Albuquerque Folk Festival Logo

The next ABQ FOLK FEST will be September 28 and 29, 2024 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. We've left up 2023 information, so you can see what our festival is like. Check this space around June or July to see what's happening at our 2024 festival. Plus, sign up for our newsletter. In the meantime, please look at our Community Resource page to see folk related events happening during the year.

The ATC String Band

Bank of America Theatre: Saturday 11:30 AM

The ATC Stringband is a student group from the Academy for Technology & Classics, a public charter school in Santa Fe. ATC offers a unique music class called "Acoustic Americana" in which students play and study traditional folk music from all over the U.S. including Old-Time, Bluegrass, Blues, Cajun, and New Mexican. Students play fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, and bass.

For more info: carlsonmusic.weebly.com

Adobe Brothers

Courtyard Stage: Saturday 5:30 PM

The Adobe Brothers are Jacoby Adobe (Jimmy Abraham) - vocals, guitar, harmonica: Pierogi Adobe (Terry Bluhm) - vocal, bass; Moby Adobe (Wayne Shrubsall) - vocals, banjo, guitar; Toby Adobe (Bruce Thomson) - vocals, fiddle

The Adobe Brothers is a band comprised of identical quadruplets born to different mothers a long time ago who came together to play music as a band in 1979. Their initial musical preference consisted of Old Timey fiddle music, Bluegrass, and folk music of North America, but has subsequently expanded to include Western Swing, Celtic, blues, Klezmer and whatever else might be fun to play. The Brothers refer to their music as “International Bluegrass” and proclaim themselves the progenitors of this genre.

Their fundamental musical philosophy is “if it’s fun and sounds good, we’ll play it.” Their song/tune list has over 200 titles in it and during a concert they’ll often draw from hundreds of other pieces that they forgot to add to the list.

For more info: www.facebook.com

Albuquerque Accordion Club

Welcome Tent: Saturday 3:00 PM

The Albuquerque Accordion Club was founded in 2001. Our primary function is to provide a regular forum where accordion players of all skill levels can play for and with like-minded people in a supportive, non-competitive atmosphere.

We meet on 2nd and 4th Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. at Bear Canyon Senior Center. On 2nd Thursdays we begin with solos/duets/trios from all who want to play, then move on to full ensemble tunes. 4th Thursdays are devoted entirely to full ensemble music.

For more info: www.albuquerqueaccordionclub.com

Albuquerque Chinese Folk-Dance Ensemble

Albuquerque Journal Theatre: Saturday 2:00 PM

The Albuquerque Chinese Folk Dance Ensemble is a local dance group established in 2017, dedicated to performing Chinese ethnic, folk, and classical dances. The group aims to showcase the essence of Chinese culture and history through their performances and provide a platform for dancers to express appreciation for Chinese culture. The group focuses on the dances of the 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in China, which reflect their unique culture and history. The dancers are trained to perform a diverse range of dances and use the language of their bodies to express the stories and heritage behind each performance.

Apple Mountain Scottish Session

Welcome Tent: Saturday 1:00 PM

Apple Mountain Scottish Session plays traditional Scottish music. Any instrument typically played with this music (fiddle, guitar, harp, pipes, flute, mandolin, accordion, bouzouki, etc.) is welcome to join us the second Sunday of every month. We also perform at local festivals. Players of all levels are welcome; we provide sheet music for all of our tunes. For information about meeting time and place, contact Kris Johnson, krisjohns@gmail.com, or talk with us at the Folk Festival.

Apple Mountain Strings & Things

Welcome Tent: Saturday 2:00 PM

Apple Mountain Strings & Things (AMS&T) is a not-for-profit organization formed in 1996 to promote folk music and fun! Bimonthly Club meetings provide a safe, casual environment in which beginning players can enjoy making music with others and hone their skills, and where players at all skill levels can enjoy well-loved folk tunes with new friends. Players of all ages on any acoustic instrument may join the Club and non-members are welcome to play along, too. Anyone who wants just to visit and listen is also welcome. Instruments have included mountain dulcimer, hammered dulcimer, folk harp, fiddle, cello, guitar, banjo, mandolin, bowed psaltery, bodhran, flute, recorder, and harmonica, plus the occasional spoons, kazoo, wash tub bass, bells and triangle! In addition to our regular Club meetings, we often perform at local nursing homes, community centers, schools and festivals. We meet on the first and third Saturday of each month, 3:00-4:30 PM, in the Adult Education Wing of the Heights Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Baracutanga

Albuquerque Journal Theatre: Friday 8:00 PM

Baracutanga is a seven-piece band representing four different countries (Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, USA) that prides itself on arranging traditional South American rhythms in new and interesting ways, such as huayño and cumbia with Middle-Eastern darbuka or mixing Afro-Cuban bata and Afro-Peruvian festejo with Andean zampoñas, among several other rhythmic combinations. This kind of experimentation, coupled with blending ancestral traditions with a modern sensibility, has resulted in an exciting and distinct Latin flavor all its own that leaves dancing crowds always wanting more.

Lyrically and musically, Baracutanga proposes to build bridges between the south and the north, overcoming the barriers of discrimination. Aside from their affinity and respect for native rhythms from the lands of their ancestors, the group finds common ground in creating songs those cross-linguistic and cultural barriers, promoting intercultural experiences that empower Latinos with a positive message of self-affirmation. They fervently oppose all types of violence and conceive their music as a vessel to increase and acknowledge cultural pluralism.

Baragutanga‘s live shows are joyous, intense and explosive with fronting duties split between powerful Peruvian songstress Jackie Zamora and the band’s exuberant beating heart, Bolivian multi-instrumentalist Kilko Paz (son of famed Bolivian activist Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui). Added magic comes from extraordinary Ecuadorian multi- instrumentalist Carlos Noboa. The group is rounded out by an extremely talented and inventive cast performing on guitars, horns, flutes, accordions, vibes, an array of percussion and all manner of string instruments and is often joined on stage by Afro-Peruvian and Latin dancers.

For more info: www.baracutanga.org

Bayou Seco

Bank of America Theatre: Saturday 12:30 PM

Bayou Seco, featuring Ken Keppeler and Jeanie McLerie, has been entertaining New Mexico and many parts of the world since 1980. Recipients of the 2017 NM Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts, Keppeler and McLerie have learned from a number of revered traditional musicians in New Mexico, Louisiana and Arizona (thus, Bayou Seco).

Bayou Seco's brand of Southwestern Chilegumbo - Cajun two-steps, waltzes, polkas and rancheras, chotis's, meringues and huapangos, and, perhaps a broom dance, is cross- cultural, multi-lingual and transcends labels and pigeon holes. Bayou Seco's roots are in the south and southwest, but their branches reach far across the world.

For more info: www.bayouseco.com

Bébé La La

Wells Fargo Auditorium: Saturday 6:00 PM

Albuquerque's award-winning Indie Folk Français duo, Bébé La La features singer-songwriter, guitarist, violist Alicia Ultan and singer-songwriter, accordionist Maryse Lapierre, who hails from Quebec, Canada. The two formed the group in 2010, combining Lapierre's French influences with Ultan's original folk inspired "art" songs and over the years, they have developed a unique and engaging repertoire that highlights their signature "stunning" harmonies. Adding to their already richly textured music, are Bébé La La Band members, bassist Micky Patten, an in-demand bassist and guitarist, who also performs with the renowned trumpeter, Bobby Shew, among other ensembles, and drummer Joe Chellman, who plays everything from rock & roll to jazz, blues, country, folk, pop, Klezmer, Balkan, Irish and more. Bébé La La earned three nominations and two awards at the 2016 New Mexico Music Awards for their debut release, "High Wire," described by music and art writer James Mahoney as: "Wild-Alternative-Magic! Hearing this music is, strangely, like opening up a new set of Tarot cards--with very new images: wild re-structurings of the dramas in each of the cards, so that both vital mystery and authentic emotion--along with a symbol system--are all living together in an advanced beauty." This past November 2022, they released their sophomore release, "A Curious Series of Unexpected Events," to a full house in a CD Release concert celebration at FUSION Theatre in Albuquerque, presented by AMP Concerts. The new album received seven nominations from the New Mexico Music Awards, including "Rosie," which won the Singer-Songwriter award and "Magic Hour" which received the award for Best Vocal Performance. An overarching theme of "time" and the unexpectedness of life threads the eclectic collection of songs together on the new CD, which addresses some of the events of the past few years, personal struggles and more, Poet T.A. Niles writes, "From where I sit, “A Curious Series of Unexpected Events is an album for our times, of times past, and it seeks to will us into a more magical future.”

For more info: bebelalamusic.com

Celtic Singers of New Mexico

Welcome Tent: Saturday 4:00 PM

This group of folk singers formed 23 years ago with the intention of singing songs from Celtic lands. We share the history behind the songs, and sing phonetically in Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaidhlig, Welsh, Manx, Broad Scots, and English. Our repertoire holds 150 songs, many well-known here in America, as immigrants to North America brought their culture over the ocean. Our group is non-audition, at no cost to members, who are provided with free music and practice CD's. We perform at local festivals, retirement homes, and other events. We meet on the 2nd and 4th Sundays each month, at the ABQ Peace and Justice Center. For more information, contact Michele Buchanan at tmbuchs@gmail.com

Charm City Junction

Albuquerque Journal Theatre: Saturday 8:00 PM

Courtyard Stage: Saturday 1:30 PM

Baltimore-based acoustic roots quartet Charm City Junction creates a fresh soundscape that keeps listeners on the edge of their seats wondering where they'll go next. They are four of the most talented young musicians in the country: Patrick McAvinue on fiddle, Brad Kolodner on clawhammer banjo, Sean McComiskey on button accordion and Alex Lacquement on upright bass, and are unafraid to take roots music to new places and with the energy to take the audience with them. The ensemble always keeps an eye on tradition as the common threads of Irish, bluegrass and old-time music take flight. Their second album, “Duckpin,” in 2018 charted high among bluegrass albums for the creative mix of instrumental texture and top-notch playing.

For more info: www.charmcityjunction.com

Dirk Powell and Cedric Watson

Albuquerque Journal Theatre: Saturday 7:00 PM

Courtyard Stage: Saturday 4:30 PM

Dirk Powell plays fiddle, banjo and guitar; Cedric Watson plays fiddle and accordion. Both sing.

Dirk Powell has expanded on the deeply rooted sounds of his Appalachian heritage to become one of the preeminent traditional American musicians of his generation. In addition to acclaimed releases on Rounder Records, he’s recorded and performed with artists such as Loretta Lynn, Sting, Levon Helm, Jewel, T-Bone Burnett, Ralph Stanley, Linda Ronstadt and currently with Joan Baez. As a founding member of Balfa Toujours and long time Louisiana resident Dirk is equally at home playing Cajun music.

Spearheading the emerging generation of Creole musicians, Cedric Watson is a fiddler, vocalist, accordionist and songwriter of enormous talent and potential. Injecting a healthy dose of his own personality and ingenuity, Cedric has been exciting an ever-broadening audience with his unique take on traditional Creole music, and with his new compositions that expand the genre while still respecting its roots. Moving with ease between fiddle and accordion, and adding his strong blues-inflected vocals, Cedric’s creative style and obvious joy in playing make him an engaging and exciting performer.

For more info: www.dirkpowell.org

Eileen & the In-Betweens

Wells Fargo Auditorium: Saturday 5:00 PM

Eileen & the In-Betweens is a celebrated social justice folk band based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Edible Magazine (late summer 2017 issue) featured front-woman Eileen O'Shaughnessy as one of New Mexico's top talented songwriters and in the words of Albuquerque Magazine: "[Eileen] sings with a warm and sunny confidence that makes you believe that however dark things may look, there is a path forward to the light." They have released four full-length albums of original music and have been invited to perform their uplifting and soulful music across the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Their energetic performances feature diverse instrumentation and leave audiences inspired and enthralled. The band is made up of Albuquerque's finest musicians: Lazarus Letcher on viola, Colin Baillio on upright bass & pedal steel, Stef Graner on keys and vocals, and Jackie Chacón on drums. Eileen's songwriting draws on the age-old tradition of mobilizing music as a tool for social change in line with the "greats" such as Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, while her enchanting voice draws comparisons to Natalie Merchant, Ani DiFranco, and Edie Brickell. Eileen draws sonic inspiration from her Irish-American & Celtic heritage, folk roots, Americana, pop, and world music.

For more info: www.eileenshaughnessy.com

Higher Ground Bluegrass

Bank of America Theatre: Saturday 2:30 PM

Higher Ground Bluegrass has established itself as a premier Bluegrass band in New Mexico and is venturing into their 25th year as a musical ensemble. Founder “Duke” Weddington plays banjo, guitar and sings; Dave Devlin plays mandolin and resophonic guitar; Pat Mahoney sings and plays fiddle; bass player Laura Leach-Devlin and guitarist Ben Monroe also sing. The band’s repertoire features their own original material but also plays traditional and contemporary selections influenced by folk, Celtic, country, and rock ‘n roll. They work at developing dynamic arrangements of their original material and adding their own take to standard bluegrass numbers and lesser-known songs. Four vocalists enable the band to trade lead and harmony lines to offer a dynamic program.

The band has recorded nine independent albums, and opened for Peter Rowan, Tim O’Brien, Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen, Jim Lauderdale, and The Infamous Stringdusters. The band served as host band for the Southwest Pickers Bluegrass and Traditional Music Festival from 2017 to 2021.

For more info: www.highergroundbluegrass.com

Janice Belflower and Friends

Wells Fargo Auditorium: Saturday 4:00 PM

Janice Belflower is an expressive singer-songwriter who pours her heart into her lyrics and her melodies. She grew up singing in church with a background in classical piano music, but in college, she studied and performed jazz. She was drawn into folk music by singers like Norah Jones and Joy Williams whose voices invite you into their stories as they sing. Janice’s sound reflects a combination of folk, pop, and jazz paired with intimate stories and warm vocals. Having traveled the world and lived in both smaller American towns and big international cities, her view of the world was expanded beyond the culture she grew up with. While Janice’s music is deeply personal, it is informed through the beauty of learning many cultures and stories, and she hopes to invite whoever listens into the broader community that music creates.

Kellie Allen and Pete Peterson

Courtyard Stage: Saturday 11:30 AM

Kellie Allen and Pete Peterson have been playing and singing old time music together since 1999 and have been married to each other since 2006. We draw our repertoire mainly from 78 RPM records of the 1920s and 30s, listening to entertainers such as Charlie Poole, The Carter Family, Uncle Dave Macon, and brother duets such as the Monroe Brothers and the Blue Sky Boys. Making old time music is fun, and we hope to share our joy with you.

For more info: kellieandpete.net

La Rondalla de Albuquerque

Welcome Tent: Saturday 11:00 AM

La Rondalla de Albuquerque was founded in the late nineties in Albuquerque, New Mexico to preserve and promote the rancheras, boleros, and cumbias that have accompanied birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and community fiestas down through the ages. We make music from New Mexico through Latin America come alive via harp, guitar, guitarron, jarana, vihuela and voice.

For more info: www.facebook.com

Lasotras

Courtyard Stage: Saturday 10:00 AM

Lasotras aims to break down walls, build bridges, add music to the struggle and encourage solidarity. We are an Albuquerque-based musical group that has played together in different configurations for over 30 years. We perform U.S. and Latin American folk music with tight harmonies, spicy riffs, and upbeat rhythms on string, wind and percussion instruments. We often take favorites written by other composers and adapt our own words or make the songs bilingual. We also host peñas (cultural coffeehouses) in Albuquerque and play at political and social events. Lasotras are Enrique Cardiel (bass, accordion and vocals), Teresa Guevara Beltrán (cuatro, jarana, guitar, cajón, bombo, and vocals), Ricardo Magallanes Guillén (guitar, zampoñas/panpipes, bombo, maracas and vocals), Dair Obenshain (fiddle, guitar, bongós, bones, bass and vocals) and Ruth Warner Carrillo (cuatro, jarana, charango, guitar, bongós and vocals).

For more info: www.facebook.com

Lone Piñon

Albuquerque Journal Theatre: Friday 7:00 PM

Lone Piñon is a New Mexican string band, or “orquesta típica”, whose music celebrates the integrity and diversity of their region's cultural roots. With fiddles, upright bass, guitars, accordions, vihuela, and bilingual vocals, they play a wide spectrum of the traditional music that is at home in New Mexico. The group’s repertoire and recordings reflect the complexity of this musical landscape and includes early conjunto duets, contemporary New Mexican rancheras, New Mexican swing, Hispanic Texan fiddle styles, Tohono O'odham fiddle tunes from Arizona, huapangos from the Mexican Huasteca region, and several styles of music from Michoacán: son calentano and son planeco from the southern lowlands and son abajeño from the P'urepecha highlands.

For more info: www.lonepinon.com

Matt Watroba

Albuquerque Journal Theatre: Saturday 6:00 PM

Matt Watroba has been voice of folk music in Michigan for his work with WDET--Detroit Public Radio. As producer and host of the Folks Like Us program, and the nationally syndicated, Sing Out Radio Magazine and Folk Alley, Watroba has encountered many aspects of folk music and culture that have shaped a repertoire and presentation unique to stages across the country. He is committed to inspiring the world to sing-- one town at a time. With his life-long musical partner Robert Jones, he started the Detroit non-profit Common Chords in 2019, and that same year was inducted into the Folk DJ Hall of Fame at the Folk Alliance International conference in Montreal. He is a regular teacher and performer at the Swannanoa Gathering in North Carolina. He believes in the power and good vibrations of singing together, harmonizing and feeling each other’s voices, and he preaches that gospel wherever he goes.

For more info: www.mattwatroba.net

Nathan & Jessie

Courtyard Stage: Saturday 3:30 PM

Albuquerque Journal Theatre: Saturday 5:00 PM

From the city where the sun shines through the mist, Temecula, California, comes the jazzy folk duo Nathan & Jessie. Born of the individuals, Nathan Rivera and Jessie Andra Smith, this duo is a unique blend of jazzy folk and blues on resonator guitars and accordion, along with interesting interplay between male and female vocals. Their performances not only include unique all original music, but stories of their travels and interaction with the audience that make for an unforgettable experience. Love of sharing music has taken Nathan & Jessie all over the world, frequenting places like Mexico, Canada, France, New Orleans, and the Pacific North West. The upbeat tunes they write reflect the cultural, emotional, and inspirational images of their life experience and are rooted in the spirit of jazz, improvisation, storytelling, language, and humor.

For more info: www.nathanandjessie.com

New Mexico Special Orchestra

Bank of America Theatre: Saturday 10:30 AM

Special Orchestra®, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose purpose is to help persons with developmental disabilities share in the joy of making music. Using similarly tuned instruments (key of C), special orchestras can start playing right away! The New Mexico Special Orchestra, the pioneer ensemble of Special Orchestra, Inc., has been helping people with special needs make music since 1999. At SpecialOrchestra.org we share adaptive music techniques developed here in New Mexico, globally.

For more info: specialorchestra.org

Niños y Teeños Flamenco

Albuquerque Journal Theatre: Friday 6:00 PM

Flamenco is the ancient form of artistic expression of Spanish Roma. As an enduring oral tradition, the art and spirit of flamenco is passed from generation to generation.

Established in 1999 by Eva Encinias, the Student Companies of the Conservatory of Flamenco Arts exemplify the school’s comprehensive and musically-driven approach to instruction. Niños is a children’s performance group focused on teaching young dancers about character, self-esteem, and confidence building through the discipline of a performance company. Teeños is a performance group for high-school-aged students that is focused on training and performance experience.

For more info: www.nifnm.org

Otilio Ruiz and Chuy Martinez

Bank of America Theatre: Saturday 4:30 PM

Otilio Ruiz was born in Pacho Nuevo, Veracruz in Mexico. He started singing at the age of five and he picked up his first instrument at the age of 11. Later he learned and studied guitar, viola, violin and most other instruments with strings at the Music Conservatory in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. In 1989, he was part of a folk group to tour Europe with the Achille Zavata Circus based in Paris and later performed with the international company Tlen-Huicani, at the University of Veracruz, and traveled with them through the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and South America. He began a career in education in 2004 at Bernalillo Public Schools and in 2009 transferred to Albuquerque Public Schools at Coronado School where he had the opportunity to form a children's group, Voces De Coronado. He is the recipient of a Creative Bravos Award.

Chuy Martinez is a skilled musician and natural storyteller. As a migrant farm worker, he grew up all over the United States. He joined the United Farm Workers Union, met Cesar Chavez and was inspired by the work he and Dolores Huerta were doing to represent the workers in the field. When he moved to Albuquerque he became a community organizer, taking what he learned from Chavez and the union to help bring about change. He remains active in the community and is a guest presenter with the New Mexico Humanities Council.

Oti moved from Veracruz to Albuquerque in 2001. He met Chuy few days after that. They started playing together and have ever since.

Rio Grande Jazz Society

Welcome Tent: Saturday 12:00 PM

Rio Grande Jazz Society is an Albuquerque organization dedicated to the preservation and promulgation of classic New Orleans style jazz first popularized a hundred years ago and still played at Preservation Hall in New Orleans today. For the past thirty years, our group has hosted monthly jazz jams, open to the public and welcoming all musicians, at the Edelweiss German-American Club on the third Sunday afternoon of every month. In addition, our monthly jams often feature a paid local group that plays in the jazz, big band, or swing style. The venue has a dance floor, and our jams are popular with local dancers interested in these styles of music. We also play around town at various events, giving our members a chance to play this classic lively music for the public.

Members include Jeff Johnston, Casey DenHollander, Tom Hunter, Rose Day, Orion Brady, Larry Claussen, and others.

For more info: facebook.com

Snorty Horse

Courtyard Stage: Saturday 12:30 PM

Snorty Horse is Mike Fraser, fiddle and mandolin, Tenley Fraser, guitar, piano and fiddle, Dave Para, banjo and guitar, and Erika Gerety, bass. They all sing. They first came together to play contra dances in Missouri, and featured Dave’s late wife, Cathy Barton, on hammered dulcimer and banjo. Later they did some stage performances that included harmony singing. They took their name from a saloon which they thought had closed down on Interstate 70 in Missouri. Kind of a joke, but no one came up with a better name. They were good friends with Erika and her late husband, Gary, from camping together at the festival in Winfield, Kansas. Erika joined the band after Cathy’s passing and Dave and Erika got married here in Albuquerque. Dave plays more banjo now in addition to his lively back-up guitar style, and Erika has added her solid bass playing and expressive singing voice. Mike and Tenley also play as the duo Shortleaf. They all share a love for traditional music and its cultural contexts and history, working out harmonies and the joy of making a big sound for an evening dance.

The Here and Now

Bank of America Theatre: Saturday 7:30 PM

Albuquerque Journal Theatre: Saturday 3:00 PM

The Here and Now are Chris Buckley and Niamh Fahy on fiddle, Rob Forkner on bodhran, and Joseph Carmichael on guitar. Based in Texas, this fine young band of Celtic musicians is comprised of musicians who have played with many well-known groups, such as Riverdance, John Williams, John Williams, Solas and Needfire, and all have studied with legendary Irish musicians in both the U.S. and Ireland.

Chris Buckley studied viola at the University of Minnesota and Irish fiddle from greats Liz Carroll, Brendan Mulvhill and James Kelly. He competed in three All-Ireland world competitions. Niamh Fahy, from Tara, County Meath, took lessons from the infamous Antoin McGabhann. She toured with Riverdance, Project West and John Williams, and did session work while living in London. While living in Alaska, bodhran player Rob Forkner discovered Irish music from a loaner cassette tape of the great Johnny “Ringo”McDonagh which inspired him to fashion a drum from birch bark and salmon skin. Joseph Carmichael is a seriously inventive guitarist who has worked with list of bands in a variety of directions, from his contemporary trio, Flashpoint, to the legendary Solas, to singer/songwriter Ashley Davis in Lawrence, to the nationally touring Celtic-rock band Needfire.


For more info: www.thehereandnowmusicatx.com

The Rebbe's Orkestra

Bank of America Theatre: Saturday 1:30 PM

Incorporating the sounds and rhythms of Jewish music from many parts of the world, THE REBBE’S ORKESTRA brings a unique style to Klezmer-the instrumental dance music rooted in the Jewish wedding ceremonies of Eastern Europe. The band’s repertoire includes instrumental pieces from the Middle-East, and folk songs in several languages including Yiddish (a Germanic rooted language of East European Jews), Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), Hebrew, Russian, Arabic, Hungarian, Romanian, and Romany (the language of the Roma/ Gypsies). The band also plays some Israeli folk dance tunes, traditional fiddle tunes and songs from New Mexico, as well as traditional music from the Mediterranean and the Balkans. Recording and performing professionally throughout the southwest since 1996, The Rebbe’s Orkestra has been exploring the ways in which Jewish musicians have interacted with surrounding musical traditions over the centuries. From Spain to Iraq, Poland to the Mediterranean: The Rebbe's Orkestra plays tunes and songs as widely divergent as the geography and yet with surprisingly similar themes.

The band released its first CD "Klezmer y mas" in 2010 to widespread acclaim. In addition to playing for hundreds (maybe thousands by now!!) of weddings and B’nai Mitzvahs, the group has performed at Globalquerque (2006), The Outpost Performance Space-Outpost Productions (1997 & 2004), KlezmerQuerque 2003-2019, The Crestone Music Festival “Crestfest” 2011 (Crestone, Colorado), The ABQ Folk Festival (1998-2018), and at many other festivals and theaters throughout the southwest including the states of Texas & Arizona.

Performing for schools, universities, senior centers and community centers, The Rebbe's Orkestra also gives fun educational presentations. Band members give brief introductions to each song about its history, source(s), pertinence to Jewish culture and other cultures, its musical arrangement, as well as teaching simple lyrics and rhythms to sing and clap along. Adding to the participation level, the band can bring a dance leader to teach the simple line and circle dances that traditionally accompany the music.

For more info: arnoproductionsnm.tripod.com

Virginia Creepers

Bank of America Theatre: Saturday 6:30 PM

The Virginia Creepers play old-time music. Formed in New Mexico 30 years ago, the band is drawn to weird, old, crooked tunes from exotic places like West Virginia and Kentucky, lively dance tunes that they play for squares and contras, and songs about hard times, trains, and whiskey, all ranging in age from the Civil War era and earlier to newer pieces in the old-time style. The Creepers are: Rick Olcott on guitar, Laurie Phillips on mandola, Jane Phillips on fiddle, Marc Robert on bass and banjo, and Michel Robert on fiddle. All of them sing now and then. Based in Albuquerque, they play around NM and beyond for dances, parties, and festivals, and as soothing background music for the quiet and studious patrons of saloons and taverns. The Creepers hosted a weekly old-time jam at Tractor Brewing in Nob Hill for over 7 years, until the pandemic shutdowns. They have continued the tradition with virtual jam-along sessions on Facebook Live, racking up over 50 of them by the beginning of 2022.

For more info: www.virginiacreepers.com

Wandering the Burren & Friends

Welcome Tent: Saturday 9:45 AM

This Albuquerque group is a small group that grew out of a longtime Friday session where members could explore traditional music from Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Galicia, the Isle of Man, and Quebec, as well as original pieces celebrating Celtic musical traditions. Musicians include: Doug Cowan plays highland pipes, Irish flute, and concertina, and is a founding member of The Celtic Coyotes; guitarist Mike Maulsby brings a classical sensibility to traditional music; Rebecca Keeshen plays whistle and composed the group's namesake piece; Barbara Herrington plays the fiddle and coordinates the First Saturday Irish Session at High and Dry Brewing; Susan Sponar is a fiddler. Good friends who may sit in include mandolin player Tom Baumgartel, mandolin player Aaron Mahr, and sometimes Eileen Sullivan, Irish fiddler, performer, and teacher.