Fri 9/20 @ 5PM
Sat 9/21 @ noon
“Kent State Folk Festival” probably sounded a little fusty to many people.
So now the venerable festival, which started in the 60s, is called the Kent State Around Town Music Festival. It includes showcase concerts at the Kent Stage in downtown Kent, as well as a concert on campus.
It also includes “free Friday,” with top-of-the-line local musicians playing at clubs all over Kent.
You can hear Kent legends the Numbers Band, popular Kent ’80s/’90s ska party band the Twistoffs, younger singer-songwriters like Zach, Ryan Humbert, and Diana Chittester, Americana/roots rock acts like Hey Mavis and Boy=Girl, indie rockers the Speedbumps, fingerstyle blues/folk guitarist Joe Rollin Porter, chanteuse/torch singer Phat Man Dee, and many more. There’s a full schedule here.
And it’s called “Free Friday” because it’s all — duh — free!
Then from noon-5 pm Saturday, against at various locations primarily in downtown Kent, there’ll be workshops on everything from clogging to klezmer music, from slide guitar to how to promote your songs. Most are participatory.
http://www.kentstatefolkfestival.org/
Photo: Ryan Humbert