The NERFA Podcast

Wisdom of the Elders, is a monthly series where our host, Sonny Ochs, along with co-host, Ron Olesko, invite distinguished members of the Folk community to share stories, advice and the occasional song! This series will be a mix of conversations that were recorded starting at the 2010 NERFA Conference as well as new discussions that are exclusive to our podcast.

This month: Recorded at the 2013 Folk Alliance International Conference* held in Toronto, Canada, series creator **Sonny Ochs** gathered together three distinguished members of the Canadian Folk Community:

Sylvia Tyson - from the acclaimed duo of Ian & Sylvia

Mitch Podolak - Mitch passed away in and he was cofounder of the Winnepeg and Vancouver Folk Festivals

Richard Flohill - Canadian music promoter, publicist, and former artistic director of the Mariposa Folk Festival

Host by Sonny Ochs with Canadian folk radio DJ Tom Coxworth

Wisdom of the Elders, is a monthly series where our host, Sonny Ochs, along with co-host, Ron Olesko, invite distinguished members of the Folk community to share stories, advice and the occasional song! This series will be a mix of conversations that were recorded starting at the 2010 NERFA Conference as well as new discussions that are exclusive to our podcast.

This month - a brand new episode focusing on three of North America’s most influential folk festivals. Hosts Sonny Ochs and Ron Olesko sit down with former Producer of the Kerrville Folk Festival, Dalis Allen; former Artistic Director of the Mariposa Folk Festival, Mike Hill, and co-founder and celebrating her 30th year as director of the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Anne Saunders.

Dalis Allen - Dalis was the Producer of the Kerrville Music Festivals in Texas from 2002 until October 2019. Her involvement in the music industry began in her University days where she booked and ran the Coffeehouse and eventually became President of the overall Program Council. In 2000 Dalis became the Founder, President and Conference Coordinator of the Southwest Region of the Folk Alliance. Currently is the Executive Director.

Mike Hill - Mike grew up in the same home town (Orillia, Ontario) as Gordon Lightfoot so perhaps there’s something “folky” in the water there. When Canada’s oldest folk festival, the Mariposa Folk Festival returned to Orillia in 2000, he volunteered. He quickly became the festival organizing chairperson and in 2007 became the Artistic Director of Mariposa. He wrote the book on Mariposa - literally. In 2017 he published the book The Mariposa Folk Festival: A History.

Anne Saunders - Anne discovered the festival volunteer circuit while in graduate school at RPI. She worked 6-7 fests each summer. She was a research technician at Cornell University Medical Center in NYC when she became Falcon Ridge Folk Festival's first publicist and later Artistic & Publicity Director. She has served as manager, agent, producer, even accompanist, donning many hats in the folk community. 2023 will mark Anne’s 30th year as Artist Director of Falcon Ridge and the 35th edition of the festival itself.

The NERFA Podcast presents Wisdom of the Elders, a new monthly series where our host, Sonny Ochs, along with co-host, Ron Olesko, invite distinguished members of the Folk community to share stories, advice and the occasional song! This series will be a mix of conversations that were recorded starting at the 2010 Nerfa Conference as well as new discussions that are exclusive to our podcast.

This month’s episode includes discussions of the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene and the political unrest of the era. This episode was recorded at NERFA in 2012 and featured Sonny Ochs and Roger Dietz in conversation with:

Happy Traum - From his start playing American folk music in the 1950s, Happy has been an active participant of the legendary Washington Square/Greenwich Village folk scene of the 1950s and ‘60s, and studied guitar with the famed blues master, Brownie McGhee.  A first-rate fingerstyle guitarist and singer, he has performed throughout the U.S. and across the globe, both as a soloist and as a member of various groups. He is recognized as a performer, writer, editor, session musician, teacher and recording artist.

Bob Fass - A radio personality who was a pioneer of free-form radio for over 50 years, primarily on WBAI in New York. His show,”Radio Unnamable” was home to a long list of guests from the folk world, including Bob Dylan (Dylan’s first radio appearance), Joni Mitchell, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Muddy Waters, Townes Van Zandt and many others.  Bob passed away in 2021 at the age of 87

Josh Dunson - An author, editor, musical artist representative, and social justice activist,  Josh was an editor and writer for Broadside Magazine as well as other folk publications of the era.  Josh is the author of the 1965 book " Freedom In The Air: Song Movements Of The Sixties” as well as “Anthology of American Folk Music”. As an artist represented, Josh has worked with Joe Heaney,  Ola Belle Reed, Katherine Davis and Erwin Helfer and Sidney James Wingfield, Mike Seeger, Peggy Seeger,  Si Kahn Laura Fuentes, Sol y Canto, and Sotavento.

On the Griddle's host, Biff Kennedy, chooses a radio-ready tune submitted from the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA.org) community to play for top Folk DJ’s and radio promoters, without their knowledge of the title, artist, or album, to get their honest & uncensored feedback. In this week’s episode we play Marion Halliday's single, "The Measure".

This episodes' AMAZING DJ's: Art Menius (WHUP), Jess Phaneuf (MVY Radio), Elena See (folkalley.com), and Joltin' Joe (Radio Nowhere & The Trainwreck | folkmusicnotebook.com)

Wisdom of the Elders, is a monthly series where our host, Sonny Ochs, along with co-host, Ron Olesko, invite distinguished members of the Folk community to share stories, advice and the occasional song! This series will be a mix of conversations that were recorded starting at the 2010 NERFA Conference as well as new discussions that are exclusive to our podcast.

This month - a brand new episode featuring three distinguished ex-pats who have spent their career sharing traditional folk song from Great Britain.  Hosts Sonny Ochs and Ron Olesko sit down with David Jones, John Roberts and Heather Wood to discuss their music and careers.

A singer, actor and author, David Jones has performed as a solo artist as well as a member of the groups Poor Old Horse, the Starboard List, and the Bermuda Quadrangle, among others.   Also a member of Poor Old Horse, Heather Woods first came to our shores in 1967 as a part of the trio the Young Tradition and has become a fixture in the trad scene, including co-founding the annual Trad Mad Week camp.  John Roberts and his late partner Tony Barrand brought English folks song to audiences across North America and their native Britain with their mix of song, tales, monologues, dances and tunes.

On the Griddle's host, Biff Kennedy, chooses a radio-ready tune submitted from the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA.org) community to play for top Folk DJ’s and radio promoters, without their knowledge of the title, artist, or album, to get their honest & uncensored feedback. In this week’s episode we play Rod MacDonald's, "Dallas", taken from a livestream video he submitted.

This episodes' AMAZING DJ's: Art Menius (WHUP), Jess Phaneuf (MVY Radio), Elena See (folkalley.com), and Joltin' Joe (Radio Nowhere & The Trainwreck | folkmusicnotebook.com)

On the Griddle's host, Biff Kennedy, chooses a radio-ready tune submitted from the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA.org) community to play for top Folk DJ’s and radio promoters, without their knowledge of the title, artist, or album, to get their honest & uncensored feedback. In this week’s episode we play Scott Wolfson and Other Heroes' song "Oh Lord", which has yet to be released.

This episodes' AMAZING DJ's: Art Menius (WHUP), Jess Phaneuf (MVY Radio), Elena See (folkalley.com), and Joltin' Joe (Radio Nowhere & The Trainwreck | folkmusicnotebook.com)

Wisdom of the Elders is our monthly series where our host, Sonny Ochs, along with co-host, Ron Olesko, invite distinguished members of the Folk community to share stories, advice, and the occasional song! This series is a compilation of conversations that were recorded starting at the 2010 NERFA Conference, as well as new discussions that are exclusive to our podcast.

This episode was recorded at the 2014 NERFA Conference.  Sonny Ochs organized a panel that featured renowned banjo player and multi-instrumentalist Eric Weissberg of "Dueling Banjos" fame; folk radio icon Bob Sherman the host of "Woody's Children"; and Afro-Puerto Rican folksinger, songwriter, and actor Jack Landron (who performed and recorded during the folk revival as Jackie Washington).  Sonny's co-host for this panel was radio host, writer, musician, speaker David Newland.

On the Griddle's host, Biff Kennedy, chooses a radio-ready tune submitted from the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA.org) community to play for top Folk DJ’s and radio promoters, without their knowledge of the title, artist, or album, to get their honest & uncensored feedback. In this week’s episode we play Lindsey Sampson's "One of Those Places".

This episodes' AMAZING DJ's: Art Menius (WHUP), Jess Phaneuf (MVY Radio), Elena See (folkalley.com), and Joltin' Joe (Radio Nowhere & The Trainwreck | folkmusicnotebook.com)

On the Griddle's host, Biff Kennedy, chooses a radio-ready tune submitted from the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA.org) community to play for top Folk DJ’s and radio promoters, without their knowledge of the title, artist, or album, to get their honest & uncensored feedback. In this week’s episode we play Lynne Hanson's "Hold My Breath"

This episodes' AMAZING DJ's: Mary-Sue Twohy (SiriusXM) Erik Balkey (Hudson Harding Music) Marilyn Rea Beyer (WFMT) Ron Olesko (Folk Music Notebook).