August 2008

Tell me that it's evolution...

Young performers featured at the 2008 Takoma Park Folk Festival

Middle School students Ben Miller and Michael Untereiner—both formerly of blahblahblah—will be rocking the festival with their new group, High Definition.

When the Takoma Park Folk Festival started 31 years ago, the Grassy Nook Stage was established as a family stage. “But,” says Kevin Adler, Chair of the Festival, “there’s been an evolution. We’ve always had the aim to entertain kids, but now we’re showcasing kids as entertainers.”

This year’s Festival is Sunday September 14, on the grounds of Takoma Park Middle School. Among the performers at the Grassy Nook, there are at least a dozen young musicians who were, are, or soon will be Takoma Park Middle School students.

Sparkle at 12:30 pm, is an acapella trio of Takoma Park Middle grads. The singers, now in 10th grade, are Jeanne and Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, and Hannah Untereiner.

High Definition is a quirky rock quartet of 6th grade boys, Ian Askew, Ben Miller, Michael Untereiner, and Zeke Wapner. All four will enter Takoma Park Middle School this fall. Their set of original songs is at 4:15 pm.

Next on the stage comes Bad Sauce, a band of 5th through 9th grade indie rockers who attend Piney Branch Elementary, Takoma Park Middle, Blair High and other nearby schools. (Members are Julian and Puck Bregstone, Irene and Sally Ravitz, Patrick Clarke, Dylan Nunn, and Ben Chambers.)

Bad Sauce returns to the 2008 Folk Festival.

“Most of these kids are neighbors here in Takoma Park, and some come from nearby Maryland and Virginia communities,” noted stage coordinator Marika Partridge.

“Several are the children of nationally known performers – like Steve Hickman and Bill Wellington. In both cases, this is the first time the next generation is being invited to have a more prominent role than their performer parents.“

Sisters Tara and Maren Hickman, ages 10 and 8, are half of the Padovan-Hickman Family Band. Their father is fiddler and hambone artist Steve Hickman, a regular performer at Glen Echo and Gadsby’s Tavern in Alexandria. Their mom is singer/strummer/farmer, Delaura Padovan, who says that music is an important component of the family’s home-school routine off the grid in King George, Virginia.

Middle-schooler Sophie Wellington also comes from a home filled with music. Her mother, Lynn Mackey, is a professional classical pianist, and her father, Bill Wellington, is a performer and recording artist. Sophie is one of the young voices on her dad’s “Radio Woof” recordings, and is an accomplished ballad singer and storyteller in her own right. They live in Staunton, Virginia.

“I’ve seen a lot of these kids come of age,” says Marika Partridge. “These kids have become poised performers who are comfortable onstage. It’s enthralling. I notice that kids love to see other kids performing.”

The Twinbrook Tellers, onstage at 11am, range in age from seven to 17. They are based at the Twinbrook Library in Rockville. Librarian and coordinator Eve Burton says, “Our youngest teller has a fairly short story. It’s about two minutes long, but he tells it well, and audiences love to hear him.“

Eight-year old Tate Corrales is a student of Takoma Park pianist/ composer John Guernsey. At 4 pm, he will perform in a short Beatles Showcase, along with fellow students Eli Fellows and Sam Dembling, both in 7th grade.

Other noteworthy acts include guitarist/songwriter Eric Maring, and husband/wife duo George Paul, piano, and Laura Light, fiddle. These slightly “older kids,” who double as parents, have plenty to offer the family audience, too. And unlike the kids, they do have CDs for sale.

Find out more about the 2008 Takoma Park Festival.

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