The Greenwich Village Folk Festival—a free monthly live stream concert series featuring ten of the finest performers in today’s folk music--returns Sunday, February 5 from 3-6 pm EST to Facebook, You Tube, the GVFF website and Folk Music Notebook. This month, the GVFF pays tribute to Black History Month, designated in February by every US President since 1976. Here’s the lineup of artists.
       
Vance Gilbert, known for his outrageous humor and fine musicianship, has made 13 albums so far, and shared stages worldwide with Aretha Franklin, Shawn Colvin, Arlo Guthrie, the Milk Carton Kids, Anita Baker, the Subdudes, and 150+ shows with the late George Carlin.

Walter Parks was Richie Haven's tour guitarist for 10 years. As a soloist, his authentic “swamp music” and his writing landed his arrangements of songs by Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp homesteaders in the Library of Congress. In 2021 Walter Parks & The Unlawful Assembly, a spirituals group, released their debut album on Atomic Sound Records.

Guy Davis, one of the foremost acoustic blues performers of our time, has carried his message around the world, from the Equator to the Arctic Circle, singing his own songs and performing a one-man show on the Life of Robert Johnson. He says “I want some little eight-­year-­old kid in the front row to have big eyes and say, ‘Hey, I want to do that!"

Lea Morris grew up in the Baptist Church gospel choir, studied classical music in Germany in high school and returned to the Washington, DC area, where she “seamlessly blends gospel, jazz, country and R&B into her own style” says SoulFolk. The Washington Area Music Association proudly calls her “one of the region’s finest vocalists, songwriters, recording artists, children's music performers and community music leaders.”

John Flynn has been called the “quintessential folk singer in my life" by legendary dj Gene Shay and “the real deal” by the Woody Guthrie Center for his songs of social justice. As founder and executive director of New Beginnings - Next Step, a non-profit helping incarcerated citizens transition to freedom, he was awarded the 2019 Champion of Justice Humanitarian Award by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Foundation.

Josh White Jr began performing with his legendary father in 1944, sharing stages with Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and many others. A standout performer on his own, he’s won a TONY for his Broadway debut, recorded 25 albums, starred in four TV Specials, performed for the Pope, Prime Ministers, and the NAACP, and in 1979 was recipient of the first Harry Chapin Humanitarian Award.

Bob Bossin founded the iconic Canadian group Stringband, writing songs covered by Pete Seeger, Peggy Seeger, and Ian Tyson, and toured with his travelling medicine show, Bossin’s Home Remedy for Nuclear War (guaranteed to prevent nuclear war or your money refunded), selling 9000 bottles.

Mad Agnes Trio, Margo Hennebach, Adrienne Jones and Mark Saunders, weaves together Celtic, folk, innovative instrumentation and “three-part harmonies as tight as jeans from the dryer” (The Advocate). With 13 albums and tours, they are, says Singer magazine, “a link back to that addictive sound of progressive/alternative folk groups like Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention and Renaissance.”

John Forster won a 1994 Indie Award for Best Comedy Album for “Entering Marion” and has songs covered by Christine Lavin, Judy Collins, Rosanne Cash, Dave Van Ronk, and Faith Hill, among many. He’s also co-author of popular children's books and several musicals, from “Eleanor-An American Love Story” to "How To Eat Like A Child," one of the most widely produced children’s shows today.

Steve Eriksson, of Goteborg, Sweden, came to the US in 1984 and joined the Clearwater, sailing the Hudson River. An exceptional guitarist able to play bluegrass, acoustic jazz, blues, rock and folk, he was recruited by Rod MacDonald for two cds and tours in Europe. In Sweden, he's produced several successful song demos for publishers, and released his first album, “Right Before Our Eyes," in 2019, making the folk charts across the US. His newest cd is “Last Call.”

This free concert is co-produced by Ray Micek and Rod MacDonald. Ron Olesko of FolkMusicNotebook.com and Sonny Ochs, host of the “Phil Ochs Song Nights” and presenter on Folk Music Notebook, will co-emcee. The concert will be streamed live to

www.greenwichvillagefolkfestival.org,

www.facebook.com/GVFF2023,

and www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmtbbHTuDaU.

The concert audio is also broadcast live on internet radio at www.folkmusicnotebook.com.