Berkeley International Folk Festival June 24, 2007

Nerissa & Katryna Nields, the Aux Cajunals, Marc Silber, Fugitive Folk Jamboree, Austin Willacy, Cascada de Flores, Vision Walker & Osti Mon, Hali Hammer
1:00 P.M. - 10:00 P.M. | no admission charge

A fabulous lineup of international folk performers appears on the Freight stage as part of the Berkeley International Folk Festival. The festival showcases a full day of amazing musical talent covering an expansive array of genres—Cajun, reggae, Mexican, Cuban, and blues as well as several of the finest singer-songwriters around. Coinciding with the Berkeley International Food Festival, the all-day musical extravaganza provides the musical complement to an amazing array of wares & foods from around the world that can be found on the San Pablo corridor of West Berkeley.

Each of these artists would bring down the house in a solo show: the chance to see them all in a single night (and for free!) is almost too good to be true!

The music starts at 1:00 P.M. and runs until 10:00 P.M.. Here's the line-up in order of appearance:

Well-versed in an assortment of moods and styles, Hali Hammer is an award winning singer-songwriter who enjoys writing and playing a wide variety of music. She has sung and played for peace and political causes for over three decades and is an active member of Freedom Song Network. Hali will be joined by Randy Berge on guitar, Paul Herzoff on harmonica, and John Koch on bass.

A skilled guitarist & singer, Vision Walker is one of reggae's great unknown secrets. He joined the Wailers in 1966 & played bongo duets with Peter Tosh, as part of Tosh's final touring band in the eighties. If you're a fan of the crucial roots sound, catch this acoustic set with Vision and his accompanist, Osti Mon.

Cascada de Flores members Arwen Lawrence de Castellanos and Jorge Liceaga return to the Freight for another sizzling musical exploration of the love story between Cuba and Mexico. This ensemble presents a sizzling array of Mexican and Cuban regional music and dance, spotlighting numbers from their new CD, Mi Sueño. With their stellar vocal and instrumental prowess and red-hot repertoire, they never fail to win hearts and set bodies in motion!

The veteran of many a great Freight evening, both as a solo performer and as a member of one of our favorite a cappella groups, the House Jacks, Austin Willacy affirms life and inspires hope, even as he lays down an irresistible groove. His folk rock songs are smart and muscular, his guitar playing is inspired, and his voice is simply gorgeous. Austin has recorded four CD's with the House Jacks and three more as a solo performer, and tours extensively throughout the US, Europe and Japan where he's shared stages with the likes of Ray Charles, James Brown, The Neville Brothers, The Temptations, The Gap Band, the Pointer Sisters, LL Cool J, and Run DMC.

This amazing festival also features the Fugitive Folk Jamboree, a song swap curated by Jonah Watchman to showcase the prodigious talents of three unique performers. From the hard-bitten "folk music with blood in its veins" of The Jonah Kit, to the country-infused storytelling of JJ Schultz and the quirky, character-driven vignettes of Christopher Smith, the Jamboree celebrates the diversity and vitality of this trio of fugitive folkies.

Marc Silber is both a famed builder of musical instruments and a deep-rooted blues guitarist and songwriter, who has been deeply involved in the blues/folk scene ever since the early 1960s, when he founded and ran the legendary Greenwich Village music store Fretted Instruments.

An Aux Cajunals performance is always an invitation to good times! Equally at home in a dance club, concert hall, or house party, the ensemble plays the kind of old-fashioned Cajun music which has been an integral part of celebrations in southwest Louisiana for over 100 years. Their sound is hard-driving but not ear-splitting, inspiring listeners to dance the two-step or waltz, or just to soak up the rich textures of the acoustic instruments and the emotion-drenched French vocals. American roots music masters, Eric and Suzy Thompson, are joined by Steven Strauss on bass and John Hanes on drums to regale us with old-time Cajun and Creole music played with heart, soul, and gusto.

Nerissa & Katryna Nields, veterans of the Newport Folk Festival and the Lilith Fair, deliver a mixture of high-energy alternative folk and rootsy rock music with a country twang. The Massachusetts duo grabs audiences with their eclectic mix and holds them with the sublime vocal chemistry of two sisters who have been singing together almost from the cradle. The two are fondly remembered by many as the centerpiece of '90s folk-rock art band, the Nields. Tonight they presents quirky, touching favorites old and new, grounded in their duet vocal charisma and Nerissa's brainy, quirky, and emotive songwriting.

Official Website: http://www.thefreight.org/2007/0706-june/info_070624.html