Useful Folk Train Related Sites:

Folk Train History:

  • 24 April 2001 visit to the Old Nag’s Head 
  • August 2001 Spain
  • 22 January 2002  Ireland
  • September 2005 North Derbyshire and South Yorkshire
  • October 2006 Sheffield Folk Festival
  • June 2007 The Day after the big flood. The Folk Train was cancelled.
  • October 2007 New Mills Town Hall
  • October 2008 The Sheffield Folk Festival   
  • Wessex Folk Festival
  •  ...more

Artist's Sites:

 

Folk Train History

Manchester - Hathersage Folk Train

Train departs Manchester Piccadilly at 1145 calling at all stations from Reddish North to Hathersage. The band plays at the Little John Hotel, Hathersage. Return on the 1432 train from Hathersage, calling at all the same stations, except Strines, arriving at Manchester Piccadilly at 1532.

Saturday 11 April 2009 with the Rainy City Bluegrass Band
 Traditional bluegrass at its best.

Saturday 2 May 2009 with The Duffers
Lively traditional music plus the Crown Rapper Sword dancers.

Saturday 23 May 2009 community rail month event with Dom Colins
Excellent comedy solo performer

Saturday 6 June 2009 with Blue Heart
Country, blues and bluegrass

Saturday 20 June 2009 with Nelson Peach
Traditional and American folk music.

Train Schedules (coming)

Events, train schedules and Travel Information by City:

Recommended:   Folk Music Books

     

    History Of Folk Music

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Past News:

No Folktrain to Nashville

Train to Nashville? You can't get there from here.

Unfortunately and ironically, you can't take a passenger train to Nashville, home of more train songs than just about anywhere else.

To address our Nation's preposterous transportation policy, in which all other modes of transportatyion are heavily subsidized yet Amtrak alone is expected to be "profitable," please consider joining the National Association of Railroad Passengers (http://www.narprail.org).

Instead of the FolkTrain,  we'll be concentrating our efforts on ROOTS ON THE RAILS - The Transcontinental Roots Music Festival March 10-14. visit www.rootsontherails.com for details

Amtrak does offer "service" to Nashville, in the form of buses that connect to its trains from two directions - Atlanta and Jefforsonville, KY (Louisville).

From the Northeast:

Amtrak train #19(south)/20(north), The Crescent

  • Lv. NY 2:25 pm
  • Lv. Philadelphia 4:35 pm
  • Lv. Wilmington, DE 4:57 pm
  • Lv. Baltimore 5:59 pm
  • Lv. Washington, DC 7:10 pm
  • Ar. Atlanta 8:58 am
  • Lv. Atlanta (bus - leaves from train station) 12:01 pm
  • Ar. Nashville 5:30 pm

returning, lv. Nashville 10 am, arrive Atlanta 5:00 pm,

  • Lv. Atlanta 8:06 pm
  • Ar. DC 10:00 am
  • Ar. Baltimore 10:40 am
  • Ar. Wilmingotn 11:32 am
  • Ar. Philadelphia 12:25 pm
  • Ar. New York 2:12 pm
These trains connect to service from Buffalo, Boston, Hartford, etc.

From the Midwest:

Amtrak train #850(south)/851(north), The Kentucky Cardinal

  • Lv. Chicago 7:55 pm
  • Ar. Louisville 7:40 am
  • Lv. Louisville (bus - leave from train station) 9:00 am
  • Ar. Nashville 12:45 pm

returning, lv. Nashville 1:40 pm, ar. Louisvile 6:00pm

  • Lv. Louisville 9:20 pm
  • Ar. Chicago 8:37 a.m.
These trains connect to service from LA, San Francisco, Denver, Omaha, Portland, Seattle, etc.

References:

Charlie Hunter (Conductor) is a well-known folk music manager, who, with Carol Young, has run Young/Hunter Management www.younghunter.com for the last eleven years, managing clients such as Chris Smither, Richard Shindell, Peter Mulvey, Cry Cry Cry and others. Along with the late R. Gilad Schamess he is also the founder of Trains of Thought, which conducted long-distance writing retreats on North American trains. He has traveled the cross-Canada rail route eleven times.

Alan Rowoth (Engineer) is the Godfather of Folk on the Internet. He owns the folkmusic.org website and is listmom to the folkmusic and FolkBiz lists on the net. During the summer, you'll often find him sitting under a Big Orange Tarp - http://www.bigorangetarp.com .

Sarah Ovenden (Director of On-Board Services & Creature Comforts) is a long-time facilitator with Trains of Thought and a big fan of John Gorka, Fred Eaglesmith and sundry others. She knows her way around a train.

I'm Interested in coming along on Folktrain to San Diego. Please add my email address to your info list!


Click to subscribe to Folktrain  http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/Folktrain2004

If you have specific questions, send me an old fashioned email message.

You can visit the Amtrak (http://www.amtrak.com) for more information and photos of the Amtrak trains and service.

Folk Costumes for special events and performances (adult costumes here)

Travel Health Tips    Travel Health Insurance

Regional Music and Info : Paris France   Dubai   Rome-Italy

webmaster@folktrain.com   (c)2009 (update in progress)
 Latest News:

Folk Music News: 10 Mar 2010 at 12:13pm
News about folk music, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

• The freak folkie, elfin princess, hippie-dippy harpist Newsom has inspired no shortage of labels. On her latest album, she turns them all inside out.
Joanna Newsom, the Changeling 6 Mar 2010 at 10:00pm

• Full reviews of recent concerts: nytimes.com/music. AKRON/FAMILY (Wednesday) This trio's scrap-folk is built on the oxymoronic notion of tough fragility, and listening to it feels a little bit like driving a pickup with three good wheels: hold on tight and hope everything sticks together. Expect an entrancing mishmash of found sound, improvisation and old-fashioned folk-emoting. With Warpaint and Please the Trees. At 9 p.m., Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 North Sixth Street, Brooklyn , (718) 48...
Pop and Rock Listings 25 Feb 2010 at 10:00pm

• Ms. McGarrigle, with her sister Anna, captivated critics and fellow musicians with warm harmonies and a style that drew on the personalized approach of 1970s singer-songwriters.
Kate McGarrigle, Canadian Singer and Songwriter, Dies at 63 19 Jan 2010 at 10:00pm

• A singer, songwriter and fiddle player soon to release an album of cover songs, talks about the struggle to forge her musical identity.
Finding Her Voice, and Her Way in the World 2 Jan 2010 at 10:00pm

• Mr. Hart was a founding member of Steeleye Span, one of the first British folk-rock groups.
Tim Hart, Folk-Rock Musician, Dies at 61 30 Dec 2009 at 10:00pm

Folk Music News: 10 Mar 2010 at 11:10am
FeedZilla.com: Top 20 news stories about music / folk. Add free content to your site and blog with FeedZilla.com's free widgets.

• Protest songs have a rich history in American folk music. While folk songs cover topics ranging from historical events to songs about food and cars. However, the songs that stick with us the longest are generally songs about overcoming struggle; the moment... (source: About) - RSS news feeds and Widgets on Feedzilla.com
Classic Protest Songs (source: About) 10 Mar 2010 at 4:00am

• Civil Rights may have been won without these songs, but there's something about the uniting power of music that empowers communities to make change. The songs on this list don't even begin to capture the hundreds of tunes that have been written about civil... (source: About) - RSS news feeds and Widgets on Feedzilla.com
Civil Rights Songs (source: About) 10 Mar 2010 at 4:00am

• Open Mic Nights are a great way of meeting other musicians, scoping your local community of folksingers, and just staying in good form as a performer. In New York, I found open mic nights to be an essential part of getting acquainted with the scene and lea... (source: About) - News widgets and RSS feeds on Feedzilla.com
NYC Open Mics (source: About) 10 Mar 2010 at 4:00am

• When looking at the very big picture, the truth is that American folk music stretches way back to the very beginnings of the country, and recording the date the first official folk song was penned would be next to impossible. What is possible is to talk ab... (source: About) - RSS feeds and Feed widget on Feedzilla.com
Folk Music Timeline (source: About) 10 Mar 2010 at 4:00am

• The Harmonica is, aside from the human voice and your own two hands, the most portable instrument used in traditional American folk music. Most harmonicas are small enough that they fit perfectly in any pocket. (source: About) - RSS widgets and RSS feeds on Feedzilla.com
Harmonica Background (source: About) 10 Mar 2010 at 4:00am