folk

King Dream is an indie psych-rock project from Bay Area songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Lyon, who previously co-founded Bay Area folk-rock band Tumbleweed Wanderers.

Legendary folk singer Joan Baez recently announced that 2018 will be her final year of touring.  When her tour ends, she will retire from the road.  This coming Saturday at 3 pm, Folk Music & Beyond will be paying tribute to Baez and celebrating her six decades in music.  Highlighting our tribute will be  songs from her latest and most likely her final CD "Whistle Down The Wind."

Otis Rush turns 83 on April 29. Albert King would have been 95 on April 25. Inspired by the birthdays of these two left-handed blues guitar giants, Fog City Blues presents its 9th annual Left-Hand-A-Thon -- celebrating the blues from the other side.

Power-house acoustic duo Moonshine Jelly consists of violinist and vocalist Lee Corbie-Wells, and guitarist and banjo player Kent Kessinger.

Join us this Saturday (3/31) at 3 pm for a special concert recording with American roots artist Tim O'Brien and Lunasa, one of Ireland's leading traditional bands.  This concert was recorded last month in Berkeley at the Freight & Salvage.  The evening was lively, the songs were engaging, and the on-stage humor was unparalleled (in other words, cringe-worthy at times).  A good time was had by all!

Vocalist Kyra Gordon with pianist and arranger Larry Steelman bring hypnotic and far-out arrangements of two iconic singers: Janis Ian and Janis Joplin. 

Old worlds collide in Book of J, as musicians Jewlia Eisenberg (Charming Hostess) and Jeremiah Lockwood (The Sway Machinery) take inspiration from the intersection of the sacred and the radical to create hit songs from out of the depths of American psalmody, Yiddish folklore, and international Jewish liturgical traditions.

The Christmas Jug Band are stalwart purveyors of the jugabilly mystique -- a tongue-in-cheek seasonal convergence of San Francisco Bay Area luminaries.

Listen this Saturday 3 pm to 12 midnight for some fabulous music!  Saturday music hosts share their favorite new releases that have come out this past year. 

At 3 pm on Folk Music & Beyond, new CDs by British guitarist Richard Thompson, the Portland indie band 'The Decemberists, and Irish accordion master Sharon Shannon.

At 5 pm on A Patchwork Quilt, "Jesus Rocked The Jukebox", a collection of gospel from the 50s and 60s

Long-time KALW morning host Joe Burke retired from his radio job last year, but he joins host Devon Strolovitch to talk about his new album, Just Watching the Show, and to spin some favorite records that the suits would never let him play during drive-time. Wednesday 7/19 at 9 pm.

We'll shine the spotlight on Bay Area artists this Saturday (July 1st) 3 pm on "Folk Music & Beyond".  Among our local treasures are fiddler/guitarist Laurie Lewis and mandolinist Tom Rozum.  They'll stop by the KALW studios for a visit and play a few songs.  We'll also hear singer-songwriter Sean Hayes talk about his song "Rosebush Inside", inspired by the compelling story of ex-death row prisoner Moreese Bickham.

This Saturday July 1 marks the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, when the British colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Canada (split into Quebec and Ontario) were united to form the Dominion of Canada. 

The Railroad Square Music Festival is a free day of music this Sunday in Santa Rosa's Railroad Square. It's a project of The North Bay Hootenanny, a Santa Rosa based non-profit that has been working for the past five years to bring the North Bay music world to another level.

UnderCover Presents is working with over 100 artists from 13 Bay Area ensembles to pay homage to The Beatles’ 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' - one of the most iconic albums in the history of recordings.

Two long-time friends of the show, Jimmy Grant and Royal Jelly Jive, will play concerts in San Francisco this weekend, but not before both stop by our studio for a preview tonight 9-11 pm. 

The Sam Chase has a voice like a nun on the lam with a mouthful cigarettes and curse words in a lonely bar, drunkenly dancing next to a broken jukebox. 

We're celebrating St. Patrick's this Saturday 3 pm with live music in KALW's  new performance studios!
The Black Brothers return to KALW after a long absence with their rousing songs and ballads.
Sharon Shannon and her band will follow the brothers. Sharon is among the finest accordion players performing Irish music today. She will preview some new tunes from her forthcoming CD "Sacred Earth."

Explaining Marty O’Reilly and the Old Soul Orchestra’s music is like describing a remembered dream. It's blues but not blues, folk but not folk, soulful but not soul. 

50+ Bay Area musicians and artists honor one of the most inspiring albums of all time.

Joan Baez and KALW turned 75 this year!  Today at 3 pm on Folk Music & Beyond, highlights from the Joan Baez 75th Birthday concert in New York earlier this year.  Joan's special guests include Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, Richard Thompson, Emmylou Harris, Damien Rice, and Mary Chapin Carpenter.  

What do Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and KALW have in common?  They're all turning 75 this year!  Tomorrow (Saturday) at 3 pm on "Folk Music & Beyond", an encore broadcast of an interview with biographer David Hajdu on his best-selling book "Positively 4th Street:  The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi & Richard Farina.  Hajdu talks about how the lives of these four musicians intersected during the 60's and how their friendships and rivalries inspired their artistic ambitions and creativity.

For more than 35 years, Kim Lembo has been giving back to the world of music singing her version of the blues.

Fog City Blues takes the week off as Mark Naftalin presents a special edition of the Blues Power Hour, with a specially-curated selection of his extensive catalog of blues rarities − Wednesday 6/15 at 9 pm.

Bob Dylan turns 75 on May 24. His first formal concert in the Bay Area took place in San Francisco on November 25, 1964; his most recent was October 30, 2014 in Oakland (he and his band return next month for a pair of shows in Berkeley).

20 on-air performances from the past two years are compiled on a brand-new third volume of Live From the Fog City Blues – local artists playing original blues (and beyond) live in the KALW studio. 

The Sam Chase has a voice like a nun on the lam with a mouthful cigarettes and curse words in a lonely bar, drunkenly dancing next to a broken jukebox. 

Mark Growden is a composer, conductor, multi-instrumentalist, and the director/founder of The Calling All Choir. Raised in a small mountain community in Northeast California, his work emanates earthy, soulful and poetic tones.