Arts Council of Kern to start hosting Action Folk Nights this Saturday - By N.L. Belardes
This looks cool: $10 will get you in the door...
ACTION FOLK NIGHT SLATED FOR SEPTEMBER 24
Actionfolksinger to host Twas Writ and Ingrid Wakes in
ACK Gallery
Enrique Acosta, also known as the Actionfolksinger,
will champion an exciting series of contemporary folk
and acoustic music events in the ACK gallery at 2000 K
Street, suite 110, starting on Saturday, September
24th with Twas Writ and Ingrid Wakes. The primary
purpose of this intimate 'unplugged' series is to shed
light on Bakersfield's intriguing yet little known
acoustic music underground.
Acosta and the Arts Council also wish to help link
Bakersfield's scene to the rest of the music world by
bringing in similar artists on tour from around the
country, and to remind Bakersfield that since the
birth here of the great American baritone Lawrence
Tibbet over a hundred years ago, Bakersfield has held
a prominent place in the history of American music.
The evening will be the first in a series of intimate
acoustic events which we, of course, are calling The
Actionfolknight Series. Starting at 6:00 PM, with a
suggested donation of $10.00, the local band Twas Writ
will perform first. Twas Writ is actually a one-person
band, an idea with a pedigree which dates back at
least to 1988 with the one-person band Nine Inch
Nails.
Singer/guitarist/pianist Amber Wilson is the current
Twas Writ lineup. Her self-penned songs are steeped in
an elegant and very melodic romanticism. She sings
with a breathy, sometimes broken alto which soars
effortlessly into a smooth soprano when needed. "I've
played on the same bill with her a couple of times,"
said the Actionfolksinger. "She's mesmerizing, a very
insightful lyricist. Let's catch her now before she’s
too big for us."
Ingrid Wakes, a two-person acoustic rock band on tour
from Long Beach, will perform next. Their acoustic
music ranges from ethereal pop to much more
extroverted forms. "Christina on vocals and Jeff on
guitar have been traveling the country with their rock
and funk based music," the Actionfolksinger explained.
"And, yes, like Cher, they have no last names." Both
are, as it turns out, Bakersfield natives. "They are
local kids who’ve spread their wings and ventured into
the great wide world."
Brian Joseph is the tentatively scheduled performer
for October's Actionfolknight. He will be in
Bakersfield on Wednesday, October 19th. The
Actionfolksinger threatens to stay musically silent
during these planned concerts. "This series is about
them -our up-and-coming local artists and these great
people that Bakersfield never gets to hear" Acosta
insists. We have asked him to consider performing with
Joseph.
In this age described by many as one of joyless
apprehension, it would seem that every major
metropolitan area should have at least one
actionfolksinger to transform that joylessness into
song and cure that apprehension with action.
Unfortunately, actionfolksingers are rarer than
whooping cranes these days. Fortunately, mild-mannered
Bakersfield has one, that being the
mostly-mild-mannered but aforementioned Acosta.
With a luxuriant and robust baritone, Enrique Acosta
composes and delivers songs like "Just Another Weekend
Open Mic at the Coffee House"; with perhaps too much
insight, he skewers his own artistic profession. "Joi
de Vivre Blues" exemplifies his sure grasp of irony.
With a sharp confrontational edge, "An Irish Mexican"
celebrates the almost forgotten San Patricios of the
Mexican-American War.
Mostly-mild-mannered by day, Acosta transforms into
the Actionfolksinger by night. Or is it the other way
round? Or maybe it's a befuddling Zen - neither this
nor that, nor none, nor both kind of thing. Whichever
it is, Acosta becomes the teeth-gritting,
hard-hitting, people-saving hero of his own series of
comic books and often lurid pulp novel style posters
which he designs, if not draws himself. It's more
Actionfolksinger irony of course; few people nowadays
think of a folk singer as anybody's hero.
But, all kidding aside, Acosta has long wanted to
rescue Bakersfield folk musicians from a dismal
situation. Unlike past days when Cousin Herb had a
weekly TV show for local artists, Bakersfield
musicians have neither a TV show nor a consistent
viable venue that is not a bar or a coffee house. Also
there is a world of fabulous touring performers
—so-called jazz, blues or folk musicians,
singer-songwriters— who flourish in such small venues.
They drive north or south on Highway 99 everyday. Only
occasionally will any of them pull off to enrich us
with their music.
Many people complain about the situation. The Arts
Council is very happy to help the Actionfolksinger do
something about it. The rest is up to you, Dear
Reader. For more on the Actionfolksinger, go to
actionfolksinger.com.
David Nigel Lloyd
Director of Arts Programs
ACTION FOLK NIGHT SLATED FOR SEPTEMBER 24
Actionfolksinger to host Twas Writ and Ingrid Wakes in
ACK Gallery
Enrique Acosta, also known as the Actionfolksinger,
will champion an exciting series of contemporary folk
and acoustic music events in the ACK gallery at 2000 K
Street, suite 110, starting on Saturday, September
24th with Twas Writ and Ingrid Wakes. The primary
purpose of this intimate 'unplugged' series is to shed
light on Bakersfield's intriguing yet little known
acoustic music underground.
Acosta and the Arts Council also wish to help link
Bakersfield's scene to the rest of the music world by
bringing in similar artists on tour from around the
country, and to remind Bakersfield that since the
birth here of the great American baritone Lawrence
Tibbet over a hundred years ago, Bakersfield has held
a prominent place in the history of American music.
The evening will be the first in a series of intimate
acoustic events which we, of course, are calling The
Actionfolknight Series. Starting at 6:00 PM, with a
suggested donation of $10.00, the local band Twas Writ
will perform first. Twas Writ is actually a one-person
band, an idea with a pedigree which dates back at
least to 1988 with the one-person band Nine Inch
Nails.
Singer/guitarist/pianist Amber Wilson is the current
Twas Writ lineup. Her self-penned songs are steeped in
an elegant and very melodic romanticism. She sings
with a breathy, sometimes broken alto which soars
effortlessly into a smooth soprano when needed. "I've
played on the same bill with her a couple of times,"
said the Actionfolksinger. "She's mesmerizing, a very
insightful lyricist. Let's catch her now before she’s
too big for us."
Ingrid Wakes, a two-person acoustic rock band on tour
from Long Beach, will perform next. Their acoustic
music ranges from ethereal pop to much more
extroverted forms. "Christina on vocals and Jeff on
guitar have been traveling the country with their rock
and funk based music," the Actionfolksinger explained.
"And, yes, like Cher, they have no last names." Both
are, as it turns out, Bakersfield natives. "They are
local kids who’ve spread their wings and ventured into
the great wide world."
Brian Joseph is the tentatively scheduled performer
for October's Actionfolknight. He will be in
Bakersfield on Wednesday, October 19th. The
Actionfolksinger threatens to stay musically silent
during these planned concerts. "This series is about
them -our up-and-coming local artists and these great
people that Bakersfield never gets to hear" Acosta
insists. We have asked him to consider performing with
Joseph.
In this age described by many as one of joyless
apprehension, it would seem that every major
metropolitan area should have at least one
actionfolksinger to transform that joylessness into
song and cure that apprehension with action.
Unfortunately, actionfolksingers are rarer than
whooping cranes these days. Fortunately, mild-mannered
Bakersfield has one, that being the
mostly-mild-mannered but aforementioned Acosta.
With a luxuriant and robust baritone, Enrique Acosta
composes and delivers songs like "Just Another Weekend
Open Mic at the Coffee House"; with perhaps too much
insight, he skewers his own artistic profession. "Joi
de Vivre Blues" exemplifies his sure grasp of irony.
With a sharp confrontational edge, "An Irish Mexican"
celebrates the almost forgotten San Patricios of the
Mexican-American War.
Mostly-mild-mannered by day, Acosta transforms into
the Actionfolksinger by night. Or is it the other way
round? Or maybe it's a befuddling Zen - neither this
nor that, nor none, nor both kind of thing. Whichever
it is, Acosta becomes the teeth-gritting,
hard-hitting, people-saving hero of his own series of
comic books and often lurid pulp novel style posters
which he designs, if not draws himself. It's more
Actionfolksinger irony of course; few people nowadays
think of a folk singer as anybody's hero.
But, all kidding aside, Acosta has long wanted to
rescue Bakersfield folk musicians from a dismal
situation. Unlike past days when Cousin Herb had a
weekly TV show for local artists, Bakersfield
musicians have neither a TV show nor a consistent
viable venue that is not a bar or a coffee house. Also
there is a world of fabulous touring performers
—so-called jazz, blues or folk musicians,
singer-songwriters— who flourish in such small venues.
They drive north or south on Highway 99 everyday. Only
occasionally will any of them pull off to enrich us
with their music.
Many people complain about the situation. The Arts
Council is very happy to help the Actionfolksinger do
something about it. The rest is up to you, Dear
Reader. For more on the Actionfolksinger, go to
actionfolksinger.com.
David Nigel Lloyd
Director of Arts Programs
This entry was posted by N.L. Belardes, on
Wednesday, September 21, 2005.
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