From zydeco to Celtic music, check out these 5 can't-miss acts at Big Muddy Folk Festival
History and heart collide each year at Boonville's Big Muddy Folk Festival. Surveying the map of American music, festival acts honor the sounds which root them, then bend them into their own shape.
This year's festival, set for April 14-15 at Thespian Hall, offers another well-curated lineup from local folk music hero Dave Para. Here are just five of the fest's can't-miss acts, with a nod to its wider world of workshops.
The Here and Now (Saturday night)
A combination of Irish and American musicians who converged in Austin, Texas, The Here and Now conveys the flair and deep soulfulness of emerald folk music on violin, guitar and bodhran. Their music is forever unfurling, conveying motion and distance, weather and romance and other such elemental forces.
More: Catch Tony Danza's 'Standards and Stories' show at Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre this month
Mound City Slickers (Friday night)
The St. Louis-area string band knows how to strike up a good time; the five-piece is more than "able to punch out some dance tunes, warble country harmonies, and feature Midwest tunes, rags, and other surprises," the festival guide notes.
Newberry and Brashear (Saturday night)
With a foot each in the Ozarks and Appalachia, Joe Newberry comes to the banjo, guitar and microphone bearing a world of music. Newberry, who has played with some of the true greats, teams up here with storyteller-in-strings Chris Brashear, another terrific artist uniting American sounds all at once.
Elliot Rogers (Friday night)
Embodying the Texas troubadour type, Rogers is a student — and teacher — of bluegrass who handles his musical inheritance with care. He's also applied his talents in service of great songwriters such as Robert Earl Keen, Blaze Foley and other Lone Stars.
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Cedric Watson (Saturday night)
Rhythms press on and stories unfold in the music of this native Texan, who weaves through — and weaves together — the sounds of zydeco, Cajun and Creole musical idioms. Watson is a dynamic fiddle player, works the accordion and, when he sings, forever hints at deeper wells of soul.
Check out these weekend workshops
A number of Saturday daytime workshops will conjure — and equip — the true folk musician in every attendee. Promising options include songs of social justice with Ellie Grace; slide guitar with Mike Kearney; gospel songs with Rogers and Newberry; a bullwhip demonstration with Watson; and an afternoon song swap.
Find the full artist lineup and festival schedule, as well as ticket details, at http://bigmuddy.org/2023/index.html.
Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. Find him on Twitter @aarikdanielsen.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Check out these 5 can't-miss acts at Boonville's Big Muddy Folk Festival
