Tag Archives: folk music

Maggie Roche, gentle, New Jersey native singer-songwriter dies at 65 (Videos)

Posted on January 21, 2017 | 1 comment
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Maggie, Suzzy, and Terre Roche (Photo by Irene Young via The Roches Facebook page)

Maggie Roche, the eldest of the three folk-singing sisters from Bergen County, New Jersey, who performed as The Roches, died Saturday morning.

Maggie, who always seemed like the sensible, quiet sister, was 65 when she lost her battle with cancer.

Younger sister Suzzy Roche confirmed the death in a loving Facebook farewell, saying she and Maggie spent  “the last month and a half helping each other through her final journey.”

Continue reading →

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Pete Seeger, Hudson Valley-based singer, activist, environmentalist dead at 94 (video, playlist)

Posted on January 28, 2014 | Leave a comment
Pete Seeger onstage at a 2009 rally in Memorial Park, Nyack, N.Y. (© 2009, Steven P. Marsh/willyoumissme.com)

Pete Seeger onstage at a 2009 rally in Memorial Park, Nyack, N.Y. (© 2009, Steven P. Marsh/willyoumissme.com)

Pete Seeger is dead.

The legendary musician, environmentalist, and activist, a longtime resident of Beacon, N.Y., died Monday at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, The New York Times reports.

His death comes six months after his wife, Toshi, died just short of their 70th wedding anniversary.

He continued to work after Toshi’s death, appearing in September at a Farm Aid Concert in Saratoga Springs, reports Peter Kramer of The Journal News in a wonderful obituary posted on lohud.com. (Be sure to check out the great video on lohud.com, including this raw footage of a rambling interview at Seeger’s Beacon home. Continue reading →

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Dave Van Ronk gets his long overdue time in the spotlight

Posted on December 19, 2013 | 1 comment
Terri Thal and Dave Van Ronk at their home at 190 Waverly Place in Greenwich Village, in August 1963 (Photo by Ann Charters, courtesy Terri Thal)

Terri Thal and Dave Van Ronk at their home at 190 Waverly Place in Greenwich Village, in August 1963 (Photo by Ann Charters, courtesy Terri Thal)

Moviemakers Joel and Ethan Coen have gone to great lengths to let us know that their new movie, “Inside Llewyn Davis,” is not about Greenwich Village folksinger Dave Van Ronk.

The movie, which has been making the rounds of film festivals throughout the year and started playing in major cities a couple of weeks ago, opens nationwide  this Friday.

LEARN MORE about the real Dave Van Ronk

Terri Thal (© Martus Granirer 2013)

Terri Thal (© Martus Granirer 2013)

Check out the interview with Terri Thal I wrote for The Journal News.  Thal, a Rockland County woman who was married to him during the period covered in the film, and don’t miss her first-person account for the Village Voice.  And read Van Ronk’s memoir, “The Mayor of MacDougal Street.”

Yes, Llewyn Davis, as played wonderfully by actor and talented singer Oscar Isaac, affects a Van Ronk look of sorts with his facial hair. And yes, many people, me included, took to calling the flick in early days the “Dave Van Ronk movie.” (That probably was before it had gotten a formal title.) Continue reading →

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Posted in Blues, Books, Country, Jazz, Movies, Music, News, Recordings, Review

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Peter Stampfel and the Ether Frolic Mob perform tonight

Posted on January 18, 2013 | Leave a comment
Peter Stampfel torturing a banjo and assaulting our ears at the Gerdes Folk City 50th Reunion in 2010. (Photo 2010, Steven P. Marsh)

Peter Stampfel torturing a banjo and assaulting our ears at the Gerdes Folk City 50th Reunion in 2010. (Photo © 2010, Steven P. Marsh)

Speaking of the Greenwich Village folk music scene, here’s somebody you won’t see at the IFC Center tonight: Peter Stampfel, one of the singular characters of that musical generation. He’s still making music, though not with his original, and best-known band, the Holy Modal Rounders.

He should be there tonight. But you won’t see him at IFC tonight because he’s going to be very bust in Red Hook, Brooklyn, while the film is showing.

Peter and his latest band, The Ether Frolic Mob (a band with a constantly shifting cast of characters, as far as we can tell), are scheduled to play at the Jalopy Theatre and School of Music, 315 Columbia St., Red Hook, Brooklyn, tonight. Peter’s band is slated to play at 9 p.m., following the Bushwick Gospel  Singers’ 8 p.m. set.

Tickets are $10, available in advance by clicking here and at the door — as long as you don’t get there too late!

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