Folk U.S.A. came to be because of my total love of folk music. My interest began in 1958 when the Kingston Trio's Tom Dooley hit the radiowaves.
I was hooked. I began buying each of their albums as they were released. When I was old enough, I started going to every one of their concerts that I could. I met them, got their autographs, got my picture taken with them, at one point tried to wear my hair like one of them, and to this day, still wear striped, button down, short sleeved shirts. I learned the guitar and five string banjo, and later in life have been fortunate to own and play the same instruments as they. I had my own wannabe trio, The Villagers (you can hear our music on another page on this site.) I was a lifelong fan.
Then suddenly, sadly, on October first of 2017, it all came to an end. To me, the Kingston Trio ceased to exist. Their name had been bought out by three amateurs who felt the need to live out a lifelong fantasy of actually being the Trio. They bought the name, then unceremoniously fired the three musicians, and by now, friends of mine who had been carrying the torch of the Trio for many years. Three fine singers, players and gentlemen. Just axed, without so much as a thank you. With that, the Kingston Trio ended for me. And so I have deleted links to their "official" site, as it only leads to three people who have no business trying to pretend to be a group, the caliber of the Kingston Trio. It seemed strange to come to my site today and delete those links. They've been there for the twenty one years Folk U.S.A. has existed.
But time marches on. So to the Kingston Trios from 1957 thru 2017, I say thank you. Thank you all. Nick, Bob, Dave, John, George, Bill, Rick, Roger, Bobby, Pat, and Jim, for the music, the memories, the fun, the good times, the camaraderie and the friendship. Thanks for being there during tough times in my life, and thanks for setting my in the right direction on my musical journey through life. It was a good sixty year run. It's just so sad it had to end the way it did. But fortunately, I still have the records, cassettes, CDs, DVDs, pictures and all my memorabilia to remember and still enjoy you by. I hope to see you all in the next go around.
So, here are links to other folk groups and artists I've also enjoyed over the years of being just an old folkie!
A founding member and one of my favorite voices of the New Christy Minstrels. The Minstrels wouldn't have caught my ear if not for the voices of Art and Nick Woods. Check out Art's site which he describes as "A personal web site dedicated to those for whom just the music would be enough". It's enough for me!
There's not very many songs I've heard in my life where I can remember when I first heard it. But Barry McGuire's Eve Of Destruction is one on a very short list. I've loved the song since I heard it, and have loved Barry's voice since I became a fan of The New Christy Minstrels forty plus years ago. Visit Barry's site and enjoy a lot of good music and many great memoires as I have.
Barry McGuire's Trippin' the Sixties Website
Did you really live the Sixties and therefore can't remember them? Then visit Barry's site Trippin' the Sixties, sit back, and let the memories take over!
What would a folk music web site be without a link to Bob Dylan? Come gather 'round people and check out his page.
Some of the most influential members of any music community are best appreciated by their peers. This is true of Bob Gibson, one of the first super stars of the folk music renaissance of the ’50s.
Bonnie is an artiste on the hammered dulcimer and makes some beautiful music. She's also a member of a great all women's group called... ready for it? Mother Folkers! Gotta love a group with a name like that! Stop by Bonnie's site and check out her music and the gorgeous dulcimers for sale.
One of my favorite froups from the Sixties. Great songs and harmonies. They did the "green" songs. You know, Greenfields, Green Leaves of Summer, Greensleeves. . Still going strong after all these years.
"Julie & Brownie" offer a rare blend of original and traditional songs, of positive thought and just plain fun, for children and their families. They perform at fairs, theme parks, schools, libraries and festivals in various parts of the country. Brownie also wrote Rolling River which has been recorded by the Kingston Trio.
"Buskin & Batteau are the most musically sophisticated act in folk." - The New York Times
Cathy plays the music of the great singer/songwriters like Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon.Her arrangements are inventive and original; eerily like the original recordings, yet never exact copies. She picks up the signature sound of the songs yet plays in a fresh and original way. When she sings, the style is her own yet she remains true to the songwriter's intent.
Another one of my favorite groups. Great songs and harmonies. And they weren't afraid to sing their minds. Still going strong forty-something years later and sounding as good as they did back then!
Like Irish music? (Who doesn't, at least on St. Paddy's Day!)
The Cumberland Trio was formed in the early 1960’s by a group of college students at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Forty years later, they're still playing and making the music I enjoy. Check out their website and CDs. Good music here!
Click here to access the web site of one of my favorite groups, Dramtreeo. A Norfolk, Virginia based quintet, they perform Irish rebel music, sea chanties and traditional folk music, as well as some great original tunes written by members of the group.
The Folk Legacy Trio are George Grove, formerly with the Kingston Trio for 41 years, Rick Dougherty, member of the Limeliters and Kingston Trio for 25 years and Jerry Siggins, former lead singer of the legendary doo-wop group The Diamonds for 27 years. The Folk Legacy Trio sings the Great American Folksong Book™, the songs of the great Folk Era from the ‘50s through the mid-‘70s, including songs from The Weavers, The Kingston Trio, The Limeliters, Peter Paul & Mary, The New Christy Minstrels, The Brothers Four, The Chad Mitchell Trio, Tom Paxton, Judy Collins, Joan Baez, Gordon Lightfoot, Simon & Garfunkel, John Denver, and others. It is a journey through American Musical History with their signature dynamic harmonies enriching some of the most beloved songs ever written.
Valerie Magee's Folk Music Web Site - Gordon Lightfoot and Others
Hamilton Camp was an actor, a singer, and a songwriter. His acting career started at age 12 in 1946; his music career began in 1960, when he and Bob Gibson made their mark on folk music. With consummate skill, wit and and abundance of talent, he bridged these two disciplines for many decades. Sadly, Hamilton died suddenly on October 2, 2005. But you can still visit his website and read of his legacy to the world of music.
The home page for The Highwaymen, the popular folk group from the early 1960's that recorded Michael, Row the Boat Ashore, Cottonfields, and The Gypsy Rover. We are still together, we are still the same guys who started the group many years ago, and we're still singing!
In my humble opinion, this duo was the second best thing to come out of Canada, next to Gordon Lighfoot. Some of the best instrumentals I've ever heard from any folk performers.
I grew up listening to Ian and Sylvia. And I love Ian's voice and guitar work. And his song writing. He's a true cowboy and still making beautiful music. Stop by his website and check things out.
James Devine is an award-winning singer/songwriter of Maritime Folk Music based in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. With family roots in Woods Harbour, a small fishing community on the south shore of NS, James has loved the sea since childhood.
Legendary singer, songwriter, activist and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee Joan Baez's site. Such an angelic voice!
John-Denver.org is the web home of The World Family of John Denver, a closely knit group of individuals committed to preserving the legacy of the late singer, John Denver. .
Home Page for that banjo picking, riverboat man in the top hat. Rest in peace John. We miss you.
This site is dedicated to John Stewart, formerly of the Kingston Trio, and now one of America's best songwriters. For pure Americana music, check out John's site and albums.
The Official Kate Wolf Website, maintained by Kate's family. Kate Wolf repopularized folk music in Northern California in the 1970's, and went on to national recognition before her untimely passing in 1986.
Who could forget Uncle Lou Gottlieb and his "slut" bass fiddle singing "Have Some Maderia, M'Dear"? Another one of my favorite groups, and still going strong. The Limeliters are now Mack Bailey, Andy Corwin and Gaylan Taylor still with the tight harmonies and impressive instrumetals! Visit the Limeliters site and check their schedule. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to catch a show!
Little John is an internationally acclaimed entertainer, musician and songwriter bringing to life on stage, the legacy of the great John Denver. When performing live, audiences are amazed at the similarity of looks and sounds to John Denver.
While other kids his age were locking onto rock music, Mack Bailey was listening to his father's old Limeliters and New Christy Minstrel folk albums. "I played them all the time when I was growing up," he says. "I just loved their harmonies. I loved how their voices worked together. It was fun music. They just struck a chord that could take me away and make me feel great." Now he is one of the two newest members of The Limeliters!
"Greg and Terry can show us all what a wonderful thing it can be for two voices to harmonize together. How lucky I am to have lived to see and hear more links in the chain." ___ -- Pete Seeger
An acoustic singer/songwriter with powerful lyrics and vocals, inviting contemplation and lucid images. Each song takes the listener on a different journey. Mark's songs on his CD are a compilation of how he's sorted-out the cards life has dealt him throughout his life. Listen to clips of the tunes at the site, and read the words to "This Is My Rifle" to get a feel of where Mark is coming from. As a Vietnam Vet, I can certainly relate.
Martha Ann performed in the Atlanta area for a number of years, but now concentrates primarily on her songwriting. She periodically performs at select venues near her home in the foothills of NW Georgia.
Veteran South African singer-songwriter Mel Green has been making quality music since the mid-1960s. In those early days he was very much a part of the folk boom, and over the years he has refined his skills developing as a talented finger-pickin’ guitarist, versatile tenor singer and thoughtful and sensitive songwriter.
South Africa's answer to the Kingston Trio & The Smothers Brothers!
"After years straddling the rock and folk circuit in upstate New York, Saratoga songwriter Michael Jerling is getting the attention he has long deserved. With a subtle but encyclopedic command of American styles and rhythms, a captivating melodic sense and incisive, clever lyrics, he is as supple a song craftsman as any riding the folk boards today." - Scott Alarik, Boston Globe
I'm a lifelong fan of these folks. I always had a dream of forming a group like this myself but it never came true. Closest I got was the Wayfarers but there were only six of us! Check out the gang that gave us Green, Green, Saturday Night, Today and so many more great songs and memories.
Nina is a singer and songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee, creates music relevant to current times and keeps her footing in folk revival music in her debut album Designs On Me.
No Folk oriented Web Site would be complete without a link to Peter, Paul and Mary. Rest in Peace Mary.
Rick Dougherty doesn't remember a time when he didn't sing, and his beautiful tenor voice has garnered him compliments from Judy Collins, Chet Atkins and Tom Paxton, to name just a few. It has also led to a long and wide-ranging career in music. As a youth he performed solo throughout the West, developing a versatile finger-style guitar technique to accompany himself and expanding his repertoire from folk to standards and jazz. He graduated Sonoma State University in 1987 and in the following thirteen years directed 37 operas, and was the arranger for two a cappella groups.
In 1990 he became a member of The Limeliters and performed with them until 2003 when he left the group to sing with Glenn Yarbrough as part of the "This Land Is Your Land" folk tour. At the end of the tour in 2005, he was invited to join The Kingston Trio with whom he performed nationwide until late 2017.
Rick continues to perform across the country and conducts workshops on voice and guitar. He recently published "Sounding Good on One Guitar," a guitar manual for beginning to advanced intermediate players which has received excellent reviews.
For more than thirty five years Rob Carlson has created words and music for the mind, the heart and the funny bone.
Roy Rivers is both an entertainer and a singer/songwriter whose songs and live concert events reflect the continuing spiritual journey of his life. As of this date, he has written over 140 songs. Roy’s voice has always been compared to that of John Denver, one of his musical heroes.
Pronounced ("Schoonah Fayah") Just kidding! From Down East Maine, two very talented brothers making terrific music. If you like folk, Irish, seafaring and just plain fun music, check out Schooner Fare's site. You'll be glad you did! Ayuh!
Professional recording artist and lyricist Kathleen Ebright Tarp brings a lifetime of stage and recording experience to Song Legacy. Kathleen is leader of the Serendipity Singers and has performed throughout the world with numerous symphony orchestras and headliners including Bob Hope and the Kingston Trio.
The website of the Steve DeMott Acoustic Project and contemporary singer/songwriter, guitarist & mandolinist Steve DeMott. The newly redesigned site is almost ready, and will be up very shortly. The new site will include a performance schedule, new audio samples & a special section for press & venues to get all the information they need to help make a performance of The Steve DeMott Acoustic Project a great success.
Steve Gillette and Cindy Mangsen
Steve Gillette has been writing songs since the 1960s - songs like Darcy Farrow, Bed of Roses, (That Song About) The River, and Back on the Street Again. Since Ian and Sylvia first recorded Darcy Farrow in 1965, Steve's songs have been covered by John Denver, Garth Brooks, Linda Ronstadt, Tammy Wynette, Waylon Jennings, Josh Ritter, and many others. But Steve's own versions are some of the best, with his warm baritone voice and his unique finger-picking guitar style (using a flat-pick and two fingers). Cindy Mangsen is "one of the finest singers in American folk music" (Come for to Sing). Accompanying herself on guitar, banjo, concertina, or mountain dulcimer, Cindy is known for her compelling interpretations of traditional ballads, as well as for her own writing and her wonderful ear for harmony.
Visit the comprehensive internet salute to the entertainer whose voice has enthralled audiences as a soloist as well as part of Bud & Travis and The Gateway Singers. A man whose indomitable spirit remains an inspiration to all.
Tom O'Donnell is a folk singer and friend of mine who has done some wonderful covers of the music of The Kingston Trio, John Stewart and other great folk artists. He's recorded seven CD's and they're all here on his site for you to listen to and even download for free! Come on in and enjoy Tom's music.
Who doesn't love the songs of Tom Paxton? One of the greatest folk composers ever. Visit his site, and if you get a chance, see him in person!
Before flower power, the Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane it meant harmonic vocals, a melding of acoustic and electric guitars, folk music, rock and a bit of jazz. In the mid-60's, it was called folk rock, and it described the music of WE FIVE. Still folkin' and rockin', visit the site of the group that made famous one of my favorite tunes, You Were On My Mind!
No site about folk music would be complete without a link to Woody's site. After all, he made so much of this all possible.
March 26, 2019