Noe Valley Ministry
San Francisco
December 16, 10:30am

Sweetwater Music Hall
Mill Valley
December 17, 10:30am

Little Folkies Family Band will be spreading holiday cheer by performing original songs, a collection of traditional folks songs for children and sweet sing-along arrangements of holiday tunes. I caught up with creator Irena Eide  to hear more about their upcoming concert and fantastic giveaway!

Can you tell me more about your upcoming concerts at Noe Valley Ministry and Sweetwater Music Hall? 

Little Folkies Family Band will be celebrating the upcoming holidays with two special shows featuring an acoustic trio led by Little Folkies creator and composer Irena Eide on guitar and vocals, Emily Mann on fiddle and banjo (Crooked Jades), and Danny Vitali on upright bass (Okee Dokee Brothers). The band will play the Little Folkies Fall Collection along with old-time arrangements of favorite holiday songs to sing along to. These concerts are perfect for families who want to get into the spirit of the season. Concerts will be held on December 16th at Sweetwater Music Hall in Milly Valley, and December 17th at Noe Valley Ministry in Noe Valley, both with doors at 10am and show at 10:30am.

You have a great giveaway for Ronnie’s Awesome List subscribers. Can you explain? 

Yes! We are gifting tickets to two lucky Ronnie's Awesome List subscribers 1 family package of 3 tickets for each show!

Why choose to perform bluegrass to children?

In this increasingly technological world we live in, we think it is so important to keep the tradition of acoustic folk, old-time and bluegrass music alive. A lot of the music out there that we hear on the radio is mostly electronic nowadays with drum machines, autotune and synthesizer, but at Little Folkies we try to nurture a love for organic, home-made guitar, fiddle and banjo music, connecting to our roots and providing an alternative to all the children's music out there that tends to be a bit cheesy and not so enjoyable for the grown-ups. 

Can you tell me about your journey to forming Little Folkies and the other musicians?

I started writing children's songs back in 2008 when I was teaching music at local preschools in Berkeley and San Francisco. I couldn't stand singing 'Wheels on the Bus' and 'Twinkle Twinkle' multiple times week and needed an alternative for myself to make the job sustainble and fun. I was listening a lot to Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie's folk songs for children which inspired me to write more folk songs based on the old folk, bluegrass and old-time melodies, with lyrics that appealed to the children's intellect but was simple and easy to learn and sing along to. All the songs are about nature, animals and things children care about and the teachers are all talented musicians and the recordings feature some of the best old-time and bluegrass musicians which makes both the recordings, concert and class experience fun and enriching for all ages. 

The Little Folkies repertoire is a collection of almost 80 songs, half originals and half traditional songs hand-picked to fit the style of the class. These are not your standard kids tunes, but rather we have dug deep into the cannon of old traditional folk songs for children and the songs feature are more obscure but sweet, and beautiful tunes that we think folks should know.  

The Little Folkies Family Band is a trio featuring me on guitar and vocals, Emily Mann (Crooked Jades) on fiddle and banjo, and Danny Vitali (Okee Dokee Brothers) on upright bass. The performance is a ton of fun, with lots of audience participation, interaction, movement and singing along.