Hello all! It’s been a great Fall season to date beginning with a great Cajun session class in September, Celtic Colours International Festival and studio sessions with Le Bruit court dans la ville in October, and coming up shortly, a November 7-13 tour down to the California Bay area with Dan Compton. Read on for details on upcoming events!
September got off to a rousing start with a great Cajun session class. The studio was jam-packed with fiddles, mandolin, banjos, accordions, and guitars and we sang and played up a storm. Looks like we’ll have to do that one again. Meanwhile, there’s the monthly Cajun jam.
In October, André Marchand, Normand Miron and I returned for the third time as guest artists at Celtic Colours International Festival. This nine-day festival in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia presents dozens of concerts and workshops all over the island, an extensive line-up of community events, and a nightly Festival Club. It is without a doubt one of Canada’s premier music events, combining outstanding artists, great staff and volunteers, and wonderful venues–from a reconstructed 300-year old French fortress to community theaters and parish halls–all over the beautiful island of Cape Breton at the height of leaf season.
We got to play wonderful concerts with friends old and new, including Dave Greely, Dirk Powell, Riley Baugus, Mairi MacInnes, Rona Lightfoot, J.P. Cormier, and Colin Grant. Highlights included an amazing Thanksgiving feast and session hosted by luthier Otis Thomas and music with Paul Cranford, Sarah Beck, Frode Haltli and Vegar Vårdal, plus tunes all night long with Riley Baugus (with some wicked local moonshine thanks to Paul MacDonald). To cap it off, we returned to Joliette, QC for session work on a new CD which we hope to have ready to go by next Spring.
Coming up in November, I’ll hit the road for one last tour this year with Portland musical partner-in-crime Dan Compton down to sunny California. We will play house concerts in Arcata, Mountain View, Bonny Doon, and Grass Valley, plus a concert in Ashland, OR on the way home. I’ll be doing fiddle workshops in Los Altos, CA and Ashland, OR. Dan and I will also be doing a week-end of concerts, workshops, and a contradance in Eugene, OR (Nov. 22-23). See the calendar for details.