OUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BOROUGH OF KINGS
DEEP ROOTS: Singer and storyteller Anna J Witiuk (right) will be among the artists returning for a virtual version of the annual Roots n’
Ruckus at the Jalopy Theatre starting Dec. 9. Photo by Linday Giles McWilliams
COURIER LIFE, DECEMBER 4-10, 2020 33
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
The beloved annual folk music festival
Roots n’ Ruckus will return to
Red Hook’s Jalopy Theatre in virtual
form this year, when dozens of banjoplaying
performers will strum their
twangy tunes across a packed fourday
lineup starting on Dec. 9.
Roots n’ Ruckus: Stay the Folk
Home Edition will be live-streamed
online this year, bringing back a
popular tradition for the fest’s local
fanbase while including artists from
further afi eld, according to an organizer.
“Digital festivals have been great
to us, in that we’re not constrained
by distance,” said Feral Foster. “People
from other parts of the country
we couldn’t have before are sending
sets.”
The event, which was born from a
weekly folk session in 2005, evolved
into an annual roots music extravaganza
in 2015, where big-name entertainers
share the stage with the upand
comers of the local folk scene,
said Foster.
“It’s always been a place where
I’ll have some more established artists
play and I’ll put them as the same
lineups as people who are just getting
their start,” he said. “It’s a great form
of cross-pollination for artists.”
This year’s remote sets include
a wide range of performers, such as
15-year-old Brooklyn banjo player
Nora Brown, blues singer-songwriter
Queen Esther, singer-storyteller
Anna J Witiuk, and a live puppet
MUSIC
show by The Boxcutter Collective.
The bash will be broadcast on Jalopy’s
Facebook and YouTube channels,
with about eight to 10 sets every
evening at about 15-to-20 minutes
each.
Most shows will be sent in remotely,
but the organizers will record
one artist per night from inside
the Columbia Street venue.
The Jalopy Theatre quickly
adapted to the COVID-19 realities by
hosting regular performances online
since in March, and has moved many
of its mainstays to the digital world
this year — including a Cajun festival
in May and the Brooklyn Folk Festival
in October.
Like every year, Roots n’ Ruckus is
free, but Foster encouraged attendees
to make donations to support the Jalopy
after a year of pandemic-related
revenue losses.
“This year has been very hard on
performance spaces like ours. We’ve
been trying to fi nd ways to keep the
lights on,” he said. “This is part of
our big drive at the end of the year to
keep things going into 2021.”
Roots reloaded
Red Hook folk
festival returns
via virtual shows
“Roots n’ Ruckus Fest: Stay the Folk
Home Edition” at the Jalopy Theatre
and School of Music. Online at the Jalopy’s
Facebook and YouTube pages.
Dec. 9-12, sets start at 8 pm. Free, donations
encouraged.