Reviews: Huntington Folk Festival

By Tiffany Razzano

he Folk Music Society of Huntington, along with the Huntington Arts Council, presented Long Island with the first annual Huntington Folk Festival at Heckscher Park on August 12.

They started off with an early afternoon of children's music on the main stage and activities, including performances by Janice Buckner, Mike Soloway and Paul Helou.

While this was going on, music for adults was being performed in tents set up along a pathway near the stage. As well as an open folk jam, there were workshops on folk dancing, blues harmonica and song writing.

After the children's performers were done, the live music continued on the main stage. Steve Chizmadia was the first artist to perform. Dressed like a cowboy, singing his country/Americana inspired tunes, if he hadn't told the audience, they would have never known he hailed from Brentwood, rather than somewhere down south. He opened with a ballad, Katie Belle, following it up with an original Cajun zydeco inspired tune that still had a strong country feel. After telling the audience about his love for the state of Texas, he played Always Texas. He closed his short set with the rootsy Somewhere Man.

Judith Zweiman performed next. Citing the passage of time as the theme of her set, she opened with the tune Somebody Loves You, Somebody's Me, which showed off her unique vocals and bluegrass style. She followed with Looking for the Moon, Moments and In That Old Life. Being that it was nearly the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Zweiman played her song Cool Nights Over Bourbon Street, calling New Orleans, "a city very close to [her] heart." She closed her set with Richard Meyer's Strangers and Friends.

Next, the crowd got to experience the incredible, finger-picking, blues styling of Jim Tepe. He performed classics such as Walk Right In, Leaves of Edinburgh, and Bill Monroe's Uncle Pat. He also played the incredibly intricate instrumental tune Cruzan Holiday, as well as the humorous I'm My Own Grandpa. He finished the set with Highway Junkie, after telling the audience, "men deal with heartbreak in different ways, and some like to drive."

On the other side of the folk spectrum, folk-pop singer/songwriter Michelle Monte went on next. She opened her set with I Love Lavender, a catchy folk-pop tune about how uncool she is and how she feels she must be boring to the object of her affection. She also played a love song called Spaghetti. She then performed the first political song she's every written about gay rights. Telling "Mr. Bush [that he] scare[s] [her,]" she sings, "I just want to kiss my girlfriend and walk down the aisle in New York." She closed her set with The Yoga Song, written about her love of yoga.

Then came the husband and wife team of Martha Trachtenberg and Tom Griffith. The two went back and forth, first performing a song by Trachtenberg, then by Griffith, who is preparing to release a new CD. After informing the audience that she "wrote the song while [she] was in a mood," they opened with Trachtenberg's Take a Good Long Look. This catchy, bluesy tune was a great vehicle to show off not only her song writing, but also her unique, but gorgeous, vocals.

In the vein of Harry Chapin's Cat's in the Cradle, Griffith played his new tune Sailing, as well as a political tune called The Corp. This anti-war tune was inspired by their 21-year-old son wanting to join the army. They also played other tunes from Trachtenberg's album It's About Time, including the tune Traveling at Night.

The festival took a break for dinner around 5:30 p.m., with even more people coming back for the nighttime headliner, blues guitarist John Hammond.

Before he went on though, the audience was treated to the acoustic female trio Red Molly, hailing from New York. The group's crisp, clear and pristine vocals, as well as their tight harmonies and terrific energy and synergy as a group, won over the audience as they performed a mix of cover songs and some of their own.

Hammond was the real draw for the audience, however. Wailing on the blues harmonica, this one-man blues machine tore up the stage. His set list spanned songs from his 40-year career. One concert goer said Hammond is even better now than when he started out, and is just getting better with age.

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