About folkefire

I moved to Portland in 2005 and joined a rock band that had a song promoted by a major retail chain. We won a battle of the bands at the Crystal Ballroom, recorded an album, and opened for acclaimed acts including Everclear, Seven Mary Three and personal favorites Trances Arc and Low vs Diamond. Our apex was a national tour spanning 36 states. I also started a band called The Fenbi International Superstars and it enjoyed critical praise from local publications (and publicans). folkefire is the latest incantation of my musical and personal intellectual interests!

FOLKE- adjective
ethnic – of nations or races of mankind or their customs, dress, food etc; ethnic groups/dances
vulgar – of the common or ordinary people; the vulgar tongue/language (sounds like me!!!)

One of my passions has always been the folk music from Ireland, Britain, America, the Balkans – and virtually everywhere else. I try to respect those traditions with my own music, while hearkening to my favorite Brit pop rockers and down-in-the-mouth PNW creative artists. When traveling I like to discover local folk music – like these amazing artists from Albania. One of my favorite events as a kid was the Northwest FolkLife Festival in Seattle.

FIRE
FIRE is an acronym for a popular term in the personal finance movement that stands for – Financial Independence, Retire Early. I started learning about FIRE several years ago and it dawned on me that using its principles, I could retire someday despite a delayed career due to the Great Recession combined with youthful transgressions! In fact, I dedicate one page of my website to describing my favorite learnings. I realized that with my current earnings, combined with yearly ROTH IRA contributions ($5500) invested in a low cost index fund (VTI) until I’m 70, that I could actually save a million dollars. How cool would it be to build up my musical repertoire over time, and earn enough to max out my ROTH IRA each year in the process? And if I can earn a million dollars from my mediocre music then certainly anyone can – they just need a few simple tools. folkefire exists to highlight my personal journey and to keep that spark alive for both my creative outlet and my personal finance goals, while building community and sharing with others.

Contact
Booking – theneocomgroup@gmail.com
BlueSky – @folkefire.bsky.social

Blog
folkefire.com/babayaga