THE BOYS FROM USA APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS AT THE RAINFOREST WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL 2007
By Yeoh Jun Lin | Artistic Director
- Rainforest World Music Festival
 When the FOGHORN STRINGBAND played on the Rainforest World Music Festival main stage in 2005, their technical needs were almost scary because it was so undemanding. They wanted to sit in a tight semi-circle, use one microphone and no monitors.
But the music that came out of them was so powerful and so spirit-stirring, it made us realize even more so that good music does not need any trappings. These boys just went up there and played their guts out and the audience loved them all the more for it.
For a quintet of very young men, they play old-time string music of the Appalachians and the Mid-West. Some of the songs they do can be traced back to the 1700s.
The fiddle and mandolin carry unison melodies while being backed by a three-finger plucked banjo, snappy guitar and a relentless double bass. The tonal quality of their vocals is unique and nostalgically comfortable, even for a majority of an audience that live halfway around the world.
This is sounds of rural America right at our doorstep.
This is the real community stuff that everyone is part of. They sing it. They tap their feet to it. And they dance to it. One of the many things that the band does at home is also to play at pubs where they have a caller who leads the square dancing. At one of the workshops they had taught a number of people how to do this, and when they played on stage, there was an impromptu square-dance formation in the middle of the audience.
Even though they play all the time together – no virtuostic solos in their set – they are all soloists in their own right. There is hard pounding power in their performance and all of it delivered with such downright honesty and enthusiasm, one can’t help but just love them.
This is what the Rainforest World Music Festival tries to do in the nine years that it has been in existence. Bands that come to perform are not just technically proficient, they must also have the passion and the magic to reach out to touch the hearts of the audience.
Thirteen international bands and six Malaysian bands will be gathering at the Sarawak Cultural Village come July 13th – 15th for an overload of music.
The festival is organized by the Sarawak Tourism Board. Tickets are already on sale and can be bought online at http://www.ticketcharge.com.my/ as well as at all Visitor Information Centres in Kuching, Miri and Sibu.
Tickets are priced at RM80 for a one day Adult Pass, and RM200 for a 3-day Adult Pass. Children aged 3 – 12 years of age can purchase half priced tickets.
More information on the festival can also be found on the website www.rainforestmusic-borneo.com
The Foghorn Stringband will be playing right alongside Ensemble Kaboul of Afghanistan to deliberately state that music is indeed what will bring people together.
This is strings on fire. There were many hurried replacements of broken strings during their set on stage the last time at the festival, and we don’t expect any less energy from the Foghorn Stringband this year.
Yeoh Jun Lin
Artistic Director
Rainforest World Music Festival |
