The officially unofficial site for details and discussion about the history and legacy of Mike Porco's Center of Folk Music, Gerde's Folk City (&other pertinent stuff)
As expected and promised, we had a day full of music and community.
I took a beautiful ride up to Olivebridge, NY with my daughter... Lots of laughs and, dare I say, some spoken word poetry and song writing ideas shared on the way home. What a day!
Angelina in the house
Ana Egge
NYC via North Dakota
Highly educational,
partially warped,
Supremely talented
Jeffrey Lewis
Yes, yes…It's become well known that Mike Porco was once one of the baddest ass characters from the 1960's Folk and Blues Revival. He owned and ran Gerde's Folk City and what makes it more unbelievable is that he never took the stage in his club to perform, he never recorded music and he never wrote songs. But what a baddass!!
Why??
Because he was the honest club owner in Greenwich Village. From what I hear, the only one. His fair treatment of all musicians kept them coming back for work year after year. People relied on Mike for work and he kept the doors open for 20 years thusly providing crowds with top shelf entertainment.
He is remembered fondly for a thousand other reasons. That's just one of the topics that will make POSITIVELY PORCO the most feelin'est goodest film you will ever partake in when you see it in 2016. The film stars Mike Porco and Gerde's Folk City. All his good friends report the whole truth to me on film and in the process, tell and teach me what it's all about.
Oh, and there's a ton of music that came out of Folk City. Hard to believe that a carpenter/cabinet maker from Calabria would one day be credited with practically inventing the 'Open Mic' free-for-alls that we so commonly see today. New York's Greenwich Village didn't have one until Charlie Rothschild, Robert (don't call me Shapiro) Shelton and Mike came up with the idea.
''Call it a Hootenanny,'' they said.
Here's Mike reciting the rules for the open mic:
The story of the Hoot….that's another story.
What most people don't know is that Michele Porco had a most unwelcome start to his life in America. Despite that, he 'made it.'
I'm positive he didn't envision, that in 1985, the City of New York would proclaim September ''Folk City Month'' and that he would be the Pope of Greenwich Village during his time there. And I'm sure he didn't think there would become a not-so-distant correlation between he, Woody Guthrie and Robert Johnson.
yes, the actual SS Conte di Savoia
It all started with a journey on the Conte di Savoia. Mike Porco stepped foot in America 82 years ago today. Reports of his shadow went undocumented.
THE HOOT is a great concept. It's a community-based Folk Fest (aren't they all?) spearheaded by Mike+Ruthy, the fantastic songwriting duo from West Hurley, NY. Both have Roots and Blues in their soul and have made a great career with their skills. As friends of my own, I've watch them morph into local stars and visionaries while they raise a family together and produce infectious records. LOCAL is the key word here since West Hurley is a stone's throw from Woodstock and its surrounds.
The Hoot takes place in the Winter and Summer at the Ashokan Center where Ruth's father, Jay Ungar is music honcho. Of course, Jay and Molly are national treasures in their own right, and the family connections spread far and wide throughout the community. The 'community' includes folks like my daughter, Angelina, and me. We were there this weekend along with, what seemed to be, the ENTIRE Ulster County community. Frigid weather didn't stop hundreds of families and other music lovers from all around descend on Ashokan to enjoy several intimate performances, both in the great hall and in the intimate Pewter Shop: a small cabin where it's standing room only.
I'll post pictures from yesterday's highlight for me- A front row seat to watch friends of mine play with a friend of my grandfather, Mike Porco. John Cohen is known by thousands of Greenwich Village aficionados as Folk Revival original and one who was at Gerde's in 1960 when music first arrived. To see him performing with tomorrow's Folk Music preservationists was certainly a treat.
Amy Helm stood behind me as we watched the Downhill Strugglers: John Cohen, Eli Smith, Jackson Lynch and Walker Shepard.
Be sure to check out the trailer for the Folkumentary under construction.
However, if YOU or SOMEONE you know wants to put their foot in the door and help me take Positively Porco to the finish line in style, NOW is the time!
Yes, I'm making it easy for someone to get an Executive Producer credit. All they have to do is join the club (and foot the bill). The door is open.
My quest at the moment is to bring in professionals to make Positively Porco a world class film. I've been doing it all myself: The filming, the transcribing, the editing, the thinking…not that I want a pat on the back, I want a team!
With the right people, the sky is the limit. Wide theatrical release and world-wide unit distribution is the goal. Anything less will SUCK! Why bother? Do not connect me with producers who do not produce or people who are 'yeller about their mustard.' The meek shall inherit shit.
It's not your ordinary documentary. Yes, it will educate the world in the ways of the Porco clan, and yes it will educate Folk enthusiasts all about Gerde's, but the inspiring message will make you cheer. Musicians have a place in this world. Always have. Always will. The 'less' famous are all part of the whole. Someone watching this will one day change the world with a song.
Positively Porco is about Family with a capital 'F.' There's no secret handshake. No swearing in. No dress code. Dig?
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For those of you lucky enough to be within 100 miles of Ashokan, New York, you're invited to see a DIRECTOR'S CUT of Positively Porco on Friday, August 22nd at THE SUMMER HOOT.
I'll be there showing a clip entitled ''THE FIFTH PEG: Izzy Young brings music to Gerde's Restaurant.''
I'm the 11:15 act. The entire lineup is right here.
I'm honored to say that a couple of Mike Porco's friends will be performing that weekend. David Bromberg and John Cohen will be featured along with my friends and hosts Mike+Ruthy, Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, Robert Sarazin Blake, DB Leonard, Elizabeth Mitchell, Amy Helm and many others.
'The Hoot' series shows no signs of ever taking a hiatus. Here's another ground floor opportunity for you to experience a festival in its early years. Don't think twice!
Buy tickets. Stay the weekend. Folk yourself silly. It's beyond music.
AND you will get to witness a Positively Porco clip in a form NEVER to be seen again! Parts of it will have to be cut to make room for the rest of the greatest #Folkumentary you may ever see.
Here are some images from the 'chunky-style' video about the origins of FOLK CITY:
