This weekend, the Creative Alliance in East Baltimore will host the 3rd annual Crankie Fest. No, this is not a meeting of people who are in a bad mood. Traditional Crankies are panoramas created on scrolls that are cranked by hand. These panoramas help tell stories that performers sing while the scrolls are being unwound.
The creators of Crankie Fest are Anna Roberts-Gevalt and Elizabeth LaPrelle. They are musicians who perform traditional, old time music with crankies they have created. They have also invited more modern musical artists to get into the crankie groove as well, and on Friday and Saturday nights, artists from across the country and across the musical spectrum will join them at the Creative Alliance.
Two of those artists are WYPR’s Aaron Henkin, and his collaborator on the series Out of the Blocks, Wendell Patrick.
