April 26, 2010 American Folklife Center Announces 2010 Homegrown Concert Series

The American Folklife Center’s annual concert series returns with "Homegrown 2010: The Music of America" on Wednesday, April 28, at noon in the Coolidge Auditorium of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C. Kicking off the series is Balla Kouyaté from Massachusetts, a griot and virtuoso player of the balaphon, the ancient West African ancestor of the xylophone.

Produced by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress in cooperation with the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, the concerts are free and open to the public; no tickets are required.

The Homegrown concert series presents the very best of traditional music and dance from a variety of folk cultures thriving in the United States. Past concerts are also available as webcasts at www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/index.php.

HOMEGROWN 2010
All programs are from noon to 1 p.m. in the Coolidge Auditorium.

May 19: The New North Carolina Ramblers – old-time string band music

June 23: Marce Lacouture and Friends – Cajun music from Louisiana

July 14: Amuma Says No – traditional and contemporary Basque music from Idaho

Aug. 25: Steve Meisner and Friends – Milwaukee Slovenian-style polka from Wisconsin

Sept. 15: Marimba Linda Xelajú – Guatamalan marimba music from Maryland

Oct. 13: Not Too Bad Bluegrass Band – bluegrass from Indiana

Nov. 17: R. Carlos Nakai –American Indian flute music from Arizona.

Dec. 2: The Mcintosh County Shouters – Gullah-Geechee ring shout from Georgia.

The American Folklife Center was created by Congress in 1976 and placed at the Library of Congress to "preserve and present American folklife" through programs of research, documentation, archival preservation, reference service, live performance, exhibition, public programs and training. The center includes an archive which was established in the Library in 1928 and is now one of the largest collections of ethnographic material from the U.S. and around the world. For more information, visit www.loc.gov/folklife/.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a personalized website at myLOC.gov.