Berkeley Old Time Music SPRING SITUATION
April 29 & 30, 2011

Sat Apr 30 from Noon to 4 pm:  CONCERTS, WORKSHOPS, JAMMING, ETC at the Freight and Salvage (2020 Addison St, Berkeley) - admission FREE - schedule below

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FRIDAY NIGHT APRIL 29 - SQUARE DANCE at ASHKENAZ -- feauring two great bands: Thompson String Ticklers (pictured left), AND AxeL EepH (pictured below) plus two terrific callers: Evie Ladin (pictured right) and Jordan Ruyle (pictured below). Evie is a mover and shaker who plays in the Stairwell Sisters, with Crosspulse, and with her own band. Jordan is the co-founder and the resident caller of the First Friday North Oakland Square Dance. Two fiddle-and-banjo bands pumping out music that makes you want to get up and dance, plus callers who love to introduce the uninitiated to the fun of a square dance party, with the emphasis on “party”!! No dancing experience is needed, the callers will teach all dances from scratch and will call the moves all the way through. No need to bring a partner, although you can if you want. And same sex partners fit in fine. All ages are welcome. Doors open at 7:30 and the dance will start at 8:00. Ashkenaz is located at 1317 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley -- just south of Gilman Street. Free parking across the street in the REI lot. Beer, wine, soft drinks and snacks are available for purchase.

Thompson String Ticklers (Suzy Thompson, Dan Warrick, Eric Thompson, David Murray, Dan Kluger, and Ben Sigelman) got together to explore their shared interest in the fast wild ragtime, stomping fiddle tunes, and slinky, slippery blues of the 1920’s and 30’s, inspired by recordings from the East Texas Serenaders, the Grinnell Giggers, Fiddlin' Doc Roberts and many more. Fiddle, cello, banjo-uke, two guitars and mandolin combine to create an unusual instrumental texture that evokes a long-gone era of bobbed hair, moonshiners, and Model T Fords.

AxeL EepH plays driving Old~Time tunes and songs in a dangerous, shoot-from-the-hip, take-all-prisoners, no-chords-barred, key of Eeph kind of way. Fiddle (Nick Stillman), banjo (Isaac Enloe), and guitar (Karen Celia Heil) make up the arsenal, and they are reputed to be the top hit on Google for the following keywords: wild crooked cross~tuned tunes, key of F, wistful old Dock Boggs banjo blues, killer guitar, Old~Time in the Mission...

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SATURDAY APRIL 30 --  FREE EVENTS at the Freight -- here's the SCHEDULE (subject to change; updated 4/22/11)

In the LOBBY:

There will be jamming in the lobby, beginning with the OPEN BAND for the family dance, as well as nooks and crannies upstairs, and outside if the weather cooperates.

Noon to 1:00pm: FAMILY DANCE with caller Evie Ladin and OPEN BAND (this means YOU!) led by Erik Hoffman in the lobby -- all ages welcome! Dances will be geared towards families and kids, with some that even a babe in arms can do! You don't need to bring a partner, and no previous experience is necessary, Evie will teach all the moves.  And when you're worn out from dancing, pick up an instrument and join in the open band!

1:30pm-2:50pm: Stewart Port, luthier and instigator of the Tin Can Banjo Project, will be leading a "Build An Instrument" workshop for kids and families in the lobby - bring your own tin can!

In the CONCERT HALL:

1:10pm-1:30pm:  Dianne Ferlatte & Erik Pearson - stories for all children. Diane Ferlatte is a nationally-aclaimed storyteller whose repertoire includes fables, folktales, legends, ghost tales, historical tales, and contemporary and personal stories. Ferlatte sees herself as a preserver of the oral tradition, folk history, culture, and values.  She received The National Storytelling Network's Oracle 2002 Circle of Excellence Award and The National Association of Black Storytellers Zora Neale Hurston Award. Her storytelling CD Wickety Whack—Brer Rabbit is Back was a 2008 Grammy Award nominee for Children's Spoken Word. Erik Pearson, who has performed and recorded with the Crooked Jades and numerous other bands, accompanies Diane on banjo and guitar.

1:40pm-2:00pm: Jubilee American Dance Theatre is a truly unique performance ensemble, bringing to life the dances, music, songs, and stories of the folks who made America. From Appalachia to Swing Era dance halls to Cajun Country, the North American Whalers, Baja California, America's immigrants and more, Jubilee transports you to another time and place, through its rich weaving of stories, songs, dance, and music.

2:10pm-2:30pm: Fiddlekids Grads Lucia Purpura-Pontoniere and Leah Wollenberg met at Fiddlekids as campers, and started playing music together when they both returned to the camp as teacher's assistants. Leah Wollenberg started playing fiddle when she was six, and started at Fiddlekids when she was seven. Her musical interests include the traditional music of Ireland, Scotland, Scandinavia, and Eastern Europe, as well as American Old Time music and jazz. She graduated from Berkeley High School last year, where she played with acclaimed Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble, and will be going to Oberlin College in the fall. Lucia Purpura-Pontoniere has been playing the fiddle for 12 years. She plays a broad range of styles, from classical and jazz to Eastern European gypsy music to traditional music from Ireland, Scotland and the US. Her duo the Red Shoes, with her sister Flavia on cello, plays gigs throughout the Bay Area.

2:40pm-3pm -- Tony Marcus has long been a presence on the San Francisco Bay Area acoustic music scene. From playing old time music with the Arkansas Sheiks in the 1970's to the jazzier sounds of more recent years (Leftover Dreams, Cats & Jammers, Cheap Suit Serenaders, etc.) Tony has played guitar, fiddle, banjo and other stringed instruments as well as vocalizing with his exceptional bass voice. Through all this time his joy in playing music remains undiminished...a quality which is infectious to the audience as well.

3:10pm-3:30pm: Allegra Yellin & Jordan Ruyle

3:40pm-4:00pm: The Ragtime Skedaddlers (Dave Krinkel, Nick Robinson and Dennis Pash) explore the long tradition of ragtime music played on stringed instruments, with twin mandolin rags, cakewalks, two-steps, marches and waltzes from late 19th and early 20th century America. Their initial CD has received praise and rave reviews from ragtime and jazz afficianados as well as lovers of string band music.

UPSTAIRS:  Workshops! 

1:00pm-1:55pm
Dock Boggs Banjo - Isaac Enloe
Mountain Dulcimer - DJ Hamouris
Old Time Mandolin - Eric Thompson
Old Time Circle Sing - Doug Norman

2:00pm-2:55pm
Old Time Fiddle (intermediate & above) - Karen Celia Heil
History of Old Time Music (recordings of influential traditional and revival musicians) - David Brown
Old Time Harmony Singing - Sara Winge
Clawhammer Guitar - Michael Stadler. If possible, have your guitar already tuned to Sawmill tuning - D-G-D-g-c-d.

3:00pm-3:55pm
Guitar: The Many Sides of Maybelle - Eric Thompson
Stringband Blues Jam - Suzy Thompson
Ask Dr Guitar (luthier at your disposal) -  Stewart Port
Fiddlekids Session - Lucia Purpura-Pontoniere and Leah Wollenberg

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