ANDY REINER & STASH WYSLOUCH

notloB Folk Concerts

  

presents.....

ANDY REINER & STASH WYSLOUCH

Snow schmow!  We're hearty New Englanders!  Just allow a bit extra travel time / take the T.  Destination is 12 South Street, Jamaica Plain, 02130.

If you drive - parking at the Loring-Greenough House is limited.  There is a large public parking lot <2 blocks away behind Blanchard's, 741 Centre Street. 

By MBTA - buses connect at the Orange Line's Forest Hills station and run up South Street, get off  at the monument; direct service from Copley Plaza.  Plan your trip via http://www.mbta.com

Andy and Stash have performed at two notloB concerts with their band Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers (May 23, 2009, as part of the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival "Most Wanted" tour, and January 23, 2010).  When, at the Mariel Vandersteel and Julie Metcalf concert last Fall Andy approached us with the proposition he and Stash perform, we immediately said YES!

notloB Folk Concerts is pleased to welcome back two alumni, Stash Wyslouch & Andy Reiner, on  Saturday, February 5 (doors 7:30, concert 8:00) at the historic Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street, Jamaica Plain. 

Andy Reiner, an award-winning fiddler and violinist from Lexington, MA, grew up in a musical family. He began playing at age 5, learning fiddle from his father Dave Reiner, a fiddle contest champion and author of instructional fiddle books with publisher Mel Bay. Andy took 13 years of classical violin lessons from Helene Kamen in Lexington, MA. Attending Mark O’Connor’s Fiddle Camp in Tennessee in ’97 and ’98 changed Andy’s life forever. Over many summers of fiddle camps, he studied Old Time, Bluegrass, Irish, Swing, New England, and other fiddle styles and repertoire, and internalized the spectrum of different teaching methods of the many world-class fiddlers and educators from whom he took workshops.

Upon graduating from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2008 with a BM in Violin Performance, he continued touring with several bands while taking on private students. Andy’s fiddle playing as been prolifically represented through his life, playing with the Reiner Family Band from an early age, Heavy Metal with Devil in the Kitchen, Folk/Hip- Hop with FiddleFoxx, and currently with the Earth Stringband and Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers. He has been playing with Stash Wyslouch, guitarist, for 9 years, and together, they have formed an inseparable bond that is road-tested and constantly evolving.

He teaches workshops at the Meadowlark Music Camp in Maine, Fiddle Hell in Groton, MA (where he has worked with his father to develop the educational concepts that combine learning and fun), Bancroft Strings Camp, Worcester, MA, and has also taught workshops at the Creative Strings Workshop, Columbus, OH and through the Mountain West while on tour in Salt Lake City, UT and Pocatello, ID. As well as being a member of the American String Teachers Association, Andy was one of the first teachers to be trained in teaching the new O’Connor Violin Method, created by world-famous virtuoso fiddler and violinist Mark O’Connor – putting Andy at the cutting edge of beginning violin educational techniques.

Andy has composed five major works for string orchestra, which have been performed at the Berklee Performance Center and the Kennedy Center. His experience arranging for bands and groups helps in teaching novice players, creating an ensemble sound that they really enjoy. Last year, Andy published a book of 54 original compositions for fiddle / violin; this typifies his approach to teaching the instrument in a customized and creative way. With the Reiner Family Band, he just released a 2-disc set containing 52 fiddle tunes played fast and slow. Finally, Andy is currently working on a new Mel Bay instruction book and DVD with his father on fiddle bowing patterns, chops, and other techniques.

Stash is a touring musician originally from Lexington, MA but now residing in Brighton, MA and deep in the music scene of Boston. You can find Stash touring nationally and internationally as a vocalist, guitarist and songwriter in bands such as "Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers" whose debut album 'Rousted' is being released in September featuring many of Stash's original compositions, or in the band "The Boston Boys" whose made appearances at festivals such as Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival and recently the New Bedford Summerfest. Stash also tours nationally and internationally with the band "The Deadly Gentlemen" fronted by Greg Liszt, banjo player of the band 'Crooked Still' and former banjo player of Bruce Springsteen in 2006, whose album "Carry Me To Home" is in the process of being released after spending a grueling summer recording in studios across all of the United States.

A recent Berklee graduate, Stash has studied and played with some of the best musicians in different respective genres ranging from Bluegrass to folk music to rock to jazz, taking the guitar from its limited genre possibilities to another world of individuality and creativity. Stash is fascinated by the mechanics and beauty of music and is ready and willing to expose these fundamental building blocks to a creative and fulfilled musical life. His passion flows through his writing, performing, and teaching affecting those all around him. His lively performances and enthused lessons always leave the other party wanting more and ready to tap into a deeper sense of self through music.

Artist’s websites  

Stash - 

http://www.myspace.com/stashwyslouch

Andy - 

http://www.andyreiner.com/

Doors 7:30, Concert 8:00

Coffee, tea and pastries will be available.

Suggested donation $12 at the door; $10 if reservation is made at least 24 hours in advance and to Loring-Greenough museum members plus $1 preservation fee.  Reservation to notlobreservations at gmail dot com at least 24 hours in advance are recommended.

notloB Folk Concerts are volunteer run and not for profit. Anyone interested in volunteering is encouraged to send an email to notlobreservations at gmail dot com
Website ~ http://sites.google.com/site/notlobmusic
Facebook ~ http://www.facebook.com/notloBFolkConcerts
Mail list ~ http://groups.google.com/group/notlobmusic

JULIE METCALF and Mariel Vandersteel

notloB Parlour Concerts is pleased to welcome back to the intimate Loring-Greenough House two of its alumna, JULIE METCALF (formerly of the Folk Arts Quartet, now with the Paper Star Trio, making her second notloB appearance) and MARIEL VANDERSTEEL (of Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers, her third notloB appearance).

Time	Saturday, December 4 · 8:00pm - 10:30pm
Location	Loring-Greenough House 12 South Street Jamaica Plain, MA
	Suggested donation $12 at the door; $10 if reservation is made at least 24 hours in advance and to Loring-Greenough museum members + $1 preservation fee that goes to the museum Doors 7:30, Concert 8:00 Reservations: notlobreservations at gmail dot com Artist's websites: http://www.myspace.com/juliemetcalf http://marielvandersteel.com/Mariel_Vandersteel ... Official website: http://sites.google.com/site/notlobmusic ~ notloB Folk Concerts is pleased to welcome back two alumna, Julie Metcalf (from the Folk Arts Quartet) and Mariel Vandersteel (from Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers). Fiddler JULIE METCALF began as a classical violinist in Worcester, MA. Coming from a family of musicians, she was encouraged to make music from an early age; Julie picked up the violin for the first time when she was 4 years old and has been playing ever since. When she was twelve, Julie discovered fiddle music and jazz through PBS and country radio, and began learning Celtic tunes on her own. Julie studied classical violin at Boston University's College of Fine Arts. Recently, she has immersed herself in the study of both traditional folk and contemporary styles of music, including Celtic, Appalachian, bluegrass, jazz, and Latin music. She is a graduate of Berklee College of Music with a degree in Violin Performance. Julie plays viola in the Paper Star Trio, formerly the Folk Arts Quartet. The Paper Star Trio is a grooving chamber-folk string ensemble that plays contemporary arrangements of world fiddle music. She can also be spotted playing violin with Mariachi Palenque. MARIEL VANDERSTEEL ~ Inspired by her summers spent studying traditional music in Ireland and across the united states, Mariel decided to study music in norway after graduating from Berklee. She is studying the hardingfele and Norwegian folk music at høgskolen i telemark rauland. While in Norway, she has performed at outdoor festivals and in the local elementary school where she taught children about American folk music. Mariel has taught at alasdair fraser's sierra fiddle camp, has been an assistant teacher at fiddlekids, a San Francisco Bay Area fiddle camp for children, and has shared the stage with Alasdair Fraser, Laura Risk, Hanneke Cassel, Natalie Haas, Tristan and Tashina Clarridge, Nic Gareiss, André Brunet, and Philip Bailey of Earth Wind and Fire. She currently lives in Norway and will return to Boston in 2010 where she will teach the fiddle and hardingfele and perform with Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers and the Paper Star Trio. Coffee, tea and pastries will be available. notloB Folk Concerts are volunteer run and not for profit. All interested in volunteering are encouraged to send an email to notlobreservations at gmail dot com Reservations ~ notlobreservations@gmail.com Website ~ http://sites.google.com/site/notlobmusic Facebook ~ http://www.facebook.com/pages/notloB-Folk-Concerts/118395891509908 Mail list ~ http://groups.google.com/group/notlobmusic

The Return of Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers, 1/23

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival "most wanted to return artist", 2009

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Unity Church of God

6 William Street, Davis Square, Somerville

Doors 7:30, Concert 8:00

Suggested minimum donation $12 at the door, $10 with advance reservation*, children under 13 & students with ID $5

*email notlobreservations @ gmail.com for reservations (at least 24 hours in advance & information)

Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers (BMUZ) is not your average folk band.

Founded in 2006 by four Berklee College of Music students, BMUZ decided to do something really different. They combined Scandinavian music and a nyckelharpa with American Old Time music, four and five string fiddles and a jazz and bluegrass guitarist. The result? A contemporary string band filled with epic triple fiddles, catchy melodies and driving rhythms full of raw energy and mashy quirk.

Although they think of themselves as a musical unit, the members of BMUZ each have their own individual sound. Bronwyn Bird grew up performing in musical theater. As a teenager, she discovered a nyckelharpa hanging on a neighbor's wall, and quickly fell in love with the instrument. While spending a year in Sweden studying Swedish music, she built the nyckelharpa she currently uses. Andy Reiner grew up in a musical family and spent his childhood attending music camps where he was exposed to a myriad of styles of folk and contemporary music. He can't choose which genre he likes playing the most, so he tends to successfully mesh them all together. Stash Wyslouch thought he was going to be an engineer until quite recently. His music has moved from heavy metal to bluegrass and jazz and draws on his Columbian and Polish background and love of reggae and funky grooves for his quirky compositions. Mariel Vandersteel grew up playing traditional Irish, Scottish and Quebecois music at contra dances as well as touring with Alasdair Fraser and the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers and with the Black Brothers. Before Berklee, she spent her summers studying music in Ireland and across the US and has spent four months studying the hardingfele in Norway.

Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers has performed across the country at the Kennedy Center (Washington DC), The Freight and Salvage (CA), Club Passim (MA) and the Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour (KY). After playing in the Emerging Artist Showcase at the 2008 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, they were voted back to perform as the 2009 FRFF's Most Wanted Artists. Other festivals they have performed at are: Blissfest, Champlain Valley Folk Festival, the New England Folk Festival and the Boston Celtic Music Festival. They have had official showcases at the International Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis, TN. and at the New England Regional Folk Alliance.

Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers have been called, "an extraordinary group of wonderful young musicians" (Matt Glaser, Berklee College of Music) and as, "a band you can't put a label on." (Matt Smith, Club Passim). Many have called BMUZ the next generation of roots and folk music and they have been compared to other genre-breaking bands such as Crooked Still, The Duhks, and Vasen. According to Paul Hartman, editor of Dirty Linen magazine, "the next generation…shows that folk/roots music is in good hands and will continue to be played and evolve…Just a few of the younger artists are Carolina Chocolate Drops, Crooked Still, Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers…" BMUZ is a truly eclectic band that continues to skillfully and creatively push the boundaries of folk music. While combining old melodies with quirky new compositions, it will be exciting to watch BMUZ's future blossom.

They begin work on their first full-length record in early 2010, which will be produced by fiddler and songwriter, Laura Cortese.



notloB Folk Concerts are for the music and community, not for profit. For more information, go to http://notlobmusic.googlepages.com

Other upcoming Winter Concerts
Friday, January 29: Jim Infantino @ Jackson Homestead, Newton
Sunday, February Sunday, February 7: Brendan Hogan @ Jackson Homestead, Newton
Friday, February 12: Sam Weiser - NEFMA benefit @ UCG
Thursday, February 25: Sarah McQuaid @ notfarG House concerts, Grafton
Sunday, March 7, Geoff Bartley @ Jackson Homestead, Newton
Friday, March 12, Red Hot Blacktop @ UCG Somerville
Sunday, March 14, Lucky 13 @ notfarG House concerts, Grafton

Join the notloB Folk Concert Facebook group.

Support WGBH's canceled folk and blues programs
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Discussion group
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Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers returns to notloB

Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers are the recipient of the 2008 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival "most wanted to return" artist award and performed as a notloB Folk Concerts artist on May 23, 2009.

BMUZ, featured in the January/February 2010 edition of Dirty Linen magazine, will be returning for a notloB engagement at the Unity Church of God on Saturday, January 23, 2010!

Details soon at http://notlobmusic.googlepages.com

This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #145 (January/February 2010).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.

Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers

Say What?

by Chris Kocher

Any discussion of Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers -- a neo-traditional string band of four young musicians from the Boston area -- naturally has to start with the name. Ask about it, though, and the answer isn't the whimsical one you might expect. Not entirely, anyway. In a quiet moment after the group's main stage performance at July's Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in upstate New York, chatty band members were in the mood to mix a little philosophy with a discussion of their music. "It's tapping into the duality-of-man kind of stuff," said guitarist Stash Wyslouch of the band's unusual moniker. "We play a lot of sad tunes, but we also play a lot of happy tunes. We play some slow tunes and we play a lot of fast tunes. So I guess the 'blue' part comes from the sadness, the 'moose' comes from a general appreciation of titanic creatures, and the 'unbuttoned zippers' part is definitely the duality-of-mankind vibe -- you can't unbutton a zipper, and you can't unzipper a button. So it all just plays on all these little traits within each of our characters and melding them all together to an obscenely long name." Okay, then. Glad we got that sorted out. There's no doubt that each of the Blue Moose crew comes from a strikingly different background. Wyslouch, influenced by hip-hop and funk, lives for rhythm and groove. Bronwyn Bird plays accordion and nyckelharpa, the traditional stringed instrument of Sweden, where she lived and studied for a year. Fiddler Andy Reiner, who's played for years with his father and others in the Reiner Family Band, is steeped in Cape Breton jigs and reels as well as a half-dozen other styles. And Hardanger fiddler Mariel Vandersteel has studied traditional music in Ireland and Norway, including a three-month stint at a Norwegian music college this fall.

This is an excerpt from the print edition of Dirty Linen #145 (January/February 2010).
The full article is in the magazine, available on newsstands, by subscription, and at the Dirty Linen webstore.

Purchase Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers CDs at Amazon.com

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Preview Concert ~ Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers & Abi Tapia, 5/23

One of six stops on the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival preview tour, and the only one in eastern Massachusetts, the next notloB folk concert is Saturday, May 23.

Arlington Heights – The third of three acoustic string band / folk concerts presented by notloB Folk Concerts at the Park Avenue Congregational Church, 50 Paul Revere Road, Arlington Heights, MA 02476 (just off Mass Ave.) will be Falcon Ridge Folk Festival showcase artists voted “Most Wanted to Return” ABI TAPIA and BLUE MOOSE AND THE UNBUTTONED ZIPPERS on Saturday, May 23 at 8:00 pm (doors 7:45).

Each year some 800+ emerging folk artists and singer/songwriters apply to Falcon Ridge’s “most wanted” contest. Only 20 are invited to perform in front of the main stage audience, each act given 10 minutes. From patron ballots and input from a panel of judges, just three or four are awarded the title “most wanted to return”. The next Spring the artists tour some 20-25 Northeast USA venues and are invited back to perform as main stage artists. Due to a severe storm that closed down the 2008 festival, the festival itself is not producing the 2008 “most wanted” tour, but with the approval of Anne Saunders, festival artistic director, six venues are self-producing a limited tour by two of the four winners.

notloB Concerts are volunteer run and not for profit. Whether presented at historic and intimate museum houses like the Loring-Greenough House in Jamaica Plain or the Jackson Homestead in Newton, or at one of several church venues, or at private residences, all are run as house concerts where, after expenses, 100% of the patrons’ donations go to the artists. More information about the concert series can be found at the notloB website, http://notlobmusic.googlepages.com

BLUE MOOSE AND THE UNBUTTONED ZIPPERS

Brewing up a tasty mix of traditional music infused with startling rhythms and innovative arrangements, BMUZ is one of the most dynamic groups based in the Boston area today. True citizens of the 21st century world, BMUZ takes from the rooted traditions of many cultures and translates their essence into a unique, vibrant sound.

Starting out as a group of friends jamming and swapping tunes, BMUZ has evolved into a group which performs widely in the Boston area at local venues such as Club Passim in Cambridge and festivals such as Boston Celtic Music Festival and the International Folk Festival at Berklee’s Performance Center.

The members of BMUZ use an eclectic group of instruments. Bronwyn Bird plays the accordion and the ethereal nyckelharpa, the traditional bowed stringed instrument from Sweden, where she lived for a year. Andy Reiner, who comes from a musical family and has studied at many a fiddle camp across the country, plays the five-string fiddle, and is especially rooted in the lively music of Cape Breton. A fiddler who has studied traditional music in Ireland and Norway, Mariel Vandersteel also plays hardanger fiddle, the traditional string instrument of Norway. Stash Wyslouch, who has traveled with guitar through South America and is influenced by hip hop and funk, brings a driving sense of rhythm and groove to the group. Their many original compositions, while grounded in traditional genres, are refreshing, lively and full of verve. The evocative sound of Bronwyn' nyckelharpa as well as Mariel's hardanger fiddle is held together with the fiery tone of Andy's fiddle and the driving force of Stash's guitar.

Completely entertaining on stage, it is obvious that BMUZ is having as much fun playing together as the audience is while listening to them.

ABI TAPIA

Abi Tapia smiles big when she sings. She can’t help it - she’s having so much fun.

But in the world of independent music, where it’s hip to be tortured, she sometimes feels like a Pollyanna.

Abi undoubtedly gets her optimism from her mom who was expelled from Catholic School for being pregnant with her, but called it “the best day of her life.” Abi’s first fifteen years were a blur of Southern towns and yearly uprooting as her mother chased work and higher education. But the constant moving was presented as a big adventure and instilled in Abi the idea that new places have potential for happiness, discovery and success. So she kept moving.

Following her nomadic childhood she attended college in Iowa, where she was a

Sociology major at Grinnell College, and began her professional music career while living in Portland, Maine. But Abi found herself attracted to the sweet twang and straightforward approach of country music so she migrated to Austin, Texas in 2002, where she quickly rooted herself in the city’s thriving live music scene. With its blend of country sincerity, cosmopolitan snap and plethora of skilled pickers, she continued maturing and developing her own style. Along the way she picked up awards and recognition for her songwriting from The Wildflower Music Festival, Austin Songwriters Group, the Kerrville Folk Festival and the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival.

The inviting warmth of the South, the expansiveness of the Midwestern Plains, the pluck and determination of a New England Yankee and a Texan’s independent spirit all come together in Abi’s “wanderlusty” music (a term she proudly displays on her guitar strap).

Tapia’s 2005 release, One Foot Out The Door, a driving collection of songs about loving and leaving produced by multi-instrumentalist Chris Gage, compelled The

Austin Chronicle to comment that “the dozen confidently written songs weave tales of a woman assessing life and love with an uncompromising eye and sometimes bittersweet results.” Featuring the hot playing of Kym Warner (mandolin) and Eamon McGoughlin (fiddle) from acclaimed group The Greencards, the CD rose to the Top 40 on Americana radio.

Abi chased the music around the country, playing legendary listening rooms like Club Passim, The Bitter End, The Bluebird Café and Eddie’s Attic, while other nights she sang her heart out in crowded living rooms, libraries, or under a gazebo on a sprawling Texas ranch. Her songwriter’s sensibility allows her to appreciate the details and subtle differences of each place she visits and offers potential adventure and inspiration. That inspiration led to 12 new songs and Abi Tapia once again called on Chris Gage to produce.

2008’s The Beauty in the Ruin explores sadness and frustration, which after 8 years of the starving artist’s life Abi had plenty of, but there is a common thread of hope, redemption and joy in all of these supposedly sad songs. It is full of sing-able hooks and straddles country, folk and rock with ease, incorporating fiddle and pedal steel as well as some crunchy electric guitars and big drums. Abi and Chris got along so well that Gage and his wife and partner Christine Albert (together known as the Americana duo Albert and Gage) collaborated with Abi to release The Beauty in the Ruin on their label, MoonHouse Records. Happily, Abi is packing up and heading out across the country with her wanderlusty music in hand.

With a new album to promote, a strong community of friends and fellow artists in

Austin, the energy of and support of her partnership with MoonHouse Records and the ability to find the bright side in any situation, how could Abi not be smiling? But she won’t stop moving, because there could always be something even better just over the horizon.

SPECIAL BONUS….Falcon Ridge Folk Festival is providing at least two and up to four 4-day festival/camping passes that will be raffled away at the end of the concert.

Dinner and a show! Phone ahead for reservations ~ 781-648-8882, present either your ticket (purchased at the Music Emporium) or printed email reservation receipt and get 10% your party’s food tab at Jade Garden Chinese Restaurant, 1360 Massachusetts Ave. (down Park, just around the Mass Ave corner to the left). Details at the website, click on Restaurants near the venue.

And desert! Members of the Park Avenue Congregational Church will be baking Saturday afternoons and selling their whole wares to take home and slices to consume during these concerts (as well as coffee, tea, water, etc.). So save room for desert!

Suggested minimum donation is $15.00 at the door & $10 for seniors and students with ID. Regular patron admission is $12.50 if a reservation emailed to notlobreservations (at) concast.net is made at least 24 hours prior to the concert. Advance tickets are available at Music Emporium, located at 165 Massachusetts Ave., Lexington, MA 02420.

More information about the concert series can be found at the notloB website:

http://notlobmusic.googlepages.com

ARTIST WEBSITES:

http://www.bmuz.net/

http://www.abitapia.com/

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival "Most Wanted to Return" Artists' Tour Continues

Video from last weekend’s 2008 Falcon Ridge Most Wanted to Return Tour stop at the Kennedy Center is up on its website.

The 2008 tour has two more dates this weekend, Cafe Veritas, Rochester, NY (5/15) and Common Ground Coffeehouse, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY (5/16), then on to notloB Folk Concerts, Arlington, MA (5/23) and concludes at Performing Arts Center Easthampton (PACE), Easthampton, MA 5/29.

BLUE MOOSE AND THE UNBUTTONED ZIPPERS ~ Brownyn Bird, Andy Reiner, Mariel Vandersteel and Stash Wyslouch

ABI TAPIA

ARTIST WEBSITES:
http://www.bmuz.net/
http://www.abitapia.com/

Facebook event

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival

2008 Falcon Ridge / Grassy Hill "Most Wanted" artists tour

The FALCON RIDGE/GRASSY HILL EMERGING ARTIST SHOWCASE is open to all performers who have NOT showcased or appeared as part of a feature act at the fest in the last 2 years and who will not be appearing in any other capacity in the current year. This is a 2 song or 10 minute spot on our Mainstage on Friday afternoon. Artists new to the Northeast, not nationally touring or those with limited exposure are encouraged to apply.

Some 800+ artists apply, but only 20 or so are selected. The FRFF family and a panel of judges pick 3 or 4 winners. This year those artists are Amy Speace, Blue Moose & the Unbuttoned Zippers, Abi Tapia, and Lucy Wainwright Roche.

From the FRFF website: "FRFF is off to a late start this year due to the aftermath of last year's very severe weather that closed the festival early on Sunday. Our annual spring Preview Tour is not to be this year, but there may be a few shows here and there featuring the four top voted 2008 Showcase artists..."

BMUZ and Abi will be appearing together at:

Saturday, April 18
The Golden Apple Coffeehouse
Mt Kisco, NY
www.goldenapplecoffeehouse.com

Sunday, May 10
The Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts
Washington, DC
www.kennedy-center.org

Friday, May 15
Cafe Veritas
Rochester, NY
www.cafeveritas.org

Saturday, May 16th
Common Ground Coffeehouse Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
www.commongroundfusw.com

Saturday, May 23
Notlob Folk Concerts
Park Avenue Congregational Church, Arlington, MA
http://notlobmusic.googlepages.com

Friday, May 29
Pioneer Arts Center of
Easthampton (PACE)
Easthampton, MA
http://www.pioneerarts.org

Contact the individual venues for reservations and more information.

For FRFF info go to http://www.falconridgefolk.com/

“Most Wanted” Emerging Artists from the 2008 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Abi Tapia and Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers to play 6 shows in the NE

“Most Wanted” Emerging Artists from the 2008 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Abi Tapia and Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers will play 6 shows in the Northeast

Each year the audience at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival votes for their favorite acts from the Emerging Artists Showcase. The top 4 vote getters are invited to return to the Festival the following year to perform in the “Most Wanted Song Swap.” The selected artists from the 2008 festival are Abi Tapia, Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers, Lucy Wainwright Roche, and Amy Speace.

These selected artists often participate in a “Preview Tour” before the festival. Due to previous commitments and scheduling difficulties, this year’s preview tour will only include six dates and two of the acts. Still, these shows will be a great opportunity for loyal Falcon Ridge Folk Festival-goers and Northeast folk fans to get to know these emerging artists and reconnect with friends. www.falconridgefolk.com

Artist Biographies:

Brewing up a tasty mix of traditional music infused with zesty rhythms and innovative arrangements, Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers is one of the most dynamic groups based in the Boston area today. True citizens of the 21^st century world, BMUZ takes from the rooted traditions of many cultures and translates their essence into a unique, vibrant sound.

The members of BMUZ use an eclectic group of instruments. Bronwyn Bird plays the accordian and the ethereal nyckelharpa, the traditional bowed stringed instrument from Sweden, where she lived for a year. Andy Reiner, who comes from a musical family and has studied at many a fiddle camp across the country, plays the five string fiddle and is especially rooted in the lively music of Cape Breton. A fiddler who has studied traditional music in Ireland and Norway, Mariel Vandersteel also plays hardanger fiddle, the traditional string instrument of Norway. Stash Wyslouch, who has traveled with guitar through South America and is influenced by hip hop and funk, brings a driving sense of rhythm and groove to the group with his guitar and melodica. www.bmuz.net

Abi Tapia undoubtedly gets her optimism from her mom who was expelled from Catholic School for being pregnant with her, but called it “the best day of her life.” Abi’s first fifteen years were a blur of Southern towns and yearly uprooting as her mother chased work and higher education. But the constant moving was presented as a big adventure and instilled in Abi the idea that new places have potential for happiness, discovery and success. So she kept moving. In fact, she just moved from Austin, TX to Berkshire County, MA.

Her new album, The Beauty in the Ruin, explores sadness and frustration, which after 8 years of the starving artist’s life Abi had plenty of, but there is a common thread of hope, redemption and joy in all of these supposedly sad songs. It is full of sing-able hooks and straddles country, folk and rock with ease, incorporating fiddle and pedal steel as well as some crunchy electric guitars and big drums. www.abitapia.com

Performance Dates:

Saturday, April 18, 2009 8pm

The Golden Apple Coffeehouse
Mt Kisco, NY

www.goldenapplecoffeehouse.com

Price: $15/$8 Seniors and students

Sunday, May 10, 2009 6pm

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Washington, DC

www.kennedy-center.org

Tickets: Free

Friday, May 15, 2009 8:00 PM

Cafe Veritas
Rochester, NY

www.cafeveritas.org

Saturday, May 16th, 2009 8:00 PM

Common Ground Coffeehouse
Hastings-on-Hudson, NY

http://www.commongroundfusw.com

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009 8:00 PM

Notlob Folk Concerts
Park Avenue Congregational Church
Arlington, MA

http://notlobmusic.googlepages.com

Price: $15/$12.50/$10

Friday, May 29th, 2009 8:00 PM

Pioneer Arts Center of Easthampton (PACE)
Easthampton, MA

http://www.pioneerarts.org

Price: $12/$10 Members

2008 Falcon Ridge / Grassy Hill "Most Wanted" artists announced

Received from Abi Tapia, 2/3:

Abi is Most Wanted
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival '09, Here I Come... I just found out that festival audiences voted me one of their favorites from the '08 class of emerging artists! This means I'll get to come back and play at the '09 festival along with Amy Speace, Lucy Wainwright Roche and Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers. Wahoo! We might do some other shows around the Northeast together, too. Stay tuned.

From a very stong pool of artists....

Jenee Halstead-Boston
Ashleigh Flynn-Portland OR
The Low Anthem-Providence RI
Katie Sawicki-Portland OR
Robby Hecht-Nashville
Gretchen Witt-NYC
Michael Tiernan-San Diego CA
Lucy Wainwright-Roche-Brooklyn NY
Brad Colerick-S Pasadena CA
Carrie Elkin-Austin TX
Blue Moose & the Unbuttoned Zippers-Boston
Abi Tapia-Austin TX
Emily Mure-NYC
Rj Cowdery-Columbus OH
Danny Schmidt-Austin TX
Brooke Brown Saracino-Northampton MA
Blind Willies-San Francisco
Anne Heaton-Somerville MA
Amy Speace-NYC
Luke Brindley-Vienna VA
Juliana Finch-Atlanta GA
Ian Fitzgerald-Somerville MA
Erin Sax Seymour-NYC

...the 2008 Falcon Ridge / Grassy Hill "Most Wanted" artists are:

Lucy Wainwright-Roche

Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers

Abi Tapia

Amy Speace

Congratulations, Abi, Amy, Lucy and Blue Moose, see you at Dodds Farm in 6 short months, unless a "most wanted" tour is at hand?????

Update 2/4: As of 11am, official word from the festival itself has been posted to neither its website nor to its mail list. But the following appears on the "Camp Fruvous" Google group. Although quantitative, its source(s) are not cited, so regard as unofficial.

The votes are in and the people have spoken.

From a total of 440 surveys completely filled out this year, about a third of the usual since most were lost in the storm, the results are:

1. Amy Speace - garnering votes from 30% of the voting audience

2. Blue Moose & the Unbuttoned Zippers - a very close second at 29%

3. Abi Tapia and Lucy Wainwright Roche - just about tied with 22% and 21% of the voters respectively

They will be on the Most Wanted Song Swap in 2009. There is no official preview tour but some dates my be booked.

Edit 2/19: Falcon Ridge 2008 Emerging Artist Showcase Posted by Jake Jacobson to Facebook.