SALISBURY, Md. – From Afro-Caribbean music to boogie-woogie piano, the Maryland Folk Festival will bring a wide range of talented musicians to Downtown Salisbury this September. The first five to be announced are The Blue and Gold, Daryl Davis Band, The High & Wides, Ken & Brad Kolodner and Tifane.
After more than five years as the host of the National Folk Festival, produced in collaboration with the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), this September will mark the inaugural year of the Maryland Folk Festival, which is set for Sept. 22-24.
“The incredible caliber of artists coming to Salisbury this fall is amazing,” said Caroline O’Hare, events and culture manager for the City of Salisbury. “We are honored to have these world class musicians, dancers, and tradition bearers launch our inaugural festival.”
Approximately 300 artists—musicians, dancers, storytellers, and craftspeople—will take part in the Maryland Folk Festival, with more than 30 different musical groups performing on four outdoor stages throughout downtown Salisbury.
The Maryland Folk Festival strives to present the nation’s very finest traditional artists. Music and dance traditions from every part of the country are represented—authentic blues, western swing, jazz, polka, hip hop, bluegrass, klezmer, old-time, go-go, honky-tonk, and zydeco, as well as traditional music and dance from Native American, Celtic, Acadian, Middle Eastern, Caribbean, Asian, Appalachian, Latino, Eastern European, African, and Pacific Island cultures, among others. The five artists announced today include:
The Blue and Gold
Photo Credit: Ariella Horvath
The Blue and Gold (British Columbia, Canada) – blues / country
The Blue and Gold is a musical collaboration between Juno-nominated and WCMA Blues’ Artist Of The Year Ndidi O and folk-roots guitarist / banjo player Trish Klein (The Be Good Tanyas, Frazey Ford, Po’ Girl) which celebrates the musical artistry and legacy of pioneering female blues musicians.
Daryl Davis – Piano Mentor – Strathmore Photo Credit: Jonathan Timmes
Daryl Davis Band (Silver Spring, Maryland) – boogie-woogie piano
This boogie-woogie piano master who learned at the feet of his musical heroes breaks boundaries by tapping into the shared roots of blues, R&B, and early rock and roll.
The High Wides
Photo Credit: Marc Shapiro Media
The High & Wides (Baltimore, Maryland & the rural Delmarva peninsula) – bluegrass
The High & Wides draw on their backgrounds in bluegrass to take the music to a place of their own with inspiration from the days when old-time, rockabilly, western swing, and proto-rock’n’roll mingled in a murky soup of hillbilly string band music.
Ken and Brad Quartet
Photo Courtesy of Artist
Ken & Brad Kolodner (Baltimore, Maryland) – old-time / hammered dulcimer
The dynamic father-son team Ken & Brad Kolodner weave together a captivating soundscape on hammered dulcimer and clawhammer banjo, blurring the lines of Old-Time, Bluegrass and American Roots music.
Tifane
Photo Courtesy of Artist
Tifane (Douglasville, GA and Port-au-Prince, Haiti) – Afro-Caribbean
Award-winning artist Tifane is one of Haiti’s top female ambassadors of its music and inspiring culture. Since releasing her first album, “Anprent,” known for its record-selling single “Se Kòm Si,” she has collaborated with some of the biggest names in Haitian music and has performed for audiences around the world.
Over a dozen people of different backgrounds, and with a deep passion of music and art forms, came together from across Delmarva to serve on the Performers Committee. This committee’s role is to advise, review, and select the artists who will perform at the Maryland Folk Festival. To learn more about these artists and their stories, please visit https://mdfolkfest.com/performers/
The Maryland Folk Festival will feature individual artists on Facebook (facebook.com/MDFolkFestival), Twitter (twitter.com/mdfolkfestival), and Instagram (instagram.com/mdfolkfestival/) throughout the next month.
More performers will be announced as they are confirmed.
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About the Maryland Folk Festival
After more than five years as the host of the National Folk Festival, produced in collaboration with the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), the City of Salisbury’s Arts, Business, and Culture Department is proud to launch its own legacy festival. In 2023, the City of Salisbury, Maryland will take center stage with the Maryland Folk Festival from Sept. 22-24.
This large-scale, multi-day outdoor event celebrates the roots, richness and variety of American culture. It features hundreds of the nation’s finest musicians, dancers, craftspeople and other keepers of culture in performances, workshops, and demonstrations, plus children’s activities, non-stop participatory dancing, storytelling, and more. https://mdfolkfest.com/
About the City of Salisbury, Maryland
Founded in 1732, Salisbury is the county seat of Wicomico County, a place where John Smith touched land in 1608 during his exploration of the Chesapeake Bay, bringing him in contact with the Wighcocomoco or Wicomico, the Nause, the Kusk’arawack, and the Nantaquack or Nanticoke tribes who had lived in the region for several millennia. Situated on Maryland’s historic Eastern Shore at the crossroads of the Delmarva Peninsula, Salisbury is now one of the region’s largest cities, and serves as the capital of the Eastern Shore, a rural area defined by its agricultural and maritime traditions, landscapes, and industries. The Chesapeake Bay is central to this distinctive identity. Though a relatively small city, Salisbury is the geographic and economic hub of one of the nation’s fastest-growing Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The City of Salisbury is working to build its reputation as an arts and culture destination and is aligning its downtown development and revitalization efforts with the arts. Salisbury believes hosting the Maryland Folk Festival is the perfect catalyst to further a cultural renaissance and urban renewal. https://salisbury.md/
ABCD Events
The Arts, Business, & Culture Department is responsible for fostering Salisbury’s thriving economic climate through supporting business, expanding economic opportunity, promoting artistic expression, hosting unique experiences, and maintaining regional attractions such as the Salisbury Zoo and Poplar Hill Mansion. By producing signature events, facilitating business incentives, and collaborating with stakeholders, this department strives to make Salisbury a place where arts, business, and culture intersect and flourish. https://salisbury.md/departments/arts-business-culture
