Summer Sketchbook… (all photos and sketches by Richard Cuccaro)

The 10th Springtime

May 23, 24, 25 Memorial Day Weekend
At the Clinton Corners Rec Park, Clinton Hollow Road (County Rt 18), Clinton Corners, Dutchess County, NY
http://www.arnb.org/sville.html
On-Site Camping Available

Last year, due to some last-minute skullduggery by its former Stanfordville neighbors, 
the Springtime Cajun & Zydeco Dance Festival was reduced to an unplugged one afternoon party. 
This year, festival organizer Bill Molloy has plugged it all back in at a new location. 
He's gotten a strong collection of bands together to satisfy the dance addicts. 
They'll converge to engage in that swinging, kicking, hip and butt shaking import from Louisiana.

Featured Performers:  
 Li'l Anne & Hot Cayenne
The Creole Zydeco Farmers
 River City Slim & the Zydeco Hogs 
The Back Porch Rockers with Jesse Lege 
 Robert Graves Leonard & Slippery Sneakers
The Basin Brothers
Planet Zydeco
Roy Carrier & The Night Rockers

 
May 23-26
Memorial Day Weekend
Saratoga County Fairgrounds
Ballston Spa, NY.
www.caffelena.com/psg/GGG_festival2x.htm

The Mammals 
Pat Humphries & Friend 
The Short Brothers 
The McLeods (Danny & Joyce) 
Paul Rosenberg (dance caller) 
and more . . . 

15th Annual 
 

Saturday, June 7th
11:30am - 8:00pm
457 Shirley Rd. Elmer, NJ 
www.appelfarm.org

This year the talent at Appel is as thick as locusts. Little Feat, one of the greatest bands 
ever in existence, once turned down  an offer to jam with the Rolling Stones. Feat didn't like the fit. 
Rosanne Cash, armed with her new CD, Rules of Travel, chock full of killer songs, will continue to 
mesmerize her audience. Adding voices like Joan Armatrading, Martin Sexton, 
Ellis Paul  and Vance Gilbert makes it a perfect day.  

Little Feat
Rosanne Cash
Joan Armatrading
 Martin Sexton
Ellis Paul
Vance Gilbert 


May 31 - June 1
Sussex County Fairgrounds
Augusta, NJ
www.crawfishfest.com

The Radiators
Marcia Ball
Papa Grows Funk
Andre Thierry
Crescent City Maulers
Slippery Sneakers
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Zigaboo Modeliste & the New Aahkesstra
The Dudes
Jon Cleary & The Absolute 
Monster Gentleman
Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas


June 21 & 22   10am-Dusk
Croton Point Park - Croton-on-Hudson, NY
On the Shores of the Hudson River
www.clearwaterfestival.com

Jill Sobule
Alvin Youngblood Hart
NRBQ
Jay Ungar & Molly Mason
Patty Larkin
The Mammals
Len Cabral
Entrain
Tony Trischka Band 
Inner Visions
Tony Vacca & World Rhythms Ensemble
Marshall Crenshaw 
Arm-of-the-Sea Theater
Murali Coryell
Sharon Katz and the Peace Train 
and  more!   

  
Left: As festivalgoers reach the main gate, they're greeted by a welcoming committee of musicians.
Right: Each year, inventive clown figures keep the kids entertained.

Mark Morganstern, owner of the upstate New York treasure, 
The Rosendale Cafe, agrees that the Clearwater Festival 
combines a great cause with some serious talent and good food!

 

June 28, 29 & 30, 2002 
Altamont Fairgrounds, Altamont, NY 
www.oldsongs.org/festival.html

Fairport Convention
Little Johnny England
John McCutcheon
Arrogant Worms
Mike Seeger
Music From China
Fourtold (Cindy Mangsen, Steve Gillette, Anne Hills & Michael Smith)
and more

July 5 & 6
New Bedford, MA 
www.ultranet.com/~koro/summfest.htm 

The cobbled streets and restoration architecture 
of Historic New Bedford work their charm every 
time we come to Summerfest. 
The seafood dinners at the pier are fresh, tasty and 
large. A combination platter of scallops and fish was 
enough for two of us! 


We're thrilled to see that Caroline Aiken has been
scheduled to play at Summerfest this year. Get ready 
for some soulful, moving powerhouse performances.

  
Each year we like to stay at the Knight and Look Campground in Rochester, Mass. About a 15 minute drive away from the 
festival, it's inexpensive, well-run and has a pretty view of a small adjacent lake.

For 2003:
Scott Ainsle
Caroline Aiken
Roy Book Binder
Johnny Cunningham
Phil Cunningham
Kris Delmhorst
Jonathan Edwards
Footworks
Bob Franke
Vance Gilbert
John Gorka
Lorraine and Bennett Hammond
Jack Hardy
Tish Hinojosa
Christine Lavin
Gina LeFaux
Le Vent du Nord
Little Johnny England
Joel Mabus
Mustard's Retreat
Nerissa and Katryna Nields
Carol Noonan
David Olney
Sandy and Caroline Paton
Suzzy and Maggie Roche
Jennifer Roland Band
Emily Slade
Amilia k Spicer
Sol y Canto
Art Tebbetts
Steve Tilston
Michael Troy
John Whelan
and more!

The Kennedys, seen from behind and below the stage at a workshop…


 
July 17, 18, 19, 20
Ancramdale NY
On the Rothvoss Farm
www.greyfoxbluegrass.com

 
The Bluegrass Academy for Kids held every year at Grey Fox is notable for the way 
the fledgling musicians emulate the serious demeanor of the adult blugrassers. 
In 2001, we took notice of one particular performer for both her talent and her intensity. 
Last year, we got to meet her. 
Frankie Nagle, left in the first photo above, was then 9 years old, and is from Mountain View, 
California. She'd played guitar for 3 years and Mandolin for one year. In her second year 
at Grey Fox, this was the seventh bluegrass festival she'd been to in 2002. She said she'd be 
attending one more in Canada later this summer.
Her friend, Leah Needham, at right was 13 years old last year, and is from Annapolis , 
Maryland. She'd been playing dobro for one-and-a-half years and this was her third year at 
Grey Fox. She attends about 3 or 4 Bluegrass festivals per year.
In the second photo, they're on stage with the rest of the academy, Leah with dobro and 
Frankie on guitar

    
Left:The view from the shuttle bus drop-off point at the main festival area offers a variety of spectacular 
views, depending on weather and time of day
Right: Most of the sun worshipers here gotta have their hats. Stetsons are available at the hat vendor.

Dancin' in the aisles is standard operating procedure at Grey Fox.

July 24, 25 26, and 27
Long Hill Farm in Hillsdale, NY
www.FalconRidgeFolk.com

  
Two of the performers we're very eager to see again are Patty Larkin and Lucy Kaplansky. Patti's newest album Red = Luck is typically dense 
with brilliantly conceived and executed songs. Lucy brings a freshness to every performance and is always a welcome treat. With Richard Shindell 
and Dar Williams also in attendance, we might get to see a reprise of Cry, Cry,Cry.
John Gorka,  Richard Thompson and relative newcomers We're about Nine add to the lyric genius of this year's proceedings.

The 2003 lineup includes:
Andes Manta
Back Porch Rockers Cajun Dance Band
Big Table
Greg Brown
The Clayfoot Strutters, DaVinci's Notebook
Rachael Davis
Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie
Eddie From Ohio
Vance Gilbert
Girlyman
John Gorka
Tracy Grammer
The Grapes of Vaudevillian Fantasy
Arlo Guthrie
David Jacobs-Strain
Lucy Kaplansky
The Kennedys
Patty Larkin
The McKrells
George Marshall with Wild Asparagus
Holly Near
Nerissa & Katryna Nields, Nightingale
Patty-O and the Hip Hooligans
Tom Paxton
Diane Ponzio
Railroad Earth
Richard Shindell
Small Tattoo
Richard Thompson
We're About 9
Dar Williams

August 22, 23,24
Old Pool Farm
near Schwenksville, PA
www.folkfest.org



  
Sharon Katz & The Peace Train on the main stage: Sharon gestures skyward / a singer and dancer in the 
troupe exhibits a striking presence.

  
On the Camp Workshop Stage, Susie Keynes, Sam Lohs, and Mel Watson form the front three for Fruit, a folk/rock band from Australia. Beyond the photo, 
they're backed up by Brian Ruiz on bass and Yanya Boston on drums. Everyone sings and the harmonies are drop-dead gorgeous. 
1)   2) 
1) Mel Watson plays a variety of horns and pours out vocals that seem to channel both 
   James Brown and Aretha Franklin.
2) Susie Keynes, one of the two very talented vocalist/guitarists

 
In the campground, the myriad of elaborate theme campsites is a feast for the eyes when we visit each year.
A walk through the swinging doors into the "saloon" at "Bob's Country Bunker" campsite netted the author 
a great microbrew and a serenade from the two main saloonkeepers. 

2003 Performers:
Ani DiFranco 
Mary Chapin Carpenter 
Loudon Wainwright III
Tempest 
Eddie From Ohio 
Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen 
BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet
Alison Brown Quartet
Pieta Brown with Bo Ramsey
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Ani DiFranco
Disappear Fear
Eddie From Ohio
Kathleen Edwards
Mark Erelli
Fourtold
Bob Franke
Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen
John Gorka
Anne Hills
The Holmes Brothers
Magpie
Mustard's Retreat
Nerissa & Katryna Nields
Michael Smith
Todd Snider
Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys
Tempest
April Verch
Loudon Wainwright III
and more 
 

August 29 - 31
Ninigret Park/Charlestown, RI
www.rhythmandroots.com

 

This year's Lineup:
Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys
Little Feat
Marcia Ball
Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie
Donna the Buffalo
La Bottine Souriante
Solas
Brave Combo
Chris Ardoin & Double Clutchin'
Sonny Landreth & the Goners
Paul Cebar & the Milwaukeeans
Andre Thierry & Zydeco Magic
Big Sandy & the Flyrite Boys
The Gourds
Creole Tradition
Jackie Green
Bluegrass Intentions
Paul Geremia
Magnolia
 
September 19, 20, 21
UMass Boston Campus
100 Morrissey Blvd
bostonfolkfestival.com
617-287-6911


The huge crowd at the 2002 Boston Folk Festival enjoyed performances by Nancy Griffith, 
Iris Dement, Richard Thompson, Patti Larkin, Guy Clark and Ellis Paul, among many others,


David Castagne, at right, was one of a group of staunch 
followers of WFUV-FM DJ Vin Scelza's Idiot's Delight 
program who attended last year's Boston Folk Festival. 
Subscribers to the on-line Idiot's Delight Digest listserve 
refer to themselves as Iddiots. Far from what the name 
suggests, they are an extremely diverse, knowlegeable 
group, and a sizable number of them knew just where 
to be during this weekend last year. This author is a "lurker" 
(non-posting reader) on the listserve and grateful beneficiary 
of numerous music/entertainment tips received from this source. 
I was turned on to The Waifs, a stellar Australian folk rock 
group, at this festival by Art Carey, another group member.