Jim & Kim Lansford
JIM & KIM LANSFORD from Galena, Missouri
Friday, July 16, 8 pm
Leadway Bar & Gallery (5233 N. Damen)
Show up tonight and register at the door. Dues are $15 for this meeting.
The registration link at oldtownschool.org is no longer working.
And here’s Jim & Kim with a medley of tunes from the nineteenth century.
These are great!
Truly. What a few days we had at the beginning of June.
Rudi Pietsch from Vienna gave an intimate concert, joined by his friend Jürgen Schempp, from Swabia (that’s in Germany) on guitar. Your humble convener was quickly trained for second fiddle. For the proper Austrian style we lacked a kontra (chorded fiddle or viola) and a bowed bass. Here is a slow yodel followed by a fast dance tune.
Meraner Jodler-Ischler Schläunige
Two days later, the Mostly Mountain Boys and the Polka Chicks dropped in for two evenings at the Old Town School. On Tuesday night they did a workshop for several fiddle class and the Fiddle Club.
The Mostly Mountain Boys (Paul Brown-fiddle, Teri McMurray-banjo and John Schwab-guitar) hail from Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Washington DC. They started out with a twisty but fine version of “Fisher’s Hornpipe” they learned from Esker Hutchins of Dobson, North Carolina.
The Polka Chicks, from Helsinki (that’s in Suomi, aka Finland), are Kukka Lehto on fiddle and Tejia Niku on accordion. They started with song of poverty and sadness. The singer’s life is so sad that his parents don’t even care if he marries a girl in America.
unnamed song from northern Finland
Following this lovely introduction, Paul Brown taught us distinctive version of Sugar in the Gourd that he learned from Norman Edmonds of Hillsville, Virginia. And Kukka Lehto worked us through the haunting major and minor turns of Viktors Vals from Ostrobothnia, an area in western Finland with an especially rich fiddle tradition.
The following night, both the Mostly Mountain Boys and the Polka Chicks were on the stage in our concert hall for World Music Wednesday. A delightful performance.
Kukka Lehto & Teija Niku
One morsel more. One of the oldest folk dance tunes from Austria, a ländler that was written down in 1702. Rudi plays a setting that imitates the dudelsack (German for bagpipes). Here’s an example of a Czech dudelsack, and another view from Austria.
My father’s day gift to all who are the child of a dad.
Paul Tyler, convenver
Jim & Kim Lansford
from Galena, Missouri
Friday, July 16, 8 pm
Leadway Bar & Gallery (5233 N. Damen)
This is strong music. Not only because of the considerable talents of this duo, but because their tunes and songs are deeply rooted in rural American life and tradition. Great fiddling and heartful singing. Don’t miss this.
Click here to register.
Hear here . . .
Tuesday, June 8, 8pm at the Old Town School
Two bands from two traditions of old-time music – Finnish and American – the evening will be part workshop, part visit, and part jam session. Members of Steve Rosen’s Fiddle 3 and Paul Tyler’s Fiddle 4 will attend Fiddlepalooza in lieu of their regular class. All fiddlers, banjoists, mandolinists, guitarists, accordionists and friends of old-time music are welcome. Check back with this blog for some tunes to learn for the jam session.
Click here to register for Fiddlepalooza.
The Polka Chicks, from Helsinki, Suomi (Finland)
Their American tour features the duo of Kukka Lehto (fiddle & mandolin) and Teija Niku (accordions).
Polka Chicks, hear here . . .
The Mostly Mountain Boys, from Washington, DC (USA)
Paul Brown (you hear him on NPR newscasts) plays fiddle; Terri McMurray is on banjo; and John Schwab is the guitarist.
Hear Paul Brown at the U of Chicago folk festival, 2008
Battle of the Horseshoe
Lady of the Lake
Click one of the following links to listen to and learn some tunes from the Polka Chicks and from the Mostly Mountain Boys.
The Polka Chicks and the Mostly Mountain Boys will share the bill on June 9 at the Old Town School’s World Music Wednesdays. Click here for more info or to reserve tickets.
A free meeting – Sunday, June 6
time and location to be announced
Rudi Pietsch of the band Die Tanzgeiger (the Dance Fiddlers) from Vienna
Rudi Pietsch (on left)
Rudi, a fiddler and ethnomusicologist, is currently a visiting professor at the University of Chicago. The Old Town School has assisted his endeavors in Chicago, and in return, he wants to introduce us to a rich tradition of fiddling we know little about. Here are some samples from Die Tanzgeiger.
This is going to be a summer full of great tunes. Keep your bow rosined. Get those banjos in tune. Listen for the chord changes . . .
Traditional Fiddling from Austria
Sunday, June 6, location & time tba
Presentation by Rudi Pietsch, a visiting professor at the U of Chicago. Back in Vienna, Rudi leads Die Tanzgeiger (the Dance Fiddlers).
Die Tanzgeiger, Rudi Pietsch is on the far left
F I D D L E P A L O O Z A
Tuesday, June 8, 8pm at the Old Town School
A workshop/jam session with bands from two traditions of old-time music – Finnish and American – the Polka Chicks from Helsinki & the Mostly Mountain Boys from Washington DC
The Polka Chicks
Click here to register for Fiddlepalooza.
The Fiddle Club of the World (Chicago Chapter) presents
8th Midwestern Fiddle Championship
Thursday, July 8, 7pm in Giddings Plaza in Lincoln Square
Open Division
Saturday, July 10, 12:55pm at Chicago Folk & Roots Festival
Band Division
7th Midwest Fiddle Championship
Click here for more information. NB: important update coming soon.
Jim & Kim Lansford
Friday, July 16, location & time tba
Jim & Kim Lansford
[Registration information under construction]
Felipe Valle from Mexico City
A Fiddle Club guest in the summer of 2008, Felipe is returning to Chicago this summer.
I’ll set up a workshop with him so we can learn a more Son Huasteca.
Felipe Valle
-Paul Tyler, convener
Fiddle Club of the World (Chicago Chapter)
Upper Louisiana is Illinois. The first European-Americans to settle in our state were French. And when the British defeated the French in the Seven Years War, many of the French moved across the river to Missouri. French culture and traditional French folksongs and tunes have survived downstate for over two centuries. Prairie du Rocher, Illinois and Ste. Genevieve, Missouri still celebrate the coming of the New Year with La Guignole, a house-to-house visiting tradition similar to mumming in Newfoundland or old-style mardi gras in Cajun southwest Louisiana. A number of older fiddlers and singers from near Old Mines, Missouri kept the old songs alive for later generations.
La Guignolee played by Charlie Pasha (or Pashia) in 1976 for the landmark LP of field recordings, “I’m Old But I’m Awfully Tough: Traditional Music of the Ozark Region.”
(A 1950s recording of the full Prairie du Rocher singers can be found on Folksongs of Illinois #1.)
Another fine fiddler from Old Mines, Missouri was Joe Politte. The following are a couple of his unnamed breakdowns recorded 30 years ago. The first one, in D, has been frequently taught at Old Town School fiddle classes under the title “Bass in the Hollow.”
D breakdown played by Joe Politte
C breakdown played by Joe Politte
 Joe Politte |
 Dennis Stroughmatt |
Jury Baker played by Dennis Stroughmatt
Dennis Stroughmatt will be the featured guest at the next Fiddle Club of the World meeting on Sunday, March 28. A younger downstate fiddler and singer, Dennis learned directly from such traditional masters from Old Mines as Charlie Pashia and Roy Boyer. He leads two bands that cover a variety of French-American styles–L’Esprit Créole and Creole Stomp–but will appear as a soloist at the Fiddle Club of the World. That meeting is scheduled for 6:30p on March 28 at the Leadway Bar & Gallery (5233 N. Damen). Click here to register.
Paul Tyler, convener
LIZ KNOWLES – Feb. 19
A Celtic legend in her own right, Liz Knowles will visit the Fiddle Club fresh off a trip to China with Celtic Legends, the play for which she serves as music director. Liz’s impressive list of credits includes Riverdance, fiddling on Broadway in The Pirate Queen and the soundtrack for the movie Michael Collins. She has been a member of the John Whelan Band, Cherish the Ladies, and currently tours with the super-group, String Sisters. Her solo CD is The Celtic Fiddle.
Click here to register for an evening of Irish fiddling, old and new.
DENNIS STROUGHMATT – March 28
Part of Dennis Stroughmatt’s education was devoted to recording, observing, and learning many of the Creole French traditions still alive in “Upper Louisiana,” including the old fiddle tunes he learned from masters Roy Boyer and Charlie Pashia. He also developed a fluency in Illinois-Missouri Creole French, and acquired a wealth of stories and songs from elder story tellers and singers. His recorded works include The Gambler’s Fiddle and Cadet Rouselle, two CDs of old French Music from Upper Louisiana. He also performs with Dennis Stroughmatt & Creole Stomp.
Click here to register for a journey through the early music of the Illinois Country.
GENEVIEVE HARRISON KOESTER – April 18
Genevieve Koester’s command of old-time fiddling belies the fact that she’s been playing less than a half dozen years. She comes by it honestly as, in her words, “Both my parents play the fiddle – my mom is classically trained and my dad is a freak of nature (in a talented way).” While her mother Gaye has long led the group Mother Lode in Charleston, Illinois, Genevieve has joined with her father Garry Harrison in the New Mules, a string band dedicated to the old-time fiddle tunes and songs of downstate Illinois and beyond. Husband Smith Koester, also a member of the New Mules, will join Gena at the Fiddle Club of the World. The band’s new CD, Pride of America, is one of the best.
Click here to register for an evening of old-time tunes in a Midwestern key.
MATT BROWN – May 2
A multi-instrumentalist from West Chester, Pennsylvania, Matt Brown is one of the rising stars in the old-time music firmament. Though he’s just passed the quarter-century mark, he already has 3 albums to his credit, including the solo CD, The Falls of Richmond. On Lone Prairie, his debut CD, he was joined by veteran banjoist Paul Brown and guitarist Beverly Smith. Both CDs are from 5-String Productions, in which Matt is a partner. For his Fiddle Club appearance, he will partner with the Old Town School’s Steve Rosen.
Click here to register for a trip to southern climes.
All meetings scheduled for
Leadway Bar & Gallery
5233 N. Damen
Chicago, Illinois
Check back for links to tunes to learn for the jam sessions for each meeting.
Liz Knowles tunes
Dennis Stroughmatt tunes
Genevieve Koester tunes
Matt Brown tunes
-Paul Tyler, convener
Fiddle Club of the World (Chicago Chapter)
Sorry for the inconvenience.
Kenny Stone will join us at Fiddle Club of the World at the Leadway Bar & Gallery on Sunday, January 24 at 4 pm.
Mark your calendars. It’s on.
Paul Tyler, convener
ARTO JÄRVELÄ – Sept. 25
Arto Järvelä is a world-class musician from Järvelä, a small village just across the Perho River from the slightly less smaller town of Kaustinen, seismic center of the Finnish Folk Music explosion of the last few decades. Arto’s grandfather Johannes led the Järvelän Pelimannit (Järvelä Village Fiddlers) through the 1970s. Since then, Arto has made a name for himself as a solo fiddler and as a member of many important folk bands, such as Pinnin Pojat, the Helsinki Mandolinners and Nordic Tree. He perhaps is best known for JPP (short for Järvelän Pikkupelimannit, or little village fiddlers band).
Arto will perform Finnish polskas, polkkas, sotiisis (schottisches) and more on fiddle and nyckleharpa (Swedish keyed-fiddle).
Arto Järvelä will play for the Fiddle Club of the World on
Friday, September 25, 2009 at 7:30pm
Leadway Bar & Gallery (5233 N. Damen)
Click here to register for Arto’s visit to the Fiddle Club of the World
Go here to download Arto’s jam session tunes.
PETE SUTHERLAND – Oct. 16
Pete Sutherland is a fiddler’s fiddle (also a master songwriter and multi-insturmentalist). A native of Vermont’s Champlain Valley, Pete sojourned in southern Indiana during the 1980s, where your Fiddle Club convener was lucky enough to live, dance and soak up tunes. Pete’s band credits include Arm & Hammer Stringband, Metamora and the Clayfoot Strutters.
Pete will be joined on his visit to the Fiddle Club by Jeremaiah McLane (piano & accordion) and Mark Roberts (flute & banjo). They are in town for a barn dance and workshops at the University of Chicago, where they will spin out more driving square dance and contra dance melodies to complete a great Fall weekend.
Pete Sutherland, with Jeremiah McLane & Mark Roberts
will play for the Fiddle Club of the World on
Friday, October 16, 2009 at 7:30pm
Leadway Bar & Gallery (5233 N. Damen)
NB: location may be changed to a larger venue
Click here to register for Pete’s visit to the Fiddle Club of the World
Go here to download Pete’s jam session tunes
RUTH BALL – Oct. 25
Ruth and her accompanist, Tom Cronin, are from Newcastle, England.
Unfortunately, the US Department of Homespun Inferiority might interfere with this meeting. Plans for a substitute guest artist are underway. Stay tuned for more details
(Click picture for a full view.)
KENNY STONE – Nov. 22
Chicagoland Bluegrass. Jam session tunes to be posted in October.
Kenny Stone of the Chicago Bluegrass Band
and a master folk artist for Traditional Arts Indiana
SEASON PASS for all four Fall 2009 Fiddle Club meetings is available through Sept. 25.
All meetings scheduled for
Leadway Bar & Gallery
5233 N. Damen
Chicago, Illinois
-Paul Tyler, convener
Fiddle Club of the World (Chicago Chapter)