Les Deux Cla(i)res! telling stories of Women from family and folklore

WTF: Appalachia! with guest host, Jim Smith

Are we in for a treat! Direct from Mutton Hollow, New York state... well... more accurately... travelling a circuitous route from there to here... 

Guest Host

Mr. JIM SMITH

...will be regaling us with songs, stories and anecdotes from those travels among other things.Jim is an educator, entertainer, multi-instrumentalist, a natural raconnteur and a really nice guy. Just ask Nancy Jarrett who may be enticed to lend her lovely voice to the mix. 

As always... there will be plenty of time for others to share songs & stories too. The theme though is APPALACHIA. What you need to know is this... 

And pay particular attention to the emboldened words.

APPALACHIA is a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Canada to Alabama, the cultural region of Appalachia typically refers only to the central and southern portions of the range.

Since its recognition as a distinctive region in the late 19th century, APPALACHIA has been a source of enduring myths and distortionsregarding the isolation, temperment and behaviour of its inhabitants. Moonshining and clan feuding come to mind. 

While endowed with abundant natural resources, APPALACHIA has long struggled with and has been associated with poverty. In the early 20th century, large-scale logging and coal mining firms brought wage-paying jobs and modern amenities to Appalachia, but by the 1960s the region had failed to capitalize on any long-term benefits from these two industries.

APPALACHIAN MUSIC is one of the best-known manifestations of  Appalachian culture. Traditional Appalachian music is derived primarily from the English and Scottish ballad tradition and Irish and Scottish fiddle music. African-American blues musicians played a significant role in developing the instrumental aspects of Appalachian music, most notably with the introduction of the five-stringed banjo— one of the region's iconic symbols— in the late 18th century. Another instrument known in Appalachian culture was the Appalachian dulcimer which, in a practical way, is a guitar shaped instrument laid on its side with a flat bottom and the strings are plucked in a manner to make alternating notes.

In the years following World War I, British folklorist Cecil Sharp brought attention to Southern Appalachia when he noted that its inhabitants still sang hundreds of English and Scottish ballads that had been passed down to them from their ancestors. Commercial recordings of Appalachian musicians in the 1920s would have a significant impact on the development of country music, bluegrass and old-time music. Appalachian music saw a resurgence in popularity during the American folk music revival of the 1960s, when musicologists such as Mike Seeger, John Cohen and Ralph Rinzler travelled to remote parts of the region in search of musicians unaffected by modern music.

So... as you can see... APPALACHIA is much more than just a pretty place. 

WTF! invites you to bring songs and stories that reflect aspects of the Appalachian culture. Maybe an old ballad - the original story song. A fiddle tune or two. We have it on good authority that an actual Appalachian dulcimer player will be there to sing with this lovely instrument. And for the first time ever... WTF! requests and actually welcomes... the dreaded banjo :)

Oh! And if you feel inclined to dress up... (Think... OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?) or dress down (Think... DELIVERANCE)... be our guest. You could win a wonderful prize. Or a banjo :)

Get ready to hoot n' holler on Friday, March 14th!

Margo

WTF! is an artistic outreach program of the Helen Creighton Folklore Society. We meet every second and fourth Friday of the month at CHEBUCTO COFFEE, 6430 Chebucto Road, corner of Chebucto & Kline in Halifax where Mike's extraordinary culinary fare is approaching legendary status. Come early for a bite and stay for the entertainment which starts around 6:30 and goes until 9:00ish. As always... admission is by free-will donation towards the Society's work.

WTF! organised by Cindy Campbell Stone and Margo Carruthers, Helen Creighton Folklore Society.

www.helencreighton.org

WTF: Celtic Connections with host,Leo Feinstein

On Friday, February 28th, WTF! warmly welcomes guest host Leo Feinstein, our delightfully gregarious friend from The Boston States who, in his alter ego persona... 

LEE O' FEINSTEIN 

...will connect us with the Celts. And just who are the Celts?

... A mercifully brief history lesson...

The original wave of Celtic immigrants to the British Isles were called the q-Celts and spokeGoidelic. As near as we can figure out, they arrived sometime between 2000 and 1200 BC. At a later date,a second wave of Celts referred to as the p-Celts speaking Brythonic arrived. Goidelicled to the formation of the 3 Gaelic languages spoken in Ireland, the Isle of Man, and Scotland.Brythonic gave rise to two Britiish Isles languages, Welsh and Cornish, as well as surviving on the Continent in the form of Breton, spoken in Brittany.

You are a Celt if your heritage is...

IRISH, MANX, SCOTTISH, WELSH, CORNISH, BRETON 

but even if you are not a Celt...

you can sing a Celtic song or tell a Celtic tale without fear of reprisals this Friday. 

We are hanging up the broadswords, and burying the hatchets. No heads will roll! 

On Friday, February 28th... at WTF!s CELTIC CONNECTIONS...

 

... the only things rolling will be the good times 

Margo

WTF! is an artistic outreach program of the Helen Creighton Folklore Society. We meet every second and fourth Friday of the month at CHEBUCTO COFFEE, 6430 Chebucto Road, corner of Chebucto & Kline in Halifax where Mike's extraordinary culinary fare is approaching legendary status. Come early for a bite and stay for the entertainment which starts around 6:30 and goes until 9:00ish. As always... admission is by free-will donations towards the Society's work.

WTF: Kisses and Disses!

Our next WTF! falls on an actual celebratory day... a day that some truly love to celebrate while others are a bit more ambivalent. Here's a clue. 

If you like love and its many disguises

And don't mind the prices that all that comprises

There's lingerie kinky and overpriced bling

And chocolates, and cards and so many things

To boggle your mind when your minds quite confused

Thinking "... all of these choices? How can I ever choose

The most perfect trinket from my heart to say

You're the one that I love on VALENTINE'S DAY"

Whether you hate to love it...but are 

                IN IT FOR THE CHOCOLATE... 

    or love to hate it... but are 

                                          IN IT FOR THE CHOCOLATE ... 

there's a song for every sentiment... 

                     and we dare you to share yours with us next Friday February 14th.

And our condolences to those of you who missed the last WTF! night when Canadian blues legend, six-time Maple Blues Award winning vocalist/guitarist Suzie Vinnick, in town for The Dead of Winter Festival, dropped by. She shared three songs and rocked Light-fingered (James) Crouses's world when she invited him up to play slide with her. Fortunately Jon Stone captured this momentous occasion on video:

Now if only Suzie would be in town for Valentine's Day. 

Whether singing sweet &; sentimental or raunchy & hateful...

It would be a love-in for sure :)

XO Margo

Cindy LOVES to have the last word! So I am going to send a BIG LOVE-erly THANK YOU out to FAB singer songwriter, Vince Morash, for hosting that night!  WTF is always full of wonderful surprises - great guest hosts, new performers, talented regulars, supportive audiences, and Mike, the folkiest coffee shop owner ever...WOW! .... the nights at WTF just keep getting better and better! CHEERS! to everyone who helps make WTF the best folk venue in town!

XO Cindy

WTF! is an artistic outreach program of the Helen Creighton Folklore Society. We meet every second and fourth Friday of the month at CHEBUCTO COFFEE, 6430 Chebucto Road, corner of Chebucto & Kline in Halifax where Mike's extraordinary culinary fare is approaching legendary status. Come early for a bite and stay for the entertainment which starts around 6:45 and goes until 9:00ish. As always... admission is by free-will donation towards the Society's work.

Normal or abnormal hosts: Margo Carruthers and Cindy Campbell-Stone.

Storyteller Laura Simms!

Tales of Nova Scotia and Beyond with Nancy Muzzatti

WTF: It's a Marshmallow World!

Hi gang,

Happy New Year one and all! And in honour of the first blizzard of the year...

[Everyone Sings]

"It's a marshmallow world in the winter When the snow comes to cover the ground. It's the time for play, It's a whipped cream day. I wait for it the whole year round.

Those are marshmallow clouds being friendly, In the arms of the evergreen trees, And the sun is red like a pumpkin head. It's shining so your nose won't freeze.

The world is your snowball, see how it grows, That's how it goes, whenever it snows. The world is your snowball just for a song. Get out and roll it along.

It's a yum-yummy world made for sweethearts, Take a walk with your favourite girl. It's a sugar date, what if spring is late, In winter it's a marshmallow world. In winter it's a marshmallow world. In winter... it's a marshmallow world."

Surely you can see a theme here? 

...On Thursday, January 9th... the fabulous folks at the Rose & Kettle Concert Sessions will be back with their annual potluck and play-around-sing-around... inviting you to bring your favourite dish to share, a song or two or just your ears. Always fun! And a great way to start the new year!

... On Friday, January 10... the ludicrous lunatics at What The Folk! will be stealing their idea... inviting you to bring your favourite musical dish to share... a song or story or two about food. 

Your New Year's diet resolutions will be safe with us. No need to fear the calories in BLACK RUM AND BLUEBERRY PIE! There are none. As forGREEN EGGS AND HAM? They have no cholesterol, Sam I am. And you can have a HOT BURRITO #1 or a HOT BURRITO #2 or as many as you like because they are completely carb free. And gluten free! And guilt free!!

[Everyone Sings Again]

"In winter it's a marshmallow world. In winter it's a marshmallow world. In winter... it's a marsh...mallow... world."

Happy shovelling!  Xo Margo

WTF! is an artistic outreach program of the Helen Creighton Folklore Society. We meet every second and fourth Friday of the month at CHEBUCTO COFFEE, 6430 Chebucto Road, corner of Chebucto & Kline in Halifax where Mike's extraordinary culinary fare is approaching legendary status. Come early for a bite and stay for the entertainment which starts around 6:30 and goes until 9:00ish. As always... admission is by free-will donation towards the Society's work.

Normal or abnormal hosts: Cindy Campbell Stone and Margo Carruthers

 www.helencreighton.org

WTF! Dan MacKinnon!

Our next WTF! falls on Friday, December 13th so if you are superstitious... you might want to consider sharing a superstition or two; or a song or story about luck, good OR bad.

As for good luck... we are delighted to announce that DAN MCKINNON will be guest hosting the evening. As Dan will be heading off in early January for a two month UK tour, this will be one of your last opportunities to see him, especially as "up close & personal" as we are at Chebucto Coffee :)

I would like to suggest that you bring songs & stories that you feel would contribute to a most memorable send off for Dan. Please don't limit your choices to sweet sentimentality though. Dan would likely prefer to remember us as we really are :)

Margo

WTF! is an artistic outreach program of the Helen Creighton Folklore Society. We meet every second and fourth Friday of the month at CHEBUCTO COFFEE, 6430 Chebucto Road, corner of Chebucto & Kline in Halifax where Mike's extraordinary culinary fare is approaching legendary status. Come early for a bite and stay for the entertainment which starts around 7:00 and goes until 9:00ish. As always... admission is by free-will donation towards the Society's work.

Normal or abnormal hosts: Cindy Campbell Stone and Margo Carruthers of the Helen Creighton Folklore Society: www.helencreighton.org