Folk Performance by Annie

Annie has performed as a folk performer all over this country and abroad. She is a singer songwriter as well as a collector of old songs from John Jacob Niles to Child's ballads. Whether she is singing lullabies about the love of a mother for her baby or upbeat songs that make you want to move your feet, Annie's powerful and clear voice fills every inch of the room.

Her latest folk recording, Mountain Side, features stunning vocals along with haunting harmonies by the talented voices of Tracy Grammer, Katryna and Nerissa Nields, Mary Witt and Claire Taylor.  This CD contains some of her favorite songs from Rise Up Singing.  Annie chose songs that reflected her love for the old timey banjo, her Patterson family ties to the US Civil War, and her commitment to social change.

One of the tracks ("L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore") was recently featured on a show focusing on coal country issues on West Virginia Public Broadcasting (the station that produces "Mountain Stage").   Listen now. 

From Annie..."My passion for roots-based music became especially clear when I discovered a love for the old-timey banjo as a college student at Carnegie Melon University in Pittsburgh in the late ‘70’s.  After college, I moved back to Philadelphia where I hosted a folk music radio program called "Homegrown" on the University of Pennsylvania’s radio station, WXPN (the home of The World Café). Doing that radio show exposed me to a wide variety of music within the folk genre.

Working as a waitress outside of Philadelphia at the iconic folk club, The Main Point, also opened my eyes to the rich and diverse world of folk music as well as going to festivals like the Brandywine Old Time Music Festival in Chadds Ford, PA where I was forever influenced by performers like Ola Belle Reed and Elizabeth Cotten. Artists like Emmy Lou Harris, June Tabor, Dan Hicks and Doc Watson have also influenced my musical style as well as jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald and Anita O’Day.

I believe that singing with each other is a birthright; a valuable inheritance that we are in danger of losing. As a child, when my family sang together I felt a powerful love that had a profound effect on me.  My hope is for others to feel a connection with that energy when I lead singing or perform and pass it on to their loved ones.”

If you wish to book Annie please email booking at riseupandsing.org.