Folk Alliance International Conference Day 1: Unofficial showcases, The Steel Wheels, and Lifetime Achievement awards

The Steel Wheels. // photo by Nick Spacek

Folk Alliance International Conference
Day One: Wednesday, February 21
The Westin Crown Center

Every year, the first night of the Folk Alliance International Conference has me filled with jitters, thanks to a day spent getting things ready, a solid week of planning who I want to see and when, and the drive into Kansas City from my home in Lawrence. Walking into the Westin is always this feeling of being ever-so-slightly overwhelmed before spotting a familiar face–hey, Mark Manning from KKFI, and thanks for chatting—and then realizing you’re with friends or, at the very least, like-minded individuals just as enthusiastic about music as you are.

The first night, there are no official showcases, with that time instead devoted to the International Folk Music Awards, “the premier recognition of folk music industry leaders, legends, unsung heroes, and rising talent,” which means you’ll get to see established figures from the world of folk side by side with the newest talent.

Ahead of the International Folk Music Awards, there was an opening reception with music by David Amram, who is like, the unofficial representative of Folk Alliance. He’s 93, he’s amazing, and if I don’t see him at least once, I get worried. Thankfully, there was free chilled white wine and it was readily available, thus it took about a verse or so before everyone noticed Amram and band had been playing “Goodnight Irene,” but the crowd immediately joined in on the chorus as if by reflex.

The awards started off with a short film telling the history of TRO Essex, the folks responsible for Woodie Guthrie’s songbook and a sponsor of the awards, followed by a couple of opening tunes from house band the Steel Wheels, followed by an opening performance from Kaia Kater singing Odetta’s “Moving It On.”

Joy Clark. // photo by Nick Spacek

Rising blues guitarist Joy Clark covered “Give Me One Reason,” in tribute to Lifetime Achievement Award winner Tracy Chapman. Backed by the Steel Wheels, it was electrifying, and as someone mentioned after she finished a set in the The Black American Music Summit private showcase room, she is definitely having a moment.

Bandits on the Run. // photo by Nick Spacek

Seeing Rainbow Girls introduce Spirit of Folk Awards and Bandits on the Run introduce Album of the Year would be enough to get me to see both acts perform if I wasn’t already super-excited to see them both. They’re both full of verve and energy, and seemed absolutely thrilled to be on stage getting to be a part of this whole affair.

Mireya Ramos. // photo by Nick Spacek

Mireya Ramos performed “Manifiesto,” in tribute to another Lifetime Achievement winner, Victor Jara, whose song was first released in 1974, shortly after Jara’s death by the Chilean military; and the finale, with founding member of Old Crow Medicine Show, Willie Watson in a tribute to McCabe’s Guitar Shop, singing Elizabeth Cotten’s “Freight Train,” followed by being joined by Malena Cadiz to sing Jackson Browne’s “Rock Me On The Water.” The performances were jaw-dropping in just how perfectly they encapsulated the spirit of folk music. Every artist on stage was in command of their craft, but with a loose sense of intimacy–such as Watson’s admission that he was just winging the story he told about McCabe’s–that gave the whole thing a vibe far more in keeping with what would soon be going down in the private showcases upstairs than a professionally-produced awards show being streamed online and simulcast on NPR’s Mountain Stage.

Willie Watson and Malena Cadiz. // photo by Nick Spacek

We walked out of the awards and randomly heard a pickup bluegrass group doing Connie Smith’s “Once a Day,” which felt like those youngsters knew what was up. It was a nice start to what was going to be a three hour whirlwind of bouncing between the fifth, sixth, and seventh floors of the Westin, trying to catch as many acts as possible. The first night of Folk Alliance always feels like the most relaxed of the four. The awards make it to where your decision for the first part of the night has already been made for you, and a decreased number of private showcase rooms after give you a chance to see some acts with smaller crowds before everyone really shows up on Thursday evening. It’s a chance to get your bearings and plan ahead.

Gullywasher. // photo by Nick Spacek

On my way to start off the private showcases to see Gullywasher, I went down the wrong hallway and happened upon Melissa Engleman, whose high lonesome voice drew me in from four doors down. There was some absolutely beautiful music from this singer-songwriter. I did make it to see Gullywasher, who brought up Kristin Hamilton to sing “All Burdens Begone” and goddamn, Chris Hudson and her harmonizing is something to behold.

El Pony Pisador. // photo by Nick Spacek

The app worked off and on, and thankfully one of those times was enough to remind me that the next act was El Pony Pisador. Their high-energy Catalan music combines all the danciest, most jig-worthy music from all over the world and is just an Iberian delight. Lockstep tight, yet fully fun and silly when needs be. A band to which I was looking forward rapidly became an act whose every set I need to see. I mean, there was yodeling with synchronized dancing. How could you not want to see that every single night?

Willie Watson. // photo by Nick Spacek

It was, however, very packed and very warm, so I wandered back to that room into which I’d previously stumbled to catch a bit of Kansas City’s own Jackie Myers playing a delightful piano-based jazz with a jazz manouche guitar as flavor. Lovely late-night music. After her was Willie Watson. In a hotel room! He’d just closed out the awards two hours prior and here he was playing to a couple dozen people. This is what makes this conference so amazing: a chance to see local talent, immediately followed by an awards show headliner, all within the confines of a room which could comfortably hold 20 people.

Miki P. // photo by Nick Spacek

We were gonna see soul singer Lady A (the real one), but her drummer was unavailable so she switched nights to perform on Thursday. Thus, more local music with Miki P because of course, she knows how to write a song and sing, but her guitar playing? Goodness. I could listen to her do that for hours.

Henhouse Prowlers. // photo by Nick Spacek

The Michigan Room is a hidden gem at the end of a long hallway on the fifth floor and offers the best all-around selection of music (and, happily, drinks from their state). It’s the perfect place to happen into and make a new discovery. In this case, it was Chicago’s Henhouse Prowlers are musical ambassadors with the State Department and they played a song from Uzbekistan whose title translates as “Don’t Wiggle” and it was a fucking blast and a half. The quartet’s harmonies are just as solid as their instrumentation, and that’s really saying something.

Lisa Sanders. // photo by Nick Spacek

At this point, we again wandered over to see a band we thought was playing – Memphissippi Sounds – but they weren’t there, so we were treated to Lisa Sanders & Brown Sugar. They performed folk blues of the simplest sort, with Sanders on guitar and vocals and Brown Sugar standing off to the side and coming in as needed. It was so perfect and pure, the fact that we called it a night afterward was just as much due to her talent raising the bar as it was that we needed showers and sleep.

It was a wonderful start to the week, and with the conference going full-tilt on Thursday, who knows what musical discoveries are to come?

New this year to the conference is that the public can get tickets to the official showcases. You don’t have to register for the conference to go for just one night. Individual evening tickets available here.