Does the Philadelphia Folk Festival Care About Disabled People?

So this is the question (OK, it's my question): Will the Philadelphia
Folk Festival have adequate handicapped parking this year? They used
to have ample parking for the disabled but over the years, they began
to give it away to "Friends of the Festival," people who pay big bucks
for nice perks, including space in what was the handicapped parking
lot. It is been an incremental move over the last few years, but last
year was the big grab and the Fest had very little space left for the
disabled. We were instead shipped to distant lots and bussed in with
everyone else. The busses are overcrowded and to get one requires
standing (yes, standing) in line for over an hour at the end of each
evening. Once on the bus, we are jostled and bumped by all the stuff
we and everyone else has to carry by hand for the day (chairs,
blankets, coolers (which is its own challenge)). For someone with
allodynia (pain on contact) and who walks with a cane, it was and is
quite painful. It was hellish, actually. I complained about it last
year to Festival staff and I wrote to the Folksong Society about it a
couple of weeks ago, but got no response. Do they care?

2012 Philadelphia Folk Festival Lineup!

Justin Townes Earle's forthcoming album, "Nothing's Ever Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now," Pre-Listen Review

Justin Townes Earle's newest album, "Nothing's Ever Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now," is due out tomorrow,  March 27.  While it has garnered some good reviews, I can't help being put off by the cover art, which does not exactly scream alt-country. It has a decidedly urban feel. Is that Earle on the cover (the art work is way too small for small devices) and what's with the goofy hat? But I guess I should listen for once to some childhood advice and withhold judgment until I actually hear the tunes and not judge the album (if you'll excuse the cliche) by its cover art.
I was late to  JTE fandom.  (JTE is the insiders' way to say his three-part name.)  He seemed to have arrived on the folk/alt-country scene a few years ago as the annointed one, as if his heritage and famous name guaranteed him --- demanded even --- attention and adoration. It's not his fault, mind you. He wasn't making any demands or acting the part of the privileged class of children of famous performers. It was, if anything, thrust on him.  But fair or not, I bristle when told that I have to love something our someone (which explains why I don't own any Apple products).Consequently, for several years, I actively avoided the younger Earle while the rest of the folk and alt-country world went gaga for him. Considering how small that world is, that was no easy feat.
I wasn't able to avoid him forever, though, and I happened to catch --- by accident --- a pre-release listen to Earle's 2010 album, "Harlem River Blues." I actually thought I was tuning into something else at the time, but when I heard the opening title track, I was hooked. Earle's songs on that album are smartly written with compelling lyrics and just the right amount of production to frame Earle's outstanding voice.  The title track,"Harlem River Blues," "One More Night in Brooklyn,"  and "Working for the MTA," are the standout tunes and, two years later, are still in my regular rotation of songs. It is, in my estimation, a brilliant album and quite an achievement for a man so young.  (Born in 1982, he is only a few years older than my daughter.)
My experience with "Harlem River Blues" is the reason for my trepidation over "Nothing's Ever Gonna Change," since it appears to be everything "Harlem River" is not. From a conceited title, to a trying-too-hard-to-be-hip cover, it appears to lack the maturity of "Harlem River." I can't see the guy on this new cover promising his wife that he would get  out of Brooklyn no matter the cost because the ceiling is falling in on the baby. I also can't see him finding the honor in the work-a-day family tradition of running trains for the MTA. The guy on the new cover is moving TO  Brooklyn if it will make him look hip to the chicks on the subway, even if the ceiling is falling in. He's actually moving into the apartment the Earle of "Harlem River" moved his family out of. And he would certainly never admit that his dad was an engineer on the subway where the cover art photo was taken.
Maybe --- hopefully --- my impressions of Justin Townes Earle's new album will be wrong and I'll find it just as smart and perfectly produced as "Harlem River."  We'll see.
And if I do like it, maybe I can learn to appreciate Apple products, too.

The Milk Carton Kids

The "Milk Carton Kids" in Folk Alley's Folk Alliance 2012 recordings are a new discovery for me. Their clean sound (two acoustic guitars, one picking the other strumming) and great harmonies beg comparison to early (and pre-over-produced) Simon & Garfunkel. There really IS a lot of great new music out there.
Check them out and let Folk Alley know you appreciate their service. I am worried that the low number of "likes" and sparse comments on their Folk Alliance 2012 pages will cause them to rethink the trouble it takes to record in remote locations like this.

Milk Carton Kids also has a website and, of course, a Facebook page. 

The LIttle Willies' new release, "For the Good Times"

Listening to the LIttle Willies' new release, "For the Good Times," via Folk Alley & NPR's free "First Listen" program on my lunch break.  I like it so far.  Covers of classic country tunes.  Norah Jones is always a treat anyway. Check it out .http://tinyurl.com/Willies-Good-TImes
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