SF Site News » Filk

Obituary: Chris Croughton

Steven H Silver — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 03:47:55 +0000

British fan Chris “Keris” Croughton was killed in an head-on collision on November 10. Keris was active in the filk community from 1991, often running sound boards. In addition, Keris was a musician and a founding member of the n’Early Music Consort. Keris was inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2007.

Pegasus Award Winners

Steven H Silver — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 11:43:18 +0000

The Pegasus Awards were presented this weekend at Ohio Valley Filk Fest. The winners, selected by popular vote of filk fandom include the following.

Best Romantic Song: “As I Am,” by Heather Dale
Best Bad-Ass Song: “Evil Laugh,” by Seanan McGuire
Best Writer/Composer: S. J. Tucker
Best Performer: Amy McNally
Best Classic Filk Song: “The Phoenix,” by Julia Ecklar
Best Filk Song: “Wicked Girls,” by Seanan McGuire

For more information…

Pegasus Nominees

Steven H Silver — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 18:12:39 +0000

The nominees for the 2011 Pegasus Awards, presented for excellence in filk, have been announced. All ballots are due by October 17, 2011 and the awards will be presented at Ohio Valley Filk Fest, the weekend of October 21-23.

Best Filk Song

”Die Puppen (The Dolls),” by Eva Van Daele-Hunt
”Joan,” by Heather Dale and Ben Deschamps
”Paper Worlds- Talis Kimberley
”Somebody Will,” by Ada Palmer
”Wicked Girls,” by -Seanan McGuire

Best Classic Filk Song

”Gone Filkin’,” by Tom Jeffers
”Little Fuzzy Animals,” by Frank Hayes
”Nessie, Come Up,” by Dr. Jane Robinson
”The Phoenix,” by Julia Ecklar
”Storm Dancing,” by Tom Smith

Best Performer

Amy McNally
Playing Rapunzel
Stone Dragons
Toyboat
Tricky Pixie

Best Writer/Composer

Barry Childs-Helton
Dr. Mary Crowell
Phil Mills
Ben Newman
S. J. Tucker

Best Badass Song

”Crispy Danish,” by Andrew Ross
”Evil Eyeball,” by Sibylle Machat
”Evil Laugh,” by Seanan McGuire
”My Brother, My Enemy,” by Ada Palmer
”Tough Titty Cupcakes,” by Betsy Tinney

Best Romantic Song

”As I Am,” by Heather Dale
”One Small Boat,” by Marilisa Valtazanou
”Rain On Berlin,” by Eva Van Daele-Hunt
”Starlight & Saxophone,” by Tom Smith
”Too Many Years,” by Bill Roper

For more information…

Pegasus Nominations Open

Steven H Silver — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:04:44 +0000

The form to nominate for this year’s Pegasus Awards for filk is now on-line. Nominations close on July 25. People can nominate up to five works/people in five categories. The winners will be announced at Ohio Valley Filk Fest.

To nominate, or for more information…

For the results of the brainstorming poll…

Bethancourt House Fire

Steven H Silver — Tue, 10 May 2011 16:20:00 +0000

Filk and folk singer Joe Bethancourt and his wife Cher suffered a house-destroying fire on April 30. The Bethancourts’ pets and musical instruments were rescued from the fire, but nearly everything else was destroyed. AMAZ Radio is sponsoring a benefit concert and raising funds to help the Bethancourts.

For more information or to donate…

Obituary: Marty Burke

Steven H Silver — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 01:24:44 +0000

Filker Marty Burke died on April 4. Burke ~~was a member of the Dorsai Irregulars and~~ wrote the songs “Rise and Strike for Dorsai” and “Drink to the Health of the Dorsai,” which won the Pegasus Award for Best Dorsai Song in 2007. Burke served as a president of the Michigan Astrological Research Society and was a student of Catholic Christian Rosicrucian mysticism. Burke and his wife, Diana Gallagher, were Super Secret Guests as GAFilk in 2003.

Obituary: Ann Cecil

Steven H Silver — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:20:13 +0000

Pittsburgh fan Ann Cecil (b.1940) died on January 11, a couple of days after entering hospice. Cecil was active in convention-running, having co-founded PARSEC, Confluence, SouthWrites, and the Pittsburgh Filk Underwriting Initiative. She was the Listener Guest at OVFF 12 and Fan Guest of Honor at Off-Key Contraption in 1994.

Elise Matthesen Suffers Minor Stroke

Steven H Silver — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 02:47:45 +0000

Minneapolis fan Elise Matthesen suffered a minor stroke on January 4 while visiting Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden. After suffering a sudden impairment of vision accompanied by a strong and lateralized headache, Teresa called an ambulance. Matthesen is recuperating and appears as if she will make a full recovery.

For more information…

Pegasus Awards

Steven H Silver — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 17:21:09 +0000

The Pegasus Awards were presented at the Ohio Valley Filk Festival (OVFF) the weekend of October 22-24. The winners are listed below.

Best Filk Song: “A Thousand Ships,” by Ju Honisch / Katy Dröge-Macdonald
Best Classic Filk Song: “Fire In The Sky,” by Jordin Kare
Best Performer: S. J. Tucker
Best Writer/Composer: Heather Dale
Best Mad Science Song: “What A Woman’s For,” by Seanan McGuire
Best Magic Song: “Where The Magic Is Real,” by Paul Kwinn

For more information…

Pegasus Nominations

Steven H Silver — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 17:15:22 +0000

The Pegasus Award nominations have been announced by Erica Neely. The Pegasus Awards are given out for excellence in filk and are presented at OVFF the weekend of October 22 in Worthington, Ohio. Anyone with an interest in filk may vote for the awards.

Best Song

“Gabriel Gray’s Song,” by Batya Wittenberg
“Here Be Cartographers,” by Ben Newman
“Small Designs,” by Barry Childs-Helton
“Take It Back,” by Kathleen Sloan
“A Thousand Ships,” by Katy Droege-Macdonald and Juliane Honisch

Best Classic Song

“Dragon For Sale,” by Ben Newman
“Fire in the Sky,” by Jordin Kare
“I Am Stardust,” by Lloyd Landa
“Ship of Stone,” by Don Simpson
“Will Ye Come Back Home?,” by Mike Richards

Best Performer

Play It With Moxie
Playing Rapunzel
S.J. Tucker
Sassafrass
Toyboat

Best Writer/Composer

Barry Childs-Helton
Heather Dale
W. Randy Hoffman
S.J. Tucker
Batya Wittenberg

Best Magic Song

“Die Puppen [The Dolls],” by Eva Van Daele-Hunt
“Like Their Feet Have Wings,” by Gwen Knighton
“Magnus Retail,” by Mary Crowell
“Pharmakoia,” by W. Randy Hoffman
“Where the Magic is Real,” by Paul Kwinn

Best Mad Science Song

“Dawn of the Day Before the Time of the Land the Lost Dinosaurs Forgot to Remember,” by Rand Bellavia/Adam English
“Evil Overlords Anonymous,” by Jessica Stevenson/Alasdair Prett
“Mad Science Cafe,” by Brooke Lunderville
“Mad Scientist’s Love Song,” by Gary McGath
“What a Woman’s For,” by Seanan McGuire

For more information…

Filk Hall of Fame Inductees

Steven H Silver — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 12:37:46 +0000

Three new members were added to the Filk Hall of Fame at FilkOntario. The Filk Hall of Fame honors performers and organizers. It was founded in 1995. Nominees are suggested by members of fandom and the winners are selected by a panel of judges from a variety of filk conventions.

The 2010 inductees are

Mike Whitaker
Kristoph Klover
Jan DiMasi

For more information…

Baen-mas Song Contest

Steven H Silver — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 19:21:33 +0000

Baen is sponsoring a contest asking readers to re-write holiday songs to refer to Baen authors, books, or characters. They ask that all songs be PG-13 or better and that entries include the title of the original song. The winner will have his/her entry rendered by the staff at Baen Books, with video posted online. Judges are the editors of Baen Books. Entries will be judged on originality, sophisticated word play (okay, puns) and overall fun factor. The contest runs from now through mid-January.

To enter, send e-mail to info@baen.com

For more information…

Pegasus Winners

Steven H Silver — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:40:43 +0000

This year’s Pegasus Award winners for achievement in filk were announced at OVFF over the weekend.

Best Filk Song: “The Wreck of the Crash of the Easthill Mining Disaster,” by Brooke Lunderville
Best Classic Filk Song: “Still Catch the Tide,” by Talis Kimberley
Best Performer: Heather Dale / Ben Deschamps
Best Writer/Composer: Vixy & Tony
A Little Bit Country: “Stray Dog Man,” by Bill Sutton
A Little Bit Rock and Roll: “Six-String Love,” by Vixy & Tony

For more information…

Pegasus Nominations

Steven H Silver — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 22:09:43 +0000

The ballot for this year’s Pegasus Awards, given for Best Filk, has been announced. Ballots must be received no later than midnight on October 19. The winners will be announced at Ohio Valley Filk Fest (OVFF) the weekend of October 22-25.

Best Filk Song

“Gabriel Gray’s Song,” by Batya Wittenberg
“One Small Boat,” by Marilisa Valtazanou
“Take It Back,” by Kathleen Sloan
“A Thousand Ships,” by Katy Dröge-Macdonald and Ju Honisch
“The Wreck of the Crash of the Easthill Mining Disaster,” by Brooke Lunderville

Best Classic Filk Song

“Chess,” by Juanita Coulson
“Mad Scientist’s Love Song,” by Gary McGath
“Spiral Dance,” by Dr. Anne Prather
“Starship & Haiku,” by Kathy Mar
“Still Catch the Tide,” by Talis Kimberley

Best Performer

Heather Dale and Ben Deschamps
Amy McNally
S. J. Tucker
Tim & Annie Walker
Wild Mercy

Best Writer/Composer

Dr. Mary Crowell
Katy Dröge-Macdonald and Juliane Honisch
Brooke Lunderville
Steve Savitzky
Vixy & Tony

A Little Bit Country

“Feygrass,” by Scott Snyder
“I Can’t Get Over You, So…,” by Nate Bucklin
“Redneck Pagan,” by Larry Kirby
“Stray Dog Man,” by Bill Sutton
“Truck Drivin’ Vampire,” by Michael Longcor

A Little Bit Rock and Roll

“Come to Mordor,” by Jeff Bohnhoff
“Das Über Tuber,” by Rand Bellavia / Adam English
“Fluorine Atom,” by Paul Estin
“Howl at the Moon,” by Tim & Annie Walker
“Six-String Love,” by Vixy & Tony

For more information…

Obituary: Wrai Ballard

Steven H Silver — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:24:09 +0000

Seattle fan Wrai Ballard (b.1924) died on July 24. Ballard was an active contributor to FAPA and official editor and contributor to SAPS. Lee Jacobs created a series of pulp-style adventures in SAPS entitled “The Ballard Chronicles,” starring a fictionalized version of Ballard. In the early 1950s, Ballard refused to publish Jacobs’s essay “The Influence of Science Fiction on Modern American Filk Music,” which inadvertantly coined the term filk because of fear that its bawdy nature could get SAPS in trouble with post office censors. Ballard thereafter promoted the typo. Ballard has been suffering from cancer.

Song Contest for Kids

Steven H Silver — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:07:21 +0000

Wizards of the Coast has announced a contest for kids between the ages of 8 and 14 to write lyrics set to the story of the Green Dragon as presented in the book A Practical Guide to Dragons. The contest runs until August 9, 2009. The winner and their associated library will receive a collection of books from Wizards of the Coast.

For more information…

Obituary: John Caspell

Steven H Silver — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:28:49 +0000

Filker John Caspell (b.1951) died on May 2. Caspell, who was also known as “Dr. Filk,” performed with Brooke Lunderville and both hailed from British Columbia. Caspell and Lunderville performed many original filksongs, including “The Space Lasers May Already Have Penetrated My Tinfoil Helmet (Despite My Extensive Field Research),” “Gone Fission,” and “Blind Date on the Island of Dr. Moreau.”

Filk Hall of Fame Inductees

Steven H Silver — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 02:29:28 +0000

Erica Neely and Frank Hayes were inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame at FilkOntario on April 4, 2009.

For more information…