The Folk Tradition
Sundays at 6 p.m.
on 90.5 WKAR
"The Folk Tradition Goes a cappella
Vocal harmones will abound on the July 13 edition of The Folk Tradition, when host Bob Blackman devotes the entire hour to outstanding a cappella harmony singing.
A lifelong devotee of the style, Bob has put together a special "all-a cappella" show every year since 1986, and never repeats a selection. "The challenge is to find the greatest examples of a cappella harmonies that I can, and to include as much variety as possible," he says. "People may expect that a whole hour of unaccompanied singing will all sound the same, but listeners often tell me they're surprised and delighted by the very wide range of performances I put together."
Bob's annual a cappella shows typically cover many musical styles, from American and British folk songs to gospel, world music, and even some rock or pop songs done in unaccompanied vocal harmony. Although Bob hadn't finalized his playlist at press time, he expects to include a gospel song from Robin & Linda Williams, the King's Singers performing a Neil Young song, the local women's chorus Sistrum doing a play song from Ghana, and a barbershop quartet's Star Trek parody.
"I've loaded up my iPod with over 800 songs in a cappella harmony," Bob says, "and I've spent the last month listening to some of my favorite vocal groups like Finest Kind, the Watersons, Sweet Honey in the Rock, and many others. So I know I'll have 20 fabulous songs picked out by July 13th!"
published: July 8, 2008
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