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Wynken De Worde Interviews Grammy-Winning Artists! 

Hello, gentle readers!

One month ago, your humble scribe Wynken De Worde had the honor of conducting an on-stage interview with the Grammy-winning folk band The Carolina Chocolate Drops!  Rather than write an extensive blog post on the experience, I've folded it into an article about this remarkable band and their unique brand of old-time folk, based on little-known African-American string band music.  Read the article here!

Wynkyn de Worde sings in a Great Big Rock Concert 

 


Years from now, my niece and nephew and once-removed cousins are apt to ask me: “Weird Uncle Steve, what’s it like to sing in a Great Big Rock Concert?”

Luckily, I will now be able to tell them, in my usual articulate manner: “It's, uh, pretty awesome.”

But I get ahead of myself. First of all, where do I get off calling the show on December 27, 2011 at the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia, a "Great Big Rock Concert?" It was certainly a triumph of electric folk and a watershed moment in Celtic-Andalusian…

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My Season of Mumming 

 

This year I once again adapted, directed, and performed in my office's Christmas Mummers play.  Mumming, or disguising oneself, going door to door, and performing in neighbors' homes and in public places, is a very old and widespread custom in Europe, going back at least to the middle ages.  However, the type of play we call a Mummers Play today may not go back any further than the eighteenth century, since earlier references to "mumming" either are vague about the exact type of performance, or are…

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