This month we again celebrate and honor the life of one of our founding members, Greg Shrader.

I didn't know Greg as well or as long as many of the Friends of Folk members, but I was glad that our paths crossed as they did. My husband, Paul Gumerman, recorded Greg's first CD, and he spent many hours at our house working things out, recording, re-recording, and working with Paul during the mixing and finishing touch phases.

Greg took on many roles, but I remember him best as an artist and a philosopher. He had an aura of peace around him like no one I'd ever met, and had a bumper sticker on his truck that said, "Kill Your TV". His songs were always focused on the human element - vignettes about growing up, the love you've lost, the love you have, and the love that will endure even after you're gone.

Greg died in 2002 after battling cancer for way too many years. He was quite aware that his time on this earth was limited, and he seemed, at least to us outsiders, to handle it with grace. At the time of his death, he had been working on pulling together a Coffeehouse that would act as a kind of workshop for songwriters - an opportunity for them to share their songs' roots - what was the inspiration, how did it evolve and take shape, and how has it changed since originally written. Rather than make the event exclusively for songwriters, we set it in a coffeehouse, to invite all music fans in to enjoy hearing about the creative process of songwriting.

Deloy Moore was one of Greg’s musical collaborators, and he’ll be leading things again this year, along with his daughter Larissa. He writes about life from a lot of different angles and in different styles and will of course have a Greg song or two to dispense. Deloy has brought back his daughter and two other veterans from last year, and has recruited two newcomers to our stage to explore the fine art of songwriting.

With her soulful voice and skilled guitar playing, Larissa Moore is no stranger to the music scene. Being the daughter of a local musician has given her a lifelong exposure to music. In addition to her father, her musical influences include Janis Joplin, Pat Benatar, and Mariah Carey to Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, and the Cranberries. From her very first performance at a Delaware Friends of Folk Coffee house at age 15 through today, Larissa has been a popular performer at local open microphones, churches, and talent shows. She was also a finalist at the 2007 Delmarva Folk Hero contest, and performed at the Friday evening finals at the Delmarva Folk Festival.

Speaking of Folk Heroes, we'll also be hearing from Bad Wheel Jonny, the winner of the contest. Bad Wheel plays old-time blues and folk, with inspiration from the likes of Skip James and Robert Johnson. His original songs are in a similar style, but he adds his own personality to them. A former corrections officer and long distance hiker, Jonny's got great stories to tell, and we're glad to provide him a stage to share them.

Also returning from last year’s sessions is Smyrna native Todd Murray. Keeping it in the family, he is Deloy’s nephew and we are delighted to have him back at the Greg Shrader Songwriter Circle. At the ripe old age of 22, Todd has just released a new CD of roots/rock and blues called "The Search of Brighter Days", where he evokes the sounds of the Doors in some of his offerings.

Mike Roots has cut into the Philadelphia music scene with his “Aggressive Acoustic” style and rhythmic slap-guitar. He has performed at venues such as WXPN's "World Cafe Live" and the Grape Street Café in Philadelphia, the now-closed Kahunaville in Wilmington, East End Cafe in Newark, and also, multiple special live radio broadcast from the studios at WVUD. Mike is also a part of the progressive collection of artist know as "Shades of Acoustic," where he is a primary founder and leader of the program. Through numerous life trials and sentences, he has continually looked to music for relief from the surreal anxieties of life. His lyrics paint an emotionally enriching picture through twisting lines of poetry.

Jon Lavin is a singer/songwriter who plays his own brand of blues, ragtime, country, folk and swing music. He recently returned home to Delaware from a seven-year stay in Austin, Texas where he learned to add to his repertoire of Texas swing and song writing in the tradition of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys and Willie Nelson. Other influences include Blind Lemon Jefferson, John Hurt, Bonnie Raitt, Ube Blake (Ragtime), Muddy Waters, John Hammond, Fred McDowell, Robert Johnson, Doc Watson, and Norman Blake. A few of the legends he has shared billings with include Doc and Merle Watson, Norman Blake, Utah Phillips, and, now Delaware’s very own David Bromberg. He combines his influences into a unique and enjoyable performance filled with “hot” finger and flat picking, hard driving blues voicing and a delightful sense of humor making for an absolutely delightful and inspirational concert.

It all starts at 7:30 pm, June 14, in the Wesley College Chapel, corner of Division and N. Bradford, in Dover. Admission will be $5 for members and $7 for non-members. Students are half-price, and ages 12 and under are free. We’ll have plenty of hot coffee, cool drinks, and sweet snacks. Come out, bring a friend, and see it happen.

-- Beth Fizell, DEFF Board Chair

The summer is heating up and so are preparations for the Folk Festival. Are you ready to volunteer to help yet? We can use you and about half a dozen of your friends!

Last month we talked about the duties associated with the Parking and Security Committee and before that we talked about the hard work ahead for the building/facilities committee. This month I’d like to talk to you about the ticket booth and ticket sales committees. The ticket sales committee is already hard at work designing tickets, flyers, posters, pre-order post cards, and ticket purchase brochures. This group has to develop and print festival tickets and artist passes. This year we will only sell tickets on-line, through DeFF board members, at special events, at the gate, at Coffeehouse performances beginning in July, and at Fox & Associates on S. State Street in Dover.

The ticket booth workers begin their work before the festival. Wrist bands have to be organized, the cash register has to be programmed, program information has to organized, and lists of vendors, volunteers, and artists need to be coordinated. The ticket booth staff begins on-site festival work on Friday at 3:00 p.m. In addition to selling tickets and getting the crowds into the venue quickly, they have to keep track of ticket sales, vendors, volunteers, camper registrations, and artist arriving. Their work doesn’t end until about 10:00 p.m. on Friday night and begins again at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. Saturday will be a long day for this group since the gate doesn’t close until 9:00 p.m. If you can count, or use a calculator to count, or can operate a cash register, please consider joining this committee.

We'll also let you in on the Line-up for the festival. You can see it here.

Delmarva Folk Festival meetings take place on the first Wednesday of each month at Sheridan’s in downtown Smyrna beginning at 6:30 p.m. In July, we'll actually meet on the 2nd Wednesday, on July 9th, to avoid the July 4th holiday week. Any one with an interest in the Festival is invited to attend. If you are interested in helping in any way, come to a meeting or contact Kae Mason at (302) 736-5585 after 5:00 p.m. The Delaware Friends of Folk is a great organization to dedicate your valuable time. Remember, anyone who volunteers to work for five or more hours during the festival is admitted free. Additionally, those who help the facilities committee during the summer will be admitted to the Festival free.

In the past few months, we've been busy submitting applications for different grants, which give us access to publicly available funds to improve our programming. I'm very pleased to say that it looks like we have been approved for 3 grants for our 2009 season.

The Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation offers a "special presenter initiative" to Delaware presenters, since we're a small state and have difficulties in bringing "big name" acts to the area. We asked and will be awarded grants to bring two very special acts to our Coffeehouse Series in 2009.

First, on February 21, 2009, we'll bring Tannahill Weavers to our Coffeehouse. Considered masters of Scottish traditional music, the Tannies will be on tour through the US for St. Patrick's Day, and we managed to get on their schedule for the beginning of that tour.

Then on April 18, 2009, we'll have acoustic blues artist Rory Block in for a special coffeehouse. Rory has won the WC Handy award multiple times, and in addition to many CDs she has several instructional videos, keeping the acoustic traditions of Robert Johnson alive for generations to come.

As if that weren't exciting enough, we have received early indication that we received a grant to produce a special event, outside of our normal Coffeehouse and Festival activites, at Fifer Orchards. It will be next May 30, 2009, which is the Saturday of Race Weekend in Dover. The details have a lot of time to be worked out, but the theme will be around Local Produce, Environmental Education, and great Folk and Bluegrass music with a special headliner. Stay tuned for more details as we learn more.

-- Beth Fizell, DEFF Board Chair

We're currently looking for artwork for the cover of the Delmarva Folk Festival Program. If you've got some artistic creativity and would like to submit artwork for consideration, please contact Jan Crumpley at (302) 465-0805 for further details.

The selected artist will receive free admission to the Festival, a Festival T-shirt, will be credited with a bio in the festival program, and will get our eternal gratitude for sharing their talents.

The guidelines for submissions are:

• Autumn Theme
• Music Theme
• Black & White
• Must be received by August 1, electronically or via mail to P.O. Box 1006, Dover DE 19903-1006
• Must not be offensive or political
• Should capture the spirit of the event

Optional elements:

• Delmarva Folk Festival Logo (can be obtained from our web site)
• Preference given to Friends of Folk Members (why not join today?)
• If "Delaware Friends of Folk" text appears, it should be in Arnold Bocklin font