Monday, August 31, 2015

The Rhythm and Roots Festival in Charlestown, RI, Labor Day Weekend - Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!



18th Annual Rhythm & Roots Festival

Labor Day Weekend • September 4-6, 2015
At Ninigret Park, Charlestown, RI


Get ready, Get set, Go get your tickets NOW!


R&R Schedule block

The Mavericks (5)
Keb Mo (6)
Royal Southern Brotherhood (6)Lake Street Dive (4) Los Lobos (5)Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys (5, 6)Sarah Potenza (4, 5, 6)Marcia Ball (5)Kitty, Daisy & Lewis (4, 5)Corey Ledet & His Zydeco Band (4, 5, 6)The Cash Box Kings (5, 6) Eilen Jewell (4)Matt Andersen (5, 6)Ten Strings & A Goatskin (5)Roddie Romero & the Hub City All Stars (5, 6)  Della Mae featuring Jim Lauderdale (5)Nora Jane Struthers & the Party Line (4)
Dustbowl Revival (4, 5)Ruben Moreno and Zydeco Re-evolution (4, 5, 6)Del Barber (5, 6)Howell Devine (5, 6)
Dog Hill Stompers (4, 5, 6)Miss Tess & The Talkbacks (4)Parsonsfield (4)The Bombadils (5, 6)Ed Poullard & Preston Frank (4, 5, 6)Mike & Ruthy Band (4)Yvette Landry & Richard Comeaux (5,6)Hello Strangers (4)David Greely (5, 6)Jim Oblon
Jesse Lege
Extraordinary Rendition Band
Magnolia
Zydegroove
Thawn Harris
Len Cabral
Marc Levitt
Ken Waldman
Red Tide Ramblers
Dance Instructors: Michelle Kaminsky & Jim Christenson 

(lineup subject to change)

Location: Ninigret Park, 4890A Old Post Road (Route 1A), Charlestown, Rhode Island
CAMPING opens Friday at 9:00 AM.
You will be able to line up inside Ninigret Park beginning at 6:00 am Friday.
Earlier arrival is not permitted. See camping page for more information.

STAGE & VENDOR Area opens one hour prior to the beginning of music each day:
Friday 4:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am
Sunday 11:00 am
MUSIC:
Friday 5:00 pm - Midnight
Saturday Noon- Midnight
Sunday Noon - Midnight
http://www.rhythmandroots.com/

Saturday, August 22, 2015

notloB Music Announces a New Acoustic Music Concert Series at Gregorian Rugs in Newton Lower Falls


notloB Music Announces a New Acoustic Music Concert Series at Gregorian Rugs in Newton Lower Falls
In association with Newton Nomadic Theater it will be a little bit Cajun, a little bit Celtic and a little bit bluegrass

Scott Gregorian and Gregorian Rugs loves doing community and arts-oriented events at his beautiful store in Lower Falls.  So much so he has opened his store, located at 2284 Washington St, Newton Lower Falls, to community organizations and area producers. Earlier this year Gregorian listed his performance space in a registry run by the Massachusetts Cultural Coucil, where it was found by Jeff Boudreau, owner and “chief cook and bottle washer” of notloB Music. notloB (that’s “Bolton” spelled backwards, Monty Python fans will “get” it) has been producing small and interesting musical concerts for the last eight years at various venues in the greater Boston area, including Newton’s Jackson Homestead and Carriage House Violins.

“The Massachusetts Cultural Council provides a service named “SpaceFinder Mass”, a kind of a dating match site where people having venues can share them with producers and artists and producers and artists can search for performance venues” explained Boudreau, who serves on the Arlington Cultural Council. “As we generally do not use artificial sound reinforcement, I was immediately attracted to Gregorian Rug’s brick and stone interior and vaulted ceiling. The piles of gorgeous oriental rugs was the clincher, so I reached out to Scott. Within days we had met in person, discussed the possibilities and agreed to a Fall series.” The rest, as they say, is, or will be, history.

Gregorian Rugs' main showroom, site of notloB Music's acoustic music series
During their meetings, Gregorian suggested Boudreau coordinate his dates and logistics with Jerry Reilly, a founder of and principle in Newton Nomadic Theater, who had already been presenting theater performances in the store. It turns out Reilly knew Boudreau from attending notloB concerts at Carriage House and was publicizing them in his blog, “Village 14.” notloB will continue to present solo acts at Carriage House’s 47-seat performance hall, and use Gregorian for larger ensembles requiring more space.
“Besides coordinating the dates, Newton Nomadic Theater will assist notloB with publicity, lighting, chairs and volunteers,” explained Reilly.
notloB’s Gregorian Season.

Thursday, September 10, 8pm - David Greeley
General admission $15, seniors and students $10. Tickets through Eventbrite - http://www.eventbrite.com/o/notlob-music-6730833315

David Greely’s French Louisiana music is opening a new wing in his tradition. David has taken the swampy syncopations of Cajun music and its renaissance French dialect to new level of sophistication without losing its urgency and texture. In solo acoustic performance, he sounds like two or three fiddles, weaving accompaniment to his vocals as if it’s someone else singing. Presenting his concerts in English or French, he embraces all the aspects of his heritage that a fiddle and voice can reach- ancient ballads, cane field blues, yearning waltzes and fiery two steps, and melds his ancestral legacy with his own adroit compositions and stories of the rich souls who kept this music and language alive.

David was born in Baton Rouge of Cajun and Irish ancestry, and learned Cajun music on dance hall stages throughout South Louisiana, in the archives of Cajun and Creole music at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, and from his apprenticeship to Cajun fiddle master and National Heritage Fellow Dewey Balfa. As a founding member of Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, David toured Folk Festivals worldwide for 23 years, and was nominated for four Grammy Awards. He has received the Louisiana Artist Fellowship Award for Folklife Performance, and is an adjunct instructor of Cajun fiddle at the University of Louisiana.

Saturday, October 10, 8pm - Emma Beaton and Nic Gareiss
General admission $20, seniors and students $15. Tickets through Eventbrite - http://www.eventbrite.com/o/notlob-music-6730833315
The child of two Scottish emigrants, Emma Beaton is no stranger to the traditional music realm. She learned to play the cello amongst seas of fiddlers under Alasdair Fraser's San Francisco Scottish fiddlers and at music camps around the US. This forced her to develop her own style of folk cello, adapting dance tunes for the instrument and conjuring up her own rhythmic accompaniment style to suit the fiddle repertoire.
Michigan-born dancer, musician, and dance researcher Nic Gareiss has studied a broad variety of percussive movement forms from around the world.  At the age of eight he began taking tap lessons with Sam and Lisa Williams at Vision Studio of Performing Arts in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.  Soon after, he was exposed to fiddle music and traditional dance at the Wheatland Music Organization’s annual Traditional Arts Weekend.  It was there that he had his first instruction in Appalachian clogging with Michigan dance mentor, Sheila Graziano.  As a teenager, Nic also studied Irish step dance with John Heinzman, T.C.R.G., Appalachian flat-footing with Ira Bernstein, Québécois step dance with Benoit Bourque, and improvisation and composition with Sandy Silva.

Nic has performed many of the luminaries of traditional music from Ireland, Scotland, and North America, including The Chieftains, Dervish, Gráda, Beoga, Téada, FIDIL, Le Vent du Nord, Genticorum, Dr. Anthony Barrand, Buille, Liz Carroll, Frankie Gavin, Martin Hayes, Bruce Molsky, Darol Anger and Alasdair Fraser.  His dancing has been seen on CMT in Uncle Earl's music video, Streak O' Lean, Steak O' Fat, and also on Ireland's RTÉ 2 in the film Unsung, commissioned by the Irish Arts Council, which premiered during the 2008 Dublin Dance Festival. He has performed for the Irish head of state, An Taoiseach Brian Cowen and American Energy Secretary Steven Chu.  In 2011, Nic received two commissions from the Cork Opera House to create new solo percussive dance works for Reich’s pieces Six Marimbas and Clapping Music in honor of the composer’s 75th birthday.  The commissions were hailed by the Irish Times as “a leftfield tour-de-force with irresistible wow factor.”

Nic holds degrees in anthropology and music from Central Michigan University.  In 2011, he earned a distinction from the Norwegian University for Science and Technology’s IPEDAM Erasmus Intensive for Ethnochoreologists.  Nic completed post-graduate work in 2012, earning a MA in ethnochoreology from the University of Limerick.  He continues to tour internationally, working with dance communities and presenting solo percussive dance choreography and dance research.

Friday, October 23, 8pm - Mile Twelve
General admission $15, seniors and students $10. Tickets through Eventbrite - http://www.eventbrite.com/o/notlob-music-6730833315
Mile Twelve is a fresh and innovative new voice in contemporary bluegrass music.  Based in Boston, MA they are fast gaining recognition for their outstanding performances in New England bluegrass and folk circles.  Combining a love for traditional bluegrass with songwriting skills honed at renowned music schools, they present a refined and powerful musical directive.  With influences from folk, jazz, old-time and bluegrass music, the band’s original songs are a timely continuation of the bluegrass string band tradition.The band features Evan Murphy on lead vocals and guitar, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes on fiddle, Catherine (BB) Bowness on banjo and Nate Sabat on bass.  Mile Twelve’s youthful energy and mature musicianship result in captivating and memorable performances. Mile Twelve's instrumental skills reflect natural abilities enhanced by serious study of bluegrass tradition and a fearless desire to create fresh pathways.  From the opening number of their new EP, it’s plain that their vocal skills are equal to their picking prowess. Their trio blend is as tight as it gets.  Their duo and solo singing is equally praiseworthy. The arrangements often surprise with subtle twists and turns... delicious false endings, dropped beats, arco bass and fiddle duets, and on and on.

notloB Music also presents concerts in Cambridge, Somerville, Arlington and at a second venue in Newton. See its full schedule at https://sites.google.com/site/notlobmusic. Tickets for all concerts are available at http://www.eventbrite.com/o/notlob-music-6730833315. For more information see its Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/notloBParlourConcerts/ - or email notlobreservations@gmail.com (please do not contact Gregorian).

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Dick Hensold, the leading Northumbrian smallpiper in North America, coming to Somerville in September

notloB's Fall music series will begin in a new (for us) venue, the intimate (50 seat) cafe at the Somerville Armory, presenting the one and only Dick Hensold!
Wednesday, September 23, 2015, 8pm (doors at 7:30)
191 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02143



This will be the first of many concerts at this new venue - the announcement of a full season of concerts in the cafe will be made soon. As we did at our Loring-Greenough concert series, admission will be by free-will donation.
General admission $15-20 (suggested).
Seniors and students $10 (suggested).
As this is a small space, reservations via Eventbrite are strongly suggested.

Dick Hensold is the leading Northumbrian smallpiper in North America, and for the past 20 years has performed and taught in England, Scotland, Japan, Canada, and across the United States. (He is a regular instructor/ performer at the Piper's Gathering event in VT.) His solo Northumbrian smallpipes CD Big Music for Northumbrian Smallpipes was released in 2007. He is based in St Paul, MN.

His solo concert features Northumbrian smallpipes (a quiet bagpipe from Northeast England), reel pipes (an indoor version of the Scottish Highland pipes intended for Scottish dance music), seljefløyte (Norwegian willow-flute), säckpipa (Swedish bagpipes), pibgorn (Welsh hornpipe), and several other instruments. He plays music in several traditional and historical styles, with particular emphasis on Cape Breton, early Scottish, and Northumbrian, but also including Scandinavian, medieval, Irish, and original music. The program also includes a couple of songs, neither of them in English, and a limited amount of dancing while seated.

Reservations http://www.eventbrite.com/o/notlob-music-6730833315
Website https://sites.google.com/site/notlobmusic
Mail Chimp (mailing list) - http://tinyurl.com/notlobmail
Contact: notlobreservations@gmail.com - please DO NOT contact the venue.

Food, coffee and tea are served. 
Free parking in the back lot and on street.
MBTA: Arts at the Armory is approximately a 15-minute walk from Davis Square which is on the MBTA Red Line. You can also find us by using either the MBTA RT 88 and RT 90 bus that can be caught either at Lechmere (Green Line) or Davis Square (Red Line). Get off at the Highland Avenue and Lowell Street stop. You can also get there from Sullivan Square (Orange Line) by using the MBTA RT 90 bus. Get off at the Highland Avenue and Benton Road stop.Bicycle: The Armory is four blocks (down Lowell Street) from the Somerville Community Path.
More info at http://artsatthearmory.org/about/getting-here/get

Please share the Facebook event - https://www.facebook.com/events/1528452280749079/

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Direct from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana (via the Rhythm and Roots Festival), David Greeley!

Direct from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana (via the Rhythm and Roots Festival), notloB Music Presents... David Greeley!

Thursday, September 10



notloB will celebrate the end of its Summer music season by presenting at a brand new venue a founding member of Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys - http://www.mamouplayboys.com/ - the one and only David Greely!

We've been working on getting David to come to the Boston area for several years and very happy to be part of his post Rhythm and Roots Festival  http://www.rhythmandroots.com/ - New England tour. 

Thursday, September 10, 2015, 8pm (doors at 7:30)
Gregorian Rugs
2284 Washington St, Newton Lower Falls, MA 02462
General admission $15
Seniors and students $10

David Greely’s French Louisiana music is opening a new wing in his tradition. David has taken the swampy syncopations of Cajun music and its renaissance French dialect to new level of sophistication without losing its urgency and texture. In solo acoustic performance, he sounds like two or three fiddles, weaving accompaniment to his vocals as if it’s someone else singing. Presenting his concerts in English or French, he embraces all the aspects of his heritage that a fiddle and voice can reach- ancient ballads, cane field blues, yearning waltzes and fiery two steps, and melds his ancestral legacy with his own adroit compositions and stories of the rich souls who kept this music and language alive.

David was born in Baton Rouge of Cajun and Irish ancestry, and learned Cajun music on dance hall stages throughout South Louisiana, in the archives of Cajun and Creole music at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette, and from his apprenticeship to Cajun fiddle master and National Heritage Fellow Dewey Balfa. As a founding member of Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, David toured Folk Festivals worldwide for 23 years, and was nominated for four Grammy Awards. He has received the Louisiana Artist Fellowship Award for Folklife Performance, and is an adjunct instructor of Cajun fiddle at the University of Louisiana. 

Contact: notlobreservations@gmail.com - please DO NOT contact the venue.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

The Matt Flinner Trio, “Deeply Rooted New Acoustic Music”, Arlington, 8/28

THE MATT FLINNER TRIO!
“Deeply Rooted New Acoustic Music”

Matt Flinner, mandolon
Ross Martin, guitar
Eric Thorin, bass
http://www.mattflinner.com/trio


Friday, August 28, 2015, 8pm (doors at 7:40)
Park Avenue Congregational Church (PACC)
50 Paul Revere Road, Arlington, MA
General admission $15
Seniors and students $12


The Matt Flinner Trio“Deeply Rooted New Acoustic Music”In 2006, three musical pals decided to get together to play a few gigs; since then, the Matt Flinner Trio has been exploring new pathways and setting new standards for the bluegrass trio sound all around the U.S. and Europe.Mandolinist Matt Flinner, guitarist Ross Martin and bassist Eric Thorin cover a wide variety of musical styles—all with the common ground of American roots music. Bluegrass, jazz and old-time music are all present here in their ways, along with a dose of classical chamber music composition and arrangement, as the members all draw from their wide array of musical loves, experiences and influences. These influences boil down into the trio’s own organic sound of New Acoustic music, or Modern String Band music, or Chamber Grass (music is getting harder and harder to label these days, isn’t it?). Whatever label you put on it, it is guaranteed to be fresh and original, and definitely something you’ve never quite heard before.
The trio began doing “Music du Jour” tours in 2006, in which each member of the group writes a new composition the day of the show, and all three new pieces are performed on that evening’s concert. After several of these tours the trio recorded its first CD, “Music du Jour,” on Compass Records in 2009. They have now performed over 130 “du Jour” shows around the U.S., and continue to explore new frontiers and new sounds in acoustic string band music. Their second CD, “Winter Harvest,” was released on Compass Records in 2012. Watch for their upcoming CD, “Traveling Roots,” in early 2016.

Dinner and a show.
Patrons who show their server their eventbrite ticket for that evening's concert get 10% off dinner at the nearby 

Thai-E-Sarn Cuisine, 1377 Massachusetts Ave Arlington, MA(781) 648-2223)
http://www.thaiesarncuisine.com/
OR
Szechuan's Dumpling, 1360 Massachuetts Ave Arlington, MA(781) 648-8882
https://www.facebook.com/SzechuansDumpling
Tickets http://www.eventbrite.com/o/notlob-music-6730833315
Website https://sites.google.com/site/notlobmusic 
Mail Chimp (mailing list) - http://tinyurl.com/notlobmail
Please share this event - https://www.facebook.com/events/1633951936850568/
Contact: notlobreservations@gmail.com - please DO NOT contact the venue.




Tuesday, August 11, 2015

RIP, Lowell Banjo and Fiddle Contest

Towards the end of July I heard rumors that the long-running Lowell Banjo and Fiddle Contest would not be held this year. Suspicion was compounded by there being nothing on the Lowell NPS website -http://www.nps.gov/lowe/index.htm
So on July 29 I shot an inquiry: "I cannot find any information on your website about this year's banjo and fiddle contest. What are the dates, what are the divisions and how does one apply?"
Here is the reply, just received via email:
"Lupsiewicz, Phil
3:22 PM (31 minutes ago)
to me
The Banjo & Fiddle Contests will not be taking place this year. Many of you are familiar with this as a long-standing event that has traditionally occurred in September at Boarding House Park. There are Park efforts underway to forge new partnerships to bring this event back online in the future.
Thank you.
Phil Lupsiewicz"
It is a shame those entrusted to maintain the event could not do so this year. The costs cannot be that great - Boardinghouse Park is in the public domain, (interpretive) rangers are already on staff. The only additional cost I see would be for a sound system and engineer, and even that is not mandatory, nothing wrong with doing it the old-fashioned way (unplugged).
Does anyone know why the contest died?