Solstice Greetings! Â
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)