Ocrafolk Festival (40 Days Away) ~ Performer Profiles (Cane Mill Road/Shana Tucker)

TICKETS / VOLUNTEER / SPONSOR 40 Days To Go . . .Ocrafolk Festival 2018!

Hey Ocrafolk friends! Taking a moment here to introduce you to two of our performers this year, Cane Mill Road & Shana Tucker. Also wanted to let you know that we are close to finalizing our T-shirt styles (for all those Sponsors out there who will be selecting them before the big weekend). See ya soon! Thanks! Ocrafolk Festival Staff

Billboard-charting artists Cane Mill Road grew up just down the road from Doc Watson in Deep Gap, North Carolina. Honoring the past the band strikes a balance between preserving the bluegrass mountain sound they were raised on and boldly rocking progressive interpretations of that same sound tackling not only complex original music, but classic covers of the Beatles, Dylan, and more. Audiences love Cane Mill Road’s high-energy performances, easy going rapport both on and off stage, and the eclectic mix of originals and standards in the show. Touring internationally in Argentina and stateside from New York to Alabama to Missouri to Pennsylvania to Kentucky to Tennessee to Virginia and the Carolinas, the band is proud to be sponsored by Deering Banjos, GHS Strings, Shubb Capos, Sorensen Mandolin & Guitar Company, Kogut Violins, and MiniFlex Microphones.  The band’s debut album "Five Speed" hit #9 on Billboard’s Bluegrass Album chart and was produced by 2-time GRAMMY winner Cathy Fink, and by Tom Mindte of Patuxent Studios in Maryland. IBMA selected Cane Mill Road from hundreds of applicants as one of 30 bands to showcase during its 2017 conference/festival as the future of bluegrass. The band represented the United States of America in 2015 at a United Nations World Music Festival. You've heard them on NPR/PBS, and all over radio with every cut on "Five Speed" getting airplay.

Shana Tucker is a singer-songwriter and cellist who credits her genre-bending ChamberSoul™ journey to her jazz and classical roots, interwoven with 80's & 90's pop music influences, movie soundtracks, and world music. Touted by JazzTimes Magazine as “a jazz talent...whose imprint and vitality has already been quite visible in North Carolina,” Shana’s style and sound as been described as a mash-up of Dianne Reeves, Joni Mitchell, and Tracy Chapman, with an efficient complexity that is reminiscent of Bill Withers. Her self-defined genre of “ChamberSoul” best describes what the listener should expect when experiencing Shana's music. "I’m intrinsically drawn to ‘real’ instruments with resonance, tone and depth that can sound without amplification. Whenever possible, I always try to set a tone of acoustic intimacy with my colleagues on stage -- and also with the audience -- so that sounds and souls feel close and tangible, no matter the size the venue." With collaborations as the cornerstone of her artistry, Shana is currently a featured artist with jazz legend, saxophonist/composer Bennie Maupin's ensemble; Grammy-nominated soul collective, The Foreign Exchange; jazz drummer/composer Shirazette Tinnin's group, Sonic WallPaper; Paperhand Puppet Intervention, a North Carolina-based, socially conscious theatrical organization; and her newest project, Women's Work, a female-led creative collective of musicians and composers representing both east and west coasts. A front-line advocate for arts education, Shana is a teaching artist whose present and past affiliations include The Smith Center for Performing Arts, Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts, Mallarme Chamber Players, Playmakers and Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. She devotes a considerable amount of her time to working with students in schools/universities, community centers and summer camps throughout the year as part of her mission to promote arts education programming for students of all ages, incorporating artist residencies, workshops and community outreach opportunities wherever in the world her performances take her.

Ocrafolk Festival Schedule Posted ~ A Fabulous Event and Fantastic Cause

TICKETS / VOLUNTEER / SPONSOR 44 Days To Go . . .Ocrafolk Festival 2018!

Hey Ocrafolk friends! Just wanted to drop you a note to let you know that the Ocrafolk Festival Schedule has been posted. There will still be tweaks, but it will give you a basic flow for the weekend. Thanks! Ocrafolk Festival Staff

Your Ocrafolk Festival Ticket = Student Programming in Our Ocracoke Community Your ticket to the festival doesn't just purchase your admission this year. It supports arts programming for Ocracoke children. It funds our theatres and visiting/local musicians. And it supports cultural diversity in our community. Ocracoke Alive's mission is to enrich Ocracoke Island by encouraging and sponsoring cultural activities. You may have experienced our work during a Student Arts Partnership performance at Ocracoke, by attending the Festival Latino de Ocracoke, or our community theater project, A Tale of Blackbeard. Ocracoke Alive has largely relied upon individual donations to produce all of its programming. Many of these funds come from our “extended family and community” . . . non-residents, who have fallen in love with the island and wish to lend their support. We appreciate you, our festival family, for the love and excitement you have brought to our festival over the last 18 years. Tickets to the Ocrafolk Music and Storytelling Festival can be purchased HERE (TICKETS) or at the festival box office June 1st-3rd. If you are interested in working with us at Ocrafolk, please SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER. If you would like to help sponsor Ocrafolk, click HERE (SPONSOR) to learn more about sponsorship opportunities.

Ocrafolk Festival (48 Days Away) ~ Performer Profiles (Upstate Rubdown/Mended Wing Theatre Company)

TICKETS / VOLUNTEER / SPONSOR 48 Days To Go . . .Ocrafolk Festival 2018!

Ocrafolk Festival 2018 Introduces Upstate Rubdown & Mended Wing Theatre Hey Ocrafolk friends! Ocracoke Alive would like to tell you about some of the great performers we will be having at this year's Ocrafolk Festival. Just a quick reminder that Ocrafolk is a ticketed event this year. The proceeds go to support critical student programming in our small island community. We are also inviting you to be a Sponsor and a Volunteer. Find out more at www.ocracokealive.org. Thanks!

Upstate Rubdown is an acoustic septet drawing inspiration from every corner (and decade) of America's musical heritage. Based in New York's Hudson Valley region, the band has spent years cultivating its sound, and continues to grow by the tune. The instrumentation includes Harry D'Agostino on upright bass, Ryan Chappell on mandolin, Dean Mahoney on cajón, and Christian Joao on flute and alto/baritone saxophone. The dynamic rhythm section supports a three part vocal harmony powerhouse of founding members Mary Kenney and Melanie Glenn with recent Nashville-transplant Allison Olender. Pulling from the greatest corners of American music, this group has the power to get feet moving with or without amplification. Like fresh-farmed vegetables, their music is as organic as it is good for you. From foot-stomping bass, highlighted by the slap of a cajon, to the familiar strums of the mandolin over a wailing saxophone – there’s so much going on instrumentally that when the harmonious lead vocalists chime in, the result is nothing short of a homegrown hurricane of sound."   Mended Wing Theatre Company is brought to us by Ocracoke native son, Emmet Temple. He left Ocracoke Island to attend the NC School of the Arts and is bringing some of his troupe to Ocrafolk 2018! Mended Wing Theatre Company is comprised of recent graduates and current BFA students from North Carolina School of the Arts, School of Drama. The project was born out of a desire to bring classical theatre to communities and schools free of charge in a format that is relevant and stimulating for modern audiences. In addition, they see this as a chance to encourage the next generation with overarching themes of hope, compassion, and acceptance.