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Another Labor Day Folktacular in the bag. This one featured a large contingent of well-known performers, most notably Dan Bern http://danbern.com/index.html

Thanks, Dan -- and thanks to all who performed and attended.

Here are some links so you can enjoy what went down ...

http://www.robertmorganfisher.com/folktacular4
(Thanks to Russ Paris for these)

http://carlgage.com
(Thanks to Carl Gage for these)

And BIG thanks as always to Ron Safarty who edits and posts our stuff on YouTube.


There are other "bootleg" Folktacular videos on YouTube as well, mostly of Dan Bern. More to come!

-Robert

This was a great show -- thanks to all who were there!

Here's a souvenir:














And here's a page of pix taken by Russ Paris:

http://www.robertmorganfisher.com/folktacular

And four pages of pix taken by the great Annie Glendinning:

http://gallery.mac.com/annieg2/100040

AND ... Folk-tacular on YouTube by Ron Sarfaty:

http://www.youtube.com/folktacular



And here's who played and when and their weblink:

4-6

Robert Morgan Fisher

http://www.robertmorganfisher.com/

6:00

Barbara Hall & The Enablers

http://www.handsome-music.com/ and http://imdb.com/name/nm0355330/

6:45

Dave Morrison

http://www.davemorrisonmusic.com/ and http://www.myspace.com/davemorrisonmusic

7:30

Paul Zollo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Zollo and http://bluerailroad.com/

8:30

Tracy Newman & The Reinforcements

http://www.tracynewman.com/ and http://imdb.com/name/nm0628297/

9:30

Chad Watson

http://www.chadwatson.us/

10:15

Matt Cartsonis

http://www.mattcartsonis.com/ and http://www.bryndle.com/site/matt.html

11:15

Mother Nature's Army

As you can see, we ran a little behind schedule this time but it was worth it. The theme for this Folk-tacular was "Fiction / Screenwriters who sing" -- hence, the subtitle: WORDSTOCK

-rmf

A while back, some anonymous fan created a "video" of my #1 song, "We'll Buy a Flag," and posted it on YouTube. The song showed up on the NEW VIDEOS side of the Neil Young site and debuted at #2. Since then it's bobbed up and down the chart, lately remaining in the Top Ten.

For the week of February 11th"We'll Buy a Flag" was rated #1 out of 400 videos.

Would you please click on the following link and keep this video at #1? Watch what this person put together -- it's not bad. Then minimize the playing screen, go back to the menu and click-away on the video. Every click is a vote and it's possible to hit it, like, 40 times a minute. Unlike electronic voting machines -- these votes all count.

http://neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/lwwvideospage.html

While we're at it, "Jester King" remains active on the song list. I always wanted to bring to #1. If you feel so inclined, you can do the same drill on this page:

http://www.robertmorganfisher.com/mp3/jester_king_9-16.mp3


THANK YOU!

rmf

The Labor Day Folk-tacular went off without a hitch -- despite competition from the gargantuan Summer Strummer Festival mere yards away. In fact, I daresay there was something of a synergy there. Below I've listed the show order and included a great recap from performer Dave Morrison:

Hi All,

I want to thank all of you who braved the heat and holiday traffic and parking difficulties to attend The Folk-tacular yesterday. Though it was not as big a crowd as the first one in February, those who came were well fed and entertained and most stayed right to the end. Which on the time-challenged planet of Folktaculon, could have arrived on time (which it did), or not for weeks.

The performances were uniformly fine and many moments skirted the transcendant. Too many to mention, though none of us will soon forget Lorin Hart's throw-down opening number. I made a lot of new friends, everybody did, and I heard more than one of them marvel at this group of people, and the open all-equals relationship between performers and audience members. In this world, the lines have been blurred to near obliteration. All of us who write and sing and play know perfectly well that a thought or a note is a stray arrow till it finds it mark.

The commitment too is equal. One who came to play was in a traffic accident en route and had his instrument laden car TOWED to the gig. One who came to support and listen had lost a dear friend to another traffic accident just days before. We love this music and this process, and we know it nourishes us and makes our lives ring with meaning. That, and not any adherance to genre, is what makes it FOLK music. I once thought being a folky wasn't hip enough for me, but I've lived long enough to realize that nothing's hipper than speaking your heart. And no rock and roll hairstyle is braver or more subversive. A wise person once asked, "How hip can you be if you have to wear a uniform to prove it?"

But I digress.

What I really want to do is remind us all that this is a DIY thing. WE make this music AND give it a place to live. House concerts, hosted music series' in public venues, mini-festivals like Robert's Folk-tacular (we just love saying that), are worth doing and totally do-able. So let's do them, and stay in touch so we don't counter-book each other too much.

An aside. A young woman who was performing at the rival fest next door yesterday (and I believe, a friend of Larry Wines') took me aside and told me how impressed she was at the contrast between our "peaceful, and friendly", show and the more mainstream commercial scene going on around the corner. Hell she even bought a CD or two.

So thanks to you all and to Robert and all the people who helped him put on a great show. Feel free to pass this on; my email list is less than comprehensive.

See you round the yard, Dave


Here was the order of appearance:

Robert Morgan Fisher

7:45 p.m.

John York

http://www.jamiesams.com/sacredsongs.html

8:30 p.m.

Freebo

http://freebo.com/

9:30 p.m.

Chad Watson

http://www.chadwatson.us/

We are planning to reprise the President's Day Weekend Folk-tacular Event (aka "February Folk-tacular") provided we can once again book the Writers Boot Camp location. Big thanks to Jeffrey Gordon at Writers Boot Camp and to Larry Wines for asking us on the air Saturday morning to promote and to all those who attended and contributed, especially Chad Watson, Freebo and John York who went above and beyond the call of duty. What a finale that was, eh? We all gathered onstage to sing "American Pie." Unforgettable. -rmf

The first ever Robert Morgan Fisher February Folk-tacular at Santa Monica's Bergamot Station was a huge success by all accounts. Tito's tacos and beer were had by all and the music went on for a good 10 hours. Stellar sets were contributed by: Tommy Wallach, Paul Zollo, Piper/Grey, Dale LaDuke, Dave Morrison, Amy Kuney, Chad Watson, Freebo, John Andrew Parks, Wendy Waldman and of course myself, Robert Morgan Fisher. There was also a brief set by visiting troubadour and old friend, Bradley Ditto.

Thanks to all who contributed in every way including the performers, audience members, Dana Charnovsky, Larry Wines and all the good people at Writers Boot Camp.

While it's a little early to predict, I'd say the chances are good that this can be an annual President's Day Weekend/RMF birthday event. Not only that, but plans are being made right now for the next Folk-tacular a few months down the line. Watch this site for details on this and all other RMF gigs.

Robert's "Angel Within" has been selected by Narrative Music Canada as
the Self-Discovery - 1st Place Lyric of International Narrative Song
Competition 2006.

Here's the link: http://www.narrativemusic.ca/insc.html

The INSC is the biggest competition for Narrative or storytelling songs in the entire world. The lyric category in which "Angel Within" took first place is the Self Discovery Category -- i.e. songs about a character's journey of self-discovery. "Angel Within" is a new song and will be on Robert's next CD of original material. For now, the best way to hear the song is in live performance.

Here are the winning lyrics:

ANGEL WITHIN
by Robert Morgan Fisher

(copyright 2005 -- Extended Family Music/BMI)


My boys recognized her, said that girl gets around
Mama watch out -- she's the talk of the town
I shooed them away and invited her in
From the cut of her clothes, she was well-versed in sin
Her body was buxom but her face it was worn
I could tell right away she'd been workin' the porn

Lord knows how she found me, this rough little flower
I teach 'em to sing and I charge by the hour
Many a young girl wants to carry that torch
But they first have to make it past my front porch
Some come through the website, some by word of mouth
But I'm awful particular 'bout who enters my house

(CHORUS)
Cause I'm a good Christian woman, or I'm trying to be
Got two boys that I raised since my husband left me
But I don't think it's fair to judge someone's skin
Cause in each one of us there's an angel within, an angel within

I don't think you should stay here, I started to say
she lowered her head: Please don't send me away
I quit the skin-trade and I'm now 6 weeks clean
I'm through with that life, I just wanna sing
I thought I should act before kindness fails
So I pulled down the shade and started some scales ...

Make a joyful noise unto the ... Lord help those that help themselves

Her voice was unsteady, didn't have that much range
But after several months, I noticed a change
She developed vibrato and a tone all her own
A smoky contralto as tough as a stone
I taught her to coo and I taught her to belt
I taught her to sing every feeling she felt

(CHORUS)


The boys are asleep and it's my quiet time
I'm watching a show about the late Patsy Cline
Patsy did some hard living, embarrassing things
Before she got the chance to teach the world how to sing
It's like we peel back the layers, scrape off the dirt
Until sorrow takes wing like a beautiful bird

I ain't seen her in weeks, guess the road took a fork
Some go to LasVegas and others New York
Where did she go? I wouldn't know where to search
I regret that I never took her down to my church
She just might go far if she stays off the meth
I whisper a prayer with my last waking breath

Cause I'm a good Christian woman, or I'm trying to be
Got two boys sound asleep and I'm lost in a dream
I expect soon enough I will see her again
When the world recognizes the angel within,
angel within,
angel within,
angel with ... In all labor there is profit.