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The Team
Bob is a retired railroad engineer, union member and supporter of workers and their rights.
Mark was Treasurer for the Missouri Valley Folklife Society, and is the Registered Agent for Crosscurrents Culture. He is a folk programmer with Valerie Andruss on the KKFI 90.1 FM "Foolkiller Folk" radio show on Sunday morning, and is Co-host of the Classical Challenge on Wednesday night.
I discovered folk music in High School when my mother dragged me to a Joan Baez concert and I was hooked. A haunter of coffeehouses during my college years, after moving to KC I found both The Foolkiller and the Missouri Valley Folklife Society, produced concerts with them, and gradually worked my way into KKFI where I now help Bob, Diana, Kathy & Mark bring you Foolkiller Folk.
But wait - there's more! Also a big fan of live theater (which I studied in college) I became a supporter of Kansas City Actors Theater (I've seen every production they've ever done) and have been lucky enough to be able to combine theater and radio as KKFI's producer for KCART.
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Bob and Diana Suckiel on the “Foolkiller Folk” radio show:
We have been longtime supporters of folk music and we are performing musicians as well so the name of our program is Foolkiller Folk!
We are members of the old Foolkiller now known as CrossCurrents and we are involved in theater and local political activism.
We want to share the music we love with the rest of the community and share historical aspects of the music also. We want to help broaden our listeners’ knowledge of all kinds of folk music from all over the country, from the pre-war era to now.
What is CrossCurrents, formerly, Foolkillers? CrossCurrents is Kansas City’s Folk Arts Alliance. It is a nonprofit corporation in Kansas City which is dedicated to people creating their own culture. They produce concerts, plays, and community events, such as barn dances. This alliance encourages all interested people to get involved, no matter what level of talent they think they have. If you are looking for locally produced Folk music, Contra-dance, original acoustic music, women’s music, theatre or banjo-playing, join CrossCurrents.
By the way, if you wondered about “ Foolkillers” …
“We prefer crude vigor over polished banality. Remember, as one becomes enlightened, one KILLS the FOOL within.” — Jack Conroy.
January 29, 2023 Folk, Music
Celtic in the Heartland
Pretty much whenever Val does a calendar, she lists the Celtic sessions happening around Kansas City. And you might be wondering what, exactly, they’re about. Well, this Sunday, Jan 29th, special guests AND SO IT GOES are coming in around noon to play some session music and explain. They’ll also talk a bit about Celtic in the Heartland, a music collective in and around Kansas City brought together by their love of Celtic traditional music, and what you can expect at their benefit concert Feb 23 at the Kansas City Irish Center for Celtic in the Heartland's initiative to grow traditional Celtic music through outreach to young people and providing avenues to learn Celtic tunes and instrument education.
ListenJanuary 15, 2023 Folk, Music
M&V’s Mailbag – looking toward the Folk Music International Conference
Today we bring you a round of recently acquired music not necessarily new but new to us - some of the songs and albums that made it to the finals of the FAI’s best songs and albums list, mixed in with other things that we like. We bring you folk (American, English, Welsh) and blues, Quebecois, Celtic, and Pakistani. You’ll be hearing from Seamus Egan, Mick Hanley and Micheal O’Domhnaill, Shault featuring Yves Lambert, Tamsin Elliott, and Anais Mitchell, Aoife O’Donovan, Cliodhna Ni Aodain, Arooj Aftab & Anoushka Shankar, Marcus Mumford & Brandie Carlile, Will Allen, Niamh Dunne, Taj Mahal & Ry Cooder, Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, The Wilderness Yet, and Plu.
Read MoreDecember 18, 2022 Folk, Music
Mark & Val’s Christmas Show
We start with the Christmas story in carols, beginning with the trip to Bethlehem and ending with the arrival of the Three Kings. Along the way, Mary picks some cherries, Christ is born in Bethlehem, a star appears, the news is spread, the shepherds rejoice, and the Three Kings arrive. Then we drive the cold winter way through feasting, wassailing, hunting the wren, and feeding the poor, and wrap up wishing you a happy new year.
Read MoreDecember 4, 2022 Folk, Music
Contra Dance & Early Americana
It’s a split show today. Mark & Val kick off with English country dance music and Matt Kirby from the Lawrence Barn Dance Association joins us around noon to talk about contra dance – what it’s like and where you can find it locally, and what you can expect at the Yuletide Frolick Contra Dance Weekend the Lawrence Barn Dance Association is hosting December 9th & 10th.
And what is contra dance you might ask? Contra dance is a type of social dancing in lines with a caller. It has mixed origins from English country dance, Scottish country dance, and French dance styles in the 17th century, and is almost always danced to live music based on Irish, Scottish, old time, and French-Canadian folk tunes. You can find contra dances in nearly every state in the country (including Kansas and Missouri).
When we’re not talking contra dance and playing country dance music, we’ll be bringing you some early Americana from the 1920s and 30s that’s recently arrived in the house
Read MoreNovember 6, 2022 Folk, Music
English Folk Sampler
Tune in for a sampler of English folk. You'll be hearing selections from False Lights, Chumbawamba, Maddy Prior and the Girls, Bob Fox, Jackie Oats, Sandy Denny & the Strawbs, Davy Graham, Fotheringay, Kate Rusby, Lisa Knapp, Chris Wood, Ian Campbell Folk Group, Parchment, John Smith, Brass Monkey, Harp and a Monkey, Bellowhead, Ruth Notman, Janice Burns & Jon Doran, Kansa Bongo Man, and Tshala Muana released between 1963 and 2021.
Read MoreOctober 23, 2022 Folk, Music
Foolkiller Sampler
Three times a year the entire Foolkiller Folk crew gets together to sample our music for you. Today is one of those days (or would be except that Kathy has a minor case of Covid). But Bob & Diana and Mark and I will be there and we'll include some of Kathy's favorite styles as well.
And why do we do this? Because it's a fund drive week! We get together to volunteer our time, have some fun, and raise some money to keep the lights on, the equipment working, and ensure that KKFI stays on the air. And while we're here, we all donate to support our show and others and we hope that you'll join us! Foolkiller Folk has a goal of $1500 and 18 donors and we would like to give a big shout-out to the folks who have already donated through Valerie's FB fundraiser and have gotten us over 1/3 of the way there!
Read MoreOctober 9, 2022 Folk, Music
Mark & Val’s Mailbag
Today we're going around the world with mostly 2022 releases from artists with ties to Africa, France, the Czech Republic, Scandinavia, the Isle of Man, Scotland, England, Ireland, and the USA. You'll be hearing from Abel Selaocoe, Veronique Chalot, Pierre Bensusan, Radim Zeni & Leo Chern, the Siskin Quartet, Ruth Keggin & Rachel Hair, Fara, Hedgehog Pie, Andy Martyn, Bella Hardy, Tiernan Courell, Katie Grennan featuring John Doyle, The English Country Blues Band, The Reverand Gary Davis, Reggie Harris, and the Reed Island Rounders. Tune in and enjoy!
Read MoreSeptember 18, 2022 Folk, Music
Folk Music from France and the Canadian Diaspora
Today Mark and Val bring you some of our favorite French folk groups with music from Brittany, Normandy, and the Massif in France, as well as the music that crossed the Atlantic and ended up in Quebec in Canada (we’ll bring you Louisiana Cajun country music another time). Today you’ll be hearing from, Malicorne, Jean Blanchard & Eric Montbel, Pierre Bensusan, Tri Yann, Alan Stivell, Le Vent du Nord, Emmanuelle Parrenin, Ad Vielle Que Pourra, Yann Tiersen (one featuring Dominique A), Veronique Chalot, and the Clemencic Consort and Rene Clemencic (well, OK – Rene Clemencic is from Vienna, but the song is by Bernard de Ventadorn)
Read MoreSeptember 4, 2022 Folk, Music
Klezmer!
Mark and I figure that anyone who wants to hear Irish music now is at the Irish Fest. So today for your listening pleasure, we bring you klezmer!
And if you should be asking ‘What is klezmer?’, klezmer is a style of folk music that draws upon the traditions of Ashkenazi Jews (diaspora Jews who established communities along the Rhine in western Germany and northern France during the Middle Ages after facing persecution in the Roman Empire) and Eastern European folk traditions. The term “klezmer” combines the Hebrew words for a vessel (“kley”) and melody (“zemer”).
Read MoreAugust 21, 2022 Folk, Music
English Folk & Celtic Mailbag with Mark & Val
Greetings! Today we bring you a program of English Folk & Celtic that's recently arrived at the house, mostly released in 2022 but also including releases back as far as 2003. You'll hear from Andy Martyn; Paul Downes featuring Mick Ryan; Seamus Tansey; Jack the Lad; Hedgehog Pie; Bella Hardy; Goitse; The English Country Blues Band featuring Danny Stradling, Dave Peabody, John Kirkpatrick, and Nick Jones (the 2003 release); Sandra Kerr; The Unthanks; Heidi Talbot; Anna Smyrk; and The SiFiddlers. Tune in or catch us for two weeks in the Archives.
As usual, the show will be added to Spinatron later today and you can call in to 816.931.KKFI and talk to us while the music is playing
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