Fox Valley storytelling, folk fest this weekend
Ken Perlman can't quite put his true passion into words.
The 61-year-old Bloomington, Ind. native has been playing the guitar and banjo for more than 40 years - right about the time he first discovered folk music.
Even though Perlman now runs several music instruction camps across the United States, teaches private lessons, performs at different festivals and writes his own music instruction handbooks, he is still at a loss when it comes to describing the varied traditions that make up the genre we all know as folk music.
"There is no one thing called folk music. It's really a whole slew of different types of things - with many different vocal traditions. The (musical influences) are all quite different from each other, but lumped together in this one (musical genre)," Perlman said.
On Sunday, Sept. 5 and Monday, Sept. 6, Perlman will be of nearly 20 folk performers at the 34th annual Fox Valley Folk Music and Storytelling Festival at Geneva's Island Park. The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days. An admission donation of $15 for adults and $10 for teens and elders is recommended. Children younger than 12 are free.
On Saturday, Sept. 4, Perlman will be teaching beginner and intermediate banjo lessons, hoping to show festival goers just how diverse the folk musical tradition really is. From 9:30 a.m. to noon, Perlman will teach a beginner clawhammer banjo class and from 1:30 p.m. to 4 he will instruct an intermediate class.
"I have always been interested in teaching," Perlman said. "(In the past), as soon as I saw an instructional book I would instinctively know how to write a better one."
Perlman's classes will focus on right and left hand techniques needed to play the banjo. Classes will be held at the Geneva Park District offices, 710 Western Ave. and cost $25 in advance and $30 at the door.
"I enjoy the sound of (folk) music, the act of playing it, learning how to adapt things to banjo and guitar. I love meeting colleagues and working out musical arrangements," Perlman said.
In addition to classes, the festival will include an Old Time Community Barn Dance from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Following the dance, ghost stories will be told from 7:30 to 10 p.m. in the Main Street Music Stage Tent.
"(The Fox Valley Folk Music and Storytelling Festival) is a very nice festival. It's very nicely run and they usually get a lot of performers," Perlman said.
This year will be mark Perlman's fourth time appearing at the festival.
"I would say that most people get attracted to folk music because it does not get filtered through the media. It is a purer form of music," he said.
If you go%%%%What: 34rd annual Fox Valley Folk Music and Storytelling FestivalWhen: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday and Monday, Sept. 5 and 6Where: Island Park in GenevaAdmission: $15 for adults and $10 for teens and seniors; kids younger than 12 admitted freeParking: free, at Kane County Government Center, 719 S. Batavia Ave., GenevaDetails: foxvalleyfolk.comFalse12542000Peggy Seeger, with her banjo, takes part in the 33rd annual Fox Valley Folk Music and Storytelling Festival in Geneva.Bev Horne | Staff Photographer, 2009False