CELEBRATING 20+ YEARS OF SCARY GOOD MUSIC WITH A MISSION

All shows are at the North Madison Congregational Church, 1271 Durham Rd, Madison. See you here soon!!

You can read this first, or scroll down to the shows:

Ticket Sales or Reservations:

1A: You don’t need reservations. Usually. Each show will tell you if it’s sold out. Reservations just guarantee you a seat, and the earlier you reserve, the closer you’ll be. In most cases, we reserve space for walk-ins. get there at 6:30 if that’s the case!

1:To reserve seats or for more information for these shows please send us an email. All seats are assigned and reserved in the order in which they come in, so if you reserve early, you get good seats. 

2: If your browser doesn’t respond to the link, try workdog(at)mindspring.com or if all else fails, call Charlie Shafer at 203-668-3735. Yeah, you get my weird voicemail (contractor by day) but leave a message if I don’t answer immediately. Just leave your full name and number of seats, and I’ll get back to you.

3: No online ticket sales for a few reasons. It costs money, which means we’d have to raise prices. Yuck. So pay at the door regardless, cash or check. It also means that we’d have to refund money in the event of a snowstorm or something, and that’s a pain in the neck. We go by the honor system: you reserve, try to show up.

We are the only concert venue with a mission.We want to educate, inspire, and yes, entertain. Not to waste space here, please look at the “workshops: the mission” page to see what we mean. Virtually EVERY concert is a fundraiser for a local non-profit.

FALL/WINTER

 Upstate Rubdown

Saturday, September 23, 7:00 PM

RESERVED SEATING SOLD OUT, BUT WE’RE KEEPING THE COOL WALK-IN SECTION OPEN. THAT SEATS ABOUT 40, SO COME AT 6:30 WHEN DOORS OPEN FOR BEXT PICK!

Here’s he deal: Three fantastic women up front on vocals, and 4 guys holding down the noise end of the fort. It’s funky, it’s beautiful, it’s all over the place. It’s outrageously fun, for sure, and might be my favorite season-opener.  Who else takes old string-band soul, throws a baritone sax in, mixes in three great singers, and then makes a point of performing tunes you think you might have heard 60 years ago, but aren’t quite sure…( maybe because you’re not 60 years old, for one thing.) It’s jug band meets gospel, gutbucket meets Galax, it’s… aw, who knows.. Anyway, this will be one of the more funner nights we’ve had in quite some time..

This show benefits: The Madison Land Conservation Trust

Adults, $20, kids high school and under, $5.00

Mike Marshall and Darol Anger

Saturday, October 14, 7:00 PM

Yup, it’s the great re-schedule from last season. There’s no point in repeating how great and significant they are, and most all of our regulars know the history behind these two legends, anyway. Suffice it to say, it’s really big, and a rare performance. Over the past couple of years, I can count only two performances. This is one.

This show benefits: Charlie’s Closet in Guilford, recycling medical equipment to those on need

Adults, $30, kids high school and under, $5.00. And Mike is quite the gourmet, so I gotta come up with some pretty awesome ice cream ideas…

Molly Tuttle

Saturday, November 18, 7:00 PM

Molly and her band are either a throwback to the days of front porch pickin’ with Doc Watson, or a vision of the future, where we’ve gone beyond marveling at virtuosity and are back to just music. I’m thinking she’s both, and I’m also thinking it doesn’t matter. Right now, she’s catching all sorts of attention for being this incredible flat picker, which she is, but that’s short-selling her. She’s a great singer, too, and a Berklee grad, so we love that, but even that’s all just “stuff.” A couple of years from now, you’ll all be in awe of her musical ability to make.. wait for it.. beautiful music. She’s doing that right now, but we just have to wait for all the fanzines and blogs and such to calm down and actually listen to the music instead of the skills. No matter what, but the time she gets here in November, she’ll be too big for the room.

This show benefits: Madison Community Services

Adults, $25, kids high school and under, $5.00

 

JEREMY KITTEL BAND

December 2, 7:00 PM

 Jeremy’s got a new Bach album that is superb, and of course the guys have been here before, so you know how good they all are.  How much holiday music will be in there? Let’s just say “some.” There will also be some Bach of his latest album. And other stuff. It’s a Holiday concert for those who really don’t all holiday all the time. Just some of the time. 

Adults, $25, kids high school and under, always $5.

2018:

The Mammals

Saturday, January 13, 7:00 PM

Before there was a lot of this new-wave alternative fiddle/music stuff we present, there were a few lone wolves keeping the second-wave of old-time alive. (Super-fast history: 1st came the really old guys from the 17-1800’s. Then came the generation of Tommy Jarrell, Wade Ward, and all those. Then the hippies from NYC went south in the late ’60’s and early 70’s to learn from Tommy and the guys. The they went back north, forming bands like the Correctones or Highwoods or the Horseflies, or were solo guys like Jay Ungar. Then came bands like the Mammals and Crooked Still. It’s these two later bands that influenced everyone today.) Anyway, The Mammals are back. The old-time rockers, the social commentators, the instrumental wizards. It’ll be fun stuff. $25 adults, blah blah blah (that means $5 for kids high school and under.)

The Seamus Egan Project

Saturday, February 17, 7:00PM

Seamus, former leader of the now-defunct supergroup Solas, gets the chance to put together another all-star band to do all the things that he wished he had time for with Solas. This won’t be some stuffy retrospective. Yeah, while he will go back to the pre-Solas days, he’ll also be presenting bunches of new compositions that push the boundaries of what Irish music is all about. Any regular to the series knows we’re not into stuffy trad music, no matter where it’s from. Seamus will push the boundaries yet again, no worries there.. Adults gotta pay $25, kids high school and under, $5.00

The East Pointers

March 17, 7:00 PM

It’s no secret we love the musicians from the far northern maritimes of Canada. From Beolach years ago, to Vishten, to Ten Strings and a Goatskin, it’s all about huge amounts of energy and skills. The East Pointers have already made a name for themselves around the world, literally, and we’re thrilled to have them as this year’s emissaries from the Canada. Yes, it’s St. Paddy’s day, but we’ll be getting our Celtic kicks from the Prince Edward Island sort of Celtic.

Adults, $25, kids high school and under, $5.00

April 14 or 21 (how’s that for vague…nailing it down shortly):

LOW LILY

Still working details with Low Lily and a completely new musical/story-telling event. Actually, there’s nothing new about it, as music and storytelling have mixed for centuries. It’s just fallen so far out of the norm for concerts that it seems like it’s all-new. Think of all those bards, strolling through the medieval plague-infested streets, strumming their lutes and singing tunes like “The Daemon Lover.” Tunes with a moral, where the bad guys always got theirs. And the fables to go along in between the tunes. We have no lute, and I’m not sure I want one. Low Lilly rocked the summer fund-raiser we did, so a bunch of you know how good they are. So we’re combining music that’s way better than an infected guy with a lute, and stories that still have death and dismemberment. This is so cool. Adults $25, kids HS&U, $5.

 

THE NORDIC FIDDLER’S BLOC

Saturday, May 5, 7:00 PM

This season-ender is the epitome of what we do here. It’s the melding of fiddle styles from way up north in one blazing fiddle melt-down. It’s the bomb. You get: Olav Mjelva from Norway, Anders Hall from Sweden, and Kevin Henderson from the Shetland Islands. Three guys who are all exceptional, joining together to get a sound so rich you won’t believe your ears. Stunning stuff. Adults, $20, kids HS & U; $5.