Fill your playlist (and your plate) with the best of the Lowell Folk Festival
If you can't make it to Mill City, three of the four stages will be streamed live via
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Solas
Anna Colliton
Solas
Reviewing the 1994 Lowell Folk Festival, the late Boston Globe folk critic Scott Alarik marveled at a one-off Irish music group put together by multi-instrumentalist Seamus Egan and his ability to 'wonderfully bind ancient traditions to new sounds and ideas.' He added that the 'superb' fiddler Winifred Horan's 'intricately percussive stepdancing' was a constant show-stopper.
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The group went over so well in Lowell that by the next year it had become a band called Solas, which would become one of the most important Celtic music acts of the 21st century. Solas are on a 30th anniversary reunion tour that includes originals Egan, Horan, and accordionist John Williams.
Other Lowell favorites making encore appearances this year include Chicago's electric blues guitar marvel Lil' Ed & the Blues Imperials, and BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, the band that spearheaded the Cajun music renaissance.
Angkor Dance Troupe
Angkor Dance Troupe
Reamker
Lowell is home to the nation's second largest Cambodian-American community, and the city's heralded
On Saturday, in addition to
performing at Boarding House Park, members of the troupe will participate in the 'From Courtly to Contest: Centuries of Dance' workshop at the Richard K. and Nancy L. Donahue Stage at St. Anne's Churchyard. The session will also include Solas member Kevin Doyle and the dazzling flamenco duo Los Ricos, who were
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Bamba Wassoulou Groove
Lowell is also home to a diverse and vibrant African community. The city hosts a three-day African festival every June, and the Cameroonian
Lowell will also present the first area appearance by Bamba Wassoulou Groove, a thunderous Malian outfit that boasts twin electric guitars and a magnetic frontman, Ousmane Diakité. They're such a perfect fit for the dance floor that they're playing the Rockland Trust Bank Dance Pavilion twice.
On Saturday afternoon, the band is part of a workshop at the Saab Family Foundation Stage at Market Street called 'Dance to the Music: South America to South Asia' with Red Baraat and the two Latin acts on the lineup: Colombian cumbia accordionist Yeison Landero and a salsa orquesta led by singer Edwin Perez.
Oghlan Bakhshi
Over its 38 years, the Lowell Folk Festival has often featured traditions that are rarely heard in New England. This year's hidden treasure will be the sounds of Turkmen, the historically nomadic ethnic group found in the steppes of Turkmenistan, as well as parts of Iran and Afghanistan. Oghlan Bakhshi grew up a child prodigy in Iran — his stage name means 'child bard' — and has been on a mission to bring Turkmen music to the rest of the world. Now a graduate student at Brown, Oghlan Bakhshi is bringing this musical heritage to American stages, where it hasn't been heard in decades.
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He'll be joined by Zyyada Jumayeva, who also strums the two-stringed dutar and sings Turkmen bardic ballads from a woman's perspective. Sunday's 'Generations in Tune' workshop will feature a combination that could only be found at the Lowell Folk Festival: Oghlan Bakhshi, Boston gospel treasures the
Oghlan Bakhshi (center)
Courtesy of the artist
Ricardo Parreira & Friends
Fado, the mournful tavern ballads of Portugal,
LOWELL FOLK FESTIVAL
Throughout downtown Lowell, July 25-27. Free.
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