We’re only 4 days away from the return of Moira Smiley & VOCO to Caltech, on Saturday, September 27 at 8:00 PM in Beckman Institute Auditorium (Little Beckman).   Whether singing a cappella, or supported by Moira’s banjo and accordion, Inga Swearinggen’s guitar, Jody Redhage’s cello, and Pilar Dias’z ukelele, this wide ranging quartet will intrigue and amaze you.  Rick Massimo of the Providence Journal wrote, “Moira Smiley and VOCO make some of the most captivating music you’ll hear from some of the sparest ingredients. The harmonies’ effect on traditional songs and Smiley’s trad-based originals is haunting and chilling one minute, lively and fun the next.”  They use their hands and feet for percussion and they feature some cool choreographed moves.  This show will be the Southern California CD release for their new CD, Laughter Out of Tears, another fine collection of original and traditional musicfrom Europe and North America.  This recording uses not only VOCO’s wonderful vocals, but on a number of the songs, the voices of hundreds of their admirers form a combined “Choir of You” on a collection that marks Moira’s passage from grief to renewal following her father’s passing in 2012.  Take a look at http://cdinsight.com/2014/09/moira-smiley-voco-release-laughter-out-of-tears-on-september-15 for a fuller story about this.

The CD includes their intriguing version of Gillian Welch’s Orphan Girl which you can hear and see at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awTPuwh3R-0.  Hear Moira do a solo version of North Country, accompanying herself on banjo athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnrJ9sb2qkU.  And if you missed the link earlier to an example of their “body percussion,” view them singing Robert Johnson’s They’re Red Hot at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsutOxOFfTk

Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for Caltech students and children.  Call the Caltech Ticket Office at (626) 395-4652 to purchase them in advance or for more information.  You can buy your tickets at the door on the night of the concert, as well.

Last Sunday’s Folk Scene radio show featured a highly enjoyable 2 hour live recorded concert of Chuck Pyle, a fine guitarist, singer, and songwriter.  You can hear it on the KPFK Archives at http://archive.kpfk.org on the 6-8PMtime slot for Sunday, September 21.  Next week, September 28 at 6PM on 90.7 FM, you can hear some wonderful archival Scottish music on the radio as Roz Larman goes into Folk Scene’s own vaults for a live show that features husband Howard interviewing Jean Redpath, back in the 1970’s, including performance, during one hour, and the also the outstanding group Ossian, featuring Tony Cuffe from the 1980’s during the other hour. This show will definitely be worth listening to, and it will also be on the KPFK archives for 2 weeks.  You might also want to listen to Art Podell’s segment of Roots Music and Beyond on the KPFK archives from Saturday, September 20, 6-8AM, where he plays a wide range of music from American folk music from the 1950’s to the 1970’s, sharing personal memories of his own personal involvement in that evolution.