Contact This Show
Follow on Facebook
The Team
Bob is a retired railroad engineer, union member and supporter of workers and their rights.
Mark is currently co-recording secretary for Missouri Valley Folklife Society, and Treasurer for Crosscurrents. He also is a folk programmer with Valerie Andruss on the KKFI 90.1 FM "Foolkiller Folk" radio show, and is the Chair of the Programming Committee of the station.
Following early exposure to folk music in a series of East Coast coffeehouses, Valerie has been a long time fan, promoter and concert producer of local, national and international Celtic and American Trad.
Share This Program
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.
Recent Episodes
June 28, 2020 Folk, Music
Foolkiller Folk Celebrates Black Music Month
Created by President Jimmy Carter in 1979 as African American Music Appreciation Month and re-established annually by Presidential proclamation, in addition to celebrating Gay Pride, the month of June now celebrates the African American musical influences that comprise an essential part of our nation’s treasured cultural heritage. So today Mark and Val bring you a selection of our favorite black folk musicians. You’ll be hearing Danny Cox, Sparky and Rhonda Rucker, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Leyla McCalla, Rhiannon Giddens, Our Native Daughters, Laura Love, Ben Harper and The Blind Boys of Alabama, Toshi Reagon, Josh White, Tracy Chapman, Kaia Kater, Ebony Hillbillies, and Lil Nas X (OK, technically he's a rapper, but he wrote a really good song that deserves a hearing). And speaking of Gay Pride, four of them happen to be gay as well.
ListenMay 31, 2020 Folk, Music
M&V – What We Saw at Folk Alliance, Day 4
Today we kick off our fourth (and final) 'What We Saw at Folk Alliance'
Read MoreMay 10, 2020 Folk, Music
Celebrating Mother’s Day
A collection of songs in honor of mothers. We start with the initiation of the mother-child relationship, and move on to the aspirations our mothers have for us and offer some maternal advice followed by mother’s advice ignored. We celebrate mother’s love and the value of a mother’s work, give you a few admonishments to attend to and care for our mothers and wrap up by honoring mothers in memory
Read MoreApril 19, 2020 Folk, Music
M&V – Who we heard at Folk Alliance: Late Night Day 2 + Day 3 🙂
Yes, indeed - Mark made it all the way through to KKFI's own Shapiro Brothers at 2:30 AM on Thursday. Valerie did not. So only Mark got to hear Ordinary Elephant, Jenna Mammina and Rolf Sturm, and Shapiro Brothers) in their private showcases, but we all get to hear them on Sunday! In addition, we'll bring you Skye Consort + Emma Bjorling, E-T-E, Sam Lee, Michael Winograd (performing at FAI as Michael Winograd and the Honorable Mentshn (a pickup band), Rising Appalachia, Trio Dhoore, VRI, Leyla McCalla, and Hawktail. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did.
Read MoreApril 5, 2020 Folk, Music
M&V – What we saw at Folk Alliance 2020, day 2
Hard to believe that Folk Alliance 2020 was barely two months ago - it feels like it's been years! Let us take you back to that brighter easier earlier time before gloves and masks and social isolation. You'll be listening to everyone who Mark & I heard together, including a number of international artists and folks we'd never heard before. We'll open with a couple of songs from Anne-Mari Kivimaki & Palomylly, and then move into Shane Hennessy, Slow Moving Clouds, Mary Gauthier, Iona Fyfe, Rahim Alhaj, Darling West, Kalyn Fay, Laura Cortese and the Dance Cards, Kaia Kater, and Changui Majadero.
Read MoreMarch 15, 2020 Folk, Music
Get Your Irish Music Here! (Irish Tune Types)
Today we bring you a study of Irish Tune types - jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas, marches, mazurkas (OK - that one started out in Poland, but mazurkas arrived in Britain and then Ireland by 1830), waltzes, planxtys, and slow airs.
Read MoreMarch 8, 2020 Folk, Music
M & V: Who We Saw at Folk Alliance, Volume 1
You can't beat the Folk Alliance Conference for in-depth immersion in new and traditional folk music from the US and arounnnd the world. We're always looking to catch a few of our favorites and hear folks we haven't heard before to bring back to share with you. This year we brought back four shows worth of music for you. This is the first one. We'll be bringing you Windbourne, Jamie Lynn Vessels, Mames Babegenush, Revelers, Nefesh Mountain, Zapammat, Bookshop Band, Emily Mae Winters, The Mammals, Skinner and T'witch, and Zoe Mulford.
As always, the show will be available for two weeks in the archive and the playlist will be available shortly after the show. 🙂
Read MoreJanuary 6, 2020 Folk, Music
Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone?
Welcome to Mark & Val’s annual tribute honoring Traditional/Folk musicians who have passed in the prior year.
Read MoreDecember 15, 2019 Folk, Music
Foolkiller Christmas, Part I
Foolkiller Christmas, Part I is focused mostly on the British Christmas tradition through songs from the 13th century to the present day. We start with the Christmas story in carols, beginning with the Annunciation and ending with ‘… a ship came sailing in…’ (presumably up the Thames) from Bethlehem (no idea how that carol came about, if you do, please share J). Along the way, Mary picks some cherries, Christ is born in Bethlehem, a star appears, the shepherds rejoice, the drummer boy(s) perform, and the Three Kings arrive. Then we segue into the more secular traditions: feasting, wassailing, hunting the wren, and feeding the poor. We’ve got carols from both ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Christmas, a couple hymns, a few spirituals, a bit of Americana, some songs in French & Gaelic, and the prologue from Hamlet.
Read MoreNovember 24, 2019 Folk, Music
Foolkiller Folk • Nov. 24, 2019
Programmers of "Foolkiller Folk" want to share the music they love with the rest of the community and share historical aspects of the music also. They 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.
Read More