Studio 55 Marin

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PREVIOUS SHOWS IN 2013

Videos from this show Swedish Polska and Swiss Waltz

Saturday, November 16, 2013 Marin/Marin Mikael Marin of VÄSEN, and Mia Marin

Marin/Marin is Swedish master fiddlers husband and wife duo Mikael Marin and Mia Marin. They play traditional Swedish music, as well as their own compositions. They are famous in Sweden, and tour reguarly in Europe. This is a rare chance to see them in this area.

Marin/Marin have released the highly acclaimed CD Mot Hagsätra on the label Dimma Sweden. In june 2011, their second album Småfolket was released, and their third album is scheduled to be released any time now. They have also made a tune book with 22 of their own tunes with second voices and chords.

Mikael Marin is well known in this area for being a member of the trio Väsen, who have developed a fanatic following the in the Bay Area. He plays five string viola and violino grande in this duo.

Mia Marin plays five string violin in this duo, and is well known as a lively and exuberant musician from Värmland in Sweden. She is an experienced composer, taking inspiration mainly from traditional music, but also from jazz and classical music. Her music is recorded on several albums over the years, Mia also teaches at some of the most prestigious music institutions in Sweden including the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, and at many different workshops around the world.

Videos from this show On Track and She Took a Ride

Friday, November 15, 2013 Elise Witt, Becky Reardon, and Terry Garthwaite Global, Local & Homemade Songs TM

ELISE WITT (from Atlanta, Georgia)
From the melodies of her birthplace in Switzerland, the rhythms of Africa and Latin America, her North Carolina childhood, to the writing of her own songs, Elise's music is a gumbo that spans styles, genres, countries, and times. Her straightforward charm and pure, strong voice are truly fine music to the ears. Elise speaks fluent Italian, French, German, Spanish, and English and sings in over a dozen languages. She has 11 recordings on the EMWorld label. Her songs have been used in several documentary films, and include the anthem Open the Window. Elise has crisscrossed the United States performing her songs, including at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

BECKY REARDON (from Taos, New Mexico)
Becky's silky jazz-infused sound coupled with a deep connection to nature and expert guitar work make her music a must. Her songs and rounds are sung in song circles and by university and community choirs all across the United States, Canada, and the British Isles. Becky was a featured performer at the international GALA Festival of Choirs in 2012, and her song Venus was performed during the NASA webcast of the Venus transit of the sun in June last year.

TERRY GARTHWAITE (from Marin)
With a voice both "sassy & touching", and a taste for fun, Terry has been creating infectious music since the '70s in the Joy of Cooking band. She cooks with rhythm. Terry is an internationally known singer, songwriter, composer, producer, and teacher. In addition to her several albums with Joy of Cooking, Terry has recorded a dozen others by herself or in collaboration with other jazz and blues musicians. In performance she has shared the stage with such artists as BB King, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt, The Band, Allen Ginsberg, Santana, Rosalie Sorrels and writer Bobbie Hawkins at venues that include Carnegie Halland the Hollywood Bowl.

Maurice Tani video from this show The Devil In My Ear and Radio City

Saturday, November 9, 2013 Maurice Tani: 77 El Deora and Sound of Sirens

Sound of Sirens videos from this show Tear My Stillhouse Down and Little Sadie

Maurice Tani: 77 El Deora Maurice Tani has been on the local alt-country scene for over decade. Maurice's "hillbilly noir" gems tap his repertoire of wry humor and romantic rumination. Everyone at Studio 55 Marin thinks Maurice's singing and songs are amazing, and deserve national recognition. 77 El Deora is Maurice's band, which can vary in size, but tonight will consist of Mike Anderson on bass, Randy Craig on piano, and Steve Kallai on fiddle. Maurice previously sang and played guitar for the seminal Motown-style party bands Zasu Pitts Memorial Orchestra and Big Bang Beat, both of whom played often at Ken's 1980's club, The Cotati Cabaret, so Ken has been presenting Maurice for over 30 years. Mike Anderson is one of the Bay Area's most sought after bass players. Maurice and Mike have just released an album of acoustic duos Maurice Tani & Mike Anderson: Two Stroke . Randy Craig is a Bay Area jazz pianist and composer known for his work in the theater world. Randy currently leads a quartet, The Randy Craig Trip. Steve Kallai is a lifelong violinist and fiddler, and has played in 77 El Deora for many years. He is also the inventor of GelRest, an amazing new type of violin chin rest.

Sound of Sirens The Studio 55 Marin proprietors Ken and Susan are also musical performers. This is the first official performance for their new band, Sound of Sirens.   Ken Frankel has been part of the California music scene since the 1960's, performing with music notables such as Jerry Garcia, Richard Greene, and Robert Hunter, and in groups such as The Electric Guitar Quartet.   Susan Nielsen ("Susan Siren") has shared stages with Bob Hope, Merv Griffin, Dick Cavett, Alan Alda, John Madden, Bill Cosby, and other national stars, sung in many local groups, and worked as a professional studio singer.   Kristina Ziese ("Stina Siren") was classically trained for 10 years, sang in many popular bands in Seattle, but now has moved to the Bay Area to become one of our "Sirens".   Greg Barnett spent the 80s studying classical guitar and early music in college, has played hundreds of gigs in concert halls, dance halls, bars, theaters, and circus tents, including two years as the guitarist with Cirque du Soleil's Dralion.   Scott Underwood has performed with various Bay Area music acts since the 1980s, including with such musicians as Annie Zesiger, Harry Gray, Mike Steed, Rick English, and Rik Elswit, and as a member of Acoustic Son.

Evie Ladin Band and Erin Inglish videos from this show Evie: Precious Days and Erin: A Melody So Sweet

Saturday, October 26, 2013 Erin Inglish, Evie Ladin Band, and Kendl Winter & The Lowest Pair Lady Banjo Show

Kendl Winter video from this show The Lowest Pair: Living Is Dying

Erin Inglish Erin Inglish is California's banjo sweetheart! A native of the California Central Coast, Erin delivers a unique presentation of voice and banjo that is reminiscent of the sounds of John Hartford and the activist stylings of Peggy Seeger. Formerly a mechanical engineer in the field of sustainability, Erin now tours internationally as a folk music troubadour. She has lived in India, Madagascar, Bulgaria and Serbia, and her songwriting reflects her worldly travels and grounding passion for sustainability and art. In April, 2013, Erin released her first solo album titled, "A Melody So Sweet," and then toured - by bicycle - the entire coast of California to celebrate Earth Month. From the thoughtful and conscientious messages in her songwriting, to her magnetic and entertaining stage-presence, Erin is a consummate performer and humanistic storyteller.

Evie Ladin Band The polyrhythmic funk of Evie Ladin's clawhammer banjo, resonant voice, real stories and rhythmic dance, have been heard from A Prairie Home Companion to Celtic Connections, Lincoln Center to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Known as a driving force behind San Francisco's Stairwell Sisters. Evie's solo debut Float Downstream (2010), co-produced by Mike Marshall and Keith Terry, was quickly followed by Evie Ladin Band (2012), nominated for Americana Album of the Year by the Independent Music Awards. Evie started playing banjo at the age of 8, clogging since 5, and is fluid in these traditional Appalachian arts, even as she brings an urban edge and contemporary vision to her own stories, and deep interpretations of old songs. Evie Ladin is a banjo player, step-dancer, singer, songwriter and square-dance caller with a lifetime of experience in traditional American cultural arts. Evie tours solo, duo with Keith Terry, or with her expansive stringband, the Evie Ladin Band.

Kendl Winter & The Lowest Pair A traveler, a dreamer, and a banjo pickin' sweetheart from Arkansas, Kendl Winter sprouts alfalfa beans in mason jars in the back of her tour van, spreads her songs across the country Johnny Appleseed style, and counts the days until she returns home to her house boat to write songs on her banjo through the rainy afternoons. Her voice is beautifully unique and bold, and her songs are thoughtfully poetic and rooted deep within her experience. Previously of the Blackberry Bushes String band, she has branched off and out and her solo work is even more captivating and mesmerizing. Kendl's song reminds one of the legendary Lucinda Williams. Perhaps it's her pure dedication to writing the perfect song that serves her so well - to write a song that plays to the seasons, to the harvest, and speaks to the truth about life. About love. About the simple love of a singer and her banjo.

Swinging Doors videos from this show Home of the Blues and Lovey Dovey

Saturday, October 19, 2013 Swinging Doors

Swinging Doors is a five-piece electric country band with a combined century-plus of professional performing experience on stages and bandstands around the world. They explore country music's great honky-tonk song tradition (roughly 1950-1975), featuring shuffles, stomps, shouts, and laments from the repertoires of Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich, George Jones, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard, and the Amazing Rhythm Aces. Their specialty is vocal versatility, with four singers and many three-part harmonies.

Steve Baker, well known as the general manager of Freight and Salvage, but also has decades of experience as a country electric guitarist and singer.

Ray Bierl is chief lead singer and plays fiddle, and acoustic guitar. His name is on the front of two CDs, and he has a long track record with Hillbillies from Mars.

Mayne Smith is famous in the Bay Area from his decades of great bands and performances, including the Redwood Canyon Ramblers, not to mention his many recordings. In Swinging Doors, he concentrates on Pedal Steel Guitar.

Markie Sanders plays electric bass, and is a fine singer, too. She has recorded and performed with too many bands to name, and spent fourteen years in Nashville with appearances on TV and the Grand Ole Opry.

Lloyd Ferris is a drummer's drummer, just as comfortable with a sentimental slow-dance or a mellow waltz as with raucous Zydeco stomps, country-rocking boogies, and boot-scooting Buck Owens shuffles. He and Markie make an unbeatable groove team.

Kyle Alden videos from this show Those Images and Jimmy-O

Saturday, October 12, 2013 Kyle Alden CD Release Show

Kyle Alden is a San Francisco based singer/songwriter/guitarist best known for his award winning folk music settings of W.B. Yeats' poetry. With roots in the San Francisco Irish music community, Kyle has played guitar accompaniment for top Irish musicians (including Randal Bays, Athena Tergis, Todd Denman, Tommy Peoples, Gearoid O'hAllmhurain and Paddy Keenan) in concerts, dances and sessions, performing on stages from Palm Springs to Redding, from Berkeley to Honolulu.

Kyle Alden's new CD, "Down In The West, Vol. I", is a collection of songs evoking the west coasts of the U.S. and of Ireland through a series of loosely connected but interlocking stories--a lone fisherman's twilight chance meeting and a boat plying the waters of the Alaska gold rush, among others. Rendered in the appealing acoustic/Americana style of "Songs From Yeats' Bee-Loud Glade", Kyle's highly praised 2011 CD, "Down In The West" features songs based on poems by W.B. Yeats, Robert Burns and William Blake, plus two originals and two covers (by Richard Thompson and Fred Neil).

Kyle has been writing and performing original songs since the early eighties. "You could call his music Americana, though Californiana might be a more accurate label," says Australian journalist Bob Johnstone. "Kyle has long since absorbed and assimilated his sources, and given them his own, distinctive twist". These are "well-crafted songs, with catchy tunes, sung in a gentle, plaintive voice" that evokes Canadian songsters such as Ron Sexsmith and Neil Young.

For this show, Kyle will be joined by Robert Powell on guitars, pedal steel guitar, and vocals; and Paul Eastburn on bass.

Janam videos from this show Las Compras del Rabino and Kostandinia

Saturday, September 14, 2013 Janam

Janam (My Soul) blends Balkan, Near Eastern and American roots and original music, creating rapturous acoustic textures, whirling rhythms and stunning vocal harmonies. Led by Kitka Women's Vocal Ensemble veteran Juliana Graffagna, Janam unites some of the San Francisco Bay Area's most imaginative and devoted practitioners of Balkan and Near Eastern music, who weave together Eastern exoticism, gritty Appalachian folk melodies and their own inspired compositions. The resulting music is transcendent, sensuous and irresistible.

Setting out to explore her passions for Balkan and American folk music, vocalist Juliana Graffagna formed Janam in 2008. The group has since evolved into a tight-knit ensemble of talented multi-instrumentalists who create unique and varied textures with their mix of crystalline strings, dissonant vocal harmonies and sultry rhythms. Janam has garnered recognition throughout California and the Northwest, playing to mesmerized audiences and frenzied folk dancers in venues as diverse as Yoshi's San Francisco, UC Santa Barbara Multicultural Center, Cafe du Nord, Ashkenaz and the de Young Museum.

Janam's repertoire includes Albanian, Macedonian, Hungarian, Romanian, Greek, Turkish, Sephardic & Ashkenazi Jewish, Romani (Gypsy) and American roots music as well as original compositions inspired by these traditions. Janam proves that the foothills of the Balkans and the Appalachians lie in Oakland. The group's funky meters, bittersweet modes, driving tunes, and sultry ballads invoke the nightingales and dark eyes, the hot love and cold hollows of Europe and America's most musical mountains.

Ian Ethan video from this show Who's There

Friday, September 13, 2013 Ian Ethan and Motoshi Kosako featuring Michael Manring & Paul McCandless

Motoshi Kosako videos from this show Naked Wonder and One or Eight

Ian Ethan       Ian Ethan's strikingly-unconventional, self-invented approach to the double-neck guitar is both magical to hear and fascinating to watch. While his performances are visually intriguing to say the least, it is not showmanship but rather the sincere desire to accurately communicate the harmonically rich, multi-layered music of his composing that has impelled him every step of the way.       Michael Manring, (bass), known for his innovative approach to the bass and adventurous solo concerts, has appeared on approximately 200 recordings, and toured throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He has received Grammy and Bammie nominations, the Berklee School of Music Distinguished Alumni Award, two Gold Records, and the Bassist of the Year award from the readers of Bass Player magazine.

Motoshi Kosako       Motoshi Kosako is considered the most influential Jazz harpist in Japan. In 2002 and 2003, he recorded two classical harp albums, Celestial Harp I and Celestial Harp II . In April 2008, he released his first Jazz Album, Naked Wonder. In 2010 he started intimate collaboration with Paul McCandless and released the duo album Place in the Heart. Motoshi was the principal harpist of Stockton Symphony Orchestra and was the featured soloist for Mozart's Flute & Harp Concerto in the 2009-2010 season.       Paul McCandless is a Grammy Award Winner. He is a gifted multi-instrumentalist and composer, specializing on the oboe, English horn, bass clarinet, soprano and sopranino saxophones and a collection of folk flutes reflecting his grounding in both classical and jazz disciplines.

West My Friend videos from this show, by Blue Coast Films Troubles and The Tatoo that Loved Her Anyway

Saturday, August 10, 2013 West My Friend with Sound of Sirens

Sound of Sirens videos from this show Sound of Silence, One More Dollar and Married to the Blues

West My Friend Since West My Friend was conceived in a Victoria cafe in 2009, they've emerged as a unique voice in the city's music scene. Described as everything from indie-roots to chamber-folk, their acoustic blend of instruments and four-part harmonies challenges the conventions of popular music to create a performance that is both engaging and innovative. Songs are created through a collaborative process: well-crafted and clever lyrics, acrobatic mandolin riffs, flawless bass lines, and richly textured accordion combine as every member brings forward their own ideas and experiences. The wealth of musical experience and classical training in the group creates an interesting backdrop for their songwriting, allowing for levels of detail, intricacy, and counterpoint balanced with moments of simplicity. This sonically adventurous approach to music defines West My Friend as a key part of a growing movement of the new generation of grass-roots folk music taking place in Victoria, Vancouver and across British Columbia.

Sound of Sirens The Studio 55 Marin proprietors Ken and Susan are also musical performers. Their last band, Family Lines, has broken up, but they have a new band, Sound of Sirens. They did a short opening set for this show as their first ever performance. Sound of Sirens is Susan Nielsen ("Susan Siren") and Kristina Zeiss ("Stina Siren") doing fabulous vocal duets, plus Ken Frankel (guitar and banjo), Greg Barnett (guitars), and Scott Underwood (bass).

Run Boy Run videos from this show Willow Garden and Back in Time

Saturday, July 27, 2013 Run Boy Run

The unique sound of Run Boy Run is rooted in the traditional music of the Appalachian South. In recent years, bands like Nickel Creek, Crooked Still, and others have revived a sense of innovation in traditional American music. Run Boy Run continues this journey into music that is dynamic, orchestral, and overflowing with beauty. Three strong female voices weave a spectacular tapestry of sound. Award-winning fiddle cuts a path for a tightly formed rhythmic front. Every arrangement is - at it's core - beautiful.

From winning the band contest at Pickin' in the Pines to playing on stage at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival as band contest winners in 2012, to making a second appearance on A Prairie Home Companion in St. Paul in 2013, Run Boy Run is spreading this special brand of music to all who would hear. With the release of the full length album So Sang the Whippoorwill in March of 2013, Run Boy Run is making more people dance, cry, and sing than ever.

Brother and sister, Matt (fiddle, guitar) and Grace Rolland (cello, vocals), have fiddle music running through their blood. Raised with bow and rosin on every bedside table, Run Boy Run was a natural fit. Sisters, Bekah (fiddle, vocals, guitar) and Jen Sandoval (mandolin, vocals), grew up deeply rooted in the Bluegrass festivals of Arizona, so they too found a home in Run Boy Run. Jesse Allen (bass) was brought up on opera and western swing, and grew to love the natural fusion inherent in American music. The whole truly exceeds the sum of the parts as touches of classical, jazz, and folk express themselves through the old-time core of Run Boy Run's unique sound.

Videos from this show with Jeana, Siobhan, and Aaron Saints and Sinners and The King's Shilling

Sunday, June 23, 2013 Jeana Leslie and Siobhan Miller, with Aaron Jones

A video from this show with just Jeana and Siobhan Tom of Bedlam

      Jeana Leslie and Siobhan Miller are two talented young singers and musicians recognised as shining stars on the Scottish folk scene. They are both blessed with lovely, natural voices that blend beautifully, and their performances focus strongly on communicating through traditional, contemporary and self-penned song.

      They came to prominence as winners of the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award in 2008, which was followed by both the Hancock Horizon Award and Up and Coming Artist of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards in 2009. Adding to these accolades, most recently Siobhan was named Citty Finlayson Scots Singer of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards 2011.

      Orcadian Jeana and Siobhan, from Penicuik, outside Edinburgh, are both 2009 graduates of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, where they first met and began working together, developing their shared love for song. Since coming together as a duo in 2008 and experiencing a whirlwind rise to prominence, they have performed extensively throughout the UK and Europe, including many major festivals.

      Aaron Jones, master of the Irish bouzouki, has lived and worked in Scotland for over twenty-five years. He spends most of his year on the road touring throughout the world. He has recorded on countless traditional albums and continues to tour and record regularly with some of the biggest names in traditional music. His band, Old Blind Dogs, were voted Band of the Year in 2004 and 2007 at the Scots Trad Music Awards. He put on an inspiring show at Studio 55 Marin with Claire Mann last June.

Maurice Tani videos from this show Dancing With Devils and Feed Me Poison

Saturday, May 4, 2013 Maurice Tani: 77 El Deora and Barbwyre

Barbwyre videos from this show Doctor Talk to Me and Zapata's Ghost

Maurice Tani: 77 El Deora San Francisco-born singer-songwriter Maurice Tani has been on the alt-country scene for over decade. Maurice's "hillbilly noir" gems tap his repertoire of wry humor and romantic rumination. 77 El Deora is Maurice's band, which can vary in size, but tonight will consist of Randy Craig on piano and Mike Anderson on bass. In addition, guest vocalist Jenn Courtney will do a few duets with Maurice. Randy Craig is a Bay Area jazz pianist and composer known for his work in the theater world. Randy currently leads a quartet, The Randy Craig Trip. Mike Anderson is one of the Bay Area's most sought after bass players. Finishing touches are currently going on an album of acoustic duo, trio and quartet recordings called Maurice Tani & Mike Anderson: Two Stroke . Jenn Courtney has been Tani's muse and vocal sparring partner for nearly a decade.

Barbwyre Barbwire stretches across the land. Its the iconic symbol of the West where Coloradans Jon Mitguard and Dana Rath grew up. Country western music was the sound of this place, and while Barbwyre has country at its roots, their musical attractions are diverse. Separately but at about the same time both Jon and Dana settled in San Rafael, CA to flourish in the vast musical landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area. Dana, Jon, Rob, and Dan welcome you to the land of Barbwyre, an eclectic American melting pot of alt country funk grass. Jon Mitguard plays pedal steel, dobro, and harmonica; and has played professionally since his late teen years. Dana Rath plays mandolin, mandola, guitar, and melodica; and co-founded the Modern Mandolin Quartet with Mike Marshall. Rob Wenig has played bass around the Bay Area with many fine bands. Dan Ransford has been the drummer on almost too many recordings to count.

Manring Kassin Darter videos from this show Mistral and Equilibre

Saturday, April 20, 2013 Manring Kassin Darter

Separately, Michael Manring, Larry Kassin, and Tom Darter have extensive, multi-faceted careers as musicians. Together, Manring Kassin Darter plays provocative, complex compositions - music that tears down stylistic walls and refuses to be compartmentalized. While listeners can hear echoes of classical, jazz, rock, folk, avant-garde, and world music in their performances, the net result is something completely new: extemporaneous-jazz-chamber-fusion-music for the new century.

Michael Manring, (bass), known for his innovative approach to the bass and adventurous solo concerts, has appeared on approximately 200 recordings, and toured throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia. He has received Grammy and Bammie nominations, the Berklee School of Music Distinguished Alumni Award, two Gold Records, and the Bassist of the Year award from the readers of Bass Player magazine.

Larry Kassin, (flute) founded the internationally recognized Noe Valley Music Series in 1981. His wide-ranging performance style has led to appearances with Bobby McFerrin, Jessica Williams, SF Klezmer Experience, Rhiannon, Sonia, and Box Set, plus a recent CD release with Doors keyboardist Ray Manzerek and Beat poet Michael McClure.

Tom Darter, (piano), founding editor of Keyboard magazine, established the Contemporary Music Ensemble at the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University, where he also taught music theory and composition. He has arranged two albums of music for the Kronos Quartet Monk Suite (Music of Bill Evans), played keyboards on numerous Jerry Goldsmith film scores, and won several composition awards.

inVoc is an exciting new adult vocal ensemble directed by longtime beloved Bay Area singer-songwriter performer and vocal coach, Pollyanna Bush, who works out of her Fairfax studio Alley Cats Music School.

Come and steep yourself in beautiful harmonies exciting ensemble work, solos, duets, and trios...songs you will know and want to sing along with and some beautiful originals that will inspire you to write your own!

Singers: Bea Benjamin, Pollyanna Bush, Evet DeCota, Siobhain Dobrovolny, Elana Eytan, Pam Ippolito, Joan Ivazes, Barbara Juniper and Annette Pirrone.

inVoc will be joined by very talented Bay Area musicians: Sam Schwartz on guitar, Andius on bass, and Isaac Schwartz on drums.

Mary Jand and Wendy videos from this show If You Were Mine and Sleepy Maggie

Sunday, March 24, 2013 Another Celtic Matinee Show! On tour from Nova Scotia Mary Jane Lamond & Wendy MacIsaac

This is a powerful collaboration borne of a long-time friendship and a shared love of Celtic music. Whether it's the mesmerizing Gaelic vocals of Mary Jane, or the superb and true musicianship of Wendy on the fiddle, these ladies have been making their mark with traditional audiences worldwide for over two decades. Mary Jane and Wendy have both been recognized internationally for their solo music careers, and Wendy has been Mary Jane's steadfast comrade in the presentation of her music for many years.

On Cape Breton Island, the rich heritage of the region's Highland settlers was kept alive through music, songs, and stories. It was in Nova Scotia, while visiting her grandparents throughout her youth, that Mary Jane fell in love with Scottish Gaelic traditions and song. While enrolled in Saint Francis Xavier University's Celtic Studies program, Mary Jane released her first album, Bho Thir Nan Craobh, a collection of traditional material that introduced her unique singing voice. She has continued to dedicate her musical career to the preservation of Scottish Gaelic songs and has garnered numerous JUNO and ECMA award nominations, critical acclaim, and a worldwide audience for her efforts. Mary Jane's four recordings create a respectful and beautiful framework for ancient Gaelic songs and her spell binding performances make these selections truly come alive.

Wendy is an award-winning fiddler, piano player and step dancer from Creignish, Cape Breton. A born performer, she began appearing publicly at age 5 as a step dancer. At age 12, she began fiddle lessons with Stan Chapman. By age fifteen, Wendy was playing dances all over Cape Breton Island, forming the sound that makes her so recognizable today. With five records to her credit - the most recent Variations with her Cape Breton Celtic Supergroup, Beolach - she is a favourite with traditional audiences everywhere. Wendy has toured all over the world as a solo performer, and with The Rankins, Mary Jane Lamond, Ashley MacIsaac and Beolach.

Loafers' Glory videos from this show Riding on the L & N and If I Be Lifted Up

Thursday, March 21, 2013 Loafers' Glory with Keystone Crossing

Keystone Crossing video from this show Orphan Train

Loafers' Glory Loafers' Glory features some of the finest musicians not only in the state, but in the entire country. Four fabulous pickers and singers perform a seamless and compelling blend of traditional bluegrass and-old time music. Three of the band members have each been playing acoustic music for more than 40 years, and the fourth is one as the hottest young banjo players on the scene. Herb Pedersen, already well known for his banjo playing in bands such as The Dillards, The Country Gazette, Old & In The Gray, Here Today, The Laurel Canyon Ramblers, and Vern & Ray, plays mostly guitar here. He also played with The Foggy Mountain Boys for a time, subbing for Earl Scruggs back in the late '60s. Bill Bryson has loaned his talents to some of the best bands in the business. Some of the bands that he has played with are The Bluegrass Cardinals, Desert Rose, and The Laurel Canyon Ramblers. Tom Sauber has been in the forefront of the traditional old-time music scene for a few decades now. He was part of the wonderful old-time trio Tom, Brad and Alice, and he has performed with musicians such as Mike Seeger, Dirk Powell and Mark Graham. Patrick Sauber, Tom's son, comes from the same musical background as his dad. He's an astounding multi-instrumentalist who feels as much at home on the five-string as he does on the mandolin and guitar.

Keystone Crossing Opening the show will be the local twosome Keystone Crossing - Larry Carlin and Claudia Hampe. Originally from the Keystone State of Pennsylvania, this is a delightful duo whose paths had crossed numerous times over the years until they finally met in the winter of 1995. Their angelic harmonies hearken back to the early days of country and bluegrass music, as they sing songs of the famous brother duos of that era - The Delmore, Louvin, and Everly Brothers - as well as songs from contemporary duos such as Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, and Chris Hillman & Herb Pedersen.

Wake the Dead videos from this show, by Blue Coast Films Darkness Darkness Medley and Down the Days Medley

Friday, March 15, 2013 Wake the Dead

Wake The Dead is the World's First Celtic All-Star Grateful Dead Jam Band. After 11 years of solid success blending Celtic traditional music and the songs of the Grateful Dead, this hot Northern California septet now embraces the entire Summer of Love, delighting Deadheads, folkies, rockers, and adventurous music lovers alike around the world.

As an expression of cultural joy, you can't top an Irish wake. And what is a wake but a celebration - a toast of appreciation - an expression of love - and a damn good party. So when eight top Bay Area musicians realized they shared as deep a love for the songs of the Grateful Dead as they did for traditional Celtic tunes, some brand-new music sprang up and started the partying.

Wake the Dead is a romp that flows seamlessly from rock grooves to hot Irish reels, and from haunting airs to achingly beautiful melodies familiar to Deadheads everywhere. Sugaree in waltz time, bracketed by an ancient harp tune and infused with a poignant Celtic longing. Bertha thundering out of China Cat on a mandolin tidal wave. The eerie lilt of the uilleann pipes, giving a glow to Bird Song as if it was always meant to be there. Groove jams to keep the tie-dye swirling. Vocal harmonies that float like clouds.

The music takes off, and the band follows, grinning all the way. These aren't worlds colliding - they're worlds meshing, coalescing - creating a whole new world of possibility, and true to the spirits of the Grateful Dead and the eternally hopeful Celts.

Buck Nickles videos from this show Barn Dance and Little Red Truck

Saturday, March 9, 2013 Buck Nickels & Loose Change and Swinging Doors

Swinging Doors videos from this show You're Still On My Mind and Down and Out

Buck Nickels & Loose Change David Buck Nickels Westerbeke, singer, songwriter and lead guitarist, learned his cowboy ways in Sonoma,California's Valley of the Moon on his family's cattle ranch. until that fateful day, Buck heard Bob Wills on the radio and he knew he was destined to be a country star. Larry Loose Change Cragg, on pedal steel and vocals, is by day, a respected guitar repairman and owner of Vintage Instrument Rental, During his 37 years touring the rock-and-roll circuit, Larry has played a variety of instruments in bands with Neil Young, Nils Lofgren, Clarence Clemons and Booker T. Rawhide Ross Perry, bass, is a veteran multi-instrumentalist (bass, guitar, ukulele and drums), is currently playing bass with Marin rockers Learning Curve. Ross is the co-owner of Sunnyside Nursery in San Anselmo. CC Colorado Dawson, drummer, traveled and recorded extensively with his own bands Darkstar and the Dawson-Tate Band through the 80s and 90s. He spent the past 20 years playing locally with numerous combinations of the great musicians in the S.F. Bay Area.

Swinging Doors Swinging Doors is a five-piece electric country band that explores country music's great honky-tonk song tradition (roughly 1950-1975). Their specialty is vocal versatility, with four singers and many three-part harmonies. Steve Baker, well known as the general manager of Freight and Salvage, but also has decades of experience as a country electric guitarist and singer. Ray Bierl is chief lead singer and plays fiddle, and acoustic guitar. His name is on the front of two CDs, and he has a long track record with Hillbillies from Mars. Mayne Smith, pedal steel guitar, is famous in the Bay Area from his decades of great bands and performances, including the Redwood Canyon Ramblers, not to mention his many recordings. Markie Sanders, bass, is also a fine singer. She has recorded and performed with too many bands to name, and spent fourteen years in Nashville with appearances on TV and the Grand Ole Opry. Lloyd Ferris is a drummer's drummer. He and Markie make an unbeatable groove team.

Goitse videos from this show Ladies Choice and Bring Me a Boat

Sunday, February 24, 2013 Direct from Ireland: Goitse

Goitse is a flourishing, highly talented five piece band fast making a name for themselves as one of the most sought after bands amongst connoisseurs of Irish traditional music. Their fast paced energetic playing has seen them enjoying a growing fan base through show stopping performances in Ireland, America, Germany, Finland, Denmark, and even Africa. Goitse (pronounced gwi-cha) is an informal Gaelic Irish greeting meaning come here.

The distinctive quality of their sound lies in the arrangement of well-known traditional tunes interspersed with their own compositions, which make each set entertaining and unique. The band adds their own distinctive contribution to their cultural inheritance with ease and style. Even with hints of continental playing and modern rhythms there remains the overwhelming presence of Irishness.They have a big musical imagination and are not afraid to tear at the edges of the trad envelope. - Irish Music Magazine.

Aine McGeeney, the fiddle player, is also a well known singer, with songs in the English and Irish language. Her sweet, charismatic voice draws audiences into the music a way very few performers can achieve.

Goitse's debut album which, was released in January 2010, has gained much praise from critics with Hotpress magazine assuring Irish traditional music lovers They play with an easy assurance that should cause those fretting about the future of Irish trad to rest more easily at night. Lace up your dancing shoes and get ready for a night of wonderful music and fast paced fun with Goitse.

Bill Evans videos from this show, by Blue Coast Films Leaving Owensboro/Catching the Dickens and Minstrel Irish Medley

Saturday, February 16, 2013 The San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival presents Bill Evans Banjo in America and Evie Ladin Band

Evie's videos from this show Sugar Babe and A Dance

Bill Evans Bill Evans is an internationally known five-string banjo life force. As a performer, teacher, writer, scholar and composer, he brings a deep knowledge, intense virtuosity and contagious passion to all things banjo, with thousands of music fans and banjo students from all over the world in a career that spans over thirty-five years. Tracing the banjo from its West African roots to the New World, Evans performs musical examples from the 1700's to the present day on a variety of vintage instruments, ranging from an African ekonting to a mid-19th century minstrel banjo, a modern bluegrass banjo and even an electric banjo. From an 18th century African dance tune to the music of the Civil War, and from early 20th century ragtime to folk and bluegrass banjo styles to Bill's own incredible original music, Bill's performances illuminate as well as entertain, exposing audiences to over 200 years of American music.

Evie Ladin Band The Evie Ladin Band for this show was just Evie Ladin and Keith Terry; Erik Pearson, who is usually in the band, was sick and couldn't make it, but Evie and Keith were fantastic as a duo. The polyrhythmic funk of Evie Ladin's clawhammer banjo, resonant voice, real stories and rhythmic dance, have been heard from A Prairie Home Companion to Celtic Connections, Lincoln Center to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Known as a driving force behind San Francisco's Stairwell Sisters. Evie's solo debut Float Downstream (2010) was reviewed by Sing Out! magazine as Solid song craft performed wonderfully end to end...Very strongly recommended. Keith Terry (bass, Body Music, vocals) is a renowned percussionist/rhythm dancer, and the founder of the International Body Music Festival.

Grandpa Banana videos from this show Get Together and Married to the Blues

Friday, February 15, 2013 The San Francisco Bluegrass & Old Time Festival presents Grandpa Banana's Band and Snap Jackson & The Knock on Wood Players

Snap Jackson videos from this show Just My Imagination and A Thousand Words

Grandpa Banana's Band Banana began his career in bluegrass on the east coast in Boston with "Banana and the Bunch, Old Time Music with Appeal", playing bluegrass in the local coffee houses of the early 60's. After several years in the east coast folk/bluegrass scene, he co-founded The Youngbloods with Joe Bauer, Jesse Colin Young, and Jerry Corbitt. The band moved from New York City to West Marin in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1967. Along with co-producing The Youngbloods records with Joe Bauer, and many other records on his own, he produced the first two High Country albums for Butch Waller which were released by Warner Bros. Records in the early 1970's. This introduced California bluegrass to a worldwide audience. Over the years, he has played with too many famous people to list here. As Grandpa Banana's Band with David Thom on mandolin and Sam Page on bass, he plays five string tenor guitar and presents a vast repertoire of great songs old and new.

Snap Jackson & The Knock on Wood Players Snap Jackson & the Knock on Wood Players are an acoustic quartet hailing from Stockton, California. These four gentlemen effortlessly blend Americana, Bluegrass, Soul, and Old Time Music to create a unique, fresh, and energetic sound. It is obvious from the moment this group takes the stage that they are ready to have a good time. They have been featured on the same bill with such notables as Old Crow Medecine Show, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Punch Brothers, Greensky Bluegrass, and Vince Gill, to name a few. Whether it's a street corner, theatre, house concert, or outdoor festival, these boys are sure to leave a lasting impression. If you're in the audience when these guys play, and you don't get excited, check your pulse, because you're probably dead/ - Gene Bach, Susanville Bluegrass Festival Promoter.

Sangita and Lucian video from this show Show Me the Path

Sunday, January 13, 2013 Lisa Sangita Moskow and Lucian Balmer

Lisa Sangita Moskow, virtuoso sarod player and East-West composer, will present an evening of her own compositions and collaborations with violinist Lucian Balmer. Both musicians have one foot in the classical traditions of the East and West with the other in the entrancing and inspiring milieu of spiritual world music. Sangita Moskow performs on electric sarod (a multi-stringed lute from North India), and studied extensively with the recently passed Ali Akbar Khan.

Lucian Balmer is a violinist with the Mill Valley Philharmonic. He is well-acquainted with Indian music due to playing violin and singing many years in an Indian ashram that specialized in music as a spiritual practice. He is widely praised for the deep meditational quality of his music.

Audie Blaylock & Redline videos from this show A Natural Thing and Why Don't You Tell Me So

Friday, January 11, 2013 Audie Blaylock & Redline

Audie Blaylock & Redline have a brand new 2012 summer album release, Hard Country (Rural Rhythm), that includes the new single, A Natural Thing. The song is already appearing on the charts including the June 2012 Bluegrass Music Profiles Magazine Top 30 Hot Singles Chart and on the Into the Blue's Top Pick of the Month on the Bluegrass Radio Network. I chose the name Hard Country because I think it really defines the music on this disc. It still has that hard-driving bluegrass edge - then changes into slower paced ballad type songs as well, which really show cases the versatility of this band. It also shows just how closely bluegrass and country music are related, explained Audie.

Audie Blaylock & Redline are still celebrating their album I'm Going Back to Old Kentucky (A Bill Monroe Celebration) that previously made its debut at #1 on the Bluegrass Music Profiles Top 10 Albums in July 2011, and hit #1 on the Bluegrass Today's Weekly Song Chart. The album continues to be a sure fire hit with radio with five songs (Cry Cry Darlin', I'm Going Back to Old Kentucky, In Despair, Mighty Dark to Travel, and Out in the Cold) that topped the charts. Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine gave this project a big thumbs up saying, The vocal work by Blaylock and others is topnotch, the instrumental support is right on the mark, and the Father of Bluegrass would no doubt find this release very much to his liking, with Country Standard Time raving, Put it on, turn it up, and drift away!

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Or telephone us at (415) 453-3161