The Spokane Fall Folk Festival is an event put on annually
by volunteers hosted by Spokane Falls Community College. It provided several
intriguing activity options for Saturday and Sunday. Though I was interested by
many of the tunes and expositions just by walking around, I ended up visiting
three musical performances. These bands included bluegrass group Heartbreak
Pass, bluegrass and gospel group Kevin Pace & the Early Edition, and a
Hawaiian musical and dance group Mele Polinahe & Kiakahi O’Hula.
Heartbreak Pass featured
instruments including the fiddle, upright bass, and acoustic guitar. The folks
in this band were both talented and personable! You could tell they were having
fun even at a very low-key venue. Mele Polinahe & Kiakahi O’Hula consisted
of four band members and a few Hawaiian hula dancers that danced along with the
songs. Their music included Hawaiian jazz from the 50’s and 60’s, music
featured in Hawaii’s annual September festival called Aloha Week, love songs,
and music from when the Spanish cowboys were introduced to Hawaii. Much of
Hawaii’s music collaborates with dance that represents stories and legends of
the culture. The third group was Kevin Pace & the Early Edition, a fairly
well known group in the bluegrass community. The band featured an upright bass,
a banjo, a fiddler, and a guitar player. And boy, could they string fast! It
was really neat to see all the types of cultures, sounds, and smells that fall
under the term ‘folk’. This was a great gathering and celebration of history
and culture!
Kevin Pace & the Early Edition
Heartbreak Pass
Mele Polinahe & Kiakahi O’Hula
Mele Polinahe & Kiakahi O’Hula dancers
Spokane does a fantastic job of
administering events that encourage community. It’s beautiful to see all who
come together to relate and celebrate each other’s heritage and home. The
Spokane Fall Folk Festival is great example of the many events that are hosted
by Spokane’s welcoming and supportive community.
I love that bluegrass music was apparently a feature at the Folk Festival. One of my life desires is to play the fiddle and/or banjo - bluegrass music is the best. I'd be curious to hear whether they ever play anywhere else or maybe travel performing their music. It seems like, for some of these groups, the folk festival is really one of the only outlets they might have throughout the year to share their skills and that's too bad! Obviously Spokane has an awesome and diverse "folk" community, so it would be really cool to see that showcased more. All in all this just leaves me with a stronger desire than ever to join my own bluegrass band.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed going the Folk Festival Annika! It was so fun to see the folk culture of Spokane. The bluegrass music was a little foreign and I'll admit it's not my favorite type of music. I loved the Heartbreak Pass simply because, like you said, they were personable. The older gentleman was hilarious! Also, despite my dislike for that country twang, you can't deny the talent of Kevin Pace and the Early Edition. I am still amazed at how fast those men could play!
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