2 WINTER
F O L K F E S T I VA L • We d n e s d ay, J a n u a r y 1 4 , 2 0 1 5
13th annual
W INTER
F OLK
F ESTIVAL
Headliner Tom Paxton
performs Saturday at FEC.
om Paxton will headline
the 2015 Winter Folk
Festival on Saturday, Jan.
17, at 7:30 p.m. at the
Florence Events Center. There also
will be eight other performers during
the day on Saturday and Sunday, Jan.
18, in addition to the annual Artisan
Craft Fair and amatuer pie-baking
contest and sale.
T
Paxton has become a voice of his generation, address-
ing issues of injustice and inhumanity, laying bare the
absurdities of modern culture and celebrating the tender-
est bonds of family, friends and community.
In describing Paxton’s influence on his fellow musi-
cians, Pete Seeger said, “Tom’s songs have a way of
sneaking up on you. You find yourself humming them,
whistling them, and singing a verse to a friend. Like the
songs of Woody Guthrie, they’re becoming part of
America.”
Paxton has been an integral part of the songwriting
and folk music community since the early 1960s
Greenwich Village scene, and continues to be a primary
influence on today’s “New Folk” performers.
The Chicago native came to New York via Oklahoma,
which he considers to be his home state.
His family moved there in 1948, when he was 10
years old, and he
graduated from
Bristow High
School and the
University of
Oklahoma,
where he
majored in
drama while his
interest in folk
music grew and
eventually pre-
dominated.
Clap and sing
along to Tom
Paxton stan-
dards, such as
“The Last Thing
On My Mind,”
“Ramblin’ Boy,” “Bottle of Wine,” “Whose Garden Was
This?” “Goin’ to the Zoo” and “The Marvelous Toy.”
During the daytime on Saturday, concert-goers can
listen to additional folk music from the following per-
formers: Larry Potts, Sky in the Road, Mike and
Carleen McCornack and The Sugar Beets. On Sunday,
Pretty Gritty, Ventucky String Band, Deborah
Henriksson and Kathy Boyd and Phoenix Rising will
perform.
Shoppers and art aficionados will find a lot to like at
this year’s Artisan Craft Fair.
Open free to the public on Saturday, from 10 a.m. to
5:30 p.m., and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., this
year’s fair features a great combination of new products
and old favorites.
Tom Paxton
COURTESY PHOTO
Also on Saturday, don’t miss the annual amateur pie-
baking contest, which has become a tradition at the
Winter Folk Festival.
Sponsored by Kitchen Klutter, this year’s contest fea-
tures four different categories for bakers: apple, berry,
other fruit or nut and no-sugar-added. Winners will be
announced at 1 p.m.
Pie for $3 per slice will go on sale at 1:30 p.m.; first
come, first served, so get in line early.
Tickets are $25 each for the headliner concert and are
available at www.eventcenter.org or at the FEC box
office during regular business hours. Call 541-997-1994
for more information.
The Winter Folk Festival is a project of the Friends of
the Florence Events Center.