Folk on Mass provides an intimate setting for nationally and internationally known folk and jazz groups. We present music in a beautifully restored Victorian homein historic downtown Lawrence. The hardwood floors and high ceilings provide a wonderful acoustic experience for 40-45 guests.
Visit our reservations page for more information on reserving seats.
Our schedule for Spring 2010 includes the following artists. Please note that all concerts start at 7:30 pm.
We are happy to be able to bring Po’Girl back for another house concert. The interplay between Allison Russell, Awna Teixeira, Benny Sidelinger, and Mikey "Lightning" August is truly something to behold. They are distinct voices with incredible harmonies; multiple instrumentalists who bring the perfect sound to each song and songwriters who pen poetic tunes you’ll find yourself humming. Po’Girl showcases a wide array of instruments-from gutbucket bass, accordion, clarinet, banjo, dobro, guitar, to electric bass, glockenspiel, piano, harmonica, bicycle bells, drums-- and they all frequently trade off instruments with each song. Their fluid and joyous musicality is one of the group's most endearing and irresistible features.
It is impossible to put this band in a tidy little box—they’re equally at home in Douala, Cameroon playing the Massao World Music Festival, as they are at the International Jazz Festival in Montreal, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, the Woodford Music Festival in Australia or just playing for fun for the people in Vondel Park, Amsterdam.
Suffice it to say that Po'Girl makes 21st Century roots music, urban roots – never derivative, not faithfully aping a beloved tradition. Russell, Teixeira, Sidelinger, and August don't re-hash the old forms, they reshape and reinvigorate them for new ears. Like genuine gypsies, they wander and play - out on the international road bringing their unique brand of pan North Americana to a widespread audience 250 to 300 days of the year… Always restless, more often than not bone-tired, they write their flashes of sadness, their loss, their good love, their faint dreams of home into songs that matter deeply to them. Like any good art, they are little acts of self-rescue. So you should listen. You aren't much different from them, and who couldn't use a little rescuing these days?
Po’Girl released their 4th studio album “Deer in the Night” to critical acclaim in May 2009- they followed that up with “ Po’Girl Live” in July 2009 - a live album recorded at various shows over the last year - which captures some of the energy and excitement of a real time Po’Girl concert. With enough new material for several more records being honed before their enthusiastic crowds each night – expect to see a brand new Po’Girl CD coming down the line in spring of 2010.
Ellis is a rising star in the independent music scene. With music that is described as “joyful, unpretentious modern folk”, Ellis continues to build attention at venues and festivals throughout the country with heart-felt songs that reflect her sincere graciousness, vibrant nature, and contagious sense of humor. You’ll quickly be drawn in by her warmth and real-life journeys as reflected in her songs.
A native of Texas, Ellis moved to Minneapolis at the age of 16, where she quickly built a local following that blossomed into a nationwide presence, with extensive touring and six albums released in the last twelve years. In addition to selling 40,000 copies of her CDs independently, Ellis has accrued a wealth of accomplishments including national songwriting honors and performances at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Sisters Folk Festival, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, and the Rocky Mountain Folk Festival.
Break The Spell is Ellis’ sixth full-length recording, selected by Performing Songwriter Magazine as a Top 12 DIY Pick (June 2008 issue) and voted Best Female Singer/Songwriter Album in the 2009 Just Plain Folks Awards. Produced by Ben Wisch (Marc Cohn, Patty Larkin), it is an 11-track collection of soulful songs. Fans and music critics alike describe Ellis’ music as a journey of self-discovery & awakening. Break The Spell embodies this sentiment, featuring lyrics rich with meaning and arrangements that skillfully support Ellis’ hopeful message. Her songs explore the wonder of being alive, the power and complexity of loss and the opportunity we have to re-invent ourselves.
"Break the Spell is a cathartic, intimate, and ultimately transcendent modern folk record. It's not trendy, or groundbreaking, or particularly adventurous. What it is is very, very real. It gets to you the way you crave a record to get to you." - Michael L. Walsh, City Pages "[Ellis] effectively conveys songs filled with love and the longing for it, baring her soul and demonstrating a vulnerability that makes Break the Spell easily her most compelling attempt yet." - Performing Songwriter, June 2008 "Ellis has one of most engaging personalities that I've ever witnessed on a stage. Within seconds, [you'll fall] in love with her bubbling attitude for life, and her captivating laugh has been echoing in my heart all week!" - Ron Olesko, WFDU.
This will be the second Folk on Mass concert for drummer Brandon Draper. He made many new fans during his first appearance with Kevin Hays. This time around, he’s bringing Mike Moreno with him. Mike is originally from Houston, Texas, and moved to New York City to attend the New School University. Since being in NYC, Mike has successfullyworked his way into the New York Jazz scene. After paying dues with many bands around town, Mike gained the recognition needed to be called to perform and tour with some of the biggest names in the jazz world. “Mike Moreno is becoming a hot item on the New York jazz scene. His agile guitar playing has attracted the attention of major artists such as Jeff Tain Watts, Greg Osby, and Kenny Garrett. Mike Moreno is a masterful composer, with a sense of sophistication that belies his age, and an extraodinary improviser,” Andrew Lienhard, jazzhouston.com.
Leading his own band, Mike has recently released his debut CD "BETWEEN THE LINES" on World Culture Music. The band is a quintet including tenor and piano, playing all his original music. And even more recently has recorded his follow up record for the renowned Jazz Label -Criss Cross Records. His compositions have been called "masterful," and written with "sophistication that belies his age." With the attention already received, Mike is pushing himself to have his voice defined in music, both as a sideman and as a band leader.
As a child growing up in a musical household, Brandon Draper started drum lessons at the age of 5 and discovered his passion for creating and recording music while sitting in with his father's blues band, experimenting with four-track recorders, and spending hours at his drum set. Today, Brandon combines his talent for creating music with an exceptional ability to educate and inspire. Rob DeWalt, of the Santa Fe Reporter wrote, "Draper's range of ethnic styles has me hooked!" and the Jan. '07 issue of Kansas City Jazz Ambassador calls Draper "a phenomenal young drummer/composer/world percussionist/educator," and lauds the musician's recent relocation to the Midwest from the Southwest. In addition to teaching and touring, Draper works as a recording engineer and producer, facilitates drum circles, and collaborates/records with diverse artists. His most recent projects include, solo loop based performances, Brandon Draper New Quintet, and Vinyl Live, which combines a live DJ, percussion, loops, and keyboards.
Brandon Draper holds a B.A. in Percussion from Bethany College in Lindsborg, KS, and a M.M. in Percussion from the University of New Mexico. From 2003-2006, Draper held the position of Director of Music at East Mountain High School in Sandia Park, NM, where he directed the Rhythm Ensemble, World Percussion Ensemble, Guitar, and Jazz Ensembles. Draper created and implemented a highly successful curriculum, focused on culturally specific world music origins and societal influences. In 2006 he was inducted into the Who's Who Among American Teachers." He is also featured in Jazz of Enchantment, a radio series profiling jazz artists with ties to New Mexico. Draper is currently the percussion instructor at Shawnee Mission West High School, and jazz drumset-lecturer at the University of Missouri Kansas City. He maintains an active schedule as a performer, educator, composer, and clinician at locations throughout the country, and strives to motivate and empower aspiring musicians of all ages.
Kailin Yong, the fiddle player with Boulder Acoustic Society who made such an impression on Folk on Mass audiences this past fall has left BAS to pursue his other project full time, the Kailin Yong Peace Project. Kailin was born in Singapore, got involved with international classical music competitions at the young age of 13, resisted parental attempts to get him to become an engineer and ended up in Europe studying classical music. From there he went to NYC with dreams of replicating the success of Kronos Quartet. When financing for his Aerith Quartet fell apart in San Francisco, Kailin lived on the streets for a year as a San Francisco street musician. Eventually the Aerith Quartet was offered a residency in Boulder Colorado, which is how Kailin became acquainted with his fellow BAS members. Through it all, he has retained a sense of self and acquired an appreciation for an ever broader range of musical styles.
Kailin finished his solo CD last year, titled “Bowing with the Flow”. It consists of all original tunes inspired by his exploration of different world cultures. It’s a snapshot of his musical and cultural journey for the past 10 years and it gave him the opportunity to play with some of his favorite musicians, including multi-instrumentalist Jesse Manno, the guys from Colcannon, the guys from Saltanah, BAS colleague, Scott McCormick and many more. This is what Cameron Powers said about “Bowing WIth The Flow”, “Through music, we discover that there is no ‘them and us,’ and the reality of our all being connected as one becomes clear. This is the vision put forth in Kailin Yong’s music. We hear the musical styles of the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the Americas … Everyone finds a welcome.” He also started his own group called the Kailin Yong Peace Project, which typically consist of anywhere between 5-12 musicians. (There will only be 5 musicians for Folk on Mass) They have been putting on Peace Concerts throughout Colorado and we’re pleased to be presenting them in Kansas. Kailin aims to become an ambassador of Music, traveling around the world promoting friendship and peace by playing his fiddle and working with other like-minded musicians.
Oregon native Rob Scheps is back with perennial favorites Roger Wilder on piano and Bob Bowman on bass. This trio always deliver an evening of wonderfully transporting jazz music.
Tim Duroche with Willamette Week calls Rob, "A larger-than-life figure with a terrifying command of his instrument, Scheps is one of the busiest horn players working today. Casting a looming, forceful presence on the bandstand (with a brazen, yet well-intentioned, swagger reminiscent of '50s model idol Victor Mature), Scheps is a whirlwind of unbridled, forward-leaning energy—bursting any Welkian champagne-bubble notion one might have about jazz's big-bang origins. If he erupts with the occasional off-color chiding of audiences or admonishment of a bandmate, it's truly because for Scheps, jazz is, as the saying goes, "as serious as your life"—where every gig is High Noon and unholstering your instrument is an act of survival. And people will tell you, he never fails to paint the town red with jazz frenzy. More than anything, Scheps' appeal lies in his deep understanding of art's heroic impulse, the immediacy and urgency of the music. Musical from top to bottom, Scheps is a marvel slashing at melodic spaces, worrying notes, and exciting silence with the oceanic force of Jackson Pollock ripping the door off the Cedar Tavern. While he's earnest and self-effacing at times, he makes no apologies, suffers no fools and above all, takes no prisoners."
Roger Wilder was born and raised in Rochester, N.Y. After receiving a Bachelor of Music from University of Miami in 1986, he continued to record and perform in South Florida, most notably in groups assembled to back Stanley Turrentine, Randy Brecker, Adam Nussbaum, and Chris Potter. He taught a jazz piano class and private lessons at Miami - Dade Community College from 1987 - 1991. In 1995, he and his wife moved to the New York City area for 5 years, where his activities included teaching, performing, and recording. Five years ago, he settled in Kansas City, and in addition to performing with his own various ensembles, Roger also performs as a "first-call" pianist and keyboardist for other outstanding band leaders, including: Angela Hagenbach, Stan Kessler's "Sons of Brasil", Dan Thomas Quintet, Chris Burnett Quartet, Aurora Consort, Jake Blanton Quartet, and was an original founding member of the Westport Art Ensemble. In January 2006, he began hosting his own Jazz Radio Show on KKFI every Monday from noon to 3pm. Tune in your radio at 90.1 FM, or catch the show streaming online at www.kkfi.org.
"Take a California girl who grew up in Germany and a New Jersey boy, put them together in New Orleans to form a band and what do you get? I'm not really sure. But it's good." (Bluegrass writer Keith Lawrence) Blending sizzling bluegrass, lovesick blues, rockabilly, and dustbowl ballads, Jeff and Vida became one of New Orleans best known acoustic roots act before relocating to Nashville after Katrina. With a decade of relentless touring around the world, Jeff and Vida have become known for their high energy live shows, featuring Vida's powerful singing and Jeff's great picking on mandolin as well as guitar and banjo (which Music News Nashville calls "dazzling." Their songwriting is true to the Amercian roots tradition: down-to-earth and sincere, drawing on many branche of American roots music. In the last year, they've played such venues as the historic Ryman Auditorim in Nashville, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival (for the 6ht time), the Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival in Ireland, and the Rainforest World Music Festival in Borneo.
The Brighton Review in the United Kingdom said "It's the voice, the stories and the honesty of the music that make Jeff and Vida a must see," while Ann Patchett of the New York Times Magazine wrote "in a city that values its rhinestones, they are managing to make music that is real and true, the thing itself as opposed to a parody of the thing. Theirs are the songs you long to hear late at night on the interstate, in pool halls and smoky whiskey bars." No Depression magazine calles them "unclassifiable but terrific."
"I've been fortunate enough to catch Jeff & Vida a couple of times in Dallas. The first time I saw them I was amazed. The second time I had fun watching everyone else be amazed. I believe they define the roots of American music." (Michael Johnson, Dallas Rockzilla World)
"Jeff and vida return to country's working class roots...The real blue plate special comes with their harmonies. Call it old school country. More Austin than Nashville". (Sing Out Magazine)
"Their habit of performing with zero amplification was enough to get people's attention, but they held it with Vida's haunting voice, Jeff's hot picking and the wise-beyond-their years songwriting."-Brett Milano, Offbeat New Orleans Jazzfest Bible.
Many songwriters have been heralded as modern day Woody Guthries or keepers of the American rural spirit, but that mantle might be better entrusted to musicians like Dana Robinson who embody both the heart and the soul of folk music." - Dirty Linen.
In a Dana and Susan Robinson concert you'll hear two rich, intimate voices, intricate and powerful guitar and banjo playing with a handful of fiddle and mandolin thrown in. Dana writes songs and tells stories about America, the land and its people. They bring to their performances an understanding of America's musical heritage and convey its significance to our culture. A multi-instrumentalist (guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo), Dana brings traditional music values into his contemporary songwriting. Dana's songwriting has been likened to that of Steve Goodman and Dougie MacLean, and he sings with a warm and reedy tenor. Susan brings her rich harmonies and the clawhammer-style banjo into Dana's music. "...rural America explored with elegant simplicity. Their music and cleanly poetic songwriting bring to mind the great folksingers of our times." - Asheville Citizen-Times.
