more steady work while his children were growing up but had returned to songwriting since retirement. Ron Olesko posted this obituary.

The Ottawa Folk Festival welcomes Tamara Kater as the Festival’s newly appointed Executive Director. She succeeds Gene Swimmer, who had served as Festival Executive Director for the past 11 years. Ms. Kater will work closely with Artistic Director Chris White, the Festival Organizing Committee, crew coordinators and the Board of Directors in the months leading […]

Folk and bluegrass performer and teacher Orrin Star celebrates 2007 as his 30th year of full-time music-making, and is kicking things off with a tour of Nevada and California later this week. “It was in February of 1977 that I ( along with my then duo partner Gary Mehalick ) started performing full time, up […]

Tangleweed is a five piece string band with a sound firmly rooted in tradition. Which tradition it is, is a little more uncertain. Drawing from oldtime, bluegrass, western swing and jazz, they create a sound that is authentically American but fiercely refuses to be pinned down to any one genre. They have the […]

Eric Von Schmidt died at his home in in Connecticut on Friday. A seminal figure in the late fifties and early sixties folk scene in Cambridge Mass., He influenced Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Tom Rush and many others.

Long an ardent supporter of sustainable agriculture Nashville-based singer-songwriter Adrienne Young has integrated a national responsible-farming awareness campaign and fund-raising effort into the release of Room to Grow. Due May 22, 2007 on her own AddieBelle Records.

Covering all music genres under five major headings for roots, rock, R&B, jazz and classical, Festival Preview aims to be the one-stop source of daily updated news, opinion and community involvement for North American music festivals of all genres.

This weeks show from Down Home Radio a folk music podcast by Eli Smith and Henrietta Yurchenco features a sixty seven year old program hosted by Leadbelly with Woody Guthrie as a guest.

Singer Ani DiFranco gave birth to a daughter, Petah Lucia at her Buffalo home January 20th. Mother and baby are both healthy and happy, according to her web site. People Magazine: Singer Ani DiFranco Welcomes a Daughter via About Folk Music OK - I can’t quite believe I just linked out to People Magazine.

Format changes at two public radio stations mean the end for two long running east coast folk radio shows. Earlier this month WFCR-FM in Amherst Massachusetts ended ‘Valley Folk’ which has been part of the folk music community in Western Mass for more than 22 years. This week WETA FM in Washington D.C. canceled ‘Traditions’, […]

Winnipeg’s The Wyrd Sisters have released a new full length CD “Wholly”. As with their last Juno-nominated release “Sin & Other Salvations,” the new CD “Wholly” was produced by Murray Pulver - two-time Prairie Music Awards Producer of the Year nominee and winner of the Canadian Music Alliance Musician of the Year award in 2003. www.wyrdsisters.com

Pete Seeger and Paul DuBois Jacob’s book “The Deaf Musicians” has been awarded the Schneider Family Book Award for “books that embody the artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences. “The Deaf Musicians” tells the story of a young boy who forms a jazz group with other deaf performers. […]

Shout Factory has released a three DVD boxed set of performances from ABC-TV’s 1963-64 Hootenanny TV series.

Denny Doherty one of the members of the pop/folk group ‘The Mamas & The Papas’ has died at 66.