The 140th edition of “First Friday for Folk Music,” Savannah’s monthly showcase of local and touring folk musicians, features the Savannah debut of a rising Nashville singer/songwriter, the return of a California-based Celtic/American eclectic duo and one of Savannah’s own outstanding guitarists and songsmiths. Canadian-born, Music City folkie, Tracy Rice will be preceded on stage by Four Shillings Short and Michael Amburgey.
Tracy Rice is the Canadian daughter of a Barbadian mother and Scottish father. Her grandfather made and played guitars and her grandmother was a night club singer. Passing a guitar around the living room was as natural as breathing in her home. She began to play guitar at 7 and perform professionally at 15.
With evolving skills as a musician, songwriting and singer, Rice moved from Ontario to Nashville, collaborated and worked with guitar virtuoso Tommy Emmanual, wrote with Nashville’s Mary ann Kennedy and fellow-Canadian Terri Clark and released several albums. She has been called “as genuine as 24-carat (sic) gold. … the real deal …voice as clean and clear as a mountain stream…and songs that are personal tales of her unvarnished humanity.”
Four Shillings Short bring a diverse and inventive traditional music adventure. They are routed in Celtic and American tradition and inspired by Indian Raga and ethnic idioms. The duo is Aodh Og O Tuama and Christy Martin.
He was born in Cork, Ireland and studied Medieval and Renaissance music in college. A music fellowship brought him to Stanford University in 1984 and he played in a band called Drivelling Druids.
Martin was born into a musical family, starting a long relationship with the sitar at age 16. Folk music became a focus for her in the 1980s. She plays hammered dulcimer, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, banjo, guitar and bodhran as well.
Among his instruments are tin whistle, doumbek, spoons and gemshorn.
Michael Amburgey can do it all on the guitar. From finger-style delicacies to driving slide blues, he is simply the best. But there is so much more — songwriting skill and an understated humor that awes and amuses audiences. Amburgey often appears with his long-time partner Bobby Hanson performing both classic and original “good-time blues.”
But when Armburgey does his own thing, he explores a variety and areas of music that cover his own interests and passions. No wonder he draws big crowds and is a First Friday favorite.
“First Friday for Folk Music” is a production of the Savannah Folk Music Society and is held the first Friday of each month at Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church, 429 Abercorn St., on Calhoun Square, in historic downtown Savannah.
It’s from 7:30-10:30 p.m. and is smoke-free, alcohol-free and family-friendly. There is a recommended donation of $2 per person. Beverages and homemade fresh baked goods are available for purchase at nominal prices.
For further information, call Hank Weisman at (912) 786-6953.
