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FSGW 2020 Getaway Online Schedule of Events

On each day of the Getaway there are two parallel Zoom sessions. You can think of them as being in the virtual Retreat Center and virtual Nature Center at the virtual camp. In addition, some of our guests have recorded concerts that are available at any time during the Getaway and until October 31
All times are listed in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), the time zone for Washington, DC and the Eastern United States. If you live in another time zone, you can recalculate times here.
If you have registered to attend the Getaway, you will be given access to a version of this schedule with the Zoom links embedded. You will be able to join any Zoom session (beginning 15 minutes before the scheduled starting time) simply by clicking on the 'Go to Zoom Session' button for that session. These Zoom links will be enabled on October 1.
The Vocal Clinic and the Fingerpicking Guitar Workshop are run as master classes. If you wish to be one of the people our experts will work with (in a very public manner), you will need to sign up, because the number of mentees is limited. Everyone else is invited to watch, listen, and learn. Sign-up instructions will be provided to Getaway registrants in mid-September. If you want to sing in the Friday Open Sing or the Saturday or Sunday night concerts, you’ll want to sign up beforehand.

All Zoom sessions open 15 minutes before the start time and will stay open for conversation for about 30 minutes after the scheduled ending time.

Friday, October 2


Friday 10:30 AM EDT to about 12:30 PM
Songs of Welcoming and Friendship
led by Janie Meneely and Kevin Elam
Set the tone of our gathering, greeting each other with songs celebrating friendship and camaraderie.

Friday 1:30 PM EDT to about 3:30 PM
Songs and Tales of an Irish Traveller: Thomas McCarthy interviewed by Heather Livingston
Indomitable Thomas McCarthy sings and talks about his family, his people, and their history. Interviewed by Heather Livingston. Q&As plus discussion.
or
Songs of Hope and Better Times
led by John Roberts and Susannah Hills Rose
Bring us your songs of inspiration, aspirations, visionary dreams or longing for things to improve.

Friday 4:30 PM EDT to about 6:30 PM
Songs of Comic Relief
led by Elly Wininger
Be silly, be witty, be ridiculous, be satirical or just plain funny. Try your hand at parody. Push the edges (within the bounds of decency). It’s okay.
or
Songs of Working People
led by Lisa Null and Riggy Rackin
Sing labor anthems and strike songs, and also the occupational songs of men and women, past and present, who worked at everything under the sun. They sometimes suffered pain, yet often took pride in their work.

Friday 7:30 PM EDT to about 10:30 PM
Invitation to FSGW Open Sing
(no theme this month)

Saturday, October 3


Saturday 10:30 AM EDT to about 12:30 PM
Songs That Get To You
led by Steven Levine and Nicole Singer
You’ve heard it 100 times and it still brings a tear to your eye, or you can’t get through it without laughing out loud. Share those songs that move you deeply to tears or laughter, anger or wonder.
or
Appalachian Songs
led by Becky Kimmons and Donna Ray Norton
From these beautiful mountains come a host of songs brought by people from their homelands or composed to tell the stories of their communities, and for generations cherished and preserved in isolation. Some of us may have discovered Appalachian songs more recently and found renewed meaning in them; some of us grew up with them. Whoever you are, sing away!

Saturday 1:30 PM EDT to about 3:30 PM
Disease, Plague and Pestilence
led by Steve Woodbury and Linn Phipps
We can laugh about it, groan about it, recount the memories of it, or even die of a broken heart from it. So sing, already!
or
Inland Waterways
led by Darriel Day and Jocelyn Day
Lakes, rivers, streams, canals, creeks, waterfalls and ponds; all these bodies of water play their parts in life, and in song.

Saturday 4:30 PM EDT to about 6:30 PM
Ballads and Story Songs
led by Peter Brice and Abby Sale
Okay ballad singers, now it’s your turn to sing without anyone telling you it’s too old, too weird, too long, or too morally suspect. All narrative songs welcome, no Child or Roud numbers necessary.
or
Chanteys and Sea Songs
led by Deirdre Murtha
Roar along lustily at home or share one of your own. Fo’c’sle songs and maritime adventures also welcome. Imagine how we might all sound together!

Saturday 7:30 PM EDT to about 10:30 PM
Saturday Sign-up Concert
(Sign up in advance to perform)

Sunday, October 4


Sunday 10:30 AM EDT to about 12:30 PM
Songs about Growing Older
led by Judy Cook and Flawn Williams
The Ages of Man and the transitions between them are expressed in many songs. A lot of us are getting old and some are just getting started. Man, woman, or child: do you have a song about that?
or
Oral Histories Across Caste, Coal, and Color Lines in West Virginia.
led by Carrie Kline and Michael Kline and Brenda Jackson
Deep Conversations Growing out of Oral Histories Across Caste, Coal, and Color Lines in West Virginia. This session will focus on questions addressing the current chaos of our nation regarding human rights, and increasing polarization of a fractured society. We will approach these issues through the lens of a recent deep listening and memory preservation project dealing with school “integration” in the 1950s and '60s in the coalfields of West Virginia. This project, with major funding from the WV Humanities, became an exercise in truth and reconciliation for Mount Hope High School (MHHS) alumni from the Class of 1966. We will explore ways of further knowing and understanding one another.

Sunday 1:30 PM EDT to about 4:00 PM
Vocal Clinic
led by Ken Schatz
Ken Schatz is a master singing and acting coach who specializes in coaching folk performers. He will coach four pre-registered students while the rest of us watch, listen, and learn. Q&As
or
Irish
led by Connie McKenna and David Ingerson
Get your Irish on! Gaelic or English, Irish American or traditionally Irish, these wonderful songs are sure to catch your fancy, touch your heart, or awaken your sense of history. Share and be prepared to laugh, lament, and sing your head off.

Sunday 4:30 PM EDT to about 6:30 PM
Songs about Dogs
led by Joe Offer and Dawn Berg
Dogs are often called our best friends. We love them, use them, pamper them, abuse them, hunt with them, admire them. It is now time for us all to pay tribute to them (or not) in song.]
or
The Great Scots Folksong Revival
led by Abby Sale and Linda Rice-Johnston and Jack Beck
Folklorist Abby Sale, leading Scots folksinger and raconteur Jack Beck, and local favorite Linda Rice Johnston co-host this session of songs that modern Scots singers and songwriters have written, collected, and learned from the explosively creative Scots tradition. Share what you love from that rich treasury.

Sunday 7:30 PM EDT to about 10:30 PM
Sunday Sign-up Concert
(Sign up in advance to perform)

Monday, October 5


Monday 10:30 AM EDT to about 12:30 PM
Presentation on Margaret MacArthur and Helen Hartness Flanders
led by Nora Rodes
Nora Rodes shares her research into the lives and work of two influential New England folksong collectors, as well as some of the music they preserved. The first hour will focus on Helen Hartness Flanders, the second features Margaret MacArthur. After each segment, there will be time for questions, discussion, and song.
or
Songs of the Music Hall and Variety Stage
led by Murray Callahan and David Jones
British music hall and all its American counterparts, from the variety stage to burlesque, have often found their way into the folksong repertoire, often complete with their performance traditions. Our hosts perform them with elegant polish, but the rest of us can share them in any way that fits our mood.

Monday 1:30 PM EDT to about 3:30 PM
Ballads and Story Songs
led by Heather Livingston and David Kidman
Bring your musical stories–long or short, complete or distilled narrative, British, Irish, African-American, or whatever. Traditional or contemporary–tell us your song!
or
Songs of Social Justice
led by Dan Schatz and Bev Praver
Share a song of justice or injustice and the struggles to improve the conditions so prevalent in our world. Some of these songs complain, others hope or inspire, and many simply describe.

Monday 4:30 PM EDT to about 6:30 PM
Fingerpicking Guitar Workshop
led by Elly Wininger
Elly, a member of the NY Blues Hall of Fame, will coach six pre-registered students while the rest of us watch, listen, and learn. The finger-picked guitar is a folk music staple. Learn more about how to do this effectively. Knowledge of basic chords required. Q&As
or
Parting Songs
led by Janie Endres and Lisa Null
Now it’s time to sing farewell and celebrate the joys and pleasures we have shared. We can also sing of any journeys we are about to take, even an eternal one. Until next year!

Pre-Recorded Sessions

Concerts and Presentations will be available to watch from the beginning of the Getaway thru October 31.

ED MILLER

Take a virtual musical tour of the land that begot the border ballad with Scottish folksinger Ed Miller. Ed brings his love of ballad, story, and place to this presentation about the places, people, architecture, history and culture reflected in the songs of the Scottish Borders. Every year Ed leads tours of the Scottish Borders. Most of us haven’t had the chance to go, but his presentation will be the next best alternative. This video presentation was filmed in Austin, TX by EJ Jones in May 2020 as part of the virtual Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. He has kindly shared it with the Getaway this year, for which we are grateful.

ELLY WININGER

Join NY Blues Hall of Famer Elly Wininger for a set of traditional and contemporary blues, as well as some of her heartfelt original material. Look for her new album soon to be released on Adelphi Records.

GEORGE WARD

George Ward draws on an extensive body of southern Adirondack songs he collected with his late wife, Vaughn, as well as French Canadian and New England music . He also adds songs of his own composition to our ongoing musical tradition, reflecting the lives of the people of upstate New York

STEVEN LEVINE

Every year for over half a century my parents enjoyed sharing music and companionship at the FSGW Getaway. Although I am by no means a professional performer, the joy in singing with people that my parents brought back from the Getaway and other similar events has stayed with me throughout my life, and getting together with friends to sing at pubs and in living rooms and on Morris dance tours has been one of my greatest pleasures. I am happy for this opportunity to share some songs I enjoy as part of this event that meant so much to my parents.

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