Wild Women of the Folk Machine: concert this Friday!
Wild Women Reprise, Folk Machine Expands
Alma Drake, Associate Director, Band Leader, Family Folk Machine
Wild Women of the Folk Machine takes to the Backyard RSFIC stage on October 2 at 6pm, featuring organizers Laurie Haag, Laura Kittrell and Alma Drake with Joan Davis as the House Band, and Hemlock Stanier, Svitlana Volkogon, Callista Robertson, youth performers Liliana Kapp and Morgan Brown, poet Corinne Stanley, and special guest singer Tanya English (and possibly a Jean Littlejohn sighting as well).
Iowa City’s beloved Family Folk Machine is celebrating an expansion of mission and vision with this Wild Women themed concert, because who better to midwife a new idea into existence than a bunch of Wild Women? The dream is taking shape as the Folk Machine Shop (FMShop), which directors hope will be a brick-and-mortar establishment within a few years, that will host workshops, classes, community singing, folk dances, open mics, songwriting workshops, youth summer camps, LP listening nights, and musical performances of many genres in a dedicated listening room. The FMShop will provide families with an opportunity to give their children exposure to live music in a kid-friendly venue, as well as serve the community by having low-to-no-barrier participation in community music making. Says FFM’s Artistic Director Jean Littlejohn, “We think that our definition of Folk music is broad enough to include things like Fringe Metal as well as singer-songwriters.”
The Wild Women concert series was started sometime in the 1990s, and has been through a few organizational changes over the decades. Laurie Haag, Laura Kittrell, and Alma Drake have been organizing the shows since about 2015, but the series was interrupted, as were so many things, by the pandemic. This celebration felt like the best possible reason to start the series up again, and the idea of pulling all the performers from the Family Folk Machine felt like magic. Featuring two of our youth members (Liliana and Morgan); two accomplished musicians who grew up in the FFM (Callista and Hemlock); two of our remarkable adult members (Svitlana and Corinne); and many opportunities to hear the rockin’ Wild Women House Band, including with our special guest Tanya English, it’s going to be a magical night celebrating both a reunion and a new beginning.
Directors Jean and Alma have been working closely with RSFIC on this project, and RSFIC’s openness, community spirit, and hospitality have been inspirational to us as we continue to refine our mission and vision. Thanks, Michal and Riley!
Gate opens at 5:30, showtime 6:00-8:00. Suggested donation of $10-20, or pay-what-you-can for students. Kids under 16 free.
RSFIC (Resilient Sustainable Future for Iowa City) is located at 1927 Keokuk Street, just
south of Highway 6. Please park in the Pepperwood Plaza parking area across the street.
There will be escorts to help people across Keokuk to the venue and back. Please reserve the few spaces at RSFIC for handicapped and injured drivers. IC Bus route #1 stops less than a block away until 9:00pm. Food trucks will be available (TBA).
Alma Drake, Associate Director, Band Leader, Family Folk Machine
Wild Women of the Folk Machine takes to the Backyard RSFIC stage on October 2 at 6pm, featuring organizers Laurie Haag, Laura Kittrell and Alma Drake with Joan Davis as the House Band, and Hemlock Stanier, Svitlana Volkogon, Callista Robertson, youth performers Liliana Kapp and Morgan Brown, poet Corinne Stanley, and special guest singer Tanya English (and possibly a Jean Littlejohn sighting as well).
Iowa City’s beloved Family Folk Machine is celebrating an expansion of mission and vision with this Wild Women themed concert, because who better to midwife a new idea into existence than a bunch of Wild Women? The dream is taking shape as the Folk Machine Shop (FMShop), which directors hope will be a brick-and-mortar establishment within a few years, that will host workshops, classes, community singing, folk dances, open mics, songwriting workshops, youth summer camps, LP listening nights, and musical performances of many genres in a dedicated listening room. The FMShop will provide families with an opportunity to give their children exposure to live music in a kid-friendly venue, as well as serve the community by having low-to-no-barrier participation in community music making. Says FFM’s Artistic Director Jean Littlejohn, “We think that our definition of Folk music is broad enough to include things like Fringe Metal as well as singer-songwriters.”
The Wild Women concert series was started sometime in the 1990s, and has been through a few organizational changes over the decades. Laurie Haag, Laura Kittrell, and Alma Drake have been organizing the shows since about 2015, but the series was interrupted, as were so many things, by the pandemic. This celebration felt like the best possible reason to start the series up again, and the idea of pulling all the performers from the Family Folk Machine felt like magic. Featuring two of our youth members (Liliana and Morgan); two accomplished musicians who grew up in the FFM (Callista and Hemlock); two of our remarkable adult members (Svitlana and Corinne); and many opportunities to hear the rockin’ Wild Women House Band, including with our special guest Tanya English, it’s going to be a magical night celebrating both a reunion and a new beginning.
Directors Jean and Alma have been working closely with RSFIC on this project, and RSFIC’s openness, community spirit, and hospitality have been inspirational to us as we continue to refine our mission and vision. Thanks, Michal and Riley!
Gate opens at 5:30, showtime 6:00-8:00. Suggested donation of $10-20, or pay-what-you-can for students. Kids under 16 free.
RSFIC (Resilient Sustainable Future for Iowa City) is located at 1927 Keokuk Street, just
south of Highway 6. Please park in the Pepperwood Plaza parking area across the street.
There will be escorts to help people across Keokuk to the venue and back. Please reserve the few spaces at RSFIC for handicapped and injured drivers. IC Bus route #1 stops less than a block away until 9:00pm. Food trucks will be available (TBA).