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What's a long-time folkie, a "pre-boomer" more at home with a century-old mandolin than an iMac, doing on the web? Well, I hope to give you an introduction to my music, a current performance calendar, a few bits of bio, an opportunity to write me or even book me, plus the odd morsel of miscellany. Oddly enough, one of the things I've always loved about folk music, in the 40-plus years I've been playing it, is its intimacy the lack of distance between performer and audience. Here, in the paradoxical one-on-one closeness of our impersonal electronic community, we can talk directly.
I play folk music American traditional, Celtic instrumental, a bit of Yiddish, blues, bluegrass, old timey, and contemporary. With varying degrees of expertise, I handle guitar, banjo, mandolins of all sizes, Autoharp, English concertina, harmonica, bass (acoustic and electric), Dobro, Appalachian dulcimer, ukulele, and other odd instruments from tiple to kalimba. I perform in a variety of groups, and coordinate performances by many of my musical friends. I've participated in over a dozen recordings, played many a concert, coffeehouse and regional festival. I put together theme programs, historical and contemporary, and work frequently with special audiences kids, seniors, etc. I work mostly out of Rochester NY, occasionally elsewhere in the Northeast. I love choruses, sing-arounds, swapping songs, backing up singers, and late-night jams.
Here are some of the specific things I can offer:
- Love and Knishes
- A trio with award-winning singer-songwriter Bonnie Abrams and Eastman-trained violinist Glenna Chance, presenting music from the Jewish tradition in Yiddish and English, as well as Bonnie's original material. MP3's of the group's music included!
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- Innisfree
- A quartet specializing in Celtic instrumental music on mandolin, accordian, hammered dulcimer, guitar, and concertina. MP3's of the group's music included!
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- Barbara Jablonski & Allen Hopkins
- Performing programs of American traditional music in schools, libraries, museums and historical societies.
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- Special Programs
- Musical programs from our past and our present; songs for special audiences kids, seniors, et al.
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- Flint Hill Folk
- The resident folk musicians at Genesee Country Village, who perform 19th century music in period costume on restored instruments. MP3's of the group's music included!
For info, updates, and booking call (585) 482-6062 or e-mail allen@allenhopkins.org.
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- WEB SITE FEATURES include MP3 samples of Love & Knishes, Innisfree, and Flint Hill Folk on their pages; also there's a Booking Form if you'd like to set up a gig thanx as always to Webmeister Pete Hopkins for his expertise...
- Ya know, I'm going to be so busy in the next few weeks, I may not get to update this site as I should but I'm always sure to send out weekly e-mails and nearly-monthly postcards with my schedule info; you can get in on the fun by clicking on the Booking Page and signing up...
- Doing some gigs with my storytelling partner Fran Carlisi-Paxson of frantastictales; we played Livingston History Days at the Livingston County Historical Museum June 14, and we'll be at Spencerport Canal Days July 25, specializing in songs and stores from Erie Canal days...
- Contacted by Karen DeAngelo of the Ballston Public Library, for an Erie Canal Songs program as part of the New York 400 statewide celebration of Henry Hudson's voyage; I'll be playing at Ballston Lake on July 11...
- Let me continue to recommend Old Time Music Nights at the Greece Baptist Church, 1320 Long Pond Road, the first Sunday of every month (they're skipping July, but will be back August 2): Pastor Steve Gretz and his wife Leslie Lee, fine performers in their own right, host a friendly, participatory evening I'll be joining them for a "community concert" down in Cheshire July 17...
- Parade Time: I'll be playing on the Chamber of Commerce float in the Penfield Independence Day parade July 4, doing music from our past; thanx to Linanne Conroy from Penfield Rec for setting it up...
- Just sprang for a Fishman SoloAmp PA from my ol' buddy Dave Stutzman at Stutzman's Guitar Center; it's a compact, self-contained system designed for a single performer, though I may be expanding it a bit with a sub-mixer as I use for some upcoming gigs new toys are always fun!...
- Area farmers' markets are starting to book for the season (the proliferation of these venues, which often feature music, was a big local story in '08); I played the Monroe Village Farmers' Market June 24, and the Chili Farmers' Market June 27 (I'll be back there August 22) upcoming are the West Side Farmers' Market July 7, the South Wedge Farmers' Market July 23 and August 13, the Perry Farmers' Market September 5, and the Waterloo Farmers' Market July 16 (and every 3rd Thursday through the summer) w/Jim Clare...
- A good deal of library work this year as well a well-attended April 19 concert at the Wayland Free Library with Innisfree, Erie Canal Songs for the Ballston Community Library July 11 and the Lockport Public Library July 29, and three programs of Civil War Songs at Southern Tier libraries July 21, organized by Kim Lindsay of the
Wimodaughsian Library in Canisteo...
- As community activities chair of Golden Link, Rochester's folk music club, I'll be organizing and MC-ing a few performances by GL members in the days ahead: July 23 at the South Wedge Farmers' Market, August 2 at the Park Avenue Arts Festival, and August 9 at the Brockport Summer Arts Festival I'm also leading the club's sing-around on July 28...
- Though the bad economy has left the Flint Hill Folk with a fairly sparse season at Genesee Country Village (our first event was the War of 1812 Encampment June 27), others have stepped into the breach, including the City of Rochester: as part of their 175th Birthday Celebration, we'll be strolling Main Street before the July 4 fireworks, and giving a concert at Corn Hill Landing July 24...
- Still available in the wondrous world of cyberspace are some neat pictures of my June 28, 2008 performance for Historic Brighton, the town's historical society; you can click here to see me explaining the wonders of the Autoharp to a junior member of the audience at the reconstructed Fort Tryon trading post in Ellison Park...
- My friend and frequent singing partner Jim Clare brought his friend Mark Teachey from North Carolina around to visit recently, and Mark shot a little video of me playing the old country song 'Way Down Town in my basement; click here if you'd like to see it...
- Jim and I have been doing quite a bit of music together; with Cathy McGrath, he and I host Tunes By the Tracks at the Clifton Springs Library on the third Wednesday of every month, and we play the Waterloo Farmer's Market the day after, on the third Thursday and the three of us provided the music for Homestead Days school programs at Granger Homestead in Canandaigua June 3-4...
- The (relatively) new CD by Bonnie Abrams and me, Welcome To My Mid-Life Crisis, recorded at Dynamic Recording Studios, is a lot of fun, with Bonnie's original songs and my harmonies and instrumentation; give me a call or an e-mail and I'll tell you more...
- I've listed several of my Special Programs at Performers And Programs, a website used by libraries in New York State to identify and schedule programs; during the months ahead, I'll be performing at libraries in Wayland, Lockport, Canisteo, Hornell, and Howard NY...
- I'm also listing my programs with the Rochester Music Coalition and Kids Out And About, as well as on this site; hope to be doing some more kids' programming in the near future...
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Calendar
- Updated July 2, 2009
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- Thursday, July 2*
- Presbyterian Home
- 256 Thurston Rd., 3 P.M., seniors' program
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- Saturday, July 4
- Penfield Independence Day Parade
- Penfield HS to Baird Rd. Community Ctr., 2-4 P.M., on Chamber of Commerce float
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- Saturday, July 4
- Rochester 175th Birthday Celebration
- Main St., downtown, 7-8:30 P.M., pre-fireworks strolling music w/Flint Hill Folk
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- Monday, July 6*
- Perinton Park Manor
- 7 Chardonnay Dr., Fairport, 2 P.M., seniors' program
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- Tuesday, July 7*
- Unity St. Mary's Campus
- 79 Genesee St., 2 P.M., residents' social hour
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- Tuesday, July 7
- West Side Farmers' Market
- 831 Genesee St., 4-6 P.M., St. Monica's parking lot
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- Friday, July 10*
- Ashton Place
- 190 Ashton Ct., Clifton Springs, 2 P.M., seniors' program
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- Saturday, July 11
- Ballston Lake Celebration
- Good Times Restaurant, 175 Lake Rd., Ballston Lake NY, time TBA, Erie Canal Songs program, part of New York 400 statewide events
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- Tuesday, July 14*
- St. Ann's Home
- 1500 Portland Ave.,7:15 P.M., seniors' program in Bishop Kearney Auditorium
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- Wednesday, July 15*
- Hamlet at Park Ridge
- 1471 Long Pond Rd., 2 P.M., seniors' program
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- Wednesday, July 15
- Tunes At the Tracks
- Clifton Springs Library, 4 Railroad Ave., 7-9 P.M., w/Jim Clare, Cathy McGrath, Bristol Mountain Bluegrass featured
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- Thursday, July 16
- Waterloo Farmers' Market
- 365 E. Main St., Waterloo, 4-6 P.M., w/Jim Clare
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- Friday, July 17
- Cheshire Community Church Concert
- 4315 Rt. 21 S., Cheshire, 7 P.M., w/Leslie Lee & Steve Gretz
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- Saturday, July 18*
- Crimson Ridge Meadows
- 3 Treeline Dr., 1:30 P.M., seniors' program
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- Saturday, July 18
- Genesee Country Village Civil War Re-Enactment
- 1410 Flint Hill Rd., Mumford, 8-11 P.M., re-enactors' ball w/Flint Hill Folk
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- Tuesday, July 21
- Southern Tier Libraries
- Hornell Public Library, 64 Genesee St., Hornell, 2 P.M.; Wimodaughsian Free Library, 19 W. Main St., Canisteo, 4 P.M.; Howard Public Library, 3607 Cty. Rt. 70-A, Hornell, 7 P.M.; Civil War Songs programs
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- Thursday, July 23
- South Wedge Farmers' Market
- Alexander St. at S. Clinton Ave., 4-7 P.M., w/Golden Link performers
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- Friday, July 24
- Rochester 175th Birthday Concert
- Corn Hill Landing, Exchange Blvd. downtown, 6-8 P.M., w/Flint Hill Folk
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- Saturday, July 25
- Spencerport Canal Days
- Depot & Canal Museum, 16 East Ave., Spencerport, 1-4 P.M., Erie Canal songs & stories w/Fran Carlisi-Paxson
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- Tuesday, July 28
- Golden Link Sing-Around
- 12 Corners Presbyterian Ch., 1200 S. Winton Rd., 7:30-10 P.M., leading open sing
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- Wednesday, July 29
- Lockport Public Library
- 23 East Ave., Lockport, 7 P.M., Erie Canal Songs program
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- Saturday, August 1*
- Pinehurst Senior Living
- 1000 Pine Tr., Honeoye Falls, 12 NOON, "music fest" w/Dick Leschorn et. al.
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Addresses are Rochester, NY unless otherwise indicated.
* denotes a private function.
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Also on AllenHopkins.org:
- Musical Resume
- Where I've been and what I've done
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- Comments & Clippings
- A scrapbook of snapshots and snap judgments, views and reviews
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- Recordings
- Albums I'm on, and where to get 'em
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- Booking Form
- If you're interested in booking me, go here
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