Word: folk
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...Boston Folk Festival...
Crooners and strummers have to work harder than sparkly pop stars, it seems. The annual Boston Folk Festival last weekend showed that they do work harder. Shuttling between the bright orange seats of the UMass Science Center and lawn chairs and coolers outside, I was rewarded by artists buff enough to take the bruises from hours of practice, by new and high crystal voices, and music coaxed out of beat-up guitars by unmanicured hands. This Saturday was the story of the unglamorous side of the American music dream...
...were not the only workers here. Forget the Dixie Chicks as a symbol of kick-ass country or folk. Squeezing into the sappily labeled side show, "Small Victory: Songs of Faith and Redemption," I discovered a batch of female folk artists who, even in their sometimes cliched anguish over lost love, came out as women who knew the value and pain of an honest day's labor. All too ready to dismiss this as another whine-fest on my way in, I instead was caught up with the crowd in wildly applauding the willowy Dee Carstensen strumming her harp siren...
What you missed: disco-folk fusion, sweet trombone playing, a funked-out "In the Mood" and good Irish beer. The Humming rocked The Burren, a traditional pub in Davis Square, last Thursday night, outgrooving the Irish band in the next room and sending fans crowding into the street for an acappella encore of "Happy Trails." If this band's name doesn't sound familiar to you now, it will be in the very near future. Playing over 80 shows a year and expecting to put out their own album this spring, The Humming is poised to hit the big time...
Self-described American disco-folk, The Humming is also jazz-influenced, with a twist of reggae. This versatile and harmonious band has taken American rock-and-roll where it should be, away from whiny bands to musicianship and joy. Each band member is a real artist in his own right, and together Ian Steams, Reggie Martell, Ty Gibbons '00 and Frisbay create a unique sound. It is hard to succinctly describe a song set that included jazz breakdowns, a slide didgeridoo, the drummer on vocals and a jig. Some lounge, some first wave ska and some B.B. King slipped through...