Guests of Honor: The Faithful Sidekicks
The Faithful Sidekicks are an award-winning acoustic (mostly) comedic filk/geek folk-pop duo who write and perform original catchy songs about SF/F, fandoms, gaming, and technology. They’ve been delighting audiences at conventions, clubs, and coffeehouses around the US, Canada and even Germany since 2014. They have won multiple Pegasus awards (including Best Performer in 2021) and were recently inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame.
The Faithful Sidekicks combine Eric‘s music writing skills (he’s a founding member of February Album Writing Month) with Jen‘s improv comedy skills to create songs about their nerdy passions with a ton of heart and a side of snark. Whether it’s an indie-rock song about board games, an upbeat pop song about Han Solo, or a love song written in SQL Code, the Sidekicks have something fun for every kind of fan. The Faithful Sidekicks are based in Oregon City, OR (the end of the Oregon Trail) and have released six CDs including their latest, an EP of nerdy Holiday songs called Santa Is A Redshirt.
Toastmaster: Jen Midkiff
Jen Midkiff stumbled into filk over 20 years ago when her new Wild Mercy bandmates, filk greats Barry and Sally Childs-Helton, invited the band to play at a convention. A lifelong science-fiction and fantasy fan as well as a music educator, Jen fell in love with the filk community and its warm welcome.
She has three full-length albums and several EPs, a mix of filk and other musical genres that she loves. She has two amazing kiddos, two neurotic dogs, two goofy cats, and one very patient husband. Jen can be found most evenings buried under dogs, with either yarn and needles/hooks, or a good book, in her hands.
Honored Listener: Jim Hayter
Jim was first exposed to F&SF literature when the family moved to NJ in the mid 60s and the kid across the street lent him a bunch of books to read. This led to a lifelong preference for S&SF books and a way too large library. The next step was discovering S&SF artwork at a gallery in Boston in the early 80s. This also led to a lifelong habit of collecting S&SF art; currently at about 370 pieces. Then came volunteering at MarCon starting around 2000. This led to staffing the art show, helping to run the art show, being MarCon treasurer for 10 years (MarCon 40-50 with 43 off). During my years at MarCon I met Trace Hagemann, heard about filk (a lot), started attending filk programming at MarCon, and eventually started attending OVFF. I still staff a couple of art shows at conventions each year.
After his years as MarCon treasurer, Jim vowed to NEVER take on the treasurer role again. That lasted until Kathy Hamilton asked him to consider being OVFF’s treasurer in 2017. That was an interesting time as OVFF had to regain its 501(c)7 status; thatwas achieved in 2019. Jim finally managed to offload the treasury duties by OVFF in 2022. He now attends OVFF when he can but is hindered by it usually being the same weekend as IX (a major F&SF illustration convention). Luckily, in 2026 OVFF and IX are on separate weekends.
Interfilk Guests: Lisa and Ken Theriot
Lisa Theriot may better known to SCA (the Society for Creative Anachronism) members as Adelaide de Beaumont. With her rich voice and strong original songwriting, Lisa Theriot enriches the great bardic traditions of the past. She has released several albums, “The Keys of Canterbury“, “The Turning of Seasons” and “Up the Great North Road“.
Ken Theriot is a singer/songwriter who has released five CDs with Raven Boy Music, including “Human History,” which contains the songs “Agincourt” and “Band of Brothers,” which have become standards in the medieval re-creation group, The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).
Together, they have released an album called “The Gifts of Midwinter“.
In addition to music, both Ken and Lisa Theriot perform voiceover work for a variety of clients, primarily in the eLearning space, but also for ad clients, audio books and GPS voices.