Hootenanny with Your Hosts at Folknet’s Mountain Rose
May 3 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EDT
Our Hootenanny goes back to the term’s roots from the 1940s to the 1960s as an informal gathering featuring folk and traditional musicians with lots of audience participation. The Almanac Singers and others would often use a Hootenanny as a rent party or a political fundraiser in New York City, so we will use this as a way to help pay for the use of our venue here at Standing Rock Cultural Arts in Kent. Leading this Hootenanny will be your hosts from Folknet’s Mountain Rose Concert Series — Ed Amann, Rick Feinberg, and Bill Schilling along with Castle Garden featuring Paul Certo, Joanne Laaessig, and Rob Richardson. We hope to have your voices as part of the audience singing along.
Ed Amann started with guitar in 1963. Ed started playing in public at The Needle’s Eye in Kent. Ed started playing with bands while in Army in Texas and toured with The Elmore Brothers Band in mid ’70s. Ed has played with a number of commercial bands around Akron before going solo.
Ed started playing as a single in 2001 in order to get his songs out to the public. Ed writes in many styles. The albums are mostly performed as solo acoustic, pretty much like a live show. The singles are much more electric, channeling the band Ed hears in his head.
Ed’s solo shows celebrate the oral tradition of folk music. All songs, original and cover are performed from memory. There is no set list so it is never the same show twice. Songs are selected in real-time as Ed responds to his audience.
The Castle Garden trio evolved out of a larger band that began as re-enactors. Most of their repertoire is traditional song, with a large maritime influence. Early members Paul Certo and Rob Richardson were joined by Joanne Laessig when they found their taste in music largely overlapped.
Paul Certo is the longest serving member, through 2 previous band incarnations. He has honed his skills over decades of open mics, small gigs, and back yard picking for his own amusement. He has a large catalog of songs he can pull up faster than most people can change keys. Guitar and banjo are his main instruments, but he’s great on ukulele and lap dulcimer as well. Folks enjoy Paul’s soft steady vocals.
Rob Richardson’s love of song he credits to the influence of his mother’s Girl Scout campfire songs. His love for the songs we sing is evident. His enthusiastic singing is supplemented by playing hammer dulcimer. He supports the other singers with a range of recorders.
Joanne Laessig has been singing folk since she was a wee girl sent to summer camps in the 1960s. A love of singing with others had her hosting Folknet’s Song Circle in the early years; later, about a dozen years of hosting Community Sings twice annually. Her involvement in folk music grew by promoting folk concerts since 1985. She slowly took to playing and singing solo, accompanying herself with autoharp, anglo concertina, and bowed psaltery through open mics. Castle Garden proved the perfect blend of these two tracks.
Inspired by Pete Seeger, the Almanac Singers, Woody Guthrie, and the Weavers, Rick Feinberg learned guitar and banjo in the early 1960s. From New York (where he was a regular at Washington Square Sunday jams), he moved to Berkeley and Chicago. Then, for most of the last 50 years, his home has been northeastern Ohio. Rick plays old-time and traditional Americana music as well as a variety of topical songs. In addition to solo performances, he has regularly appeared as a member of the Crooked River String Band and the Kent Shindig All Stars.
Bill Schilling has been singing and playing various folk instruments (at least 20 with variations of several) for over 55 years. He has performed for audiences of all ages in many settings from coast to coast. Bill often performs with others including Linda Sigismondi with whom he has recorded “Songs from Canal Days”. Since Bill believes that his music should be inclusive, he is involved in many groups which share music. They include: Dulci-More: Folk & Traditional Musicians (founder and leader of this group); the annual Dulci-More Festival (director for its 25 years); the Canton Folk Song Society (an original member); the Dulcimer Society of Trumbull County (reorganized and helps lead this group); Folknet (charter Executive Committee Member & past President); PattyFest, Inc. (Board member); and Folk Music at Weatherbury Farm (an originator of and workshop leader). His “Dulci-More Public Domain Songbooks” are used by clubs around the country.
