FOLKLIFE

Folklife is one of those magical festivals where you'll see earthlings of all kinds together at one big dance party with music from all over the world. I love that the festival has always been free, making the joyous four-day Memorial Day weekend festival accessible to all. I think the first time I played Folklife it must have been over ten years ago with my college band Mystic Rising. Kore Ionz played the festival for many years following that, opening for Clinton Fearon and the Boogie Brown Band. This year marks the first time I'm doing the festival as Daniel Pak, and I think it was the best one to date. It's so cool to see your audience change over time. My biggest goal with music is to create positive music that speaks to 6-year-olds, 16-year-olds, 26-year-olds, and even 60-year-olds, and Folklife is one of those special festivals where that goal becomes a reality. Folklife released a recording of our whole set - check it out on SoundCloud.

BTW did you know that four of us in the band have Japanese roots? Noah's mom is a Tajima, Greg's mom is a Matsumoto, Masa is a Kobayashi, and my mom is a Yamamoto/Hamamura. So if you're a promoter/booking agent in Japan, bring us out for a homecoming tour! It would be DOPE!!!

Hillary Hubacker