My musical mate and fellow traveler Kathleen Coffee turned me on this oh-so-nourishing music video. I ask these questions of my own modest musical-artistic ventures almost every day. This song, in its joyful directness and simplicity, answers the questions ‘Why try and be creative?” and “Does anyone care?” with its own lilting echo. How could you not?

Listen. You know who you are, the kind of person who when properly convinced that a road trip is in order undertakes said roadtrip. All the rest of you may stop reading now (except, if you don’t mind, would you please click that arrow in the video above and take a look at the latest music video, “There’s a Light”, for my new musico-theatrical gig, Io and the Ions? Let me know what you think!)

The Ions will be performing an hour set on the main stage just after 5:30 p.m. Saturday on (this is an easy date to remember)  Sept. 11 at Culturefest 2010. Now in its 7th year, this is a wonderful world music and healing arts festival that runs Sept. 9 to 12 atop a mountain in southern West Virginia, one mountain over and about five minutes down the road from Pipestem State Resort at the Appalachian South Folklife Center. I am about to use some more adjectives, but it is only because I am trying to separate the wheat from the chaff here. I mean to say, I am trying to encourage those of you who still take roadtrips to cool music festivals to upend your schedule for September, clear that weekend, gas up the Prius (or Honda or Chevy or Indian motorcycle) and head to the finest small world music festival in, well, the world. Or at least in West Virginia, fer certain. Here’s a musical slideshow I did of Culturefest 2008.

Those us in love with the place call the Folklife Center the Magic Mountain. The main stage sits on the lip of a tippytop mountain that overlooks a receding ocean of the West Virginia hills. If you have not seen the Milky Way of late, you will see it in all its glory in the evening and understand why they call it that — a spill of stars overhead as you look down an alleyway to the very center of our galaxy. In the video above, the scenes of puffy clouds and hills near the end are of the Folklife Center.

A scene from a past Culturefest.

Who’s going to be there? Well, you, if you’re the bold roadtrip type. And:

– Az Samad, a Malaysian finger-style guitarist who returns to Culturefest for the third time from his home in San Fransisco. His unique sound is a blend of jazz, latin, pop and new age.
– Seattle-based group Hejira, made up of 2 Conservatory trained musicians from opposing cultures collaborating on energetic world music to lift the spirit.
– Latin ensemble Eduardo Canelón y su Comparsa of Charleston, WV return to Culturefest with their musical blend of styles from Spain, the Caribbean, and South America.
– Musicians Carrie and Michael Kline play West Virginia songs, from the ancient ballads of the Hammons Family in the central highlands, to mining laments and songs of resistance in the coal fields.
– Blacksburg based HopeHop fuses organic hip-hop with jazz undertones with lyrics that promote spreads peace, love and oneness.

Also on the line-up are Option 22 (world folk), The Boatmen (harmony driven folk/funk), SoulGrass Rebellion (roots/reggae/bluegrass), The Spurgie Hankins Band (acoustic/rock/jamband), Kathleen Coffee (folk/singer-songwriter), Big Phat Delicious (jazz/rock/funk), Melissa McKinney & The Borrowed Band (blues/rock), The Captain Lazerblast Band (techno-folk), Briddy Morris (alternative/lyrical), Albert Perrone (healing folk), Chally Erb (movement theatre/comedy), Miss Behavin’ (rock), Io & the Ions (theatrical/art-folk-rock), El Gleno Grande (physical theatre/comedy), Glowing Dragon Puppet Rodeo (alternative media), Liberty High School World Percussion Ensemble, Pseudo Ethnic Salad (world fusion), Samadhi Tribal Fusion Belly Dance, Shakira Al Fanninah and Firelight (folk dance), Wild Earth Hoops (hoop dance) and a Open Mic on Thursday (those wishing to participate should call ahead to reserve a time slot). The event will be MC’d by Keli Semelsberger of Charlotte Comedy Theatre along with Arden Hamrick.

Workshops include instruction in world percussion, belly dance, improv comedy, yoga, meditation, and hacky sack skills. The children’s area will include art & craft activities, open mic, song and dance, story telling and more. The full schedule and program can be found online at culturefestwv.com where you can also check out lodging options. Camping is part of the weekend admission price or you can come for the day or check out an area hotel or B&B.

[End of attempt to convince, urge and cajole you to come.]

Some people talk a good game and then do … not much at all. Some people put their hands and hearts where their talk is. Like the front line eco-warriors of PickUpAmerica.org. I met these folks while shooting video down Alderson, W.Va., for the PGA Greenbrier Classic. There they were alongside the Greenbrier River, sweating up a storm and yanking more than a dozen bags of litter and trash from the roadway along one of southern West Virginia’s most lovely rivers. They began in March 2010 at the Atlantic Ocean off Maryland and have so far picked up more than 58,000 pounds of trash along 575 miles of road since leaving the Atlantic Coast. They’re moving their way to the Pacific off San Francisco, sometime in 2011, traveling by way of “Rosie,” their big colorful Winnebago. These are the better angels of our nature. After the jump, is the story I wrote about them for the Gazette. Above is the video. (more…)

Hear my latest musical adventure, IO and the IONs,  in a Third Eye Cabaret show from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. this Saturday, Aug. 14, at Taylor Books in Charleston, W.Va., with special guests Option 22. One of the songs we’ll be doing is this one, “Enjoy Yourself,” a 1949 tune by Carl Sigman and Herb Magidson, which was a hit for both Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians and Doris Day. Can’t get better street cred than than — at least, well, at the 20th century’s swing point.

The video footage above was recorded at an April 2010 parade on Mercer Street in Princeton, W.Va., as part of All Together Arts Week. The video’s soundtrack was recorded just last Saturday, at a Third Eye Cabaret show at The Room Upstairs. That’s me on vocals and Taylor guitar, Robert Blankenship on Strat, Lori McKinney on percussion and vocals, Albert Perrone on juiced classical guitar and vocals and Clayton Blankenship on bass. I think I saw the shades of Guy and Doris at the back of the room swing dancing ….

After a successful opening in Princeton, W.Va., last Saturday night, Third Eye Cabaret re-opens at Taylor Books in Charleston, W.Va., this Saturday, Aug. 14, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., featuring IO and the IONS with special guests Option 22. We spent the last week at the official Third Eye Cabaret Camp at The RifRaff Arts Collective, rehearsing up a new show-full of tunes. So, please come out and check us out in our well-rehearsed splendor full of harmonic convergences. You may wish to get to Taylor’s a bit early if you wish a seat. If past Cabaret shows at Taylor are an indication, there’ll be a decent crowd.

The evening opens with a short set of rhythmic world-beat rock by Option 22, feauturing the inimitable vocals and lyrics of Lori McKinney and the stellar string playing of Robert Blankenship, Albert Perrone and Clayton Blankenship. You will likely hear a digeridoo, a shamisen and many other instruments along the way. Io joins them after the opening set for the transformation into IO and the IONS, featuring a set of theatrical folk-rock. (Io has been known to resemble me). The Ions will perform their set from the upcoming Culturefest world music and healing arts festival at the Appalachian South Folklife Center, five minutes and one mountain over from Pipestem State Resort. A more stirring and gorgeous outdoor stage at the tippy-top of a mountain in the Appalachian outback ye shall not find. The festival runs Thursday, Sept. 9 through Sunday, Sept. 12, and IO and the IONS have a primo hour-long set at 5 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 11 on the main stage.

click poster bigger.

In case your browser does not properly display the above information, be there at a pleasing spectacle of theatrical music as THIRD EYE CABARET, featuring Io & the Ions and Option 22, opens up three times in the weeks ahead, starting this Saturday. The Cabaret features the original music of Io, with choice covers of contemporary and not-so-contemporary tunes. Performers include: Douglas Imbrogno, Lori McKinney, Robert Blankenship, Albert Perrone, Clayton Blankenship with guest appearances by Kathleen Coffee and others. Maybe even you.

SAT., AUG. 7, 2010, 8 p.m.: The Room Upstairs, Princeton, W.Va. Admission $2 or $3 (whichever you can afford). SEE: theriffraff.net

SAT. AUG. 14, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.: Taylor Books, Charleston, W.Va. Free. SEE: taylorbooks.com.

SAT. SEPT. 11, 5-6 p.m.: Culturefest, Appalachian South Folklife Center, near Pipestem, W.Va. SEE: culturefestwv.com.