A celebration takes root

Stacie Charbonneau

In the era of concert ticket prices that can hover around a thousand dollars, the idea of an all-day-long free music festival sounds like a gift

Which it is. Mattapoisett musician and entrepreneur Jeff Angeley, along with dozens of friends, will share their gifts on July 22 at six venues throughout downtown New Bedford for the inaugural Roots and Branches festival. No tickets necessary. The public is invited to gather, linger, mingle, stay, eat, drink, dance, and enjoy the collective sound of summer; in this case, thirty acoustic acts playing in six venues throughout a Saturday afternoon.

Angeley has organized festivals before. His former studio at Hatch Street was a destination for open mics, silent film screenings, music lessons, and holiday jams. He hosts occasional “Old-time fiddle sessions” that have become legendary in our South Coast community, with students and experts circling up to create (for lack of a better word) joy.

As an audience member of one of these fiddle sessions, you cannot help but smile. Those too: always free.

The Roots and Branches festival is the brainchild of Jeff Angeley and members of his band Pebbles of Rain –Samantha Babineau, Christian Camaro, and Steven Brum – who are co-organizing. The theme of the day is “everything acoustic by and for the people” and in this way the festival has organically grown to attract well-known musicians such as Putnam Murdock, Pumpkinhead Ted, Hank and Tom Poitras, and dozens more.

Roots and Branches was conceived after it was announced that the decades-long New Bedford Folk Festival would not take place in 2023. Angeley saw an opportunity. The goal is not to replace the Folk Festival, he says, and not even to adhere to an entirely “Folk Music” repertoire, but to create something new and vibrant that showcases a variety of traditional, indie, exploratory, rock, and experimental music in communal and inviting spaces.

Angeley says, “We wanted it to be a predominantly acoustic, but didn’t want to be tied only to folk music. We wanted to do more. Our festival has large circles of traditional music, and music from diverse communities.” Unlike the multi-day Folk Festival in years past, Roots and Branches will take place one afternoon and evening: July 22.

Specifically, the six venues will include the Pour Farm Tavern (bluegrass, jazz, rock), Destination Soups (singersongwriter, folk, acoustic), April Evans Beauty Bar (indie, minimalist, young musicians), Downtown New Bedford Stage (avant-garde music), and Wings Court (dance, audience participation, jam bands). The hope is that the music reflects the many ethnically and culturally diverse groups that reside in the Greater New Bedford area.

Of course, the word “free” is misleading. The musicians contribute their resources, and New Bedford businesses host the musicians. Logistics are daunting. Sponsors include The Symphony Music Shop, Fiber Optic Center, New Bedford Economic Development, and IndiGogo. Angeley says that Downtown New Bedford, Inc. has been particularly instrumental in offering support and services. In other words, this event, like most successful events, will be a true collaboration with a clear vision.

Full disclosure: I met Jeff when my daughter Charlotte was having an existential crisis over her violin. She loved playing, but the rigidity of classical music and youth orchestra stressed her out. She preferred to play by ear. Reading music was a chore, but playing by herself or with others was a delight. I didn’t want her to give up playing music, so I asked a friend, singer/ songwriter Andrea Alexander, for advice. Andrea had been taking lessons with Jeff at Hatch Street Studios in New Bedford, and she was oozing with joy over singing and playing with him. She played me a song she wrote about his moustache. Jeff was a perfect fit to teach Charlotte –he is in it for the joy.

Since that initial introduction about five years ago, Andrea Alexander released her selftitled country music album and continues to record her original songs in Nashville. Jeff started a band. And Charlotte, I’m happy to report, still plays. In fact, Charlotte and her young friends Penny and Silas Angeley, Leon Stanley, and Eric Kawolski make up the Youth String Band. They will play a variety of traditional and original tunes at the 1 p.m. slot at April Evans Beauty Bar.

Though it’s the first Roots and Branches festival, something tells me the festival will morph and grow in the coming years into something bigger than even its founders can envision. I asked Jeff what success would look like to him when he turns out the lights to go to bed on July 22, after months of envisioning, planning, meeting, and negotiating. His response was particularly positive. “Outside of the hard work of what we have to do right now,” he says, “I can’t imagine too many ways I won’t be happy with the outcome.”

And all we music fans have to do is show up.

Learn more at rootsandbranches.com.

Stacie Charbonneau Hess is a writer and our contributor. She lives in Mattapoisett with her family.