Swamp Dogg

When a cattle rancher from Montana is feeling the funk from a band of 18 go-go music experts from Washington, it's apparent that the Richmond Folk Festival has done its job. Read More

Singer and producer Jerry Williams explains why he became Swamp Dogg. "As Swamp Dogg, I could sing about heroin, whiskey, love, the president — I'd sing anything and you'd say, 'Oh well, that's Swamp Dogg' — and that was the reason for the Dogg, because your dog can almost get away with anything. He might [crap] on the rug and you'll might send him outside. But then he'll start whining and look at you with those big blue eyes and you'll let him in. And he'll do it again. ... until you get trained." Read More

Swamp Dogg's appearance at the Richmond Folk Festival will be a true homecoming for an iconoclast who the New Yorker recently called "one of soul music's greatest cult artists," a pioneer who was the first in-house African-American producer at Atlantic Records, a songwriter (and father of five girls) who's celebrated for his feminist soul ballads, a provocative performer who hasn't set foot on stage in his home state in decades. Read More

His face is probably familiar because of his frequent presence onstage with Alison Krauss & Union Station. Read More