Folksy Fun
Two hot nights of cowboys, hippies, & hellraisers
By Elizabeth Alwes |
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Grizzled bikers singing ballads to their Harley-Davidsons.
Musicians jamming on mandolins, homemade from 19th century pianos.
Civil engineers moonlighting as cowboys, and landscapers moonlighting as harlequins.
These are the characters that populate the world of Cowboy Hillbilly Hippy Folk, a homegrown all-purpose fusion band headed by Paul Painter. With a rotating cast - based on a solid foundation of psychedelic/bluegrass (guitarist, vocalist, etc. Painter), gospel/blues (bassist and vocalist Mandy Dye), and Black Sabbath (guitarist, etc. Dave Sedlick) - the Folk have been providing their own unique brand of folk weirdness to central Ohio for years.
Left to right: Paul Painter, Mandy Dye, and Dave Sedlick
The idea for their annual Cowboy Hillbilly Hippy Folk Festival - the fifth year of which will take place at Victorian's Midnight Cafe on the evenings of October 15th and 16th - originated simply enough, with a flyer.
"I think the idea was just more spur of the moment than anything," said Painter. "We were putting together a flyer and on the flyer, we were going through all the things we had done - all these different kinds of things. We were just sitting around and we said, 'you know what, we've never done a festival before.' And that's really where the idea came from."
Five years later, the Folk are delivering two solid nights of music, as cheap and delicious as a cold beer in a can or going up the river to see your girl. The lineup includes multi-state acts, like the Gypsy Nomads and the Rubber Knife Gang, on dual stages so you don't have to spend a lot of time listening to sound checks or watching people shuffle instruments around. "We wanted to bring together just a bunch of cowboy-hillbilly-hippy-folk types and just have fun basically," Painter says.
Fun is the fundamental ethic behind the Folk's crusade. Although the recent release of their second album, aptly titled CHHF, marks a shift from the 'raging party' lifestyle to a greater focus on the production of quality music, the whole raison d'etre for the Folk is still to have a good time.
So come out to the Festival because it's fun. Come because it's only five dollars. Come to hear Mandy Dye's husky, soulful, Joplin-esque voice. Come because there's no dress code. Come to support local music. Or come because you've had it up to here with watching Biggest Loser re-runs with your mom. But come. As Painter has it, "Our orbit is large and welcoming."
Fifth Annual Cowboy Hillbilly Hippy Folk Festival
Victorian's Midnight Cafe
251 W. Fifth Ave.
October 15 - 16
www.cowboyhillbillyhippyfolk.com
www.victoriansmidnightcafe.com/events.htm
Originally Published: October 1, 2009
