The 2022 edition of the Brooklyn Folk Festival, presented by the Jalopy Theatre & School of Music, happens October 21-23 at St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church. featuring live performances, film screenings, talks, workshops, family events, the annual Banjo Toss competition, and more.
There are over 30 musical acts performing this year, including Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Amythyst Kiah, Nora Brown, Jerron Blind Boy Paxton, Dueto Dos Rosas, Inkarayku, Ukrainian Village Voices, Ba Ban Chinese Music Society, Love Struck Balladeers, Dan & Claudia Zanes and more.
Tickets for the 2022 Brooklyn Folk Festival are on sale now, and you can check out the full lineup and schedule below.
THE 14TH ANNUAL BROOKLYN FOLK FESTIVAL LINEUP
Thursday, October 20th
NYC FILM PREMIERE: Different Johns - a documentary film that explores the different lives of John Cohen: folk musician, photographer, teacher, filmmaker and one of the faces of the Beat Generation. The film shines a light on America: its artists, its history, its reality - through this story of a un-conventional American.
"One could say that the treasures of the earth may be found between the eyes of John Cohen.”
– Patti Smith
The film’s director, Robert Carr, will present the film and a Q&A following the screening. This film screening is part of the “All This is a Record of My Search: John Cohen at 90 / Music / Films / Photographs” programming at the 2022 Brooklyn Folk Festival.
Friday, October 21st Main Stage
8:30pm Ukrainian Village Voices, rural vocal music from Ukraine
9:00pm Nora Brown, songs, ballads and tunes with banjo
9:45pm Amythyst Kiah, original and traditional songs
Parish Hall Stage
8:30pm Megg Farrell, honky tonk band!
9:15 pm Jackson & the Janks, New Orleans style R&B and more!
Saturday, October 22nd
Afternoon Concerts
Main Stage
12:00pm Family Sing-a-long with Emily Eagan & Chris Q. Murphy
12:50pm Jacob Wysoski, blues and folk songs
1:40pm Bill Carney’s Jug Addicts, jug band music
2:30pm Clinton Davis, old time fiddle, banjo and guitar
3:20pm All This is a Record of My Search: John Cohen at 90: Music / Films / Photographs, musicians influenced by John Cohen will play music from his years of work. Participating musicians include The Down Hill Strugglers, Nora Brown, Tim Eriksen, Stephanie Coleman, Jerron Paxton and more!
4:10pm Tim Eriksen, old time songs and ballads, unaccompanied singing, along with banjo and guitar music
5:00pm Ever-Lovin’ Jug Band, original and traditional jug band music, from Canada!
5:50pm Stillhouse Serenade, old time, blues and country music Parish Hall Stage
1:00pm Old-time string band jam session, lead by fiddler Stephanie Coleman bring your fiddles, banjo, guitars, etc!
2:30pm Artie’s Jug Workshop taught by the Ever-Lovin’ Jug Band - Learn to play the jug! (DIY bass instrument, it’s fun!)
5:30pm Square Dance!
9:30pm - Salsa Dance! w/ Willie Martinez and the NYC Salsa All Stars
Workshop Room
12:30pm - Film screening: The High Lonesome Sound (1963), a film by John Cohen
Songs of church-goers, miners, and farmers of eastern Kentucky express the joys and sorrows of life among the rural poor. This classic film evocatively illustrates how music and religion help Appalachians maintain their dignity and traditions in the face of change and hardship. The film features the noted Appalachian banjo picker Roscoe Holcomb and places him firmly in the context of the land and the people with whom he spent his life.
1:00pm - Film screening: Sara & Maybelle: of the Original Carter Family (1981), a film by John Cohen
A rare filmed performance of two members of the original Carter family, whose recordings helped found the country music industry. Here Sara and Maybelle demonstrate their famous guitar picking and harmony singing on "Sweet Fern" and "Solid Gone."
1:15pm - Film screening: Carnival in Q'eros: Where the Mountains Meet the Jungle (1991), a film by John Cohen
This groundbreaking documentary shows the remarkable Carnival celebrations -- never before seen by outsiders -- of a remote community of Indians high in the Peruvian Andes. Their culture offers important clues into the Inca past and the roots of Andean cultures.
2:00pm - The John Cohen Collection at the Library of Congress, Maya Lerman and Todd Harvey of the American Folklife Center discuss the breadth, depth and significance of the John Cohen collection at our national library, and how to access it!
5:00pm - Book event: Well of Souls: Uncovering the Banjo's Hidden History with author Kristina Gaddy
7:00pm - Music performance by The Lil’ Dogies, harmony singing duet, old time & country music, all the way from Kentucky!
Evening Concerts
Main Stage
7:00pm Feral Foster, original & folk songs
7:50pm Ba Ban Chinese Music Society, dedicated to the preservation, creation and presentation of Chinese traditional and contemporary music. Named after an ancient piece of folk music, "Ba Ban" literally means "Eight Beats" which is the structural basis for the grouping of notes in traditional Chinese music.
8:40pm The Lovestruck Balladeers, trad jazz, ragtime and more!
9:30pm Inkarayku, mestizo music of the Peruvian Andes w/ dancers!
10:20pm Jerron “Blindboy” Paxton, blues, old time and ragtime Music
Sunday, October 23rd
1:00PM - 2:00pm SPECIAL EVENT: THE BANJO TOSS – Banjo Throwing Contest!
Assemble at the Gowanus Dredgers Boathouse, 165 2nd St., on the canal!
Close to Carroll St. F/G station!
Afternoon Concerts
Main Stage
2:00pm Dan & Claudia Zanes, music for children and families,
2:50pm Bob Malenky, blues guitar
3:40pm Taylor Plas, original and traditional songs
4:30pm Ernie “Papa” Vega, blues, folk, trad jazz and more! 5:20pm The Down Hill Strugglers, old time string band
6:10 Dueto Dos Rosas, vocal and guitar duet from Oaxaca, Mexico!
Parish Hall Stage
5:00pm The Jalopy Chorus - choral group of the Jalopy Theatre singing songs from world vocal traditions
Workshop Room
2:00pm - Eastern Kentucky Banjo Workshop w/ Brett Ratliff: Learn old time banjo songs, tunes and techniques, traditional from Eastern Kentucky.
3:00pm - Alan Lomax Archive/Association for Cultural Equity, presentation TBA
4:00pm - Dust-to-Digital Listening Session: Lance Ledbetter of DtoD plays and discusses special tracks from their catalogue
Evening Concerts
Main Stage
7:20pm Brett Ratliff, old time banjo songs, tunes from Eastern Kentucky
8:10pm The Other Years, vocal duet w/ fiddle, guitar, banjo, from Louisville, KY
9:00pm Bonnie “Prince” Billy