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Contact: Bob Frahm Is Again the Festival Title Sponsor Albion, MI - March 1, 2007 - The Greater Albion Chamber of Commerce Chamber is proud to announce that Bob Frahm Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac will be the title sponsor of the 41st annual Festival of the Forks, September 21-23,, 2007. “We really appreciate the commitment that Frahm’s has made to the Festival over the past four years!”, said Chamber President Sue Marcos. “Because of their investment in our community, we have been able to provide lots of top-notch entertainment and our Festival is well on its way to becoming a signature event in southcentral Michigan,” she added. “Frahm’s sponsorship has served as a catalyst for other significant investments in the Festival for which we are also truly grateful.” Three years ago, The Chamber set out to improve the quality of the Festival, enhance the image of our community and thus foster economic growth by attracting visitors from out-of-town. We have made considerable progress! The number of out-of town visitors has increased by 12%. Downtown merchants report “repeat visits” by people who attended the Festival. We expect that trend to continue as we implement new marketing strategies this year and bring in more great entertainment!. The number of out-of town visitors has increased by 12%. We expect that trend to continue as we implement new marketing strategies this year. Contact: LEGEND The Band to Kick Off 41st Festival Albion, MI - May 3, 2007 - Things will start hopping in downtown Albion on Friday, September 21 when LEGEND The Band joins the Reunion Cruise-in, back by popular demand, to kick off the 41st annual Festival of the Forks. LEGEND specializes in ‘50s, ‘60s and ’70s era rock and roll music. They perform Motown, Doo-wop, soul and the high energy great rock and roll songs of the era. They urge you to get on your dancing shoes and be ready to participate in a dance contest or two as well! Poodle skirts, bobby socks and saddle shoes will add to the fun along with the classic cars from that era. The Cruise-In and Legend concert, will be followed by Fire Fabulon, a Detroit- based fire and circus performance troupe, specializing in untraditional sideshow acts and fire manipulation. Through the use of graceful fire fans, alluring fire chains, captivating fire staff and many more enticing fire acts, they expose the fascination and beauty of fire in a spellbinding performance. Think Art, Fun, Food, Music. Think ALBION! at the 41st annual Festival of the Forks sponsored by Bob Frahm Chevrolet, Buick, Pontiac. Contact: Nomo in Albion, Saturday, September 22, 2007 Albion, MI - August 14, 2007 - The Afro-beat-jazz ensemble, Nomo will headline the Saturday concert at the Victory Park band shell in Albion on Saturday, September 22, 2007 at 8 p.m. This performance is sponsored by The Andersons with Bob Frahm Chevrolet as the Main sponsor of the Festival of the forks. Founded by Elliot Bergman a couple of years ago, Nomo began ostensibly as a one-night studio experiment, but later proved to be something worth some serious time and energy. The result of that one night was Nomo’s first EP “New Tones”, which thrived on experimentation and improvising—two things which the band has learned to hone in on and hold at a high reverence. Shortly after their one-night studio excursion, Nomo began diligently practicing, injecting method into their conglomeration, concocting a sort of organized chaos. The result is a surfeit of rhythmic energy on stage that comes solely from the band’s ability to fully engage and be engaged by the music they’re creating. Their experimentation feeds on itself. “The songs exist in my head in a loose way—sometimes for days at a time—but all the parts come to life when each member takes it as their part,” says Bergman. “The band thrives on interlocking rhythms and melodic riffs that seem to loop themselves into a sort of repetitive groove. There’s something about repetition that is very powerful. But we’re also very lucky to have so many improvisers in the band as well to take their individual parts and make them unique every time. There’s just something very refreshing and liberating in playing a live show because you can take risks and say ‘I’m just gonna freak out on this part.” The band consists of 15-plus members who are, for a lot of reasons, all over the board (not to mention the world) musically right now. Because they are a multi-cultural concoction of gigging jazz musicians, world beat masters, music students and indie nerd-rockers — Bergman’s roster of players tends to rotate a bit. On average, the band sports no less than four percussionists (including Antoinette Kudoto, a female master drummer from Ghana) and a six-piece horn section and a variety of instrumentalists. Bergman loves the pliability of the ensemble, but sees Nomo’s future as much more focused. Contact: Albion, MI - August 28, 2007 - No fewer than 25 musical groups will be performing at this year’s Festival of the Forks September 21-23. All but the Saturday night headliner, sensational group NOMO, will be playing within the downtown area. NOMO will be at the Victory Park band shell on Saturday night, September 22.
Other groups are known across the region and include Latino Quatro y Celestina, Benny Poole, Dick Day’s Swing City, Saline Fiddlers, and the Jackson French Quarter Dixieland Band. Still others are bands which have a connection to Albion such as Coup Detroit with vocalist Julie Marcos; Singin’ Sam and All Stars with Terry Simmons, Bitter Sweet, and Ty Causey and Paul Chatman and the Ty Causey Band. This year Day at the Caribbean will be held next to the Albion Paint Spot and will feature some great reggae and Latino music as well as salsa dance lessons. The Festival tries to showcase bands from our area, but also invites bands from Chicago and Detroit which are known on the national scene. Most of them have a following which brings tourists and tourism dollars to our community and benefits many businesses like restaurants and gas stations. They also enrich the lives of our local citizens who might not otherwise have the opportunity to listen to music from around the world. Contact: “Forks Award Recipients” and the Grand Marshal Named Albion, MI - September 4, 2007 - The Festival of the Forks would like to announce this year's Forks Award Recipients and the Grand Marshal of the Festival. The Forks award and the title of Grand Marshal go to people who have served the Albion community for a number of years through hard work and dedication. Forks Award Recipients Joni Pinkham is the Program Coordinator at the Albion Recreation Department and has worked at Albion Public School for many years, first within the special education department at Crowell and then moving to the high school to work in the athletic office. Some of her community activities have been: Coaching Albion high school swimming, 7 years as advisor for the National Honor Society for Albion High school, and helping raise money for the Barb Shiery Scholarship fund. Joni is an active volunteer at various high school sporting events, and at the Festival of the Forks. Joni is also a life time member of the VFW ladies auxiliary, member of the Eastern Star, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Albion. Robert Dunklin is a former Employee of Harvard Industries that retired in 2001 after 30 years of employment. In 2002 he enrolled in Lansing Barber College and became a licensed Barber in 2003. Robert now enjoys his time as a part time Barber. Some of his community activities have been: President of the Albion Branch NAACP, serving of the Albion downtown marketing study group, men who cook and the Albion Health Care Alliance Ball Committee. Other committees Robert has served on include: Johnson day care center trustee, hospital ball committee, first annual barbecue in Victory Park and the committee to build Victory Park playground. Robert attends Lewis Chapel African Methodist Episcopal church and serves as chairman of the trustee board. Grand Marshal of the Festival of the Forks Ralph A Cram, MD is a family medicine practitioner who has delivered more than 3,000 babies during his career. In 1993 he was named family physician of the year by the Michigan Academy of Family Practice. Ralph’s Professional affiliations include the American Medical Association, Calhoun County Medical Society, Sheldon Hospital and a past member of the Trillium hospital board. Some of his community activities have been: Serving on the board of directors for Michigan Academy of Family Practice, serving as the chairman of the Maternal / Prenatal Committee, past member of the Albion Ambulance Board, past member of the Albion Volunteer Service Organization Board, member of the Albion Health & Wellness Action Team, member of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Committee of Albion. Some of his civic affiliations are Rotary Club of Albion (President 2004-2005), past member of the Exchange Club of Albion, and the Albion Chamber of Commerce. Contact: The Ty Causey Band with former Albionite Paul Chatman Albion, MI - September 4, 2007 - Ty Causey with former Albionite Paul Chatman and the Ty Causey Band will headline the Sunday concert at the Rieger Park in Albion on Sunday, September 23, 2007 at 5p.m. This performance is sponsored by The Andersons with Bob Frahm Chevrolet as the Main sponsor of the Festival of the forks. Rooted within a gospel tradition, exceptional singer/songwriter Ty Causey began his career as many great ones do, singing in the church. The Indiana native’s talent as well as word of his ability would quickly blossom affording him the opportunity to perform with such gospel music icons as James Cleveland, the Hawkins singers, Shirley Caesar and a host of other notable gospel artists. But because he was also heavily influenced by the sounds of Soul, R&B and Jazz his aspirations went beyond just Gospel. After stints in musical theater, performing on jingles and as lead vocalist with a promising vocal group Collaboration which opened for artists such as Glenn Jones, Silk, and Howard Hewett, Causey would ultimately shift his sites to a solo career that proved to be the right choice indeed. During this time of building a solid rep for himself as a singer /songwriter and becoming known as a local star back in is home Fort Wayne, Indiana, a series of fateful connections brought him to the attention of noted contemporary jazz saxophonist, Najee while there for a tour performance. So impressed with a demo of Causey’s, Najee quickly invited him to California to work on his next project. That project ultimately became Najee’s release, Morning Tenderness and Causey would not only be a featured vocalist on the CD, co-writing several of it’s tracks, but he would also fill that spot on the subsequent worldwide tour which had him sharing the stage with other artists such as Pieces Of A Dream, Norman Brown and more. This great opportunity introduced him to a number of eventual fans of his style and sound. Needless to say the enthusiastic response he received while on the tour with constant queries as to whether or when his own project would be available encouraged Causey upon his return home to set his sites on doing just that. Taking his time, fuelled by the desire to release a quality project, he tested the tricky waters of the music industry with a few EPs and then ultimately released his aptly titled full-length debut, N-TYSING in 2004. The winning collection that featured guest spots from saxophonist Najee and bassist Nelson Braxton of the jazz duo Braxton Brothers drew enthusiastic reviews and found its way to the play lists of radio programs in both the U.S and abroad. Even though the availability of this great release was unfortunately and abruptly cut short the resulting exposure gave notice to an engaging new voice with the timeless qualities and flair of renowned R&B/Soul singers moving many to still include N-Tysing on several “best of” lists for 2004. In addition to his own soulful performances which include performing at the legendary Bluenote Jazz Club in New York, Causey has opened and shared the stage with a number of noted R&B and jazz artists spanning from Smooth Jazz guitarist Peter White to the popular R&B group, The SOS Band continuing, in the process, to reel in a burgeoning number of fans. In 2005 Causey released his excellent follow-up project, Love Notes, which has also received worldwide acclaim with many tracks being played on various radio formats internationally. And expect more to follow. |
Many of the groups are local and include Ace and The Jaguars, Crimson Blue, Gorilla Funk Band, Legend, Who Dat? Blues Band, Wolverine Harmonica Club, Andrew Bishop, and the Albion College Jazz Ensemble. While some of the groups have been here for several years, The Festival tries to alternate from year to year. | EVENTS | FORMS | PRESS RELEASES | SPONSORS |
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