A Musical Celebration

With Marie & Martin Reilly, Seamus
MacConanoaigh & Gabriel Donohue

December 14 & 15 at 8:00pm •

December 16 at 3:00pm

Bring your entire family to this highly
entertaining, heartwarming celebration of theseason. Marie and Martin Reilly
will lead a concert of live traditional Irish music—including all your holiday
favorites. Enjoy the well known Irish reel “Christmas Eve”and Irish carols
including “Silent Night” in Irish!Irish fiddler Marie Reilly and her brother, button
accordionist Martin Reilly, have performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall to Good Morning America. Guitarist Gabriel Donohue has performed
with Riverdance and at the White House. Join Marie, Martin, Séamus, Gabriel and
special guests for an entertaining evening of songs and stories of Christmas.

Tickets: $30 General Sale, $25 Members

Special postcard offer: use code CARD1
and pay only $20

Call 212.868.4444 or visit www.smarttix.com

Irish Arts Center . 553 West 51 Street, New York City . www.irishartscenter.org

“Nollaig Shona Duit!” ( Merry Christmas! )

Irish Arts Center

553 West 51st Street

New York, NY 10019

Order online at www.csbsju.edu/finearts.

The Kentucky Center for Traditional Music will bring the “Sounds of Our Heritage” to students in East Kentucky this fall.

Morehead State University and KCTM will welcome old-time fiddler, Joe Thompson, and banjoist and traditional music researcher, Bob Carlin, Oct. 11-13, 2006. Middle and high school students from the region are invited to attend “Sounds of Our Heritage” on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2006 at 10:30 a.m. at the Morehead Conference Center on First Street.

The St. Petersburg Trio will give the first concert of the fall season at The Theater at at Washington, Virginia, on Saturday, September 30 at 8 p.m. The evening will be devoted to traditional Russian folk music and popular classics arranged for the Trio's distinctive instruments.

For more information please click here.

named “Bound for Glory” after Woody Guthrie’s autobiography, attracts acclaimed folk musicians, even though it does not pay them to perform. (Volunteers put up the musicians during their stays so they do not have to pay for hotels.)

Byron Berline Band, Roz Brown, Cadillac Sky, Tom Chapin with Michael Mark, Nick Charles, Dan Crary & Thunderation, Julie Davis, Tommy Emmanuel, Pat Flynn, Buddy Greene & Friends, Bruce Graybill, Chris Jones & the Night Drivers, Steve Kaufman, John McCutcheon, Andy McKee, Misty River, Mountain Smoke, David Munnelly Band, Tim O'Brien Trio, Dave Stamey and Linda Tilton.

The 40th Annual Country Music Assocation Award nominees were announced on Wednesday, August 30th live from both New York and Nashville. Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas have been nominated in the Vocal Group of the Year category for the 4oth Annual Country Music Assocation Awards, and Jerry Douglas has been nominated in the Musican of the Year category.

The 2006 CMA Awards will broadcast live Monday, November 6th on the ABC Televison Network from the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, TN.

Complete list of the nominees

He was born in Warren, Ohio on May 28, 1956

 Also, he has spent a lot of time ont he roadwith Alison Krauss, however, this year we will see a lot more of Jerry's own band. Be sure and support them on their travels!

Chris made 12 albums, ranging from raw-boned folk-rock to lush electro-blues, had the thread of intense emotion and constant invention running through them. 

Chris's hit debut LP, Living With the Law, came out on Columbia in 1991. His final album, Soft Dangerous Shores, came out in June 2005 via Messenger Records, the independent label he worked with most. The discs now seem like spiritual/aesthetic book-ends. Both mix roots-rock grit with heat-haze atmospherics and were produced/engineered by Malcolm Burn. If his beloved debut still contains some of his best-known songs, Soft Dangerous Shores has the elusive intertwining of organic and synthetic that Chris often held as an ideal.

Christopher Becker Whitley was born Aug. 31, 1960, in Houston, to a restless, artistic couple: His mother was a sculptress and painter; his father worked as an art director in a series of advertising jobs. As a family, they traveled through the Southwest, with many of the images the young boy absorbed finding their way later into songs. He once described his parents' music taste as formed "by race radio in the South." The real deal — Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf — seeped into their son's soul, eventually leading to Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix.

I have recently been introduced to his songs and they are beautiful.

is in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea directly south of Italy and north of Africa. The area is 246 km² (95 square miles). The highest point of the archipelago, at 253 m, is Ta' Dbiegi on the island of Gozo. The capital is Valletta. The landscape is characterised by low hills with terraced fields.

According to RootsWorld:

The international radio program The World ran an interesting interview with Maltese musician Andrew Alamango, of the ensemble Etnika. He talks about the music, the making of the intstruments, etc, and it includes some muisic form their 1999 CD Zifna

Listen to the program from The World

Willow Park Bluegrass Jamboree

New Credit Reserve, Hagersville On.

2nd weekend in August.

Next year featuring The Grascals!!  and Gold Wing Express!!

www.mswansonart.com/willow.htm

SI KAHN, PEGGY SEEGER AND THE PETER SEIGEL TRIO  are three of the first ten selected for Showcasing at the 2007 National Folk Alliance to be held in Memphis February 22-25, 2007.  What fine company! (The locations in parenthesis are home towns, not necessarily where the Showcase performers live now.)

First showcase invites announced

Artists Invited to Showcase at the 2007 International Folk Alliance Conference:

Adolphus Bell (Birmingham, AL)
Carolina Chocolate Drops (Durham, NC)
Antje Duvekot (Heidelberg, Germany)
Ernie Hawkins (Pittsburgh, PA)
Si Kahn (Penn State, PA)
Lovell Sisters Band (Calhoun, GA)
Pine Leaf Boys (Lafayette, LA)
Rig The Jig (Roscommon, Ireland)
Peggy Seeger (Washington, DC)
Peter Siegel Trio (Yonkers, NY)

For more on the Folk Alliance please see: http://www.folkalliance.org/

America is based on an "Old English Air," God Save the King. The words to America were written by Samuel Francis Smith in Boston, July 4, 1832 for a children's celebration. The tune was also sung in the German Reich as Heil Dir in Seigerkranz.

Scottish folk singer Iain MacKintosh passed away peacefully in the early hours of Monday 28th August. Known as the Quiet Man of Scottish Folk Music he performed as a solo artist and with singers Brian McNeill and Hamish Imlach as …read full article >
IAIN MACKINTOSH RIP

Nashville-based Vietti Foods Company is using the hot sounds of bluegrass and country artists to supplement the marketing of their spicy canned Vietti Chili brand. Cherryholmes, The Grascals and The Isaacs are involved in this promotion, along with Pat Flynn, Riders In The Sky and John Corbett.

Each featured artist will have their photo printed on cans of Vietti Chili, and will offer free downloads of their music from the Vietti Vinyl web site. Visitors to the site sign up for the free downloads by providing an email address and some basic contact information.

It's a folk tradition that started with Pete Seeger, pushed worldwide by the Kingston Trio, used by everyone from Don McLean to Harry Chapin. The long neck, open back banjo is being reintroduced to a new generation in a new century by the Deering Banjo Company and folksinger Michael Johnathon. Deering, who owns the original Vega logo and long neck design originbally concieved by Pete Seeger, recreated the look and sound of the long neck based on Johnathon's new design. The sleek, black walnut instrument, black banjo head with gold colored hardware looks as beautiful as it sounds, yet still retains many of the famous Vega features. Johnathon has recieved so many compliments and requests for the banjo while on tour, and from those that have seen him perform on the WoodSongs Old-Time Radio Hour, that Greg and Janet Deering decided to produce a full line of the new banjos. The "WoodSongs Professional Series" and also the more affordable "WoodSongs Campfire" line of long neck, open back banjos will be issued this fall by the Deering Banjo Company. 

September 21 — 9:30 p.m., Java Hut, co-bill with Gary Blanchard. 1073-A Main St., Worcester, Ma.  508-752-1678.  javahutma.com
September 23 — 6 p.m., Coffee Planet, 100 Milton Ave., Ballston Spa, NY.  508-884-9913.  cafe.thecoffeeplanet.net

She will be be appearing at the following venues.

September 10, 2006
The Klezmatics with special guest Susan McKeown
Harmony on the Hudson
Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park
NYC, NY
FREE ENTRY!

December 21, 2006
The Klezmatics with special guest Susan McKeown
Walt Disney Concert Hall
111 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
323.850.2000

La Peña,  is a weekly showcase of Latin folk music and dance, kicks off its new season on Wednesday, August 30th! Join us in the American Airlines Concert Hall at 4544 N. Lincoln Ave at 8:30pm for these free events.

The 2007 International Folk Alliance Conference will be held February 21-25, 2007 at the Marriott Hotel and Cook Convention Center in downtown Memphis, TN. Wednesday, February 21 will be a pre-conference day featuring special advanced workshops in songwriting, recording techniques, internet opportunities and more. Performance Alley showcases will take place on Wednesday – Saturday nights. The Exhibit Hall will be open Thursday – Saturday.

9pm, Words and Music from Studio A: Dunstan Prial wrote The Producer: John Hammond and the Soul of American Music; he and Vin Scelsa cover the history and influence of the man credited with "discovering" Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and more.

Creative Arts Center
Morgantown, WV

The Roches
Teitur
PF Sloan
Kelly Joe Phelps
Judith Owen
Tobias Froberg

Advance tickets - $15  At the door - $20
Creative Arts Center Box Office 304.293.7469 or Ticketmaster

"Seven months pregnant and preparing a tour to promote her new album, “Harpo's Ghost,'' British folk- rock singer Thea Gilmore is learning to play the guitar sideways, propped against her hip. "

Vintage previously unreleased performances by Bill Monroe, Mississippi John Hurt, Maybelle Carter, Dock Boggs, Doc Watson and the Stanley Brothers will be heard for the first time on the three-CD set "Friends of Old Time Music," due Sept. 26 via Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

Vintage previously unreleased performances by Bill Monroe, Mississippi John Hurt, Maybelle Carter, Dock Boggs, Doc Watson and the Stanley Brothers will be heard for the first time on the three-CD set "Friends of Old Time Music," due Sept. 26 via Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

 See you there!!

http://www.aclfestival.com/default.aspx

A new three-part series is the centrepiece of our season exploring British folk music. Folk Britannia traces the evolution of folk music from the end of World War II up to the scene's latter-day revival.

The story is told by those who lived and shaped it - a stellar cast from every era that includes Bert Jansch, Peggy Seeger, Martin Carthy, Donovan, Davy Graham, Richard Thompson, Maddy Prior, Billy Bragg, Shane MacGowan, Beth Orton and Seth Lakeman.

The folks at Banjo.com, in close cooperation with the promotions staff of The Atlanta Braves, are organizing an attempt to break the Guinness Book record for Largest Musical Instrument Ensemble - using banjo players! The event is billed as A Tribute To Earl Scruggs, and is scheduled for September 13, 2006 as a pre-game show at Turner Field in Atlanta, just ahead of the game between the Braves and the Phillies.

All banjo players are invited to take part, and not surprisingly, Foggy Mountain Breakdown has been chosen as the piece to be played for the record setting attempt. While all pickers are invited, only those who can demonstrate the ability to perform Foggy Mountain Breakdown can be counted towards the record.

Participants must register in advance, and will need to arrive at the stadium by noon on 9/13 in order to be a part of the attempt. Guinness Book rules in this ensemble category are quite strict, and the performers must be rehearsed and under the direction of a conductor in order for the record to be certified. There will be two short rehearsals that afternoon, and an orientation with Braves staff to ensure that the group can be quickly brought on and off the field for this pre-game show.

Instruments will be checked and supervised by stadium staff so that participants can also enjoy the game that evening.

John Drummond of Banjo.com is a banjo player himself, and his company is a retail operation providing instruments, accessories and instructional materials for banjo pickers. He is understandably excited about the event, and the opportunity to pay a tribute to Earl Scruggs, who has been invited to attend.

SEND US YOUR PICTURES AND WE WILL PUBLISH THEM….

Fiddler Richard Greene established himself as among the leading lights on his instrument when his stellar Duets album was released on Rounder in 1977. Not that he wasn’t already a major player. He had done his time with Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass Boys (along with Peter Rowan and Bill Keith), and been a part of seminal 60s/70’s acts like Jim Kweskin’s Jug Band and Seatrain (again with Rowan).

Duets set a high bar, as it was an entire album of just that, Greene performing in duet with a “who’s who” of progressive bluegrass and acoustic artists at the time. Tony Rice, David Grisman, Tony Trischka and JD Crowe are featured, along with jazz pianist Dave Frishberg. The material is primarily taken from the traditional fiddle tune repertoire, but the arrangements and the playing are daring and inventive - especially by 1970s standards.

Rounder has resurrected this gem, set for an online exclusive release on July 25. These online releases are available as an audio CD, but not sold through outside distributors, available only on the Rounder web site.

If you have cherished this fine recording since its original release, this will be a welcome opportunity to purchase its digital counterpart. If you are unfamiliar with the project, and follow Greene’s fiddle work, or that of the various guest artists - or simply appreciate adventurous improvisational acoustic music - you’ll want Duets in your collection.

No audio samples up yet on the Rounder site, but pre-ordering is enabled.

Don't miss his September 9, 2006 performance at The Baggot Inn located at 82 West 3rd Street, NY, NY. (Other tour dates)

Greg Spatz, fiddler with John Reischman and The Jaybirds, is more than just a talented musician. He is also a published author with two novels and a collection of stories to his credit, who serves as a professor of Creative Writing at Eastern Washington University. His most recent book merges both of his artistic pursuits, and carries a special appeal for followers of bluegrass and acoustic music.

Fiddler’s Dream, published in April 2006 by SMU Press, is the story of a prodigious young fiddler, who makes the move to Nashville at 19 to pursue his dream of working in a professional bluegrass band. Though the story isn’t wholly focused on the musical side of his quest, it has been praised by critics for the degree to which Spatz fuses the details of a musician’s thoughts, dreams and frustrations with a more common coming of age literary theme.

The Borough of Brooklyn has proclaimed that July 25th, 2006 will be Woody Guthrie Day! The proclamation will take place at 6:30pm prior to the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball game in Key Span Park (Ticket Information)

The 2006 fellowship program will be announced in August 2006, with an application deadline of October 31, 2006. Application materials will be posted on http://www.bmifoundation.org/pages/WGuthrie.asp

Good luck and let us know how you do!

The Hardanger fiddle (in Norwegian, hardingfele) is often called the national instrument of Norway. It is similar to the violin and each one is a handmade work of art. A typical hardingfele is beautifully decorated with mother-of-pearl inlay and black pen-and-ink drawings, called rosing. It is topped with a carved head of a maiden  or, more frequently, of an animal, usually a lion. Its most distinguishing feature is the four or five sympathetic strings that run underneath the fingerboard and add echoing overtones to the sound. The traditional playing style is heavily polyphonic. A melody voice is accompanied by a moving "drone" voice. Together, the instrument and the playing style create the sound for which the Hardanger fiddle is famous.

Hank Buen will be performing on this beautiful instrument in Madison, Wisconsin on July 23, 2006 and in  Northfield, Minnesota on July 25, 2006.

One of the largest songwriting competitions in the world, International Songwriting Competition (ISC) offers entrants a chance to share in $150,000 in cash and prizes, including an Overall Grand Prize package of $25,000 (US) in cash and more than $20,000 in merchandise, unmatched by any other songwriting competition. Enter early and take advantage of ISC’s Early Bird deadline. For songs entered on or before July 14, the first song entry is $30, and all additional entries are only $20 (save $10 per entry on multiple entries). After July 14, the fee is $30 per song entry with no discount for additional entries. This is a great opportunity to save on entry fees.
 
 All online entrants also receive a complimentary six-month membership to Sonicbids.  Go to www.songwritingcompetition.com to enter songs via mail or online