Fiddler’s Dream Coffeehouse Benefit!
On June 19, 2010, Fiddler’s Dream Coffeehouse in Phoenix in Arizona celebrated 60 years of Sing Out! as a tribute and fundraising event. It presented an exciting mix of music artists from the local folk music scene.
Tom Tuerff opened the evening with his pointed and humorous originals followed by Jack Alves with a set of Blues classics and traditional arrangements. Then, Rocky Road took the stage and rejuvenated the audience in the best tradition of the Weavers and Peter, Paul and Mary.
After a short break, the 25 members of Jam Pak Blues ’N’ Grass Neighborhood Band loaded with guitars, fiddles, banjos, mandolins, dulcimers, and even a wash-tub bass ‘knocked out’ the audience with their jam versions of songs like “Ol’ Joe Clark” and “Fox on the Run”. Jam Pak is a project sponsored by Arizona bluegrass organizations and many individuals to bring together the kids from the neighborhood and to teach them play the ‘canjos’ a simple one-stringed instruments leading to real instruments later.
Joe Bethancourt – whose performances are known in the Southwest as the ‘amazing adventure in acoustic traditional music’ – finished off the evening with his “Old Songs for the New West” with one of them being ‘Die Gedanken sind frei” – one of the famous German songs about the freedom of thought. The text first occurred on leaflets about 1780, yet the author is unknown.
The event organizers, the executive board of Fiddler’s Dream Coffeehouse, the performers and the audience certainly hope that our contribution to Sing Out will help promoting music across America for the next 60 years.
— Bernd Häber
Our thanks and unending gratitude to Bernd, the venue, and all the performers, volunteers and supporters who made the event a success ... raising $500 to support our work here. Check out the videos for a taste of the fun had that evening!!
