Category: About

☼ ☼ ☼ Summer Solstice Concert | Nelson Town Hall | June 21, 2025

About, Concerts, Events, Songs

 

The Solstice Sisters return for a celebration of the Summer Solstice on Saturday, June 21, 2025 at 7:30 PM at the Nelson Town Hall. Admission is $12/$15(day of show), children under 16 FREE w/adult.

 

Alouette Iselin, Kim Wallach, and Heather Bower have been mainstays of our Nelson Winter Solstice party for years, presenting a program of original and traditional and sometimes just wacky seasonal music. Margaret Page Iselin completes the line up along with new sisters Patty Blanchard, Grace Johnson & Natalie Backes. Please join us for this biannual celebration of the seasons and come celebrate the Summer Solstice, Fathers Day, the end of black fly season, St. John’s Day, the longest day of the year, Midsummer, Ivan Kupala night, Wianki, Jani, the shortest night of the year, the Red Sox or whatever floats your boat with a selection of music that only the Solstice Sisters could pull together!

☼ ☼ ☼ Lui Collins & Anand Nayak | Nelson Town Hall | June 1, 2025

About, Concerts, Events, Songs

Lui Collins and Anand Nayak will appear for a concert on Sunday, June 1 at 3:00 PM in the afternoon at the Nelson Town Hall. Admission is $20/$25(day of show).

Folk singer/songwriter Lui Collins has been performing, writing and recording for 50 years, earning international acclaim for her music. Her clear voice and engaging presence on stage remain to this day as vibrant as ever. Her repertoire, accompanied on tenor ukulele and banjo, ranges from original and traditional folk songs and American standards to bossa nova in the original Brazilian Portuguese. Lui has shared the stage with such notables as Tom Rush, Bonnie Raitt, and Stan Rogers. Renowned guitarist Dave van Ronk called her “one of the best guitarist-arrangers I have heard in years.”

Lui will be joined by guitarist/Grammy-nominated producer and longtime
collaborator, Anand Nayak. Immersed in music at an early age, and building on
years of classical piano, Anand turned to the guitar as a teenager, teaching
himself to play anything and everything he could. An equal love for acoustic and
electric music kept him stylistically open in those formative years, creating a
foundation for a unique ability to play with and enhance the music of a wide
variety of musicians.

Lui and Anand’s nearly two decades of creative collaboration are evident in the
fluid musical dialogue and joy of their live performance.

☼ ☼ ☼ Pine Tree Flyers | Nelson Town Hall | May 9, 2025

About, Concerts, Dance Music, Events, Songs

We managed to snag the Pine Tree Flyers en route to a festival in Burlington, VT for a concert at The Nelson Town Hall on Friday, May 9 at 7:30 PM. Admission is $20/$25 (day of show).

Four of the finest voices in New England’s traditional music scene shine a renewed light on the tunes of the Northeast with excitement and respect. From festival stages and concert halls to raucous August nights at fiddle camp, the Flyers are here to make sure New England music has a seat at the table as a distinct and vital American tradition. All residents of the great state of Maine, Katie McNally (fiddle), Emily Troll (accordion), Benjamin Foss (guitar), and Neil Pearlman (piano) cut their teeth playing for contra dances and learning from the greats. Individually, they’ve toured the world playing Irish, Scottish, and Quebecois music and they bring this wellspring of knowledge and technical prowess to the American music that was born from these traditions.

 Each member of the band brings years of experience and dedication to their craft: Foss and Pearlman have taught at Maine Fiddle Camp since they were teens, Troll plays in the acclaimed contra dance band Anadama, and McNally performed for over a decade with New England supergroup Childsplay. The Flyers have toured internationally and domestically, gracing the stages of festivals such as Celtic Connections, Celtic Colours, Festival of Small Halls, Ossipee Valley Music Festival and playing concerts and dances across the Northeast. They released their self-titled album in May 2024 and appear on the Celtic Colours Live, Vol. 10; both recordings feature founding band member Owen Marshall on guitar.

In the liner notes of their debut album, Amelia Mason writes “Practically every aesthetic choice the Pine Tree Flyers make is in service to New England music’s fundamental accessibility and appeal. In essence, they are repaying the music for its gift to them: a sense of joy, communion, and one’s place in the world.” While New England tunes may not be well known outside of the Northeastern United States, the Flyers are proving that their musical heritage is as vibrant and vital as any American folk tradition. Make way for…THE PINE TREE FLYERS!

“Inspirational” (The Strad)
“Infectious” (Strings Magazine)
“a lightness of being, a sweet soulful exuberance and palpable delicacy” (Songlines)
“…delightful speed and ferocity.” (Kithfolk)
“Striking” (Boston Irish Reporter)

☼ ☼ ☼ Cold Chocolate | Nelson Town Hall | April 6, 2025

About, Concerts, Events

Ethan Robbins and Cold Chocolate, will be at the Nelson Town Hall on Sunday, April 6, 2025 for an afternoon concert starting at 3:00 PM. Admission is $15/$20(day of show).

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.

☼ ☼ ☼ Garrett Cameron & Natalie Backes | Nelson Town Hall | February 23, 2025

About, Concerts, Dance Music, Events

Natalie Backes and Garrett Cameron will present an afternoon concert on Sunday, February 23 at 3:00PM. Admission is $10 in advance/$12 day of the show.

We’re excited to see these talented musicians from our Monday night contradances show us what they’ve got outside the structure of dance music!

Natalie and Garrett together create a sound, rooted in the Celtic traditions, that branches out in unexpected directions. Garrett’s mandolin can sparkle in the upper octaves above Natalie’s guitar, or blend in rich harmonies or percussive force with Natalie’s fiddle- a stripped down sound from the contra dances which are their common ground.

☼ ☼ ☼ Help Save Bob’s Piano — Fully Funded!

About

The Monadnock Folklore Society had the opportunity to help save Bob McQuillan’s piano at the Peterborough Town Hall. We grabbed the chance and it is happening!

Update as of 01/02/25: The Monadnock Folklore Society received a fabulous New Year’s gift from a generous donor, such that as of now, the piano restoration project is fully funded! Barring surprises, we have raised enough money to complete the restoration. Stayed tuned and toward the end of 2025 we hope to see Bob’s piano back in its rightful place at the Town Hall. We have plans forming for a special event to celebrate the completion of the restoration

For background information, see Help Save Bob’s Piano

☼ ☼ ☼ SOLD OUT | Nelson Solstice Party | Nelson Town Hall | Saturday, December 21, 2024

About, Concerts, Contra Dance, Dance Music, Events, Songs

EVENT IS SOLD OUT, no tickets will be available at the door!! On Saturday, December 21, we’ll hold our Annual Solstice Party starting at 7:00 PM

The Monadnock Folklore Society brings this community event to the Nelson Town Hall each year, admission is $10, and treats are appreciated for the dessert potluck. 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, Kim Wallach, Heather Bower, Margaret Iselin, & Patricia Blanchard) and friends. The Folklore Society invites you to bring along your favorite holiday dessert and we’ll supply the beverages for the intermission. After the concert the chairs and benches are cleared to make way for a traditional New England Contradance. Unfortunately, or not, the dance is often interrupted by various groups of unsavory characters presenting their idea of seasonal entertainment. These diversions, sometimes involving costumed individuals making complete fools of themselves or performing ancient ritual dances to help us through this dark time of the year, are generally tolerated as once they are applauded and fed we can return to dancing the night away.

There will NOT be any tickets available at the door!!

☼ ☼ ☼ Tigh Na Coille – Elvie Miller & Denis Liddy with family & friends | Tuesday, October 29, 2024

About, Concerts, Dance Music, Events, Songs

 

Elvie Miller and her husband Denis Liddy will be visiting the Monadnock region the last week of October with their twin daughters and a group of twenty of their music students from Ireland. The Monadnock Folklore Society in conjunction with the Dublin School will be presenting the group, Tigh Na Coille, for a concert of traditional Irish music, dance, & song from County Clare, Ireland. The event will take place in the Louise Shonk Kelly Recital Hall on the campus of the Dublin School on October 29 at 7:00 PM.

Admission is $15 ($10 in advance).

Tigh na Coille, a super-group of teen and young adult musicians from County Clare, has toured widely, including recently at the National School for Performing Arts in Kotel, Bulgaria, and at the All-Ireland Fleadh in Co. Wexford. Tigh na Coille (named for the specific place the group comes from and translating from Irish Gaelic to ‘house in the woods’), play traditional Irish instruments including fiddle, concertina, bodhran, wooden flute, whistle, harp, banjo and Uilleann pipes. They are taught by Denis Liddy, well-known Clare fiddler, and Elvie Miller, pianist/accordionist originally from New Hampshire, who studied traditional music in Ireland as a Watson scholar and now lives and teaches music in Co. Clare. 

The multi-talented group also includes several step dancers and sean-nós, or ‘old style’ step dancers, and several prize-winning traditional singers and lilters. The evening will feature solo and group performances along with some dancing. Families are welcome and the evening will be an inspiring cultural exchange and fun for all.

Windborne – ‘To Warm the Winter Hearth’ | Peterborough Unitarian Universalist Church

About

The Mariposa welcomes Windborne to Peterborough on November 23 for a concert of mid-winter music at 7:30 PM in the Peterborough Unitarian Universalist Church (25 Main Street). Admission is $25.
 

Windborne’s campaign for their upcoming album “To Warm the Winter Hearth” smashed records and became the 5th most-backed album crowdfunder of all time! Now Windborne is bringing a full show of their favorite songs of the season to stages around the country!A joyful and heartfelt celebration of song, Windborne’s lush vocals and unique arrangements bring light to a dark time, as they draw on midwinter music from traditional, classical, and folk from the US, British isles and beyond. Unique from their typical show, the holiday spirit is accentuated with added instrumentation, from banjos and guitars, to Lithuanian Kanklės, and Irish bodhran.

With Windborne as their guide across continents and centuries, audiences will be delighted by holiday stories, songs, and humor in an evening that is sure to become a holiday tradition for the whole family! Sing along with familiar favorites, enjoy new twists on old classics or sit back and enjoy discovering new favorites, but make sure you don’t miss Windborne’s Music of Midwinter!