Latest News

Updated 3/4/10

We had a whirlwind trip to Albuquerque, Buena Vista, and Colorado Springs this month, visiting family and friends. One of my favorite pasttimes on trips is taking photos through the windshield of the car. But not while I'm driving....well, ok I must admit, I have done it while driving, but only on rare occasions when the view was spectacular and no other cars were around! Often the photos are just mystifying blurs of color, but sometimes the stars align and a good image is captured. Here's one of my favorites from our latest adventure.

In a relatively rare event, Jim and I will be performing in a local concert at the Roberson Museum and Science Center (in the mansion) on Sunday, March 14, between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. . I think we're on first. Curt Osgood (hammered dulcimer) and John Wobus (keyboard) will be performing as well, and I'm sure we'll all pick some tunes together before the afternoon is done. The Roberson Mansion is a lovely, historic venue for listening to music.

For my students: I'd love to see your friendly faces in the audience! You may actually get to hear me play without babbling on and on between snippets of music. Well, I may babble just a little...

p.s. Thanks to everyone for the lovely feedback on last month's "Tune of the Month". I heard from fiddlers in Louisiana, Texas, Ohio, Nova Scotia, and more. Your comments are greatly appreciated (especially from those folks who found the chord typos on the last line - I've fixed them now - thanks!)

For local folks, some fun fiddle events happening this month:

1) The PENNY MidWinter Bluegrass Festival, March 6th, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.. Concerts with local bluegrass bands and lots of jamming. Vestal American Legion, 118 S. Jensen Road Vestal, NY.

2) Bruce Molsky!! Sandwiched between a tour of Norway and a tour of the U.K, Bruce Molsky, one of my all-time favorite fiddle players, will be offering a workshop on March 21st, 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. and concert, 7:00 - 9:30 p.m., at Kellish Farms, 3192 Pompey Center Rd. Manlius, N.Y. Call 315-682-1578 for info.

A quote from Bruce's website for those of you who might not be familiar with his music:

"While most identified with traditional American old-time music, Molsky’s influences range from the Appalachian soul of Tommy Jarrell to Delta blues; from the haunting modal strains of Irish music to the rhythmically nimble music of Eastern Europe."

I'll be playing a dance up in Ottawa and will miss getting to hear Bruce, so if you go to the workshop, say hello and take good notes for me!

Updated 02/06/2010

Save the date!

Our grant request for the 2010 Fiddlin's Fun Festival has been approved. Thanks to the Chenango County Council on the Arts for their continued support of this event.

The festival will be held at the Roberson Museum in Binghamton on Saturday, June 12, 2010, Noon to 6:00, and will feature concerts by the dynamic Jane Rothfield and Allan Carr, the impeccable musicianship of The Contradictions, festival favorites City Fiddle, and many more. This will be the festival's 10th anniversary, and this year's event will include a special tribute to fiddler Larry Downey, in whose memory the festival is held. Join us along the banks of the Chenango River for a delightful fiddling day of jamming, workshops, and concerts!

Coming up in February:

Fiddle workshop with George Wilson! Renowned New England fiddler George Wilson will be presenting a fiddle workshop in the Ithaca area at Mike and Raylene's Ludgate's on Canaan Rd., Sunday February 21st from 12:00-2:00 pm. Cost is $15. To RSVP and for directions email Mike at michael at canaaninstitute dot org.

If you can't make it to the workshop, you can still hear (and dance to!) George's fiddling later that afternoon at the Tioga Trails Cafe on Lake Street in Owego. George will be performing for the contradance at Tioga Trails from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m., accompanied by innovative guitarist Tom Hodgson.

The Owego Free Academy music department is presenting the play "Fiddler on the Roof" the weekend of February 12 - 14. Our own Toast n' Jammer fiddle club member Jesse King will be fiddling in the opening scene. For ticket information, click HERE.

Updated 01/02/10

Happy New Year everyone!

While digging through a closet I came across an old video tape of the CD release concert for the trio "Dragonfly" that I played with in Colorado Springs. The group was composed of myself on fiddle, Suzanna Schulz on cello, and Cathy Davidson on bass. My project this weekend was taking some video clips from the performance and loading them up to YouTube. You can see bits of the show at twoYouTube links:

Click HERE for part 1

Click HERE for part 2

If you're like me, you have a pocketful of resolutions that you're determined (and hopefully eager) to get started on. Getting regular exercise is perennially on my list. If it's on yours too, and you're looking for a creative way to get your heart rate moving, give contradancing a try!

You not only burn calories, it's easy to learn, and you can meet new people while exercising to some hot fiddle tunes. If you've never danced before, here's a YouTube link to show you what it's like.

You can google "contradance" and the name of a city near you to find your new workout spot.

For local folks, my group "Rosie's Ready Mix" will be playing the Binghamton contradance on Saturday, January 9th at the Trinity Memorial Church, Main St., 7:00 - 10:00. Come by and say hello!

It's a snowy, overcast day here in Owego. The bare brown remnents of my perennial garden are poking up through a blanket of snow, and evergreens boughs are dressed up in winter white cloaks. Birds form mixed flocks this time of year, and a group of juncos, chickadees, cardinals, mourning doves, bluejays and titmice are regular visitors at our feeder. There are also pawprints from the neighbor's cat tracking across the lawn, but the birds have been vigilant while they dine and there's a nearby forsythia bush for them to dart into for safety.

Christmas at my sister Faith's in Maryland was a delightful bustle of noise and excitement. We had 19 family members gathered there. Faith loves to cook, and we feasted on beef tenderloin, crab cakes, shrimp, turkey, the creamiest mashed potatoes on the planet, and a heady assortment of pies and cookies. A quick visit to the Smithsonian museums in D.C. on Boxing Day rounded out a lovely holiday.

Winter group classes will be starting up again soon:

Intro to Irish Fiddle will begin Monday, January 25th, 2010 and will run for four weeks. Beginning Fiddle for Adults will begin Monday, February 22nd, and run for six weeks. Watch the happyhollow.com website for more details.