THREE CHORDS, THE TRUTH - AND A BIGGER CIRCLE Arizona Roundup Celebrates the Return of Prescott's 42nd Folk Music Festival

There are concerts where people sit in rows, watch a performance, applaud, and go home.

And then there are gatherings where the circle simply gets bigger.

That may be the best way to describe the spirit of the 42nd Folk Music Festival at Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott, Arizona - and the spirit of this special edition of Arizona Roundup.

Host Stuart Rosebrook sits down at Sharlot Hall Museum with musicians and longtime festival participants Tom Agostino and Bob Ward for a lively conversation about folk music, the musicians who shaped it, the remarkable musical culture of Prescott, and the long-awaited return of one of the community's enduring traditions.

And yes, the guitars come out.

That matters, because this is not simply a program about folk music. At moments, it becomes folk music.

A Prescott Tradition Returns

After a long hiatus, the Folk Music Festival returns with a special two-day celebration.

The festivities begin Friday, October 2, with an intimate performance by the Folk Legacy Trio. The setting is deliberately small - only about 75 people - creating an unusually personal opportunity to experience the music up close rather than from the back of a large auditorium.

Then on Saturday, October 3, the museum gates open at 9 a.m., with music beginning at 10. Early arrivals will find song circles and a special opening ceremony before the stages officially come alive.

The festival has deep roots. Bob Ward recalls participating for roughly three decades, while the conversation remembers earlier festivals with multiple venues, an outdoor amphitheater and a substantial community of musicians.

Rosebrook places that history in a larger context: Prescott has long been a community of art, literature, theater, filmmaking and music. The Folk Music Festival became part of that cultural inheritance and, according to the conversation, helped inspire folk festivals elsewhere in Arizona.

Perhaps the most revealing observation comes from remembering the difference between the highly competitive Los Angeles music scene and Prescott. In Prescott, musicians didn't close the circle. They made the circle larger so somebody else could join. That may be the real theme of the entire program.

From Joan Baez and Bob Dylan to Prescott, Arizona

The conversation becomes a musical road trip through American popular culture.

Ward remembers hearing the early folk giants - Joan Baez, the Kingston Trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. Then comes an extraordinary personal memory: attending a Joan Baez concert at the Hollywood Bowl and watching her introduce a young songwriter named Bob Dylan.

Agostino's route into folk music was different. Growing up with doo-wop, R&B and Frank Sinatra, his musical world expanded during college in Detroit after an encounter with Josh White Jr. That experience opened the door to an entirely different musical tradition and its history.

That's one of the pleasures of this Arizona Roundup conversation. Folk music refuses to stay inside a neat little box.

The discussion wanders happily through Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Johnny Cash, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, Joe Ely, Jerry Jeff Walker and the great musical crossroads stretching from Southern California through Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

There is even a wonderful description of the sound sometimes called 'Texacali' - that musical territory stretching from Southern California toward West Texas, picking up influences from Mexico, the borderlands and the American Southwest along the way.

Folk music, the guests suggest, is bigger than the label. It is roots. It is Americana. It is storytelling. It is music with a beat, a soul and a voice. And occasionally, apparently, it could use just a little more twang.

Then the Guitars Come Out

One of the delights of the program occurs when Tom and Bob stop talking about music and start making it.

They perform a Townes Van Zandt classic together after having rehearsed it only briefly before the program.

That spontaneous performance becomes almost a demonstration of what the festival represents: musicians listening to one another, trusting the song, joining in and allowing something new to happen.

As the conversation puts it, folk music can sometimes come down to that famous description: 'Three chords and the truth.' It doesn't have to be perfect. It has to be alive.

More Than 57 Artists - and More Than One Kind of Folk Music

Festival visitors should not expect one stage filled with people singing the same familiar songs. More than 57 artists are expected, representing an unusually broad range of sounds and traditions.

The conversation describes bluegrass, blues, cowboy music, country, Celtic music and other acoustic traditions, along with original Arizona songwriting, bands, song circles and workshops.

The festival is designed for two kinds of visitors. The first is the music lover. Bring a chair. Wander the grounds. Study the program. Find a sound that catches your ear. Stay awhile. Then walk around the corner and discover something completely different.

The second is the music maker. Bring your instrument. The festival plans workshops and song circles where musicians can participate rather than merely observe. The idea is wonderfully democratic: the circle can always become a little larger.

That means a visitor doesn't simply attend the Folk Music Festival. A visitor can help create his or her own festival experience.

A Festival for Families, Friends - and Future Memories

This may be one of the best reasons to make the weekend a family or friends event.

Children nine and under are admitted free, according to the program, and Sharlot Hall Museum members receive free festival admission. Saturday tickets are available at the door rather than in advance.

Come early. Walk the museum grounds. Listen to musicians you've never heard before. Let children see real instruments being played by real people only a few feet away. Sit in on a workshop. Bring an instrument if you play one. Buy something to eat, find a comfortable place to sit and resist the temptation to hurry.

And perhaps bring a friend who claims not to like folk music. There will apparently be enough varieties of 'folk' to test that theory.

Among the late additions mentioned in the program is the Titanic Orchestra, bringing a horn-driven blend described as New Orleans and 1940s folk jazz - another reminder that this festival intends to stretch the definition of folk rather than shrink it.

Honoring the People Who Built the Circle

The return of the festival is also an opportunity to remember those who helped build it.

The program discusses plans to honor Warren Miller by naming the gazebo stage 'Miller's Crossroads.' That name seems especially appropriate.

A crossroads is where different roads meet. And folk music has always lived at the crossroads - between generations, regions, cultures, musical traditions and individual stories. Prescott's festival brings those roads together again.

THINGS TO REMEMBER

Folk music is living history. These songs carry stories from one generation into another.

Prescott has a remarkable musical culture. The festival grows from a community where musicians, storytellers and artists have gathered for decades.

The circle gets bigger. Good musical communities make room for another person.

Participation changes the experience. Visitors do not necessarily have to remain spectators. Musicians are encouraged to bring their instruments and become part of the gathering.

Old traditions can return with new energy. After years away, the festival is not simply coming back. It is being rediscovered.

THINGS TO SHARE

Tell a friend who loves live music.

Tell somebody who plays guitar, fiddle, dulcimer or another acoustic instrument.

Invite a family with children.

Share the festival with someone who has recently moved to Prescott and does not yet know how rich its cultural life can be.

Invite someone from another generation. Grandparents know songs grandchildren have never heard. Grandchildren know sounds grandparents have not discovered yet. Put them together and something interesting might happen. That is folk music.

THINGS TO DO

Listen to this edition of Arizona Roundup. The laughter, stories and live music reveal the festival personality far better than a calendar listing ever could.

Make October 2 and 3 a Prescott weekend. The Folk Legacy Trio offers the intimate Friday evening experience, followed by the full Folk Music Festival on Saturday.

Come early Saturday. Gates open at 9 a.m., with early song circles and a special opening ceremony before scheduled music begins.

Bring your instrument if you play. You may discover that you are not simply part of the audience.

Consider Sharlot Hall Museum membership. The program notes that festival admission is free for museum members.

And most importantly: Bring somebody with you.

Come Make the Circle Bigger

Near the end of the conversation, there is a wonderfully simple declaration: 'Prescott is Music City.' For one special weekend, that claim will be difficult to argue with.

The 42nd Folk Music Festival is not merely about preserving old songs. It is about preserving something even more important - the human habit of gathering together, telling stories, playing music, laughing, remembering and welcoming somebody new into the circle.

That is why this edition of Arizona Roundup is more than promotion for an upcoming event. It is an invitation.

Come hear some history. Come discover some musicians. Come bring the kids. Come bring the grandparents. Come bring a guitar. Come hear a little more twang. And come help make the circle bigger.

Arizona Roundup, hosted by Stuart Rosebrook from Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott, Arizona, features special guests Tom Agostino and Bob Ward in this celebration of the return of the 42nd Folk Music Festival. The program directs listeners to Sharlot Hall Museum for additional festival information and concludes with an invitation to join the celebration October 2 and 3.

For additional festival information: Sharlot Hall Museum