Fanny Rose Ballantine-Himberg hopes the Kauai Old Time Gathering will spark new interest in a genre that has been defined as pre-World War II rural American acoustic music.
The event’s producer, an accomplished cellist, said she became interested in old-time music when she started doing mainland tours with punk bands a decade ago. “That connected me with other musicians, and I was drawn to the old-time community because it’s very social, it allows for inclusivity,” she said. “Old-time music is usually performed by ensembles, and dancing is encouraged.”
Held at Kokee Lodge, the inaugural Kauai Old Time Gathering last year featured musicians who were friends of Ballantine-Himberg; her dad, Jim Ballantine; and creative director Matt Morelock, an avid performer of old-time music who moved to Moloaa, Kauai, from Knoxville, Tenn., eight years ago.
“We planned it on short notice, and it was very informal,” Ballantine-Himberg said. “About 100 people came. We spent a day learning tunes together, square dancing and jamming with fiddles, banjos and guitars. It was a really fun time, and everyone learned a lot. We knew we had to do it again.”
This year’s event has been expanded to three days and three venues at Kokee State Park. Hale Puna, the nonprofit that Ballantine-Himberg and her dad founded, is the presenting sponsor.
Grammy-award winner Joel Savoy will be there with the Cajun Country Revival, playing folk tunes that originated in the bayou areas of southwest Louisiana. Los Kauaianos, from the south and west sides of the island, specializes in kachi-kachi, lively Puerto Rican/Hawaiian dance music that was born in the early 1900s when the first Puerto Ricans arrived in the islands to work on sugar plantations.
Nick Castillo, who hails from Waimea on Kauai, is known for leo kiekie, falsetto singing that is rooted in ancient Hawaiian chanting and influenced by the falsetto singing tradition in Veracruz, Mexico.
Also delighting attendees will be square-dance and honky-tonk country music, the sounds of the steel guitar and slack-key guitar and songs using instruments seldom heard in Hawaii such as the mandolin, accordion and the pakini (washtub) bass. Although more than a dozen top-notch musical acts from Hawaii and the mainland will appear in 20- to 30-minute sets, the Kauai Old Time Gathering is based on interactive experiences, not performances.
“Cajun, Hawaiian, kachi-kachi and old-time American bands are going to perform, jam together and teach everyone else,” Ballantine-Himberg said. “The idea is for the artists to not only put on a good show but to teach the audience how to make the same kind of music in small-group workshops.
“Topics include fiddle, banjo, ukulele, guitar, steel guitar, leo kiekie and harmony singing. Old-time tunes typically follow a similar pattern, so it’ll be easy for beginners to learn them.”
In keeping with the old-time theme, there will also be classes on basketry, blacksmithing and mending and making clothes. The Kauai Old Time Gathering is all about sharing skills, talents and knowledge.
“Music in particular brings people together,” Ballantine-Himberg said. “We invite everyone to come with their acoustic instruments, joyful spirit and desire to learn more about the old ways of playing music, singing, dancing and living.”
KAUAI OLD TIME GATHERING
>> Where: Kokee Lodge, Camp Sloggett and the Civilian Conservation Corps Camp, Kokee State Park, Kauai
>> When: Nov. 15-18
>> Admission: Purchase the $25 single-day pass at Kokee Lodge to attend workshops and performances, or reserve a three-day pass for $75. Lodging and meal plans available at an additional cost.
>> Phone: 808-631-3455
>> Email: kauaioldtime@gmail.com
>> Website: kauaioldtime.com
>> Notes: Park at Kokee Lodge; there will be free shuttle service to the other sites.
EVENT HIGHLIGHTS
Attendees who don’t have the meal plan can prepare meals on their own at the campsite and bunkhouses or eat at Kokee Lodge, which will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday (enjoy live music there from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.).
The schedule is subject to change; check the website for updates.
Nov. 15
>> 6 to 8 p.m.: Welcome dinner and jam session, Civilian Conservation Corps Camp. Meal plan required for dinner, but all ticket holders are welcome to meet the artists.
Nov. 16
>> 8 a.m.-noon: Invasive species removal activity in Kokee State Park with Kokee Resource Conservation Program. Meet at the CCC Camp.
CCC Camp
>> 10 a.m.-noon: “Heroes of Old Time Music” presentation
>> Noon-2 p.m.:Variety show; repeats from 4 to 6 p.m.
>> 2 to 4 p.m.:Music workshops and “History of Cajun Music” presentation
Camp Sloggett
>> 7-11 p.m.: Square dance party
Nov. 17
CCC Camp
>> 8 a.m.-4 p.m.: Music workshops
>> 10 a.m.-noon: Music performances
>> 10 a.m.-noon: Grove Farm Museum presentation
>> Noon-2 p.m.: “Hawaiian Music of the Royal Era” presentation
>> 2 to 4 p.m.: “Hawaiian Language and Place Names” presentation (tentative)
>> 4 to 6 p.m.: Music performances
Camp Sloggett
>> 7-11 p.m.: Kachi-kachi dance party
Nov. 18
CCC Camp
>> 9-11 a.m.: Brunch ($25 for those who don’t have the meal plan), including live music
Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.
