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Lotus Music Festival will attract wide range of artists
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JC Online, Lotus Music Festival will attract wide range of artists >>
Southern Indiana is known for its fall leaves, but there is other color that makes an autumn trip to Bloomington an incredible experience. For a few days, downtown Bloomington is transformed into a global village with tents in the streets, artwork, drummers, music workshops, stilt walkers and -- most importantly -- some 25 ensembles of musicians from all around the planet. Advertisement For music fans, this drive south is a very worthwhile journey -- often to places and cultures they've never experienced before. A wristband allows you to move back and forth between the festival's eight venues, which vary in size and atmosphere, ranging from a formal theater to open-sided tents set up in the streets. All these options can lead to some choice anxiety, but most groups perform more than once, so if you miss someone you can usually catch them later, and word-of-mouth spreads to say who are the don't-miss acts. The festival was founded and named in homage to Southern Indiana fiddler and farmer Lotus Dickey. Dickey's spirit meant so much to Bloomington's community of musicians that they decided to keep it alive with this celebration of global music. "I'm always intrigued," said festival director Lee Williams, "by the unintended patterns that emerge once the lineup is complete. This year there is a strong presence of gifted string players." Indeed, there are too many to list, but the chance to see the likes of guitarist Seamus Egan (from Solas), cellist Tristan Clarridge (from Crooked Still), ukulele player James Hill and fiddler Bruce Molsky in one town on one weekend will excite fans of traditional music. "There is also something of a loose blues theme," Williams adds. "Ray Bonneville is the most visible blues artist, but there is also music from Africa that paved the way for the blues from Vieux Farka Toure and Etran Finatawa." To give a sense of the range of different music you can expect, here are a few of this year's performers. The Artist Profiles page of the festival's Web site (www.lotusfest.org) will give you a complete listing. Colombian singer Marta Gómez performs original compositions based on many Latin American rhythms, including Colombian cumbias and bambucos, Argentine zambas, Cuban sones, and Peruvian landos). March Fourth Marching Band from Portland, Ore., play old school funk with a lot of sass and merriment thrown in. Etugen Ensemble play two-stringed horse-head fiddles, zither and sing in the classic overtone style familiar to aficionados of traditional Mongolian music. Son de Madera perform music and song from the son jarocho genre of Veracruz, Mexico, playing rhythms with Spanish, Indian and African influences. Julie Fowlis is a folk singer from the Hebridean Islands off the west coast of Scotland, where Gaelic remains the first language. She was named BBC Radio 2's Folk Singer of the Year for 2008. Little Cow has been described as "Hungary's hottest export since goulash." They combine Gypsy, Balkan, rock, pop, ska and dance music with a dab of absurdity. Vieux Farka Touré is a dynamic guitarist and singer from Mali. He pays homage to the musical legacy of his father, Ali Farka Touré.
By Richard Fudge 09/25/08
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