Folk Festival Mines Local Talent : Music: Top stars are only the icing on a program emphasizing San Diego-area artists.

Most music festivals follow one of two possible courses: either they feature well-known performers, with an added token sprinkling of local talent, or they are purposefully small-scale and present only regional acts. But when the 1991 San Diego Folk Heritage Festival takes place today on the grounds of the Winston School in Del Mar, it will achieve a rare balance of the two approaches.

The one-day, interdisciplinary affair begins at 10 a.m. with several simultaneous workshops and concerts, and concludes with an 8 p.m. concert featuring three legends of American folk music--Utah Phillips, Spider John Koerner and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot.

The appearance of well-established performers is not surprising, considering that this event is a latter-day offshoot of the San Diego Folk Festival coordinated for many years by area folk and old-time music impresario and record store owner Lou Curtiss.

But there is an important distinction to be made between the past and present models. According to Barbara Reid--secretary of the San Diego Folk Heritage board of directors and chairwoman of the festival--the musical stars are only the icing on a program that will emphasize local artists and organizations.

“What Lou did was really great,” Reid said Thursday, “because every year he brought these incredible lineups of musicians from all over the country. His motivation was to acquaint San Diegans with the great traditional musicians, and he spent a fortune giving the festival a real national flavor. We’re coming from a different perspective; we want this to reflect the diversity of local talent. So, while we’re excited to have Utah and Jack and John to close the event, we’re just as thrilled with the participation of people from this area.”

Financial considerations played at least a small part in the decision to maintain a regional focus; the SDFH organization is a nonprofit, self-sustaining group of enthusiasts that would be hard-pressed to produce a large-scale, comprehensive festival of top-draw artists. Proceeds from today’s event, in fact, will be plowed back into the SDFH coffers to underwrite projects and concerts throughout the year. But a confederate philosophy is the overriding impetus.

“What I like about this festival is that we’re gathering together all these groups who normally do music or folk-related activities on their own,” Reid said. “Organizations like the San Diego Folk Song Society and the North County Bluegrass Club and the various dance groups have their own memberships and independent agendas, but for one day they’ll all be mingling and sharing their interests with other people. And all the people working the festival are volunteers who are donating their time to make it as efficient and enjoyable as possible.”

Throughout the day, there will be children’s workshops, dance workshops, an outdoor hoot and jam area, teaching workshops, a “local concert” room where area musicians will perform, classic films and videos of folk artists (shown by Curtiss), and supper-time concerts--one of which will feature local folk legend Sam Hinton.

Undoubtedly, some will attend the festival just to catch the headliners, and justifiably so.

Phillips, Koerner, and Elliot are exemplars of the traditional American song, an art form whose perpetuation as an expression of common human concerns and values forms a virtually unbroken time-line from the days of rural America to the present. Trains, hobos, factories, class struggles, bucolic pleasures, down-home wit, coal mines, and politicians populate these tunes and provide a sense of this country’s past that is increasingly hard to come by in an era of rampant revisionism.

Elliot, in particular, is someone worth seeing as a reference point for those who believe that musical genres and regional styles are somehow spontaneously generated.

The eldest son of a prominent Jewish physician in Brooklyn, Elliot (born Elliot Charles Aznopoz 60 years ago) had already adopted his “cowboy” persona when, in 1951, he began an apprenticeship under folk hero Woody Guthrie. The relationship transformed Elliot, who became an important bearer of the folk torch.

After Guthrie was hospitalized with Huntington’s Disease, Elliot traveled to England, where his flat-picking style, derived from Carter Family guitar licks, influenced an emerging generation of British guitarists. Back in the States, Elliot had a profound effect on the folk movement of the early ‘60s, and especially on a young Bob Dylan, who didn’t officially acknowledge his debt to the man until he invited Elliot to take part in his traveling Rolling Thunder Revue in the mid-’70s.

If Elliot’s appearance makes this a can’t-miss triple-bill, Reid thinks the participatory nature of the festival has equal appeal.

“I read an article in The New York Times recently in which the writer claimed that people in this country don’t sing together anymore,” she said. “I disagree. It’s not that there’s a lack of group sing-alongs, but that they don’t attract much attention. We’re encouraging people to join in at our outdoor hoot and jam area, and I think you’ll hear a lot of enthusiastic singing there throughout the day.”

Lineup for the Folk Heritage Festival

The San Diego Folk Heritage Festival begins at 10 a.m. today and continues through an evening concert featuring Utah Phillips, Spider John Koerner, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, which starts at 8 p.m. The festival is being held at the Winston School, 215 Ninth Street, Del Mar.

Admission is $5 for day events (10 a.m.-5 p.m.). Outdoor supper concerts are free, and the evening triple-bill is $12. A day-evening ticket is $15. Children 12 and under are half-price; folk heritage members receive a $1 discount.

Drinks and snacks will be available. Feel free to bring picnic lunches and suppers. For information, call 436-4030.

Following is a complete list of activities and performances:

CHILDREN’S WORKSHOPS (Children 5 and under must be accompanied by an adult.)

10-11 a.m.--How to paint faces (Risa Goldberg; materials provided).

11:15-12:15--Children’s concert (Sam Hinton).

1-2 Storytelling (Martha Holloway).

2:15-3:15--Children’s sing-along (Linda LaGrange and Gareth Loy).

3:15-5--Crafts (Marty Tucker).

DANCE WORKSHOPS

10-11 a.m.--International line dancing (Kin Ho).

11:15-12:15--Los Californios (Spanish-California style, with Vykki Mende Grey and Los Californios Band).

12:30-1:30--Contra dancing (with Flies in the Ointment).

1:45-2:45--Scandinavian dancing (JoAnn Koppany).

3-4--English traditional dancing (Martha Wild, John Thoburn).

4:15-5:15--Contra dancing (with the Sawyers).

OUTDOOR HOOT & JAM AREA (Songsheets and handouts will be available.)

10-11 a.m.--Rootless Cosmopolitan Parasites.

11:15-12:15--North County Bluegrass Club.

12:30-1:30--Open jam.

1:45-2:45--Los Californios.

3-4--San Diego Shape Note Society.

4:15-5:15--San Diego Folk Song Society.

TEACHING WORKSHOPS 10-11 a.m.--What to look for in a violin (David Jones).

11:30-12:30--Folk guitar in the ‘90s (Vickie Cottle).

1-2--Hammer dulcimer workshop (Jim Hayes).

2:30-3:30--You’d like to jam, but don’t know where to begin (Walt Richards).

4-5--Movable guitar feast (Wayne Riker).

LOCAL CONCERT ROOM 10 a.m.--Jim Hayes.

10:30--W.B. Reid.

11--Ken Graydon, Phee Sherline.

11:30--Wayne Riker.

noon--Walt Richards.

12:30--Evy Nathan, Steve Kaufman.

1--Richard Glick.

1:30--Johnny Walker.

2--Vickie Cottle.

2:30--Carilyn) Vice.

3--Denise Logsdon.

3:30--Jim McAlexander.

4--Kate O’Malley, Chris Freeberg.

4:30--Livy Delafield.

FILMS & VIDEOS Classic country, folk and blues flicks shown by Lou Curtiss, including films of Doc Watson, Reverend Gary Davis, Lily Mae Ledford, Uncle Dave Macon and many others.

OUTDOOR FREE CONCERTS 5:30 p.m.--Jo Ann and Larry Sinclair.

6:10--Del Mar Creek String Band.

6:50--Sam Hinton.

EVENING CONCERTS 8 p.m.--Utah Phillips, Spider John Koerner and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot