Fans of mad string skills know we’re the place to go when tracking down those virtuosos of strings. Have a look at the past performers to get an idea of what’s to come:
Play the violin? Here’s a sampler of what you either saw or missed: Nordic Fiddler’s Bloc, Tim Chaisson (East Pointers), Doc Wallace (Berklee head honcho), Sara Caswell, Jeremy Kittel, Darol Anger, Alasdair Fraser, Rowen Gallant (Ten Strings and a Goatskin), Brittany Haas, Christian Howes, Sumaia Jackson, Ruth Ungar, Jason Anick (John Jorgenson Quintet), Mari Black, Elana James (Hot Club Of Cowtown), Jay Ungar, Hanneke Cassel, Winifred Horan, Emily Baker, Jordana Greenberg (Harpeth Rising), Mari Black, Mazz Swift, Laura Cortese, Mariel Vandersteel, Multi-National Champion Katie Glassman, April Verch, Pascal Mouisse, Andrea Beaton, Mairi Rankin, Wendy MacIsaac, Liz and Yvonne Kane, Tania Elizabeth, and more than I can list here.
Cello? Also a who’s who: Rushad Eggleston, Ben Sollee, Dana Leong, Mike Block, Natalie Haas, Nathaniel Smith, Maria DiMeglio, Ari Friedman, and more.
Bass: Joe Phillips, Jake Erwin (Hot Club Of Cowtown), Simon Planting (John Jorgenson Quintet), Paul Kowert (Hawktail and Punch Brothers), Joe Phillips, Ethan Jodziewics, Andrew Ryan, Joe Arcura, and again, a whole lot more great ones.
Guitars? I guess a few pretty decent ones, like Molly Tuttle, John Jorgensen, Frank Vignola, Jim Hurst, Jordan Tice, Grant Gordy, Whit Smith, Rosie Flores, Clay Ross, and lots more.
Bands include (partial list; with over 180 different ones through the years, and not bothering to try to list them all until just now, many will be left out. Sorry!): Väsen, Sam Rider and The Human Hands, Molly Tuttle, Seamus Eagan Project, John Jorgenson Bluegrass Band, Damn Tall Buildings, Upstate Rubdown, Mike Marshall and Darol Anger, Crooked Still, Mr. Sun, Jayme Stone and the Alan Lomax Project, Ten Strings and a Goatskin, Grada, Solas, Mipso, Mike and Ruthy Band, John Jorgensen Quintet, Matuto, Dana Leong Trio, Hot Club of Cowtown, Katie Gassman and Snapshot, Harpeth Rising, Duhks, Claire Lynch Band, Barefoot Bluegrass, Barefoot Movement, London Lasses, Giveway, Jeffrey Broussard and the Creole Cowboys, Gandalf Murphy, and yeah, quite a few more…
Hawktail, consisting of Brittany Haas, Paul Kowert, Dominic Leslie, and Jordan Tice, at Deer Lake
A host of outdoor Covid-avoidance shows above, all fundraisers for various land trusts, endangered properties and food pantries. Damn Tall Buildings, Pumpkin Bread, Mr. Sun, Hawktail and the Ruta Beggars. Thanks to all who performed and attended!
Väsen.
Sam Reider and Jorge Glem, complete with some Human Hands
Pretty Saro at the Rettich Preserve
Doc Wallace and Kristi Shade of Hat Trick trio
Kristi Shade of Hat Trick Trio
From 13 years ago, Crooked Still
Harpeth Rising
John Jorgenson Bluegrass Band, Amy Etra photo
Night Tree
Genticorum
A long view of the wonderful Nordic Fiddler’s Bloc
The East Pointers. Just that.
Owen Marshall, of the Seamus Egan Project, guards his harmonium
Mike and Ruthie, leaders of The Mammals, packing up after the show, hitting the road yet again
Jeremy Kittel, with Josh Pinkham and Quinn Bachand, sound check time for their Holiday show.
The incredible Molly Tuttle and her equally incredible band step down off the stage for an all-acoustic encore.
Just in case you wanted to see Mike Marshall’s Gibson F5 Lloyd Loar mandolin.
Darol Anger and Mike Marshall looking…somewhere.
I don’t think anyone can equal the sheer fun of Upstate Rubdown. We have to make them big!
The All-Stars digging the ice cream.
The Brooklyn Ceilidh All Star band. A pickup pulled together by Joe Brent, and fronted by Bryan Dunn. With Andrew Ryan on bass, and Kyle Sanna and Dana Lyn, it was one accomplished jam band!
James Hill’s ukulele tree.
James Hill and Anne Janelle. Just perfect.
Driftwood’s Claire Burns just killing it. Tons of fun with these guys.
Darol Anger, Emy Phelps, Ethan Jodziewicz, and the great Tony Trischka, along with Grant Gordy warm up at soundcheck for their Holiday show.
9 Horses. Cutting edge classical/jazz/old-time fusion that sounds like something you’ve heard before, but then, it doesn’t.
Les Poules a Colin, a new favorite band from Canada (how many favorites do we have now…?) displaying their new-found royal status.
Jason Anick, Olli Soikkeli and the Rhythm Future Quartet put on an amazing display of musicianship. Even princesses were captivated.
The Emily Baker Trio!
Too much fun at the first pig roast concert blast.
Sound checking with jaime Stone, Moira Smiley, Sumaia Jackson and Joe Phillips hiding in the back.
Rowen Gallant of Ten Strings And A Goatskin
Mari Black and her trio at the big contra dance. World Scots fiddle champion Mari and her incredibly gifted band really drove the dance.
What happens when you cram 150 people for our idea of a contra dance.
Who is more fun than Mr. Sun? No one!
The brilliant Darol Anger. It’s no understatement to say he may be the most influential violinist in the past 30 years,virtually inventing the new-wave of alternative string playing.
Natalie Haas and Yann Falquet didn’t just give us a concert, they taught a superb workshop as well.
The Mike and Ruthy Band. The originators of Rural Rock. They made banjo cool. Without their 16 year partnership, the alt music scene might sound totally different.
The shoes of Bethan, Calan’s clogging monster. We all found out just how great the Welsh tradition is.
This is what our musicians get to see… pretty cool, and many say it’s like playing in a giant living room full of their best friends.
Soundchecking with John Jorgenson, Simon Planting, and Jason Anick. John Jorgenson Quintet
Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas: as good as it gets.
Katie Glassman and Snapshot, Texas swing fiddler, 2-time National Champion. She’s incredible, her band is just perfect, and they deserve a national spotlight and big audiences. See them anywhere you can!!
The view from above. John Jorgenson’s quintet rock the house.
Libby Rodenbaugh of Mipso
I wish we could say we discovered Mipso, but instead we have to settle for being the anchor gig on their first New England tour.
Blake Miller of the Revelers hamming it up during a sound check. Accordion players, especially Cajun ones, absolutely have more fun.
The Skunk Misery Ramblers (or at least a bunch of them) open a show with a couple of tunes.
The one and only Solas
The phenomenal Ben Sollee
Jordana Greenburg of Harpeth Rising
Maeve Gilchrist, musician extraordinaire.
Hands of Ben
Rushad Eggleston, the one. The only.
Jeremy Kittel, Josh Pinkham, Simon Chrisman
The hands of Blake Miller, rocking the dance floor at our semi-annual dance.
The Duhks, Grammy-winning crowd favorites.
One of our rare contra dances… it gets a little crowded!
Hanneke Cassel leads one of her superb workshops
Charlie Chadwick of John Jorgenson’s group demonstrates his folding bass.
One of our favorite fiddlers/singers, Mia Friedman
Nicola Joyce of Grada, great singer, even better friend.
workshop smiles
A typical workshop zoo. Most aren’t quite as crowded as this, but you never know…!
This is the view the band sees. Kind of a zoo, no?
Gudrun Walther of Cara, Irish National Champ fiddler, leads a workshop
3 mandolins in a boat, from the Bearfoot Bluegrass Camp for Kids