"A Fiddler's Holiday", Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Family Band Holiday TV Special

"A Fiddler's Holiday", Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Family Band Holiday TV Special 

The Jay Ungar and Molly Mason Family Band, who performed in a notloB concert 7/10/09, will be in a nationally televised holiday special. Mike and Ruthy have been presented by notloB on several other occasions.

What is it they say about the family that plays together?
Well, even if they don't all live under the same roof, this family makes terrific music and has a rip-roarin' good time while they're at it. The Jay Ungar & Molly Mason Family Band features Jay, Molly, Jay's daughter Ruth Ungar, and her husband Mike Merenda. And Mike & Ruthy's two children Will, born January 2008, and Opal born June 2012 also join them on the road, though rarely onstage.
With exceptional musicianship and a vast knowledge of numerous musical styles, Jay & Molly are one of the most celebrated duos in American acoustic music. They achieved international acclaim in 1990 when their performance of Jay's composition Ashokan Farewell became the musical hallmark of Ken Burns' The Civil War on PBS.
You may know Mike & Ruthy from The Mammals. Ruthy cut her teeth on traditional music, and grew up to be a top-flight performer. She brings fiddle, ukulele, guitar and deeply moving vocal performances to the Family Band. Mike Merenda favored rock and ska before being drawn into the world of acoustic music and brings those sensibilities to his playing on old-time banjo, guitar, percussion and his own compelling vocals.
Four terrific musicians. Put them together and the sum really is greater than its parts. Double fiddles, sweet vocal harmonies and rhythmic energy abound as two generations collaborate to entertain you with music from the heart and soul of America.

Sourced from notloB  Folk Concerts' facebook page

notloB Folk Concerts shared Jay Ungar and Molly Mason's photo.
From Jay Ungar and Molly Mason
Announcing "A Fiddler's Holiday" our Family Band Holiday Special on PBS-TV. Check local listings.
http://ymlp.com/zmZBBg

The Gang Who Could not Shoot Straight, Part Three....

WUMB, licensed to the University of Massachusetts, Boston, is "Boston's NPR music station."

The good people who run the Facebook fan page "Fans of Folk Radio WUMB" (subtitle: "we listen to WUMB so you don't have to") are reporting WUMB's music director gleefully admitting he only recently became aware of artists he has approved for the tightly controlled playlist.  OK, new artists come onto the scene every day, what's the big deal?  Mike (Merenda) and Ruthy (Ungar Merenda) were founding members of the highly successful folk rock band The Mammals, who themselves have visited the WUMB studio (see station photo below).  Furthermore, the current WUMB events calendar associates them with the Mammals.

This causes one to wonder, what value does a music director add when he is out of touch with the music scene?  WUMB has a very tightly controlled playlist.  Wouldn't the Boston-area music community be better off if WUMB management granted their "on-air personalities" the freedom to produce their own program content and to eliminate the music director position altogether?  That would also allow the station to return thousands of taxpayer dollars to the Commonwealth.

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I feel like Jon Stewart exposing Fox News.

At 3:30pm this afternoon, WUMB's Music Director, John Laurenti, stated "That was "Covered" from Mike and Ruthy's debut album, "Million to One".  They just popped onto my radar about a month ago".

A month ago?  Where has he been hibernating for the past 10 years?

The Mammals have visited the WUMB studio!

The Mammals visiting the WUMB studio.

Photo source - http://www.wumb.org/flyouts/recentvisitors.php?visitorid=150 - note the "folk radio" logo on the bumper sticker.  Now it's only a matter of time before this photo is scrubbed from the website, but not before the faux pas was uttered and the image captured.

Mr. Laurenti must know Mike and Ruthy are members of the Mammals, witness their current "on-air music calendar" listing - http://www.wumb.org/calendar/musiccalendar.php

Below, are listings for musicians, arts and cultural events in the greater Boston area, A link to each venue is included to confirm show times, for additional artists, or for more information.
You can find those and more listings here
You can also find out more about many of the coffeeshouses in the greater Boston area through the Boston Area Coffeehouse Association.
To submit your listings, use the "Calendar Submissions" link under the Calendar + Events menu above.
Listings for Mon Sep 27, 2010 - Mon Oct 11, 2010

  Wednesday September 29, 2010
Mike & Ruthy (from The Mammals) The Lizard Lounge Cambridge , MA 6:30 pm 617-547-0759 Venue Web Site

Maybe the state should pay to send John to more conferences so he can become better acquainted with the musicians he plays.  Better, maybe the state should withhold funding the MD position and direct station management to free the program hosts to produce their own shows.

Mike and Ruthy's discography (not including the Mammals)

   Million to One
2010
The amazing new CD featuring all originals with full band.

   Waltz of the Chickadee
2009
Sparse arrangements and meaningful lyrics with lots of fiddle and banjo.

   The Honeymoon Agenda
 2008
Great covers and originals with emphasis on love and harmony.

   Quiver
2007
Beautiful songs, simply arranged.

   Election Day
2004
Rockin' originals with full band.

   Trapped in the Valley
2000
Mike's original batch of indie-folk-pop gems.

   Jukebox
2002
Ruthy's sings country, jazz and folky originals with family and friends.

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This is not the first time WUMB has dissed a notloB Mammal.  In 2008, when notloB presented Chris Merenda and Adam Sweeney at the Loring-Greenough House, WUMB placed the event listing on its secondary "community" calendar their standard policy for artists not approved for weekday airplay.

Tao Rodriguaz-Seeger on artist censorship at festivals

Tao Rodriguaz-Seeger was in Amsterdam on behalf of his grandfather, Pete Seeger, to receive the Freemuse free speech award. In the video he speaks of a personal experience while playing a festival with the Mammals (who subtitle themselves "subversive acoustic traditionalists"), when asked by the producer to not again perform the next day their encore song, "The Bush Boys".

The irony was the band had had already decided on their own, because the song had caused some divisiveness, to not repeat the performance. Their delimana was what to do, since they were now under orders as to what they could not perform.

Cover Lay Down covers Notlob

Joshua Farber has a nice shout-out in this morning's edition of "Cover Lay Down".

Those living in the Boston area would be well advised to keep an eye on the Notlob concert series, which is featuring many folks from this scene this year: Hannah Read will perform with the Folk Arts Quartet on April 11; both Emma Beaton and the Boston Boys, which feature some of the Berklee Bluegrass crowd, will appear on May 9.

Read the entire article here in a larger piece about local musicians (and Notlob alumna Kristin Andreassen, Ruthy Merenda, Aoife O'Donovan, Hanah Read, Emma Beaton and Eilen Jewell), as well as a call out of David Massengill, also a Notlobber.