1. This Saturday: The Wiyos and Luminescent Orchestrii with Erik
Petersen
2. Upcoming Crossroads events
3. General Crossroads information
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On Saturday, March 19, Crossroads Music’s Root and Branch concert
series presents a double bill featuring Luminescent Orchestrii (Eastern
European music with punk-rock attitude) and The Wiyos (Vaudevillian
Ragtime Blues, Hillbilly Swing and Old Time Country. Erik Petersen will
open. The event will take place at West Philadelphia’s Calvary Center
for Culture and Community at 7:30 pm.
A trio comprised of three vocalsists accompanying themselves on
washboard/ harmonica/kazoo, guitar, and upright bass, THE WIYOS
transport listeners back to a time before TV and mass-media were the
main sources of entertainment, to the days when music could be heard on
live radio and at community dances, juke joints and house parties.
Their interactive show is in the tradition of vaudevillian performers
like Fats Waller, Spike Jones and Uncle Dave Macon. The band is
passionate about infusing old-time American music with new blood;
carrying this rich musical heritage into the 21st century and having a
darn good time doing it.
"The WIYOS are way too good to open for my band ever again. Those guys
kick more ass than should be allowed." —Asylum Street Spankers
More information, including photos and soundclips, is available at
http://www.wiyos.com
The members of LUMINESCENT ORCHESTRII come from different backgrounds
and scenes in New York City and share a love of the music that people
all over the world listen to while drinking, dancing and weeping:
Romanian gypsy melodies, punk frenzy, salty tangos, hard rocking
klezmer, haunting Balkan harmony, hip-hop beats and Appalachian fiddle,
all eaten and spit out by three violins, resophonic guitar, bullhorn
harmonica and guitarron. In New York, they are soaked in constant
sound: hip-hop beats booming out of cars at 6am, Pakistani cafés
blasting Bhangra Beats, old time fiddlers and classical violinists in
the subways, punk brass bands, Balkan jazz, and behind it all the
constant hum of the city itself.
"A punky five-piece string band, the Luminescent Orchestrii plays
renditions of Appalachian and Gypsy tunes that run from lively and
infectious to deeply melancholy. Its original compositions and varied
interpretations of traditional melodies are like tiny, richly arranged
musical adventures." -- Time Out NY
More information, including photos and soundclips, is available at
http://www.lumii.org
A typical ERIK PETERSEN set mixes original folk-punk with an occasional
classic from Woody Guthrie or Joe Hill. "In the same room where I had
used a PA system, Erik churned the room into a ruckus, without any
amplification. He blew me away. Many performers can shake a room with
charisma and energy, but Erik's songs themselves drive the hands to
clap, the feet to stomp, and the ears to lean in and listen. Underneath
the bodies moving and the hands-in-the-air singing along, I heard songs
that will be sung for a long time." —Robert Blake, Bellingham, WA
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Upcoming events include:
April 2
TBA
April 9
Chaskinakuy
Andean Village Music
April 15
Phil Cunningham and Aly Bain
Scots accordion and fiddle masters
April 23
Flook
Irish traditional music for the 21st century.
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Crossroads events fall into three main groups. Monthly Philadelphia
Crossroads concerts brings together contrasting but related music from
two different Philadelphia communities. The Root and Branch series
continue the former Cherry Tree Music Co-op's series of concerts by
nationally-known touring artists. Finally, the Folklife Center's Nada
Brahma (Sanskrit for "The World is Sound") events presens locally-based
and national and international touring artists from culturally-specific
traditions around the world. In addition, we collaborate with other
organizations in producing several free community events at other West
Philadelphia locations each year.
All concerts take place at 7:30 pm in the historic Calvary United
Methodist Church. Oak paneling, red carpets, and a horseshoe balcony
make the room feel more like an intimate theater than a church. Calvary
Center is located at 48th Street and Baltimore Avenue. The 34
subway-surface trolley stops at the door, and a free, well-lit, and
city-maintained parking lot is located on the block. Dinner and
refreshments are available at the concerts and at excellent restaurants
nearby.
For more information:
http://www.crossroads.calvary-center.org
215-729-1028
Crossroads is in part funded by grants from the Stockton Rush Bartol
Foundation, the 5-County Arts Fund, and the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.
Some of our publicity costs are paid for by a marketing grant from the
Citizens Bank Foundation to our parent organization, the Calvary Center
for Culture and Community.
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