211. Interview with Jeanie McLerie and Ken Keppeler, Silver City, New Mexico (09:42)

Date:
2020-09-22
Main contributors:
Jeanie McLerie
Summary:
Jeanie McLerie and Ken Keppeler (Silver City, New Mexico) Bayou Seco plays music from the Southwest. Jeanie and Ken have collected music from older traditional American musicians for most of their lives and have learned to play many of their tunes and songs. They especially focus on Cajun music in southwestern Louisiana and, since 1980, have learned from traditional Hispanic, Cowboy, and Tohono O’odham musicians in New Mexico and Arizona. Both of them play fiddle and guitar and sing. Ken also plays one- and three-row diatonic accordions, five-string banjo (fretless), harmonica, and mandolin. They play at concerts, dances (where they can teach Spanish colonial dances from New Mexico and other dances), art centers, schools, museums, folk clubs, weddings, wakes, state fairs, and other types of events. They help run the radio station Gila Mimbres Community Radio (GMCR.org) in Silver City and their radio show, Roots and Branches, airs on Saturday (8-10 a.m. MST) with a jam-along with Ken and Jeanie from 9 to 9:30 a.m. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/22/2020.

212. Interview with Belén Escobedo, San Antonio, Texas (06:06)

Date:
2020-09-16
Main contributors:
Belén Escobedo
Summary:
Belén Escobedo (San Antonio, Texas) Belén Escobedo plays rare and beautiful fiddle tunes in the South Texas-Mexican grass roots Tejano Conjunto tradition. Growing up on the south side of San Antonio and working as a professional fiddler since she was a teenager, Belén has preserved a unique style of fiddling that has all but disappeared from the Texas borderlands. Belén has a vast and unique repertoire, including tunes she learned from her grandfather’s whistling and a huge range of borderlands tunes from both sides of the border. The name of her trio, Panfilo’s Güera, honors her grandfather’s influence on her, the grandchild he called his güera, or “blondie.” Panfilo’s Güera is Belén, her husband Ramón Gutierrez (tololoche or double bass), and Stevie R. Vaveges (bajo sexto). Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/16/2020.

213. Interview with Bertram Levy, Port Townsend, Washington (05:47)

Date:
2020-10-23
Main contributors:
Bertram Levy
Summary:
Bertram Levy (Port Townsend, Washington) Bertram Levy is one of the few accomplished bandoneonistas in North America. In 1989, Bertram first heard the instrument played live by Astor Piazzolla. He was so moved by Piazzolla’s music that he abandoned all his other musical endeavors to pursue the bandoneón. At that time Bertram was in his late forties and had achieved an international reputation as a banjo and concertina virtuoso. He had been featured on more than a dozen albums, including the Smithsonian CD compilation American Folk Music. He had also authored the definitive concertina tutor The Concertina Demystified, was chosen as banjo player of the year by Frets magazine, and was highlighted in several national broadcasts of The Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. In addition, he created and directed the most prestigious instrumental folk music festival in the United States: the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes. Bertram’s first bandoneón lessons were with Miguel Varvello in Buenos Aires in 1991 and later in Paris with Cesar Stroscio. In 2005, Bertram enrolled in the Conservatorio Manuel de Falla in Buenos Aires to study classical bandoneon with the great Rodolfo Daluisio. He founded Tangoheart in 1999 to introduce Pacific Northwest audiences to authentic Argentine tango. He currently lives both in Washington State and in Buenos Aires, where he continues his studies with Rodolfo Daluisio. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/23/2020.

214. Interview with Bethany Highley, Bonners Ferry, Idaho (05:38)

Date:
2020-10-05
Main contributors:
Bethany Highley
Summary:
Bethany Highley (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) Bethany is a professional recording artist and session vocalist with classical vocal training, choir, musical theater, and worship leading experience. She can also dance, play piano/keyboard, and write song lyrics. Bethany just finished co-writing and recording vocals for a chill but dark electronic album written and produced by Yuri Kryzhanivskyy. She defines herself as pretty trance, chill, alternative, alt/dream pop/rock/punk-oriented, but has dynamic singing style abilities. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/5/2020.

215. Interview with Carla Sciaky, Lakewood, Colorado (06:39)

Date:
2020-10-12
Main contributors:
Carla Sciaky
Summary:
Carla Sciaky (Lakewood, Colorado) Carla Sciaky is a multi-instrumentalist and folk singer-songwriter based in Lakewood, Colorado. As a soloist, she toured the US and Europe throughout the 1980s and 90s, recording first on her own Propinquity Records and later on Green Linnet and Alacazam Records. Her songwriting won her awards and/or recognition in such arenas as the Kerrville New Song Competition, the Louisville (Kentucky) songwriting competition, the Colorado Arts and Humanities Fellowship for Composition, the Billboard Songwriting Competition, and the Colorado, Utah, and Kansas Artist in Residence programs. As a member of the long-standing infamous Denver-area group the Mother Folkers, Carla was recently inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, and her solo Zoom series, Concept Concerts, has soothed fans worldwide during the sheltering time of COVID. In the classical/early music world, Carla performs on baroque violin with Sémplice, a Denver quartet specializing in baroque music on period/replica instruments, as well as being a member of the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado since their first season. Carla is also active in the holistic and energy healing world, helping people find greater well-being through her practice Doorway to Healing, and is working on two book projects. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/12/2020.

216. Interview with Brian Walther, Bismarck, North Dakota (05:59)

Date:
2020-10-05
Main contributors:
Brian Walther
Summary:
Brian Walther (Bismarck, North Dakota) Brian Walther’s career in music goes all the way back to 1982 and he has played countless styles of music. Whether it be as a polka drummer, a bass player in a country punk band, a keyboard player in a blues rock outfit, or an acoustic solo artist, Brian has a lifetime of experience in the music industry. Brian has recorded two solo albums that are currently available and was a founding member of the seminal 1980s cult country punk band Eddie & The Shitheads. The Shitheads were at the forefront of the DIY independent music movement selling several thousand copies of their classic record Ignorant Prix. Brian is the lead vocalist and guitar player for the American Storytellers. He has also produced multiple independent artists and worked as a live sound engineer for many years. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/05/2020.

217. Interview with Brian Marshall, Humble, Texas (05:38)

Date:
2020-09-14
Main contributors:
Brian Marshall
Summary:
Brian Marshall (Humble, Texas) Brian Marshall is considered one of the keepers of the unique Texas Polish fiddle tradition. Performers like Brian Marshall have been responsible for a recent revitalization of the rich tradition of Polish fiddling from Texas that declined into obscurity until recent years. In the nineteenth century, Polish bands used fiddles to create a distinctly Texan sound. Brian and His Tex-Slavik Playboys bring back the old Polish Texan sound. A Houston native with Bremond roots, Marshall has a fiddle style redolent of the Old Country while containing elements of Western swing as well. Brian and his band have recorded several CDs including Texas Kapela and Texas Lowlands. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/14/2020.

218. Interview with César "Jarochelo" Castro, Los Angeles, California (06:29)

Date:
2020-09-15
Main contributors:
César "Jarochelo" Castro
Summary:
César “Jarochelo” Castro (Los Angeles, California) A professional son jarocho musician, luthier, and instructor, César Castro has been an active liaison between communities in the US and Veracruz, Mexico, for over fifteen years through Radio Jarochelo, a community-based podcast series he started in 2010, as well as various cultural projects, artist residencies with musicians from Veracruz, and cultural events in local communities, cultural centers, schools, universities, and California state prisons. He is very active as a community activist working to promote community building through music and participatory projects, particularly traditional Mexican son jarocho music. He conveys vast knowledge and experience in son jarocho/fandango musical practices and engages disenfranchised communities in building self-sustaining projects that tap into and build upon cultural knowledge, embodied experience, and memory. He plays requinto, jarana, improvises lyrics, and dance son jarocho. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/15/2020.

219. Interview with Dave Robinson, Phoenix, Arizona (05:20)

Date:
2020-10-21
Main contributors:
Dave Robinson
Summary:
Dave Robinson (Phoenix, Arizona) Dave Robinson is a Phoenix-based classical musician and jazz guitarist who plays everything from classical to contemporary music. He has performed with Stevie Nicks, the Four Tops, Sam Moore, Joni Sledge, the Phoenix Symphony, and many others. He is a National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient and is in demand as a studio and performing guitarist. He has recorded with the Four Tops and appeared with Sam “Soul Man” Moore on the Motown Live TV show. He studied classical guitar and harmony at Arizona State University, as well as getting private instruction from Ted Greene, Joe Diorio, and Chuck Marohnic. He has also produced recordings for the Multimedia Library in NYC. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 10/21/2020.

220. Interview with David García, San Antonio del Guache, New Mexico (05:39)

Date:
2020-09-21
Main contributors:
David García
Summary:
David García (San Antonio del Guache, New Mexico) Lifelong musician and cultural anthropologist David García works at the Center for Regional Studies-University of New Mexico. He calls himself a community musician since he is a multi-instrumentalist who plays in different community settings and in various community ensembles as well as professional ones. He plays violin for the Danza de Matachines, a dance that takes place during a particular festivity on December 27 in northern New Mexico. He plays also in religious settings and funerals. Interviewed by Raquel Paraíso, 09/21/2020.