Member Since: 12/2/2005
Band Website: westsidefolk.org
Band Members: West Side Folk is an all-volunteer organization founded by Bob McWilliams in 1995. The current President is Jim Kurtz, but Bob continues to be the artistic director and the person in charge of booking all West Side Folk concerts.
Influences: Bob McWilliams, who does the booking for West Side Folk, has a long background in jazz, bluegrass and (broadly defined) folk music. His many years attending (and emceeing at) the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield turned him on to a wide range of folk, bluegrass and celtic music. Winfield is where he discovered the likes of Doc Watson, Hot Rize, Norman Blake, De Dannen and many other great bands and musicians. His interest in contemporary singer-songwriters was greatly enhanced when he hosted a house concert in 1994 for the then little-known Dar Williams. The next year, he attended the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival and the Folk Alliance conference, where he discovered a whole new world of amazing contemporary folk artists. Bob regularly attends such festivals as Falcon Ridge, Rocky Mountain Folk Festival, Rockygrass, the Milwaukee Irish Fest and of course Winfield, as well as the Folk Alliance conference, always looking for great new music to bring to Lawrence, Kansas
Type of Label: None