Tricia Spencer & Howard Rains
Fiddle Club of the World meeting
(aka concert & jam session)
Thursday, June 22 – Admission $20
Atlantic Bar & Grill (5062 Lincoln in Chicago)

Music starts at 7:30. Come for the concert. Stay and play and learn a tune or two. All instruments and all listeners welcome.

Antelope Gap key of D

Mowing the Meadow key of A

Sally Ann key of G

Both Tricia Spencer and Howard Rains grew up in fiddling families in the center of the U.S. Tricia is from Lawrence, Kansas. Howard is from East Texas. The merging of the formidable talents on multiple instruments has produced a great musical whole, larger than the mere sum of the parts. Their twin fiddling is a treat not to be missed.

Check out the videos on their website. Scroll down after enjoying the lovely photos and Howard’s artworks.

Paul Tyler-convener

Steve Gibons – Sunday, March 12, 7:00pm

Violinist Steve Gibons is the leader of the Gypsy Ryhthm Project, a unique mix of Western jazz and the rich sounds of Romany music from Roumania and Bulgaria.

The concert this night will be a solo demonstration. in a intimate, conversational setting, of the Klezmer, Balkan and Romany music on the violin. The workshop that follows will some common style elements and ornamentation in these music styles, such as found in these two tunes:

Taqsim Ravelnikov
“This one,” says Steve, “starts with a ‘taqsim’, I will go over the ornaments and special tunings of the scales in the workshop.”

Cimpoi Suite
“Here’s a recording that starts with a phrase containing the Klezmer ‘kretch’ or crying sound.”

This event will also be webcast on Concert Window.

You do not have to be a fiddler to participate in Fiddle Club of the World. We joyously welcome all musicians and all listeners.

South Carolina Broadcasters – Friday, January 27, 7:30pm
Fiddle Club meets at Seman Violins (4447 W. Oakton, Skokie).
Admission is $20 at the door. Reserve your seat here.
Concert set, followed by a jam/workshop. There will be singing.

Solid and spirited old-time playing and singing from the Carolinas. Here is where bluegrass and old-time are so intertwined that it’s just great music. Andy, Ivy, and David will entertain us, and then lead us through some tunes and songs, such as these . . .

Haystack Blues

Lost John

Tell me Truly

Upcoming
Fiddle Club Barn Dance – At The Social
Friday, February 3, 7:30p, Old Town School of Folk Music
Blake Miller & Friends – Cajun Dance,
Friday, February 15 – details to be announced
Steve Gibons – Romany, Klezmer, & Balkan fiddle
Sunday, March 12, 7:00p, Seman Violins

Scottish Fiddle Tunes with
Tim Macdonald & Jeremy Ward
Sunday, March 6, 7:30pm
Seman Violins (4447 W. Oakton in Skokie)
A concert set, followed by an old-time jam.
Admission is $15.

In 2013 and 2014, Tim Macdonald won the top prize in the Open Division of the Midwest Fiddle Championship at the Old Town School of Folk Music. In 2015, he took the second prize in a hotly-contested duel with Matt Brown. For that contest, he brought along Jeremy Ward as his accompanist on cello, and introduced us all to incredibly new but equally ancient sound.

Here are some tunes, played slow and then at tempo, to help you prepare for the jam following their concert on Sunday, March 6.

Captain Campbell

Flora MacDonald’s Reel

Mrs. Oswald of Auchincruive’s Favourite

Fiddle Club is not just for fiddlers. All players and music lovers are welcome to join us.

Up next at Fiddle Club of the World
Square Dance with Pop Wagner
& Bob Bovee & Friends
Friday, March 11, 7:30pm
Evanston Barn Dance at the American Legion Hall (1050 Central St.)