At Context 21, our musical Guests of Honor were the Indianapolis-based band
Wild Mercy, who describe their music as "neo-Celtic-powered post-industrial electro-acoustic folk-rock with jazz influences and freeform choral structure". The group is composed of Barry (bass, guitars, Roland GR-33 guitar synth, vocals), Debbie (keyboards, percussion, vocals, occasional guitar), Jennifer (harp, vocals, bass guitar, psaltery), and Sally (percussion).
Wild Mercy's albums include
Summer Storm and
Furious Fancies; they've almost finished production on their third CD. Musically,
Summer Storm runs the gamut from ballads to improvisational space music to rowdy singalongs, proving that it's possible to provide something for everyone without sacrificing musical integrity. Of course, the big trick was figuring out how to get from the ethereal "Mantra" to "Chicken on a Raft" without frightening the listener.
Furious Fancies shows a strong Celtic rock influence while also mixing in things like Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood." The bluesy "Their Music" and the cutting humor of the re-mixed fairy tales in "Po' Boys" showcase the songwriting breadth of Chicago singer-songwriter Martha Coady Fabish, while "Gravity Exiles" brings updated lyrics to the "Nottamun Town" tune, offering travel advice to aliens passing near our planet.
We had other musicians performing at the Saturday night open filk, including our guest
Robin Nakkula, who plays mandolin and guitar.
Labels: 2008 guests, filk, past guests
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In 2007, Context featured concerts by
Tom Smith and
Luke Ski.
Tom Smith does mostly comedy (but he does bring out some serious stuff now and again) and has released twelve albums and has consequently won thirteen Pegasus Awards.
Luke Ski, otherwise known as Luke Sienkowski, performs comedy music on a broad range of pop-culture and SFnal subjects. His songs have enjoyed repeated success on "the Dr Demento Show" and have also played on ManCow's Morning Madhouse and various college and morning shows across the country. Since 1996, Luke has released six albums.
2007's author roastee
Juanita Coulson also joined in the music at the Saturday night open filk.
Labels: filk, past guests
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In 2006 we had an evening of filking; our special guest was the Celtic Filk band Fianna.
This musical duo derives their name from the sworn followers of the legendary Irish Hero Finn MacCumhail. Taking their cue from their namesakes, they are members of the Society for Creative Anachronism, where they engage in both martial pursuits and the more genteel arts. They both are Civil War re-enactors as well, serving with the 56th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and Hampton's Pennsylvania Artillery Battery.
Fianna performs at both SF conventions, and SCA events, which influences their eclectic mix of styles which ranges from traditional Celtic folk, and SCA filk to rock parodies, and original compositions.
Christina Chamberlain is a self-described "convention-baby". Based more solidly in the filk tradition than her counterpart, Christina attended her first filk-sing with her father at the age of five. Her dark-honey alto is complimented by her 6 and 12 string guitar and Irish Bozouki.
Thom Gressman describes himself as "a bit musically schizophrenic" with a liking for almost every musical style. He came to filking out of the Celtic folk tradition, in which he learned to play 6 and 12 string guitar, mandolin, banjo and pennywhistle.
Labels: filk, past guests
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