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:
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. There really aren’t bad ones, you’re 50 feet away at the very farthest. Everyone pays at the door, don’t worry about credit cards or mailing checks in.
2: If you’re 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.
3: Simply include full name and how many seats you want, and everyone just pays at the door, cash or check.
4: No online ticket sales for a few reasons. First, we’re technical idiots, and we’d have to pay someone to do that, and ticket prices would have to increase just so you can by a ticket, which you can do anyway without the fee. Second, refunds in case of a storm are a big pain in the neck! Third, and most important, I have philosophical issues with being stuck with a ticket that you’ve paid for when you can’t make it due to a family emergency or illness. Life’s hard enough without getting stuck with something you can’t use. We go by the honor system, and it’s worked great for 20 years.
5: Walk-in seats; no problem. We always try to keep a bunch for those making last minute decisions.
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.
FALL, 2016
.A quick round of thanks to Jason and the Rhythm Future Quartet, the volunteers who made short work of the ice cream and take-down, and especially you all for coming and bringing friends along!
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 7:00 PM
LES POULES A COLIN
From Canada comes Les Poules, which is one of those bands that I love so much. They play great, sing great, perform great, etc, but where they really shine is in the breadth of their music, from traditional French-Canadian to almost college radio-friendly alt/pop tunes. If you were at the Ten Strings and a Goatskin show, Rowen was talking about this band from Montreal that they were friends with, and how they were so amazing that they wanted them on their new album. This is them. Colin’s Chickens. I love them, you’ll love them.
Adults, $20, kids high school and under, $5.00
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12
9 HORSES
As regulars to the series know, I love stuff like this. Joe Brent takes this trio of classical/jazz prodigies (in their spare time, they appear as soloists for little orchestras like the Boston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, etc..) and basically lets all heck break loose. This is where chamber music went, when played by musicians who have the internet thing. You can see great music from all over the world. You can take classical forms and throw the entire world-big kitchen sink at it. Something starts out as classical, turns to jazz, and then might even sound like what heavy metal would if it were played on a violin, mandolin and bass. No descriptions fit, so I won’t bother to go further. Way-out from outer-space greatness. Adults $25, kids as usual $5.00
DECEMBER 10, 7:00 PM
THE DAROL ANGER Keeping It In The Family Holiday show!!
Darol Anger and Emy Phelps bring their musical family to the series for a special holiday show. Who is in the family? Some pretty cool heavy-weights, including the amazing Tony Trischka on banjo. It’s one superstar stacked on top of another, as Mr. Sun’s Grant Gordy and Ethan Jodziewicz join in the fun. So be prepared for a very special night with some very special friends. You won;t be finding holiday shows like this on PBS! Adults, $25, kids high school and under, $5.00
January 14, 7:00 PM
DRIFTWOOD
There’s nothing like a great stringboard that also has great grooves. Like Mike and Ruthy last year, or Mipso the year before, Driftwood really hits the sweet spot between old-time stringboard and fresh new compositions and arrangements. Driftwood though has a little bit more, with that upstate New York funkiness. You could write a college thesis on how the city kids went down south in the ’60’s t0 learn all about the original old-time music, then after college came up north and for some reason, seemed to settle in and around Ithaca. From there, maybe it was the cold weather, but they all went a little funky and, well, different. The Horseflies, The Correctones and others begat bands like Donna The Buffalo and Boy With A Fish. It’s a unique sound, but you’ll be dancing in the aisles with their high-octane bucket o’ fun. Adults $25, kids high school and under, $5.00
February 11; 7:00PM (sound sort of familiar?)
James Hill and Anne Janelle
James Hill is a true original. In the most original of senses. That makes little sense in and of itself, but there’s no one quite like him. I first heard him on Ukulele play a tune called “Ode To A Frozen Boot” a few years back. All I could think was that he had all the skills and flash of a young Leo Kottke. Amazing. But we’re not ukulele specialists at this series, so when he teamed up with his wife Anne on cello (now we’re talking) and joined forces with an agent friend of mine, it could happen. Just over-the-top goodness mixed with our regular scary good virtuosic standards. Adults $20, kids high school and under, $5.00
March 4. 7:00 PM
Mike Marshall and Darol Anger
Um, yup. If you know who they are as a pair, you’re already emailing me. If you don’t know, this is the duo that started it all back in the 70’s. But they don’t do “classic oldies” or “re-creating their former brilliance” or any of that retread junk. Take the most important and influential fiddler of the last 30 years, pair him with the most important and influential mandolin/mandocello player of the last 30 years, and whatever happened in the past is so over. This is the original original alternative strings wellspring. It merges classical, jazz, old-time, bluegrass, funk, whatever. It’s not a genre, it’s music. Oh, and they are probably only playing in this country together 3 or 4 times this year. You want special? We got special. Adults $30 (don’t say I did’t say anything) kids high school and under $5.00 Any music teacher not here is instantly on the fuddy-duddy train, whatever that is.
April 8. 7:00 PM
Ten Strings And A Goatskin
This is like yelling “Godzilla is coming” but being really happy about it. Last season was a packed sardine like sold out mess. I loved it. This is a legal performance enhancing drug. People were emailing me after last year’s show saying it was so fantastic they were actually crying. Plus, these guys are just plain fun. Season ender, here, and on a big-time party note. See ya here. Adults $25, kids high school and under, $5.