September 26, 2010

6:00 pm

Deb’s Chesham House Concerts
In the comfort of an informal living room.
Gordon Bok
Sunday,
Sept. 26, 6:00pm
Potluck at 4:45pm
Tickets $18
RSVP at 603-827-2905 or
email deb@pfmsconcerts.org
(Limited seating)

At a time when folk music was experiencing a great revival, Gordon became a leader in preserving, collecting, creating and sharing a wide variety of rich and intensely beautiful songs of both land and sea. His mastery of both 6- and 12-string guitars added to his already well-developed vocal expression to create an unmistakable style that has carried him through decades of being one of our most cherished folk artists. He has made more that a score of albums, and many other musicians including Archie Fisher, Liam Clancy, and Tommy Makem have recorded his songs. In addition, his music has been used in films and published in folk music anthologies, including Rise Up Singing—and his own collections, Time and The Flying Snow and One To Sing, One To Haul.

In addition to performing in concert halls, coffeehouses and festivals throughout the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Scandinavia, New Zealand and Australia, Gordon has taught choral singing and song writing at summer music camps and other gatherings. He has organized choral groups in his own community and gladly shares his knowledge with others wishing to do the same. A superb storyteller, he often introduces songs in concert with a bit of their origin and history.

House Concerts build strong friendships between musicians, presenters, and listeners. Most importantly, House Concerts provide the most intimate and compelling performance environment available. – Darryl Purpose

For more music information visit Peterborough Folk Music Society’s web site at http://www.acousticmusic.com/chesham/bok0910.htm

Tags: concert, folk music, NH

August 14, 2010

7:00 pm

As part of Old Home Day, there will be a concert at 7 PM on Saturday, August 14th at the Nelson Town Hall. Join your friends for an evening of wonderful music played by our talented Nelson neighbors or folks with strong Nelson connections. Always an enjoyable and varied show.

Tags: concert, folk music, Nelson Town Hall

A western caller, Fred Feild, came across this in the March 1941 Recreation Magazine. The overall article is called “The Square Dance Goes to College.” After talking about the University of North Carolina it says this:

At John Gould Goddard College in Vermont

Assisted by teachers from the Washington County Folk Dance Association, young Vermonters study the old country dances at a mid-winter school at Goddard College.

Skiing in Vermont’s snow-covered hills and old-time dancing were friendly rivals for popular favor immediately after Christmas when the Washington County Folk Dance Association brought its summer activities up to date with a three-day school of country dances at Goddard College. And the same spirit pervaded the school as that which prevailed at the annual Vermont Folk Dance Festival in August on the college campus in Plainfield.

The city ballrooms of the nation have lately adopted country dancing with all the vigor of a new-found diversion, but to this group in Vermont folk dancing is something as old as the early “pitches” when settlers first brought cows into the Winooski valley. And since the attendance at the school turned out to be better than half school-age youngsters, it is likely that the country dances will remain a form of Saturday night recreation throughout Vermont long after city folks have taken up some new idea.

Vermont has a set of country dance traditions all its own, and several intricate dances unknown to the rest of the nation. To keep these traditions safe, the Washington County group organized many years ago for the purpose of searching out techniques and teaching them to other groups gathered solely for amusement. When the group heard that the folks down in Chelsea had a different twist on the promenade forward of a Boston Fancy, they sent someone down, and now the Chelsea tradition is known throught Vermont. During the year the group stands ready to send teachers, equipped with phonograph records and source material, anywhere in Vermont to teach country dancing – a free service that arises from a genuine love for the dance.

Throughout the year the group has bi-weekly dances at some small hall or farmhouse in Washington County, where the program is part recreation, part study. Every summer they call out competing teams from all over the state, and the lawn tennis court at Goddard College is the stage where men in white trousers and girls in peasant skirts and aprons strive to win the big silver cup. A couple of thousand Vermonters and summer visitors come to watch and applaud Money Musk, Hull’s Victory, Merry Merry Milkmaids, and dozens of similar dances done in the correct Vermont fashion.

Last summer the rising interest in this form of dance brought many out-of-staters, and Goddard College followed this success with the offer to sponsor a winter school with dormitory facilities for those coming from a distance. Emerson Lang of Danville directed the school, and its success assures annual repetitions.

Last night in Nelson, we danced a tremendous Money Musk to Dudley Laufman’s calling and the joyful accompaniment of four fiddles (Jacqueline Laufman, Dudley, Hunt Smith, and Sophie Orzechowski) and piano (Neil Orzechowski). Young and old, those who know the dance by heart, those doing it for the first time, we moved to the same notes and rhythms as the thousands who have danced before us. A good time was had by all.

Tags: Contra Dance, fiddle, folk music, Nelson Town Hall

September 17, 2010

to

September 19, 2010

Floating Bridge Music Camp

September 17-19, 2010

Rodney Miller (fiddle), David Surette (guitar, mandolin), Susie Burke
(vocals, beg. guitar) and Jeremiah McLane (accordion, piano)

Contact: 802-765-9904 or jeremiah@sover.net

The staff:
Rodney Miller was designated a “Master Fiddler” in 1983 by the
National Endowment for the Arts. He is widely considered to be the
foremost exponent of New England style fiddling, a uniquely American
blend of French Canadian and Celtic influences. Over the past 35
years, he has toured the U.S., British Isles, Australia and Denmark,
performed and taught at hundreds of music and dance festivals, and
recorded over ten fiddle albums.

One of New England’s finest celtic guitarists, David Surette is
equally at home on the mandolin and bouzouki. He is head of the folk
department at the Concord, N.H. Community Music School and has also
taught at the Augusta Heritage Festival, The Swannanoa Gathering (NC)
and Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddle School in California.

Jeremiah McLane will teach accordion and piano players both melody and
accompaniment.. He has been on staff at numerous music programs
throughout the country including The Augusta Heritage Arts Center, The
Swananoah Gathering, Ashokan Fiddle & Dance, The John C. Campbell Folk
School, and Centrum’s American Festival of Fiddle Tunes. He teaches
world music and jazz studies at SUNY Plattsburgh.

Susie Burke is a singer with a truly magical voice and she will be
teaching from her huge repertoire of gorgeous songs. She will also be
working with beginning guitar students, and will lead the Sunday
morning sing.

The location:
Pasquaney Lodge is on the shore of Newfound Lake, between Bristol and
Plymouth New Hampshire. The facility includes three main buildings, a
boat house, tennis courts, a sauna, a dock, canoes, and a wonderful
porch for relaxing and jamming.

The schedule:
Friday evening after dinner there will be a short orientation meeting,
followed by a staff concert, and then jam sessions led by staff
members. Saturday morning workshops will be separated by instrument,
and Saturday afternoon workshops will be geared toward a particular
style or repertoire and you can go to whatever workshop you’re
interested in. After dinner on Saturday there will be the camp
cabaret which will be a chance for campers to perform. Sunday morning
we’ll have a singing session with the entire camp followed by a final
workshop. Camp ends after lunch. Meals include dinner on Friday and
Saturday nights, breakfast and lunch on Saturday & Sunday.

The cost:
$250 per person includes five meals, housing and all instructional
materials. Reduced Rates: $225 per person includes meals, instruction,
and dormitory-style housing or campsite. $190 per person for day use
only (meals and instruction)

Registration:

To register, send a check for $250 payable to Jeremiah McLane by
August 30th to: Carol Delaney, 1130 Sanders Circle, Montpelier, VT 05602

Tags: folk music, NH, workshop

Here’s another opportunity to hear and support young traditional musicians. The deadline for performers to apply is mid-April.

*Young Tradition Showcase Contest*

The annual Showcase Contest at Waterfront Park in Burlington, Vermont is a
primary focus of the annual Young Tradition Weekend. The program for the
contest starts in the mid/late morning on 5/15/10 and finishes by 3pm,
running simultaneously with Kids Day at Waterfront Park. It is designed so
that young singers, players and dancers (25 years old and younger) in
single, duo or group formats can perform 2 or 3 numbers. Participation is
not limited to Vermonters.

Prizes include showcase performances at a variety of concerts, festivals,
coffeehouses and tours, cash ($500 for 1st, $250 for 2nd and $125 for 3rd),
$1000 in scholarships, and more. There are no judges for the contest and
all styles and genres that fit under the ‘folk and traditional’ umbrella are
welcome. There is time for about 20 ‘acts’ and we strive to make sure that
what is presented at the contest is either directly related or inspired by
what is generally considered folk and traditional music or dance….. if you
think it fits, there is a good chance that it does.

Prospective performers who have not participated in the past are asked to
submit an audio and/or video sample. Samples will be returned if
self-addressed, postage-paid packaging is included with the
application. Samples should be e-mailed to

mrksustc@together.net

or mailed to:
Young Tradition Vermont
PO Box 163
Fairfax, VT 05454.

We strive for balance in the genres
presented, the instruments used, and the traditions presented, etc. (e.g. we
try to not have just fiddlers, just dancers, just singers, etc.).

Contact Mark Sustic, PO Box 163, Fairfax, VT 05454
802-849-6968
mrksustc@together.net
www.youngtraditionvermont.org

Tags: folk music, VT

The Monadnock Folklore Society has been approved for an FY2010 New Hampshire State Council on the Arts Mini Grant to support performances at the upcoming Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend. With its motto of “The Spirit of the Past, with a Vision for the Future,” the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend was founded 23 years ago by the New England Folk Festival Association in collaboration with the Center for the Humanities at the University of New Hampshire. This weekend is named in honor of Ralph Page, who was pivotal in sustaining and reviving traditional contra and square dancing in New England.

Ralph started calling more than 70 years ago in Nelson, NH, the Monadnock area town that has had contra and square dancing continuously in its town hall for two centuries. Ralph was a popular caller in New Hampshire and in the Boston area. During various periods in which contra and square dancing were at low points in popularity, he was nearly the only person to keep the tradition alive.

Ralph Page became not only a caller but also a scholar of contra dancing. He published The Northern Junket newsletter monthly for many years. He wrote many excellent dances, and he researched and reconstructed many old dances. In 1977, Ralph Page received the Granite State Award given to outstanding citizens of New Hampshire. This award acknowledged not only his talents as a dance teacher, caller, and musician, but also his contributions to community life as a selectman for Nelson, NH from 1932-1938 and as president of the Cheshire County Historical Society for 15 years. When Ralph Page died in the early 1980’s, a committee was set up to keep his legacy alive; that eventually led to the Ralph Page Dance Weekend which has occurred annually since 1988.

From the beginning the emphasis of the Weekend has been on preserving the smoother style of dancing that Ralph favored. However, that doesn’t mean it’s a style of dancing only old people or old-fashioned dancers would enjoy. Contra and square dancing involve teamwork, and it never shows up better than at the Ralph Page weekend. Interested dancers are welcome to attend the entire weekend or any part, including the Friday or Saturday night dances. The Dance Legacy Weekend takes place from Friday, January 15 through Sunday, January 17th at the Memorial Union Building at the University of New Hampshire, Durham.

The 2010 Weekend Staff:

* Callers: Lisa Greenleaf & Tony Parkes
* Latter Day Lizards: Dave Langford, Bill Tomczak & Peter Barnes
* Old New England: Jane Orzechowski, Deanna Stiles & Bob McQuillen
* White Cockade: Vince O’Donnell, Ralph Jones, Sylvia Miskoe, Cal Howard, RP Hale & Allan Chertok
* Retrospective dance session: Marcie Van Cleave & Sylvia Miskoe will lead a celebration of the truly inspirational and varied life of Marianne Taylor.

More information about the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend at http://www.nhcountrydance.com/music/rpdlw.html
More information about Ralph Page at

http://www.library.unh.edu/special/index.php/ralph-page

The Weekend is honored to be supported in part by a grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Tags: contra NH dance, folk music, Marianne Taylor, workshop

January 15, 2010 7:00 pm

to

January 17, 2010 4:00 pm

The New England Folk Festival Association in collaboration with the Center for the Humanities at the University of New Hampshire invites you to join us to celebrate our New England music and dance traditions. This weekend is named in honor of Ralph Page, who was pivotal in sustaining and reviving traditional contra and square dancing in New England.

Visit the web site for this event.

The 2010 Weekend Staff:

Weekend Callers: Lisa Greenleaf & Tony Parkes

Latter Day Lizards: Dave Langford, Bill Tomczak & Peter Barnes

Old New England: Jane Orzechowski, Deanna Stiles & Bob McQuillen

White Cockade: Vince O’Donnell, Ralph Jones, Sylvia Miskoe, Cal Howard, RP Hale & Allan Chertok

Retrospective dance session: Marcie Van Cleave & Sylvia Miskoe will lead a celebration of the truly inspirational and varied life of Marianne Taylor.

The Monadnock Folklore Society has been approved for an FY2010 New Hampshire State Council on the Arts Mini Grant to support performances at the upcoming Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend.

Supported in part by a grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts

Tags: contra NH dance, folk music, NH, workshop

“Here, smell these” said my wife, handing me a bouquet of freshly picked Freesias. I inhaled deeply, but experienced no olfactory sensation. Just a couple of weeks earlier I was savoring the Summersweet that graces my front steps, and earlier in the season my daily walk brought me past purple lilacs that had a most seductive impact. In other words, there’s nothing wrong with my overall smelling mechanism, but the Freesias somehow did not engage me.  This suggests that such things are more than just a matter of taste or conditioning.  Perhaps it’s a brain chemistry thing.

I recall a situation (decades ago) when my day job involved a large room and lots of cubes. The employees had something of a free hand in how things worked, so we decided at one point to allow people to play recorded music in the room. There was a cassette player, and folks would bring in mostly Top 40 compilations. As it turned out, this was in the 1980’s, so the experience was not that nourishing. One day I decided to put in a tape of The Chieftains. I knew that most people in the room were probably not aware of  their music, but I was so enamored of it myself that I was sure once they actually heard it, they would share my enthusiasm. I don’t recall that there were any direct complaints, but I could tell that it was a lead balloon, and not a Led Zeppelin , situation.

Clearly a large part of appreciating is cultural familiarity. But perhaps on some level each of us has (or does not have) biological or neurological components that affect our ability to experience certain kinds of music positively.  It’s a curious concept which is best debated by scientists, or over a few brews in the local pub, probably with the same conclusions.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Concerts, Cosy Sheridan, folk music, Nelson Town Hall, Off the Cuff, Troy MacGillvray

June 15, 2008

7:00 pm

Sunday, June 15th
7:00 p.m.
Nelson Town Hall
Suggested Donation $5

The Nelson Coffee House includes a variety of performers of song, spoken word, and sometimes other stuff. This month has a special Father’s Day theme, with the evening’s featured performers being Andy Davis and his son Arthur.

Andy Davis has been a dance musician and caller since moving to New England in the late 1970s. He has been a regular staff person and program director for many Country Dance and Song Society summer family programs over the years. He plays accordion, piano and banjo in addition to singing a repertoire of traditional songs. For the past twenty years he has performed each December with Nowell Sing We Clear. He teaches K-6 music in the Vermont public schools. All of his students know how to ’square up a set’ and how to ‘dosido the one below’. He lives in Brattleboro with his wife Robin, daughter Emma and son Arthur.

Arthur Davis is a freshman at Brattleboro Union High School. He plays piano, recorder and trumpet in a variety of musical styles. Arthur is adept at harmony singing and is working his way into the dance music scene as a back up pianist. In addition to music, Arthur enjoys baseball, reading and crossword puzzles.

Other performers will include Gordon and Spencer Peery – more to be announced soon!

Tags: 6/15/08, Coffee House, folk music, Nelson Town Hall