DRANK THE GOLD

Dear friends,

Tomorrow is the day!

Drank The Gold + Benny Bleu

Sunday, May 3rd, 7pm ET

Caffe Lena, Saratoga Springs, NY

GRAB YOUR TICKETS TO JOIN US IN PERSON, OR TUNE INTO THE HIGH-QUALITY LIVE STREAM

Doors are at 6:30 PM

Drank The Gold will kick off the first set at 7 PM

And Benny Bleu (with fantastic band) will hold down the second set at 8 PM

Expect an evening of traditionally inspired original songs, reimagined fiddle and banjo tunes, and folk harmonies - with plenty of collaborations between us all along the way.

We hope you’ll consider joining us in person or online for the concert – not only because we, James and Oona, are excited to share our music with you in a beautiful listening room. But because we love Benny Bleu and his music and think you well too. Check out this music video he recently released with his band:

A little more about Benny:

“Benny Bleu is a geologist by trade, banjo player and singer-songwriter who touches on our connections with the natural world and each other.” – Putumayo World Music

Benny Bleu Haravitch plays old time banjo in the Finger Lakes of upstate New York – a land defined by deep lake valleys and steep highlands. The topography is reflected in the local fiddle tradition, and Benny’s banjo rolls along having studied with regional old-time visionaries Mac Benford, Richie Stearns, Judy Hyman, and Bruce Molsky. An award-winning banjo player and former geologist, Benny’s performances are soothing journeys through tunes from his homeland, old songs learned by growing up next to a jug-band, and original modern folk contemplations. Joining him will be a band consisting of guitarist/fiddler Gus Tritsch who has played at Caffe Lena with Jake Blount; his brother Huck Tritsch will play drumset, who is both a Clifftop-winnng fiddler and a jazz-studies drumming major at Temple University; and Eric Heveron-Smith on bass, a mulit-instruentalist and naturalist in his own right. 

If you can’t wait until tomorrow's concert, tune into this radio interview we recorded with Benny a couple weeks ago, featuring some songs and some chats about our music with Chris Wienk of WEXT.

And we'll see you soon!

Thank you for all of your support,

xo, Oona & James

 

www.drankthegold.com

YouTube // Instagram // Facebook

Welcome, list members new and old!  We hope you enjoy our occasional messages about our musical pursuits... but if your inbox is bogged down, we won't be hurt if you unsubscribe:

Solstice Greetings!  

If you find yourself in the vicinity of Galway, NY, tomorrow (Sunday, December 22nd) please stop by The Cock 'n Bull for our "Christmas Spectacular" with Chris Carey and Tim Wechgelaer.  We love every chance we get to play at our favorite barn with some of our favorite friends - and this annual tradition has a sneaky way of getting all who attend into the holiday spirit.  Who can resist actual chestnuts roasting on an open fire!?  Call 519-882-6962 to reserve your table.  Cover is $25.  The music starts at 6pm, seating runs 4-5pm.  We're working up lots of festive numbers with the boys, and can't wait to share!

If you've been reading our messages for a while, you might have caught on that we do a lot of teaching as well as performing.  January 2025 will be a good month to get in on the action.

-Out in Ithaca, over the weekend of January 11th, we'll be offering Irish and old time guitar and fiddle classes at the Winter Village Music Camp.  Featuring an all-star faculty covering countless genres and instruments, we're not joking when we say we'd plan to attend even if we were not on staff.  Check it out if you can.

-Back in Saratoga Springs at the Caffe Lena School of Music, we'll continue offering our after school Youth Folk Ensembles, with a new session beginning January 8th (three time slots).  We are also offering a NEW class we're calling Irish Music Ensemble, beginning January 29th, running noon-1pm, for adults (and anyone available during the day).  We'll be co-teaching, so able to offer both melodies and chords to Irish dance tunes, and work together with everyone to come up with fun arrangements.

P.S. Before we leave 2024, we can't help looking back at the year we've had and sharing with you a couple of highlights.  Thanks for indulging us!

• Beautiful Concert Halls: Troy Savings Bank Music Hall (Troy, NY), Proctors (Schenechtady, NY), Hangar Theatre (Ithaca, NY), Cohoes Music Hall (Cohoes, NY)
• Venturing into the Adirondacks: BluSeed (Saranac Lake, NY), Upper Jay Arts Center (Upper Jay, NY), Great Camp Sagamore (Raquette Lake, NY), The TAUNY Center (Canton, NY)
• Concert Series, Museums, Libraries, Retirement Communities: Song City (Troy, NY), Tang Teaching Museum (Saratoga Springs, NY), Guilderland Public Library (Guilderland, NY), Kendal at Ithaca (Ithaca, NY)
• Festivals near and far: FingerLakes GrassRoots Festival (Trumansburg, NY), Syracuse Irish Festival (Syracuse, NY), GrassRoots Unplugged (Trumansburg, NY), Black Bear Music Festival (Goshen, CT), Scottish Games (Broadalbin, NY), Galway Blueberry Festival (Galway, NY)
• Bringing our friends to play in our favorite barn, The Cock 'n Bull (Galway, NY): Benny Bleu, Chris Carey, Ida Mae Specker, The Millstone Rounders ft. Scott Hopkins, Kevin Maul, and Matt Griffin, Barnruster, and High on the Hog
• Music Camps: GrassRoots Culture Camp (Trumansburg, NY), Blackpot Camp (Eunice, LA), Caffe Lena School of Music Folk Ensemble Camps (Saratoga Springs, NY)
• Sailing Adventure: Schooner American Eagle (Rockland, ME)
• Little Folks shows at Caffe Lena (Saratoga Springs, NY, and Livestream to everywhere!): every week with Dan Berggren, with special guest appearances by Evie Ladin and Chris Bloniarz
• Collaborating with fellow musicians and bands: High on the Hog, Arise & Go, The Grady Girls, Chris Carey & Tim Wechgelaer, Padraig Timoney, Benny Bleu and all who played in our showcase room at NERFA
• Launching a new project, The Millstone Rounders: performances at The Cock 'n Bull (Galway, NY), The Hyde Museum (Glens Falls, NY), Saratoga Race Track (Saratoga Springs, NY), Fiddles & Foliage Festival (Saratoga Springs, NY), and a full house show at Caffe Lena (Saratoga Springs, NY)

photo by Kiki Vassilakis, Song City - Troy, 10 September 2024

Friends new and old, welcome!  

Today is the day we get to debut our new song at the Ooky Spooky Musical Showcase (we told you about this show last week.. scroll down for more info.. and come to the show - it promises to be a really special night!)

But also - we forgot to share some really exciting and time sensitive news with you in our last message:

We are joining a really fantastic group of musicians teaching at the Winter Village Music Camp in January 2025 in Ithaca, NY.  Read all about it and register here.

Important: early bird pricing ends November 4th, so don't delay!

We'll tell you more about why we are so excited for this camp another time, but for now: please take our word for it, and sign up if you are interested in a fantastic weekend of music!

Friday, October 18th: Another Ooky Spooky Musical Showcase, Cohoes, NY 

(capital region crimes & creepy compositions ~ local musicians sing of macabre tales of the area's past = Come hear our newly composed song about an attempted train robbery/murder - do they live???)

Tickets available here.

Our website has a couple updates!  Check it out: drankthegold.com.