2023 Klamath Folk Festival
Saturday, August 26, 2023
3-10 pm @ The Ross Ragland Theater
Klamath Falls, OR
Doors open at 2pm
$25 General Admission . $5 Kids (ages 12 & under) . $45 Box Seats (includes two drink tickets)
Main Stage Line-up
J. Michael Harter & "Yellowstone's" Forrie Smith
MAIN STAGE: 9:00pm
Iconic actor, stuntman, and working cowboy, Forrie J. Smith, has teamed with Arizona born recording artist and songwriter J. Michael Harter to put their unique brand on country and western music. Their first release, “Well Oiled Machine,” is sweeping the nation, touching the hearts of our heartland and shining a light on the folks that keep America running.
Signed to Nashville’s Broken Bow Records in 2002, J. Michael Harter’s debut single, “Hard Call to Make” spent 15 weeks on “Billboard’s” “Hot Country Songs” charts. As part of a sibling trio, The Harters, he enjoyed back to back releases on “Billboard’s” “Top 50.” Mike has toured in support of Alan Jackson, Clint Black, Dwight Yoakam, shared stages with Blake Shelton and Sara Evans, and performed as part of Superbowl L and LIV events. In 2021, Harter was named TCMA “Songwriter of the Year” and formed his own artist launching pad and label group, Lockett Meadow.
Born in Helena, Montana, Forrie J. Smith is known to many today as “Lloyd Pierce” on the wildly popular television series “Yellowstone.” A real-life cowboy with years of actual rodeo experience and stunt work under his belt, Forrie has worked as an actor on numerous film and television projects, including: “Desperado,” “Tombstone,” and “Better Call Saul.” When not acting, Forrie calls New Mexico home, where he’s an active rancher.
FELLOW PYNINS
Main Stage: 8:00pm
Fellow Pynins is an Ashland, Oregon based award winning contemporary folk duo with a keen and bucolic sense of vocal harmony and song craft anchored in the balladry tradition. The duo consists of Dani Aubert (claw-hammer banjo, bouzouki) and solo artist Ian George (guitar, mandolin). They are songwriters, collectors, and interpreters.
Since 2016, the duo has toured the US incessantly and gathered significant traction in the UK/Ireland, gracing festivals such as Cambridge Folk Festival, Wilderness Festival, Omagh Bluegrass Festival, and selling out legs of their most recent UK/Ireland tour. In 2019, Fellow Pynins was named by NPR’s Bob Boilen as one of the best “Tiny Desk” submissions. The same year, they won the Minnesota Bluegrass & Old-Time duet competition. In 2020/2021, the duo relocated from Minneapolis, MN back to Oregon to build (learning every step of the way) two tiny houses on wheels for their family, in which they now live.
In May 2022, Fellow Pynins released their sophomore album “Lady Mondegreen” while officially showcasing at the 2022 Folk Alliance International Conference in Kansas City. “Lady Mondegreen,” recorded live over 10 days in December 2021 at their off-grid tiny house dwelling in the mountains of Oregon, is an ode to their love and reverence for traditional music. All songs on the album were learned person-to-person from various individuals they met whistle traveling with their two children over a 10 month song collecting trip through Europe/UK/Ireland in their transformed camper van, “Big Blue.” The album showcases their “strong vocal harmonies” (-“Smithsonian Folkways”), instrumental prowess, and adventurous arrangements quintessential to the Fellow Pynins rustic sound. The duo’s sophomore album has received remarkably positive reviews. “Songlines” states “’Lady Mondegreen’ is an exquisitely harmonized treasure trove of imaginatively reinterpreted, historically significant acoustic music,” while Paul McGee of “Lonesome Highway” stated it as one of the best folk albums of the year. There is additional instrumentation on the album from players from Ireland, London, NYC, Boston, and Minneapolis.