Mary Sullivan, and Jacqui and Kendall Morse, keep traditional folk music alive in South Portland

Mary Sullivan is helping to keep the flame of traditional folk music alive in Maine.  She has been doing it for a few years now, and she has had a lot of help from her two good friends, Jacquie and Kendall Morse.  The trio hosts one of the few house concert series that occur in Maine, in Mary’s South Portland home.

House concerts are a great way for folk artists and folk fans to get together in an intimate setting and share good times and good music.  They work best when they are informal affairs, and when they don’t grow beyond a manageable size.  Typically, they consist of a solo or duo folk artist, usually playing with no amplification, to a group of between five and twenty-five people, in the home of one of the artist’s supporters, or a folk music promoter.  A potluck dinner is often involved, and the attendees either pay a small ticket price or throw tips into a jar.  All proceeds go to the performer, unless the host takes a small amount to cover minor expenses.

Mary, Jacqui, and Kendall are fans of authentic, traditional folk music.  While they admire contemporary folk and acoustic singer/songwriters, their true love is music that is rooted in the rich, dark soil of American roots music.  The songs may be new, but the style and the influences need to be traditional.  Their concerts and song circles attract fans of this traditional music from all over Maine, the rest of New England, and other regions of the country and the world.  This is due in a large part to their participation in a web-based folk music community, www.mudcat.org.

“The emphasis is on ‘traditional’ folk music, ancient or modern”, Jacqui explains. “The music is entirely acoustic. The modern tends to be by writers steeped in the tradition, such as Utah Phillips, Gordon Bok, Mary Garvey, and Mike O’Connor. This is not a group that encourages modern singer/songwriters of non-traditional music. This group is for those who wish to keep alive the older songs and spread the use of more modern songs of the genre.”

Mary Sullivan is a native New Yorker who grew up on early cowboy tunes and songs of the Gay Nineties.  This summer, in addition to hosting these house concerts, she is coordinating The Maritime Festival on August 2, 2008, a day of maritime music at the Portland Harbor Museum where she has worked as a volunteer for the past three years.

Kendall Morse was introduced to folk music by his friend Gordon Bok, who also encouraged him to begin performing folk music.  He is well known as a Maine humorist and folk singer and was also part of The Morse Brothers bluegrass band, with his brothers, Erlon and Les.

Kendall was diagnosed with cancer of the vocal chord back in 2002, which, sadly, has prevented him from continuing as an entertainer. Never the less, in 2006 he traveled to California for a gig with Utah Phillips – two of the folk world’s most consummate storytellers on stage together for the first time.

Jacqui came into folk music fairly recently, in 1999, although she been interested in the music since the 1960s. Her involvement and participation in a song circle in her native UK increased her interest considerably.  In 2004 she met and married Kendall and made a new home in Maine.  She now co-ordinates the house concerts and is responsible for keeping a number of interested people up to date on what is going on via email.

When I asked her about the artists that she, Mary, and Kendall book into this cozy venue, Jacqui responds, “In the past couple of years we have had Seamus Kennedy, Ed Trickett, Deb Cowan, John Roberts, David Jones, Jed Marum, Woodchuck's Revenge, Craig Morgan Robson, an Finn & Haddie.  So far, for the coming year, we have booked Matt Brown, Cindy Kallet, and a return engagement for John Roberts.  We are negotiating with a couple of other performers for dates later this year.”

For further information on this South Portland house concert series, Jacqui Morse invites folks to contact her by email at  jacquiclark40@hotmail.com.

House concerts are a lot of fun, and can result in some very intimate, very magical connections between incredibly talented musicians and folk music fans.  These events are not difficult to plan, and in most cases, a group of three of four friends can coordinate one with great success.  House concerts are highly valued by folk and acoustic artists for the quality of the connection with the audience, and the opportunity to meet potential fans personally.  If you would like to learn more about hosting a concert in your home, there are a few great resources on the internet, including  http://gaiaconsort.com/house.html

And http://concertsinyourhome.com/index.html

We at MaineFolkMusic.com would be happy to help anyone get started in planning a house concert, and can recommend some wonderfully talented local artists who would be happy to perform.