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Daily American, Feature >>
The AmeriServ Johnstown FoIkFest has become an almost misleading name for the upcoming two- day music festival scheduled to take place this Labor Day weekend.
The folk, roots, zydeco, rockabilly, blues, elec tric blues, Celtic, funk, jazz, funk rock, rock, jam band, soul, reggae, ska and honky tonk music fest might be a bit of a mouthful, however.
"I like to describe it as Americana music of all kinds," said Shelley Johansson, marketing manager for the Johnstown Area Heritage Association (JAHA).
The Nashville native said that Johnstown's festival is one of the best she's been around.
"I grew up around great music, so the first time saw it, it was a pleasant surprise," she said.
Now, Johansson finds herself responsible for much of the organization of the event, which will feature more than 20 local and nationally known acts.
Running from Sept. 1-3, the event will bring vis itors running into the tens of thousands to the area, she said.
For the third year, the event will be held in the festival park located across from Point Stadium in the downtown area, she said.
The JAHA-sponsored park will contain four stages and more than 60 food and beverage vendors on site for the festival, she said.
People will be able to move from stage to stage easily, with abundant food, services and amenities on a single site, she said.
One thing visitors won't see are a lot of people selling things unrelated to the festival. "This event is about the music," she said.
Being about the music means finding and bring ing in some of the best musicians around.
"It is hard to find a free festival with artists of this quality," she said.
Local performers Rachel Alien, Will Hawkins, Tim Dabbs, Jazz in Your Face will join such up and coming and established acts as Sleepy LaBeef, Ter- rance Simien & the Zydeco Experience, Maia Sharp and Balkan Beat Box.
One of the keys to putting on a high level music festival is not only recruiting the established bands, but finding new groups on the rise, she said.
Take Balkan Beat Box, a New York based band which brings everything from kitchen implements to turntables into their act.
"We caught this star on the rise," she said. The band combines gypsy rhythms and Balkan brass in a loose interpretation of Jewish music styles.
Other stars, like Sharp, who has written for established acts like Bonnie Raitt, Trisha Yearwood and the Dixie Chicks over the course of her career, have toured extensively but have never made the trip to Johnstown.
Some performers are almost mainstays at the fes tival, logging multiple appearances since the early years of the event, when it was organized for a three-year period as the National Folk Festival in 1990.
Terrance Simien's group, LaBeef, Dabbs, Jazz in Your Face, the Russell Lauf Band, Those Darn Accordions, a San Francisco-based group and The Recipe, roots/jam band, have all joined the line-up a number of times, she said.
Without sponsors like AmeriServ Financial Group, the festival wouldn't be able to offer free entrance to the festival, she said. AmeriServ is celebrating its 10th anniversary as a title sponsor for the event.
"It's a pretty amazing commitment, their continued support," she said.
Other sponsors include SWF Industries, High- mark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Conemaugh Health System and many others.
One of the missions of JAHA has been to provide a community kitchen area with free booth space to local non profit and area churches looking to vend food and drinks for the benefit of their organizations, she said.
Local groups taking space in the festival this year include Beulah United Methodist Church, Crossroads Community Church, Moxham United Methodist Ministries, Pennsylvania Highlands Community Col lege, St. John Gualbert Cathe dral and VFW Post 0240.
Visitors looking for parking for the week end's events will benefit from free local shuttles from the Upper Yoder/Westmont are'a at the Hiram G. Andrews Center and numerous downtdwn locations, she said.
Signs that read "FoIkFest Shuttle Stop" will be in place at all stops starting that Friday, she said. The. inclined plane will also be free that weekend.
For more shuttle information and a complete perfor mance schedule, please , JAHA's Web site at www.jaha.org or www.johnstownfolk- fest.org. 08/26/06
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