Philly Folk Fest 2002 was probably one of those years I really didn't attend too much music on-stage, preferring to stick to the campground and play. But one early afternoon wander into the main stage area provided a thunderclap moment: just beyond the (old) main gate, on the hill over the craft stage, I heard three strong voices, a cappella, ringing out in gorgeous, perfectly tuned harmonies. The song was 'No More Fish, No Fishermen', a serious filk of the 19th century Anglican Christmas hymn 'See Amid the Winter Snow' (though I didnae know it at the time); and the group was Finest Kind. I immediately bought the CD, Heart's Delight, that NMFNF appeared on and listened to the hell out of it over the next... well, always.
Curiously, I had been introduced to the song 'Home in Pasadena' by Michael Cooney his own bad sef; I had sent Michael a fan letter circa 1991 (prompted by his telling of the time, at perhaps the first Philly Folk Fest in the 1960s, he heard Lou Killen perform 'Pleasant and Delightful' and send him a fan letter) and he replied with grateful thanks and a cassette tape that contained the 'Lowlands Shanty' (which I had mentioned particularly in my letter) and two other songs: the round 'Smetana, Dvorak, and Janacek'—which Camp Smegmites promptly filked to 'Smegmata, Haggis, and Cabbages'—and 'Home in Pasadena', a cappella with two other male voices who, at the end of the song, refer to themselves as 'The Massachusetts Hummingbirds'. The song was written in 1923 by Harry Warren with lyrics by Grant Clarke and Edgar Leslie. Its charms are readily apparent. Here's Finest Kind's version:
Home in Pasadena
Curiously, I had been introduced to the song 'Home in Pasadena' by Michael Cooney his own bad sef; I had sent Michael a fan letter circa 1991 (prompted by his telling of the time, at perhaps the first Philly Folk Fest in the 1960s, he heard Lou Killen perform 'Pleasant and Delightful' and send him a fan letter) and he replied with grateful thanks and a cassette tape that contained the 'Lowlands Shanty' (which I had mentioned particularly in my letter) and two other songs: the round 'Smetana, Dvorak, and Janacek'—which Camp Smegmites promptly filked to 'Smegmata, Haggis, and Cabbages'—and 'Home in Pasadena', a cappella with two other male voices who, at the end of the song, refer to themselves as 'The Massachusetts Hummingbirds'. The song was written in 1923 by Harry Warren with lyrics by Grant Clarke and Edgar Leslie. Its charms are readily apparent. Here's Finest Kind's version:
Home in Pasadena