notloB FOLK CONCERTS FALL SEASON!
Friday, September 11 | | |
Saturday, October 03 | | |
Friday, November 06 | | http://www.ariandmiafriedman.com |
Friday, December 04 | | |
Somerville – notloB Folk Concerts’ third Somerville season, featuring the best in
- Contemporary folk (Jonathan Byrd, Greg Klyma & Anthony DaCosta, September 11),
- Scottish traditional (Malinky, October 3),
- Traditional New England folk (Lissa Schneckenburger Band w/ Ari and Mia Friedman, November 6),
- And what only can be described as “eclectic”: “…with the drive of Celtic fiddling, the spontaneity of jazz, soul of bluegrass, rhythms of Africa and Latin America, layered melodies of Eastern Europe and intricacies of chamber music…”, the Jeremy Kittel Band, December 4.
will be presented at the
Unity Church of God,
6 William Street (3 blocks north of Davis Square).
Friday, September 11.
Doors 7:30pm, Concert 8:00pm.
Suggested donation $15 at the door, $12 with reservation at least 24 hours in advance to notlobreservations@comcast.net
" Jonathan Byrd doesn’t sing songs; he sings truth."
~ performingsongwriter.com
"Jonathan's delightful, substantive songs are rich with imagery and textures of influences from Appalachian, country, early American balladry, modern atmospheric Mideastern, urban and old timey folk music. A stalwart of modern folk music, Jonathan is constantly evolving in new musical directions and each incarnation has proven to be masterful. Like a gourmet chef, Jonathan does not create the same dish twice, so we're not sure what he will bring to the table tonight. But if music were a meal, Jonathan would prepare us a banquet. Catch this Kerrville New Folk winner as often as you can; you'll never get 'full', your appetite will only grow."
~Uncle Calvin's Coffeehouse, Dallas, TX
Folk legend Tom Paxton discovered Jonathan Byrd's music and sent him a quick email, saying, "What a treat to hear someone so deeply rooted in tradition, yet growing in his own beautiful way." He had just released "Wildflowers," in late 2001, simple tales of love and death that seemed to be a hundred years old or more. In 2003 Byrd released his second album, "The Waitress" and won the prestigious New Folk competition in Kerrville, TX. That year, he set CD sales records at the festival.
For his third album, Jonathan approached his friends, the critically acclaimed world-music duo known as Dromedary, often featured on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. "The Sea and The Sky" is the result, a vast, poetic suite of music that weds world sounds to deeply rooted folk balladry.
A native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Jonathan grew up singing in the Southern Baptist church, where his father preached and his mother played piano. After four years in the Navy, he returned to Chapel Hill to play in rock bands in that legendary underground music scene. A friend of Jonathan's invited him to an old-time fiddle festival in the mountains of southwest Virginia, where his writing began to change. Assimilating the sounds of southern traditional music, Byrd wrote new songs in an ancient style.
One of those first songs was "Velma," a murder ballad based on the true story of Velma Barfield, the last woman to be executed in North Carolina (in 1984) and the murderer of Jonathan's own grandfather. This was the track that prompted Tom Paxton to respond so eloquently to Byrd's music.
As Jonathan grows into a contemporary artist of increasing influence, his traditional roots are always evident in his simple, poetic storytelling and classic flatpick guitar style. But, as quoted in a recent interview for Dirty Linen magazine, Jonathan says, "Everything I do is a departure from what I've done." "The Sea and the Sky" is certainly evidence of that. Keep an ear out for an upcoming electric album, sure to take us further out on a limb without forgetting our roots.
"I thought I was listening to a young Doc Watson."
~ Jay Moulon, Southeast Performer Magazine
Greg Klyma is a Buffalo-born troubadour who has been living on the road performing music full-time since August 1998. Traveling from the Rust Belt to FEMA villages with guitar and mandolin in hand, capturing the stories of the people he's met and seen for over a decade, Greg has honed his songwriting and storytelling while developing a show that lands somewhere between the worlds of Steve Earle and Steve Martin - it's literate, witty, visual, sometimes comical and forever building on tradition while seeking its own voice.
In August 2008, Greg released his 5th independent solo album, Rust Belt Vagabond, featuring the song "Two Degrees in Buffalo." Later in 2009, he'll follow up with the release of KLYMALIVE in Buffalo.
Anthony da Costa IS not afraid of nothing.
A public statement, a self-realization, an album title, a cool chance to use a double negative…or all of the above.
Not sure. But one thing is certain:
Anthony's new record is anything but careful.
In 2007, at 16, he became the youngest winner ever at the Falcon Ridge and Kerrville Folk Festivals. In 2008, at 17, he released two, critically- acclaimed albums. He also played prestigious folk festivals, including the Philadelphia Folk Festival and Tonder Festival in Denmark, and opened for music icons, like Loretta Lynn and Dan Bern.
Now, in 2009, at 18, and before heading off to Columbia University this fall, he's released a new record, "Not Afraid of Nothing." But, in this album, his 8th, Anthony ventures into new musical territory. While one foot's in folk, the other foot's loose and wandering into various genres, influenced by the work of Elliott Smith, Ryan Adams and some other, less-obvious artists, like The Smiths and Jay-Z.
"I needed to get to someplace else with this record — someplace with a little groove."
"Not Afraid of Nothing" is a homegrown record, recorded mostly on a Macbook Pro with an MBox in living rooms and basements throughout Anthony's hometown of Pleasantville, NY. As for the songs, they document his last year in high school — a year of clarity and confusion, love and loneliness, change and nostalgia and, ultimately, renewal.
"This album is definitely the most of ME that I've put out there, but I hope it can be about all of US in a way. If it's not, than I'm not doing my job."
Saturday, October 3.
Doors 7:30pm, Concert 8:00pm.
Suggested donation $17 at the door, $15 with advance reservation at least 24 hours in advance to notlobreservations@comcast.net
"May be the finest young Scottish band since Silly Wizard"
~ Boston Globe
"Malinky should be one of the folk bands of 2009"
~ The Guardian
“Scots music at its most evocative”
~ MOJO
"producing great music...another gem of Scottish folk"
~ Irish Music Magazine
"a class act...just gets better each time you play it"
~ fRoots
"just glorious"
~ Living Tradition • _____ Rock’n’Reel
BOSTON GLOBE TOP 10 PICK OF 2008
FOLK BAND OF THE YEAR NOMINEE, SCOTTISH TRAD MUSIC AWARDS 2008
With their stunning fourth album Flower & Iron, Malinky celebrate their tenth anniversary and introduce a newly revamped line-up, meanwhile underscoring their reputation as one of Scotland’s most distinctive and accomplished folk bands. While retaining their hallmark song-based repertoire, performed by three superb lead vocalists and arrayed with tastefully inventive instrumentation, Malinky today unite seasoned maturity with sparkling freshness, casting their musical net wider than ever. Formed in Edinburgh in 1998, Malinky showed their mettle early on by winning a prestigious Danny Kyle Open Stage Award at the following year’s Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow. Ten years on, the two remaining members from that founding line-up – Steve Byrne (vocals/bouzouki/guitar) and Mark Dunlop (vocals/whistles/bodhrán) – are now joined by Fiona Hunter (vocals/cello), who replaced original lead singer Karine Polwart in 2005, alongside recent recruits Dave Wood (guitar/bouzouki) and Mike Vass (fiddle).
With Dunlop hailing from over the water in Antrim, and Wood from Derbyshire, their respective roots in Ulster song and English tradition add further vibrant layers to Malinky’s core Scottish sound. Malinky’s three previous recordings, Last Leaves (2000), 3 Ravens (2002) and The Unseen Hours (2005), all on top Scottish folk label Greentrax, have each won successively greater acclaim, establishing the band not only as outstanding interpreters of traditional song, but as equally gifted exponents of contemporary material. This breadth of artistry is firmly to the fore on Flower & Iron, with Hunter, Byrne and Dunlop all taking turns to shine on vocals, while Wood and Vass bring renewed dynamism and verve to the instrumental arrangements.
Combining the very best of tradition and modernity, hard-earned experience and revitalised enthusiasm, Malinky enter their second decade with the world increasingly at their feet.
Friday, November 6
Doors 7:30pm, Concert 8:00pm.
Suggested donation $15 at the door, $12 with reservation at least 24 hours in advance to notlobreservations@comcast.net
"World class fiddler... far from just offering one dance tune after another, simple settings allow the true beauty of the music to shine through" - Sing Out
The traditional music of New England can be as warm and comforting as a winter fire or as potent and exhilarating as a summer thunderstorm. Fiddler and singer Lissa Schneckenburger is a master of both moods, a winsome, sweet-voiced singer who brings new life to old ballads and a skillful, dynamic fiddler who captures the driving rhythm and carefree joy of dance tunes old and new.
Raised in a small town in Maine and now living in Vermont, Lissa grew up with music. She began playing fiddle at the age of six, inspired by her mother's interest in folk music and a family friend who was a professional violinist. Soon she was studying with influential Maine fiddler Greg Boardman and sitting in with the Maine Country Dance Orchestra. By the time she was in high school she was playing concerts on her own, specializing in the sprightly New England dance tunes that combine influences from the British Isles and Quebec with homegrown twists that have been evolving since Colonial days. Another of her major influences was the diverse musical community that she found at fiddle camps, where she had a chance to play with and learn from a wide variety of musicians including noted Scottish fiddler Alasdair Fraser. In 2001 she graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with a degree in contemporary improvisation, and since then has been performing around the US and internationally for a growing audience of enthusiastic listeners. She has recorded seven CDs, (four solo and three with various groups).
Lissa's fiddling is uplifting and lively, and her singing is gentle and evocative. Both in concert and in the studio she is regularly accompanied by some of New England's best musicians, including guitarists Keith Murphy and Matt Heaton and double bassist Corey DiMario.
Recently she has been closely studying the roots of the Downeast traditional music that she first heard as a young girl. Her latest project is a pair of CDs dedicated to reintroducing some wonderful but largely forgotten songs and tunes from New England that she uncovered through archival research at the University of Maine and elsewhere. "Song", to be released in April 2008, contains ten timeless ballads that go back as far as the eighteenth century that she set to carefully crafted modern arrangements, while "Dance", scheduled for 2009, will feature fiddle tunes. "There is currently a lot of focus on traditional American music from the South", she explains, "and many bands are exploring and recording that repertoire, but no one is getting to hear the amazing repertoire of traditional music from the North. This is my first attempt at getting some of that music out there for people to enjoy."
Whether playing for a folk club audience or a hall full of dancers, Lissa brings to the stage enthusiasm, energy, and the bright future of New England?s musical traditions.
Ari and Mia Friedman are members of a dynamic up-and-coming folk band. Their music is all at once driving, uplifting and moving. Ari is a recent graduate of Northwestern University where she studied cello performance with Hans Jorgen Jensen. A winner of ASTA's 2009 Alternative Styles Award, she is an inventive folk cellist and, aside from gigging with Mia, she performs, tours, and records with Scottish National Fiddle champion Hanneke Cassel. She also is a member of the new Boston-based girl band, Long Time Courting, as well as New England's highly acclaimed fiddle band Childsplay. She teaches classical and folk music at a music school outside Boston (
www.creativeartsforkids.org), at various fiddle camps during the summer, and has her own private studio.
Mia is a talented fiddler, singer and banjo player studying at New England Conservatory's Contemporary Improvisation program. She won first place at the New England Regional Scottish Fiddle Champion in 2006 and performs around New England with various musicians. Both girls live in Boston and are the founding members of Fireside, a four-piece band that mixes old-time Appalachian songs and Scandinavian fiddle tunes. Visit
http://konesni.googlepages.com/music for more information on Fireside.
Ari and Mia perform mostly original and traditional music. Their main influences are Southern Appalachian, old-time, folk, celtic and bluegrass traditions.
Their first CD, titled Lady and the Pants, was released in December 2006. This well received, eleven-track, self-released CD is based mainly in the folk/Celtic tradition. You can order copies on
CDbaby or
iTunes.
Friday, December 4
Doors 7:30pm, Concert 8:00pm.
Suggested donation $15 at the door, $12 with reservation at least 24 hours in advance to notlobreservations@comcast.net
US National Scottish Fiddle Champion and winner of 6 Detroit Music Awards leads an exceptional band whose musical roots transverse the world. With the drive of Celtic fiddling, the spontaneity of jazz, soul of bluegrass, rhythms of Africa and Latin America, layered melodies of Eastern Europe and intricacies of chamber music, the Jeremy Kittel Band consistently captivates audiences.
Fiddle: “Outstanding Michigan Celtic-jazz-bluegrass fiddle wiz Jeremy Kittel” (Boston Globe). Kittel grew up with Scottish, Irish and American music traditions and explored the rich jazz traditions of Detroit and New York as a young man, earning a Bachelors in Jazz from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Jazz Violin from Manhattan School of Music. A true multi-stylist, the 24 year-old fiddler has received numerous accolades including the U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship, three Detroit Music Awards for Outstanding Folk Artist, two Alternative Strings Awards from the American String Teachers Association, the University of Michigan Stanley Medal and Detroit Music Awards for Outstanding Jazz Recording, Jazz Composer, and Acoustic Instrumentalist. Kittel has produced three CDs of traditional and original material, and his second, Roaming, was named the 4th best Celtic CD of 2003. He has performed at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Milwaukee Irish Fest, Detroit International Jazz Festival, and “A Prairie Home Companion” been guest artist with the Rochester Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony and Detroit Symphony orchestras; toured with fiddle legends Darol Anger and Mark O’Connor; and currently tours internationally with the Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet.
Hammer dulcimer / bass: Simon Chrisman is an existentially confused hammer dulcimer player who lives in Boston and isn't very good at writing about himself. Most often, he plays with The Bee Eaters. Aside from the dulcimer, he plays double bass and various forms of body percussion, and wishes that the key of E flat didn't exist.
Percussion: Polish-born Bodek Janke is an exceptional musician in the Jazz and World Music scenes, a cultural commuter between the USA, Kazakhstan, Russia, Poland and Germany. In 2008, he received the “Jazzpreis Baden-Wirttemberg”, the highest-endowed and most acclaimed jazz award of Germany. Janke creates a distinctive style, merging drumset with a wild variety of instruments, drawing upon African, Indian, Eastern European and Latin American music traditions. Playing World music with a jazz attitude, his energetic and expressive performances and compositions captivate every audience.
Cello: A talented multi-instrumentalist from the northern mountains of California, Tristan Clarridge is the youngest person to ever win the Grand National Fiddle Championship, and he did it for three consecutive years. An inventive cellist, Tristan plays with the bluegrass sensation Crooked Still, and has toured with Natalie McMaster and Darol Anger's Republic of Strings. For six years he’s been an instructor at Mark O'Connor's String Conference and Alasdair Fraser's Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School. Mark O'Connor says,"...[Tristan] has a lot going on in that musical mind of his and will step out in life to make wonderful contributions through his music".
Dinner and a show! Phone ahead for reservations ~ 781-648-8882, present your printed reservation confirmation and get 10% off your dinner check at House of Tibet Kitchen, 235 Holland Street, Somerville, Ma 02144. Reservations recommended.
And desert! Members of the Unity Church of God Church will be providing deserts, teas and coffee, so save room for desert.
Admission is by donation (check the website as the suggested amount and discounts vary by concert).
About the series. 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
"In this era of pop-driven acoustic music, notloB is keeping the folk tradition alive."
~ Jack Hardy
notloB Folk Concerts
Bringing traditional American, Canadian, British, and Celtic folk, folk revival, world, blues, roots and bluegrass/newgrass music to
Arlington, Newton and Somerville.
