Holly Tannen

From CFI

Mendocino's own Mistress of Folklore...

Holly Tannen will sing songs of the earth's creatures from dinosaurs to bonobos, and satirical songs of Mendocino life at the Earth Day 2008 – A Sustainable World for Peace Celebration to be held on April 19th. 8Pm, $20 donation at the Saturday Afternoon Clubhouse, 107 So. Oak, Ukiah (a portion of the proceeds will be used to Adopt a Bonobo through the Lola Ya Bonobo Sanctuary)

Holly discovered traditional folk songs, as a teenager in New York City, in the early '60s. While a student at the University of California at Berkeley, she began adapting old-time fiddle tunes to the mountain dulcimer. In the 1970s she accompanied English feminist folksinger Frankie Armstrong on two American tours. She lived and performed in England for five years. Holly returned to Berkeley to conduct workshops in English seasonal and ritual songs. She earned her master's degree studying with folklorist Alan Dundes, and wrote her thesis on traditional songs told as stories among Scotland's Traveling People. In 1988 Holly moved to Mendocino to teach anthropology at the College of the Redwoods.

She began writing satirical songs about Mendocino life, including Suburban Shaman, The Mendo Daisy Chain, Lily of the Net, and Brownies for Breakfast. Holly has a new CD, Crazy Laughter: Seven Years With The Spirit of Arthur Rimbaud, and two earlier CDs, Between the Worlds and Rime Of The Ancient Matriarch.

Produced by Cloud Forest Institute and the Mendocino Environmental Center

Entertainment and Speakers throughout the day at Alex Thomas Plaza