Folk Music & Beyond

John McCutcheon, folk singer extraordinaire, is our special guest this Saturday (8/1) 3 pm on KALW’s Folk Music & Beyond.  John will talk about his latest recording “Cabin Fever”, his brand new collection of songs he wrote while in self-quarantine earlier this year.  One of the most moving songs is “The Night John Prine Died”, about his good friend and fellow singer-songwriter John Prine who passed away a few months ago from Covid19.

Join us tomorrow (this Saturday) 3 pm (PDT) on KALW’s “Folk Music & Beyond” for a tribute to California-based singer-songwriter Mary McCaslin.  We’ll revisit musical highlights from her career and feature an interview with Mary discussing her music.  Rolling Stone said about her music "McCaslin's unorthodox guitar tunings create unusual, ethereal melodies of striking beauty. Combined with her clear, delicately affecting vocals, the effects are magical ….”

Join us for The Shelter-In-Place Free Folk Festival preview TODAY (this Saturday) at 3 p.m. on KALW’s “Folk Music & Beyond.” Our San Francisco Free Folk Festival preview show originally scheduled was canceled because the festival itself got canceled. Today’s program features some of the musicians who would have been headlining this year’s festival. They contributed songs from home while sheltering in place.

TODAY 3 PM (PDT) join us for an encore broadcast of a special program featuring French folk artist Gabriel Yacoub on KALW’s Folk Music & Beyond.  He talks about his role as founding member of Malicorne, the band that spearheaded the French folk revival of the 1970s. This program includes highlights from Malicorne’s classic recordings and Yacoub’s solo work. 

SOLSTICE, the Bay Area a cappella all-womens ensemble, returns to KALW’s Folk Music & Beyond this Saturday at 3 pm (PST) for a live performance. Solstice will perform songs from the their latest release “Sing When The Dawn Is Dark”, an inspiring collection of music for difficult times.

Erica & Friends return for a live guest appearance this Saturday (1/18) at 3 pm on KALW’s Folk Music & Beyond.

Kitka, the renowned Bay Area Balkan women’s ensemble, performs live 3 pm this afternoon on Folk Music & Beyond.

Kitka celebrates their 40th season with their upcoming Wintersongs concert series. This year’s theme is “Weathering the Storm.” On today’s show, they will share some highlights of their forthcoming performances.

KALW’s On-Air Folk Festival Returning to 91.7 this Saturday November 9 from 3 to 8 pm

It’s Five Hours of live performance in the KALW studios by talented musicians and singers, mostly from the Bay Area hosted by JoAnn Mar, Kevin Vance, and Peter Thompson.  Here’s the line-up:

Join us for some wonderful four-part harmony singing by Windborne this Saturday at 3 pm on KALW’s Folk Music & Beyond!  Windborne is a young a cappella ensemble based on the east coast.  They specialize in close harmony singing, shifting effortlessly between drastically different styles of traditional music within the same concert.  Their songs cover folk, old-time/American roots, gospel, and Balkan.

Folk Music & Beyond welcomes back renowned singer-guitarist Bruce Cockburn to the KALW airwaves this Saturday at 3 p.m.    

We remember Woodstock on its 50th anniversary this Saturday 3 pm on KALW’s Folk Music & Beyond.  Barry Melton, member of Country Joe & The Fish, shares his remembrances of that weekend—the chaos, the rainstorms, the mud, the huge crowds, and above all, the music that brought Woodstock Nation together. 

Today 3 pm (this Saturday), Folk Music & Beyond presents Vasen in concert, recorded this past April at The Freight & Salvage in Berkeley.  Vasen is one of Sweden’s leading folk bands, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.  For fans of Nordic folk music, this performance is not-to-be-missed! 

Join us this Saturday at 3 pm (PDT) on Folk Music & Beyond for a live performance by talented young British musician Dan Walsh, making a rare Bay Area appearance.  Dan will enthrall you with his mastery of the clawhammer banjo. Dan does it all-- Celtic and old-time, Balkan, Scandinavian, Egyptian, and Indian ragas! 

Join us today at 3 pm (PDT) on Folk Music & Beyond for a sneak peek at next week's San Francisco Free Folk Festival.  We'll feature some of the festival headliners on our show--Aki Kumar, aka "The Only Bombay Blues Man", the a Capella trio Yes M'am, and ballad singer-guitarist Kray Van Kirk. 

If you missed today's show, it's archived on KALW's Local Music Player for one week following the broadcast:  https://www.kalw.org/programs/folk-music-beyond

Folk Music & Beyond welcomes back Barbara Higbie to the KALW airwaves this Saturday March 30.

KALW On-Air Folk Festival Returns Saturday Apr. 13th

IF YOU MISSED THE FESTIVAL, YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE FIVE HOURS VIA KALW'S LOCAL MUSIC PLAYER FOR ONE WEEK FOLLOWING THE BROADCAST.  https://www.kalw.org/local-music-player-0

Join us on Saturday April 13th from 3:00 to 8:00 pm for five hours of continuous live music, featuring some of the Bay Area’s top talent.  The Folk Festival is presented by KALW’s music hosts JoAnn Mar, Kevin Vance, and Peter Thompson.  Here’s the line-up:

The renowned Irish fiddler makes a special guest appearance today at 3 p.m. on KALW's Folk Music & Beyond. Gavin holds the Guinness Book of World Records for fastest fiddling and will demonstrate some of his fiddle mastery for us in KALW's studio. 

Renowned Irish fiddler Frankie Gavin makes a special guest appearance this Saturday (2/16) at 3 pm on KALW’s Folk Music & Beyond.  Gavin is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest fiddler in the world and he’ll demonstrate some of his fiddle mastery for us.  He was co-founder of De Dannan, one of Ireland’s leading traditional bands in the 1970s and 80s.

Live music this Saturday (2/9) 3 p.m. on KALW’s Folk Music & Beyond features two masters of the Irish uilleann pipes, Todd Denman and Tim Hill. They’ll perform some tunes and talk about the 2019 West Coast Tionól, a big gathering of pipers on February 15–17, 2019 (Presidents’ Day weekend). The weekend will be hosted by the San Francisco Pipers’ Club, celebrating its 40th anniversary with workshops and sessions.

Join us this Saturday 3 p.m. (PST) on Folk Music & Beyond for our deep dive into music from Wales, part of the United Kingdom that is often overshadowed by its Celtic cousins Ireland and Scotland. 

Join us this Saturday 3 pm on Folk Music & Beyond for our deep dive into music from Wales, part of the United Kingdom that is often overshadowed by its Celtic cousins Ireland and Scotland.  Members of the Welsh band Carreg Lafar will talk about the recent folk revival in Wales and the repression of traditional music by the church for many centuries.  We'll hear from some of the musicians leading the Welsh folk revival--Fernhill, Yr Hwntws, Martyn Joseph, and Calan.  

Tune in this Saturday at 3 pm for a special birthday tribute on Folk Music & Beyond.

Join us on Saturday, Oct. 27th at 3 pm for a special tribute show. 

Berkeley Comes To Berkeley!  Singer-Songwriter David Berkeley performs at the Berkeley City Club this Sunday October 21st at 7 pm.  David will also be our special in-studio guest on KALW's Folk Music & Beyond this Saturday the 20th at 3 pm.  

Join us this Saturday at 3 pm on KALW for a special program featuring the music of the great eclectic guitarist Ry Cooder.  We'll go way back to his earliest albums and listen to songs from his latest CD "The Prodigal Son."  We'll also be hearing songs from a fabulous new CD featuring Pacific Island musicians "Small Island Big Song."  Both CDs available for your pledges of support during the KALW Fall Membership campaign.

Join us this Saturday 3 pm on "Folk Music & Beyond" for the crème de la crème—string wizardry at its finest, starting first with members of the Shasta String Celebration.  Cellist Tristan Claridge leads the celebration, along with champion Texas-style fiddler Matthew Hartz and guitarist Sean Watkins (co-founder of Nickel Creek).  At 4 pm, renowned fingerstyle guitarist Peppino D'Agostino returns to the KALW studios, performing what he humbly calls his "minestrone" music.  

All aboard!  Chicken Train rolls into the KALW studios this Saturday 3 pm for a live performance on "Folk Music & Beyond."  Led by master banjo player John Herrmann, Chicken Train performs old time and Appalachian mountain music.  John Engle on fiddle and Meredith McIntosh on guitar round out the band.   Chicken Train specializes in the fiddling styles of North Carolina and old African-American string band music that pre-dates the blues.

Join us this Saturday (tomorrow) at 3 pm on "Folk Music & Beyond" for the lowdown on the upcoming San Francisco Free Folk Festival, now in its 41st year.  Brother Spellbinder and EllaHarp are among the festival headliners who will perform live in the KALW studios tomorrow. 

The Free Folk Festival will include three stages of music with over 30 acts, over 40 workshops and classes on singing, dancing, and instrument playing, storytelling, open mic, family activities, and jam sessions.