Emerging artists shine at WoodyFest
Broken Wing Routine (Photo by WoodyFest photographer Jim Dirden, from www.woodyguthrie.com.)
Along with featuring established folk and Red Dirt musicians like Jimmy LaFave, Ellis Paul and Country Joe McDonald, the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival provides an excellent showcase for emerging talents.
Among the scene-stealing youths were the trio Broken Wing Routine, the final act to play Thursday on the Brick Street Cafe’s basement stage. The group got the festival-goers’ heads bobbing and got a few people up to dance as they started off with a pair of old-fashioned folksy jams, “I Got Found” and “John Henry.”
Band members Cameron Snyder, Ben Ziakin and Sam Doores not only sounded like they could jam with Guthrie, they were dressed in faded jeans and overalls, sleeveless T-shirts and beat-up hats. They looked ready to ride the rails at any moment.
Despite their rumpled appearance, the guys represented “a Horatio Alger, rags-to-riches story,” as Snyder put it.
The trio showed up at last year’s WoodyFest and were playing on the sidewalk outside the Crystal Theatre on Sunday during the annual Hoot for Huntington’s. According to the festival program, they were invited in to cool off and play, and they brought the house down.
