April Music Events Abound
A number of special Pittsburgh events feature old-time and various flavors of folk, acoustic and world music this month. Here are some that caught my eye, many promoted as Facebook events. A lot of old friends performing and as also folks I look forward to seeing and meeting for the first time.
ACOUSTIC MUSIC WORKS
Thursday, April 14, 2016
8 PM
2142 Murray Ave, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15217
We are very glad to welcome HIROYA TSUKAMOTO to the shop for the first time! Hiroya is a highly regarded modern fingerstyle guitarist living in New York City. Jeff Berman (Blink, AppalAsia, Pairdown) will be performing solo for the first time at our store, presenting his compositions for dulcimer. Opening will be the excellent Chad Gerbe, fingerstyle guitarist, singer and luthier extraordinaire. Doors @ 7:30, music starts @ 8. $10 donation, BYOB. Advance tickets via Eventbrite:
The HAYGOOD PAISLEYS - TAX DAY SPECIAL – April 15th The Haygood Paisleys are back to Bluegrass Friday at Bierport in Historic Lawrenceville. This Friday welcomes as they bring us the foot stompin' fiddle tunes, tear-jerkin' songs of love and loss (mostly loss.) 8 - 11pm No cover - Come hangout and choose from over 800 different beers!
Kline House Concert
848 Walnut Drive, Ellwood City, PA
Saturday, April 16 Doors open at 6 pm Pot luck dinner at 6:30 (food contributions are welcome but not mandatory) BYOB Music starts at 8 pm.
The Doctor will be making a house call! Dr. Fiddle, Robbie Mann that is ;-) Since last being at our house (with Breakneck Creek), Robbie's sat in with several bands, including some of our favorites - Rumpke Mountain Boys, Brokedown Hustlers, The Rusty Haywhackers, among others. This time, he'll be bringing his band, The Allegheny Ramblers from Glenville, WV here for a house concert, & we are happy to welcome him back! The Allegheny Ramblers came to existence by the coincidental meeting of members Leon “Burt” Hart, Travis Holliday, Ryan Spangenberg, and Robbie Mann at the crossroads of Glenville, West Virginia. Through a shared appreciation for traditional Bluegrass, Folk, Old-time music and beyond, they have been performing for two years as a four-piece string band wandering the rolling hills of the Allegheny Mountains. Each member has accomplished over a decade of musical studies and continues to enthusiastically learn about the musical history and content of the eastern United States. We are requesting a donation for the band ($20 is suggested) . Your support of live music is appreciated! ;-) *Please help to spread the word about this family-friendly event by inviting your music-loving friends!! (click on "Invite" under the picture on the right to choose your friends or share this event) Hope to see you here on April 16! The Klines
The Allegheny Ramblers video: Waldorf Reel
Mark Tamsula and Richard Withers
SUNDAY APRIL 17 20161 - 5 PM
CD Release Party and Concert
Bulgarian - Macedonian Hall (BMNECC)450 West Eighth Avenue, West Homestead, PAAll ages welcome.
Behind the Door: Old Time Music of Southwestern Pennsylvania
Mark Tamsula and Richard Withers with Ellen Gozion and Dave Krysty
Local old time music icons Mark Tamsula and Richard Withers are giving new life to a regional music tradition. Their 3rd cd Behind the Door, presents 20 tracks of traditional Appalachian music historically rooted in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Mark and Richard perform tunes collected by the renowned music historian and Penn State professor, Samuel Bayard. Bayard visited fiddlers and fifers in this region between 1928 and 1963, and published over 1000 of their tunes in two books, Hill Country Tunes, and Dance to the Fiddle, March to the Fife.
Most of the tunes are performed on fiddle and banjo, the traditional "old time" instrumentation, but also include selections on the wooden flute, in keeping with the rich heritage of fife music Bayard drew on in preserving the music of this region. They are joined on several tracks by veteran guitarist Dave Krysty, also a pioneer in the revival of traditional music with local roots, and Ellen Gozion (of The Early Mays), who presents two beautiful samples of Bayard's unpublished song collection. Sam Bayard and his source musicians are gone, but Tamsula and Withers, along with Krysty and Gozion, have brought their music back to life on fiddle and banjo, vocals, flute and guitar.
No cover charge, but purchase of CD ($15) would be kindly appreciated.
Contact: Mark Tamsula info@appalachianmusic.net
acoustic fingerpicking legend since the 1960s Village era
Sunday April 17 8 pm $10 advance/$12 door
Thunderbird Cafe, 4023 Butler St., Lawrenceville
with Pairdown and Coleton Reigel
Peter Walker is an American folk guitarist noted for dexterous instrumental pieces that reference the Indian classical and Spanish flamenco traditions. Recognized principally for his recorded output in the mid-to-late sixties, his rediscovery by the current generation of American and European outsider folk artists has seen his work accorded similar reverence to that of other notable American finger-pickers such as John Fahey, Robbie Basho and Leo Kottke, and granted him a renewed platform for both touring and recording.
Walker was a fixture of the Greenwich Village folk scene of the mid-'60s. His attendance of a Ravi Shankar performance saw him embrace extended periods of study of Eastern raga under both Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan. He also developed a strong friendship with LSD pioneer Timothy Leary, becoming music director at Leary's Millbrook estate in 1965.
Walker's debut LP Rainy Day Raga was released by Vanguard Records in 1966, followed by the release of Second Poem to Karmela in 1968. Walker diverted his attention away from public performance and towards family life at the start of the 1970s, but maintained a commitment to study of his instrument, focusing particularly on flamenco. In 2007 Walker was coaxed out of this semi-retirement by Tompkins Square Records, for whom he recorded four new pieces to be set alongside musical tributes from younger admirers including Jack Rose, James Blackshaw, Steffen Basho-Junghans and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore on the 2008 collection A Raga for Peter Walker. A full album of new material, Echo of My Soul, was released later the same year. His newest release is 2013's Has Anybody Seen Our Freedoms? on Delmore.
Sunday April 17 at 7 PM
7113 Reynolds Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15208
We'll be playing at Point Breezeway (across from Sterrett School) - $20 cover, including a delicious dinner. The band will be donating all our proceeds to Operation Safety Net . Come enjoy food, music, fun AND help a worthwhile cause.
House Concert
Saturday, April 23 at 7 PM - 9 PM
Home of Jan Boyd: 228 2nd St, Aspinwall, PA, 15215
Featuring world class Mountain Dulcimer Master, Gary Gallier, with gifted guest artist Jeff Berman. $10 at the door; concert followed by an open jam session with Gary & Jeff. Space is limited and seating is first come first serve so please RSVP with reservations asap.
GARY GALLIER --Known as "The Father of Flatpicking" on the Mountain Dulcimer, Gary has for over 35 years been the leading edge of Mountain Dulcimer innovation; not only in technique but also in composing, arranging, and instrument design. His musical touchstones range from traditional to jazz to classic rock resulting in a truly signature sound. His recordings exemplify the Mountain Dulcimer's potential, firmly establishing the instrument's lead role in an ensemble setting, and have received national critical acclaim. Gary makes his home in the heart of the Ozarks, Springfield, Missouri. JEFF BERMAN --Well known to local audiences, Jeff is an internationally acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, improvisational artist, composer and educator whose work reflects his global musical vision. His genre expanding innovations on Vibraphone, Mountain Dulcimer, Percussion and Drums have allowed him to collaborate with a diverse group of artists from around the world. He is a founding member of the renowned group AppalAsia which features his evocative vision for the performance and composition of Mountain Dulcimer music. A native of NYC, Jeff now makes his home in Pittsburgh.
Wingfoot Reel/Jam O’Jelly (Gary Gallier)
This is an example of my style of flatpicking the mountain dulcimer. These original compositions are a result of a love of Celtic music and listening to too much Savoy Brown when I was a teen. Kind of a bizarre combination for a medley but I like that kind of thing.
THE ROOTS OF THE ROOTS
BRIAN PETERS
7:30 pm Sat., April 30th, 2016
Regent Square/Edgewood
Hosts: Jane & David Rodes
Traditional Appalachian music grew out of various sources. One of those is the traditional music of England.
English folk singer and multi-instrumentalist BRIAN PETERS performs an evening of traditional music: dramatic story songs, love songs, drinking songs and dance tunes, cover songs and more, with great vocals, guitar, melodeon and concertina.
“One of the very best performers in the field of English traditional song and music” (Dirty Linen), Brian is here from the UK for a short US tour. Catch this rare opportunity to hear one of England's finest folk music collectors and performers - singer, guitarist and squeezebox-player-extraodinare. A full bio and links to Brian's music is below.
If you've attended a folk concert hosted by David & Jane Rodes, you know this is a great experience in itself. David & Jane are gracious hosts and their beautifully restored home in Edgewood makes a near-perfect concert venue.
If you like Martin Carthy, Richard Thomspon or Steeleye Span, I'll bet you'll find things you enjoy at Brian's concert. If you like contra dancing, English dancing, or if you like old-time tunes, you'll probably hear a thing or two that you love. And no matter what you like, you'll probably hear something that you've never heard before, and that you'll find fascinating and really fun!
A not-too-long instrumental jam will follow the concert. Brian will have a fiddle for some old-time tunes.
$15 suggested donation
Light refreshments served / You may bring food or drink to share!
Old-time Musician Mike Fenton
Wednesday April 13, 7pm
Potluck supper at 6pm, jam to follow the concert
Suggested contribution $15
At the home of Cindy Harris and Richard Heath
53 Fox Pointe Drive, Pittsburgh, 15238
From Worcestershire, England, Mike Fenton was inspired to take up the autoharp after meeting Mother Maybelle Carter in Birmingham, England, in 1968. In 1986 he quit his job as a school principal to play autoharp professionally, and in 1987, won the International Autoharp Championship in Winfield, Kansas. He is also a three-time winner of the blue ribbon for Autoharp at the Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention in Virginia. In 1997, Mike was inducted into the Autoharp Hall of Fame for contributions to the autoharp community. Known for the clarity and variety of his styles on the instrument, he has a particular interest in its place in the old-time setting. He is a respected teacher and jam session leader, well-known for his ability to teach large multi-level groups. Also skilled on guitar, dobro, mountain dulcimer, and Jew’s harp, his ability to play fast fiddle tunes on the autoharp is legendary.
Mike and I met in 1997 at the Mountain Laurel Autoharp Gathering, and have been friends ever since. He played a house concert for my daughter Rebecca's bat mitzvah, asked Rebecca and I to join him on stage at Chautauqua (in that BIG amphitheater!), and he and I have recorded on each others' CD's and were both part of the Autoharp Legacy recording project in 2003.
Please drop me a note if you plan to attend, and especially if you will be joining us for potluck.
Saturday, April 30 at 7 PM
James Simon Sculpture Studios
305 Gist St, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219
BYOB - $10 - 8pm show (will post link for online purchase in the coming week)
Osei Korankye is one of the very last remaining seperewa musicians in Ghana. The seperewa is an Akan harp, a forgotten cousin of the Sahel's kora or ngoni. For centuries it was the melodic backbone to Ashanti and more generally Akan music, one of the key ingredients of highlife, but in the 20th century it was practically wiped out of Ghana by guitars coming from the coast. For this rare event, Osei will be joined by Colter Harper, Jeff Berman, and Lucas Ashby for a night of Ghanian music Colter and Osei worked together for 2 years in Ghana on a record recently released by Akwaaba Music.
Finally, I am very happy to be playing with Devilish Merry again on Earth Day, April 22, 2016. I look forward to seeing you out and about in Pittsburgh this month!
Friday, April 22 at 8 PM - 11 PM
PointBreezeway
7113 Reynolds St, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15208
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