The Monadnock Folklore Society is proud to announce its crowdfunding campaign to support the “KwackFest,” a Celebration of the Bob McQuillen Centennial. Please support this event by donating at our IndieGoGo site at:

The New England Literature Program is sponsoring a Shape Note Singing School with Tim Eriksen at Camp Kabeyun on Monday, May 29, 2023.
The session will take place from 1 PM to 6 PM. Singers are welcome to join the Literature Program for dinner after the session.
Camp Kabeyun is located at 43 Camp Kabeyun Rd., Alton Bay, NH 03810; and there is ample parking for visitors.
Note that the Monadnock Folklore Society will present Tim Eriksen in concert on Sunday, May 28, 2023.
The Monadnock Folklore Society is excited to welcome back Tim Eriksen to the Nelson Town Hall for an afternoon concert on Sunday, May 28 at 3:00 PM. Admission is $25/$20 (senior/student/advance). Masks recommended.
Tim Eriksen is acclaimed for transforming American tradition with his startling interpretations of old ballads, love songs, shape-note gospel and dance tunes from New England and Southern Appalachia. He combines hair-raising vocals with inventive accompaniment on banjo, fiddle, guitar and bajo sexto – a twelve string Mexican acoustic bass – creating a distinctive hardcore Americana sound.
We were thrilled to have the WMUR NH Chronicle team visit the Monday dance a few weeks ago and film this awesome episode.
Ethan Robbins’ was the first concert we canceled due to the COVID outbreak in early 2020 so it seems appropriate that we welcome him back to the Nelson Town Hall as we return to the local concert calendar. His band, Cold Chocolate, will be at the Nelson Town Hall on Sunday, April 16 for an afternoon concert starting at 3:00 PM. Admission is $18/$15(senior, student, or in advance).
Cold Chocolate is a genre-bending Americana band that fuses folk, funk, and bluegrass to create a unique sound all their own. Featuring Ethan Robbins on guitar, Ariel Bernstein on percussion, and backed by some of the root’s music scene’s finest players, this group from Boston is impressing audiences throughout New England and beyond. Punctuated by tight harmonies and skillful musicianship, and with a focus on songwriting, Cold Chocolate has quickly gained recognition for their original music and high-energy shows. The band has shared bills with Leftover Salmon and David Grisman, and regularly performs at venues and music festivals across the country.
The Monday night dance takes a one-week holiday on Monday, March 27, 2023, so that the Town can set up for elections occurring the next day. (Elections had to be postponed from 3/14/23 due to the monster snowstorm.)
The dance will occur as usual on Monday, April 3, and weekly thereafter.
Due to weather and many of our performers either being out of town or unable to get to Nelson, we are cancelling the Monday Night Contra on January 23, 2023.
Brattleboro Music Center’s
Northern Roots Festival Returns January 28 & 29
A Saturday afternoon of workshops at the BMC from noon to 5:30 p.m. will be followed by a 7:30 p.m. concert. Sunday brings popular pub sessions from 1 to 5:30 p.m. at the River Garden Marketplace, 157 Main Street, Brattleboro. All workshops and sessions will be in person.
A cornerstone of the traditional music calendar in New England, the Festival offers a unique showcase of a variety of northern musical traditions including Irish, Scottish, English, French Canadian, Shetland, and Welsh.
This year’s featured performers include Nathan Gourley and Laura Feddersen (Irish fiddle duo), Julia Friend (Traditional song), Alex Cummings and Max Newman (English accordion & guitar), and Mary Fraser and Sally Newton (French Canadian fiddle). Keith Murphy, Andy Davis, Fred Breunig and Amanda Witman will make up Traddleboro 2023.
Tickets: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?actions=13&p=1
In the past, there have been dances held in the Nelson Town Hall on Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
For a variety of reasons, neither of these events will be held in 2022.
https://facebook.com/events/s/nelson-winter-solstice-celebra/554531473234585/
This year the evening will begin with a holiday concert featuring a selection of traditional and original seasonal music performed by The Solstice Sisters (Alouette Iselin, Melanie Everard, Kim Wallach, & Heather Bower) and friends; as part of the concert we feature a performance by one or more of our Johnny Trombly Scholarship recipients. This year, due to COVID protocols, we will not be serving refreshments and THERE WILL BE NO DESSERT POTLUCK. We’ve altered our format this year in an attempt to keep everybody healthy during the holiday season. Various groups of unsavory characters presenting their idea of seasonal entertainment will not surprise us as they will be part of the scheduled entertainment and once they are on their way we can decide if there is enough interest and energy to complete the evening with a traditional New England contradance.
Everyone aged two and up must wear a high-filtration (N95, KN95, KF94) mask inside the building at all times (except for *brief* sips of a beverage) and not eat inside the building. Masks will be available for sale at the door.
Performers may choose not to mask and are asked to take a same-day rapid test.
Everyone should be vaccinated and boosted.
If you get sick within 5 days after the dance, contact contrainfo@monadnockfolk.org.
Please consider taking a rapid antigen test no more than 24 hours before the event.
If the CDC reports any of these NH counties as Red, the event will be canceled: Cheshire, Hillsborough, Sullivan.
If you have any symptoms, we’ll be sorry to miss you, but please stay home and rest!