Richmond, VA local news, arts, and events.

Some of our music writers give their picks for Richmond Folk Fest.

Folk music is the people’s music.

The Richmond Folk Festival provides a communal platform for styles that reflect the cultures of everyday people around the world, from hula and gospel to blues, quelbe, zydeco, Mandinka, Hindustani violin, and countless others. Right now, given the tragedy unfolding in the Middle East, the world could use some better vibes, and music has a way of cutting through our differences.

Our annual riverfront event can provide an opportunity to witness greatness, and this year’s lineup boasts world-renowned talent that has to be seen and heard to be believed. Here are acts that some of our regular music writers chose to highlight as safe bets worthy of your weekend scheduling.

Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band

After their high-energy performance at the Get Tight Lounge last May, Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band provide a welcome return. The band is from Southwest Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in West Africa where the Sahara Desert fades into tropical Savanna. It’s a multilingual, colonially defined country and French is the official language.

Their music combines the golden age of funky Afrobeat – think Fela Aníkúlápó Kuti and Sunny King Ade – with a strong admixture of their own Mande culture. From a Western perspective, it is a guitar, bass, and drums power trio with a charismatic frontman, Doso Ngoni, whose gruff vocals accompany sinuous improvisation via traditional African guitar. But put even more simply, it has a driving beat, mesmerizing guitar work, and you can definitely dance to it.

The hard-traveling band will be playing roughly 24 performances between mid-September and the end of October, including the Folk Festival. They put on an oversized show in a small indoor venue in May, which should scale easily to their high-visibility slots in the Folk Fest schedule. They are Friday’s closing act on the headliner Altria Stage, and alternate with Bio Ritmo as the penultimate and final acts at the Dominion Dance Pavilion. (Bio Ritmo plays last on Saturday night, Baba Commandant is the festival’s closing act on Sunday.) – Peter McElhinney

Baba Commandant and the Mandingo Band performs on Friday, Oct. 13 at the Altria Stage at 9 p.m. They perform on Saturday, Oct. 14 at the Dominion Energy Dance Pavilion at 7 p.m. And they perform on Sunday, Oct. 15 at the CarMax Stage at 2 p.m.

Cyril Neville with Omari Neville and the Fuel

It’s hard to go wrong with a Neville brother. Hailing from the first family of funk in New Orleans, Cyril is the Grammy-winning percussionist and singer who grew up playing with the Meters (he joined in 1975) and later, the Neville Brothers. His funky playing has been on records by the likes of Dr. John, Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Robbie Robertson and many others.

While he may be the youngest of the Neville brothers at age 75, that just means he’s got more energy to burn. No matter the style – blues, funk, soul, reggae, hip-hop, Caribbean – Cyril can still make it rain and his voice has only grown richer with age and experience. Richmond should show him a warm welcome worthy of the funky legend his namesake brings.

At the Richmond gig, he’ll also be sharing the stage with his son’s band, Omari Neville and the Fuel, which features Omari on drums and includes Daryl Johnson, the original Neville bassist. Watching these two generations take the stage together should be a privilege that combines some of the best elements of the Meters, Wild Tchoupitoulas, and Neville Brothers.– Brent Baldwin

Cyril Neville w/Omari Neville and the Fuel perform on Saturday, Oct. 14 at the Altria Stage at 8:30 p.m. They perform on Sunday, Oct. 15 a the Altria Stage at 5 p.m.

Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights

Few forms of music can make the heart sing like the quelbe style, a close relative of calypso music. The music features the sounds of flute, stringed instruments like guitar and banjo, and percussion from conga drums and a gourd rasp known as a “squash.” And few practitioners have done more to popularize the style than flutist Stanley Jacobs, who was born in Puerto Rico and raised on St. Croix. His group, Stanley & the Ten Sleepless Knights, formed in 1970, three decades before quelbe, also known as “scratch,” was enshrined as the official traditional music of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Jacobs went on to earn a National Heritage Fellowship, the United States’ highest honor in the folk arts, and his group is known internationally as the face of quelbe music. Greatness and good feelings in perfect harmony — that’s what attendees can expect. – Davy JonesStanley and the 10 Sleepless Knights perform on Saturday, Oct. 14 at Altria Stage at 2 p.m. They perform on Sunday, Oct. 15 at the Dominion Energy Dance Pavilion at 12 noon and at the CarMax Stage at 5 p.m.

Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper

Michael Cleveland is a legend in the making, and he’s still gaining speed. The International Bluegrass Music Association named him the “Fiddle Player of the Year” a whopping 12 times. With his group, Flamekeeper, he’s earned the IBMA’s “Instrumental Group of the Year” award seven times. Then there are the eight IBMA “Recorded Performance of the Year” distinctions and his 2020 Grammy win for the “Tall Fiddler” album. The accolade list goes on, and so does the music, thanks to Cleveland’s dedication to keeping blistering bluegrass alive and well, which was recognized last year when he was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship.

But even these accomplishments don’t hold a candle to the thrill of seeing Cleveland play — the enveloping effect of his power, precision and passion makes his group a must-see at this year’s festival. –D.J.

Michael Cleveland and the Flamekeeper perform on Saturday, Oct. 14 at the CoStar Stage at 2:45 p.m. and at the Altria Stage at 6 p.m. They perform on Sunday, Oct. 15 at the Altria Stage at 2 p.m.

Kala Ramnath

Speaking of speed and the violin, Kala Ramnath is years ahead of most previous masters of the Hindustani violin tradition. Ramnath was among the youngest ever to earn the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, India’s highest for performing artists. She will perform her dynamic and expressive playing in a trio format joined by tabla and the tanpur, a bowed drone instrument.

Fiddle fans, in particular, will want to catch her sets for crucial recontextualization of an instrument central to America’s musical traditions. The violin’s evolution went through India, thanks to an ancient instrument called the ravanahaththa, and during the 20th century, Ramnath’s aunt, Dr. N. Rajam, was central to the modern version’s reintroduction to Indian classical tradition.

Speaking of that continent-spanning history, Ramnath will contribute to Playing First Fiddle: Asia to the Americas, a special, hour-long Sunday performance where she’ll be joined by David Scrivner of State of the Ozarks String Band, Pascal Gemme of Genticorum (Québécois) and Valeri Glava of Cheres (Ukrainian). String heaven. –D.J.

Kala Ramnath performs on Friday, Oct. 13 at the CoStar Group Stage at 8:45 p.m. She performs on Saturday, Oct. 14 at the CoStar Group Stage at 12:45 p.m. And she performs on Sunday, Oct. 15 at the CarMax Stage at 1 p.m.

Wayne Henderson and Friends

If you didn’t know it, that unassuming, clean-picking, baseball cap-wearing guitarist you’re watching is actually a legendary luthier whose guitar-making skills have won him a National Heritage Fellowship, inspired an award-winning journalist to write a book devoted to his craftsmanship, and earned commissions from the likes of Gillian Welch and Eric Clapton. Wayne Henderson, who makes his home in Rugby, Virginia, builds some of the world’s most sought-after acoustic guitars, and those lucky enough to secure a spot on his production queue have been known to happily wait a decade for an instrument.

But Richmond Folk Festival attendees will get to see Henderson’s speedier side in action, as his quick, lyrical guitar work will be on display alongside fellow traditional musicians Randy Greer on mandolin, Josh Scott on bass, and Herb Key on rhythm guitar. --D.J.

Wayne Henderson and friends perform on Saturday, Oct. 14 at the Center for Cultural Vibrancy Virginia Folklife Stage at 2:15 p.m.

The Richmond Folk Festival will run from 6:30 to 10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 13, from 12 - 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14 and from 12 to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 15. Admission is free. For more information and a schedule of set times and locations, visit richmondfolkfestival.org.