This concert continues the 2024 Take It Outside Concert Series which is sponsored by Navigant Credit Union and held in back of Blackstone River Theatre from 4-5 p.m.; chairs are provided. In the event of rain in the forecast the concert moves inside. Tickets are also available at the gate.
Quartermaster’s Council – Knotty Jane, Mouse, Mutt, Smoky Pete, Syren and Tiny – are a crew of singers and storytellers based in southeastern New England who have a lengthy collective history of performing at festivals, faires, seaports, parades, and historic re-enactment events across the United States and Canada. They have joined together to share their love of music and traditional shanties in a performance with a piratical flair that is sure to get your toes tappin’ and hands clappin’… One of our favorite concerts last summer, these shipmates invite you to bring your voice and your enthusiasm. And if you don’t know the choruses, don’t worry – we’ll be handing out chorus lyrics at the gate!
This concert continues the 2024 Take It Outside Concert Series which is sponsored by Navigant Credit Union and held in back of Blackstone River Theatre from 4-5 p.m.; chairs are provided. In the event of rain in the forecast the concert moves inside. Tickets are also available at the gate.
Elizabeth and Ben Anderson, a Boston-based Scottish fiddle and cello duo, has an enthusiastic following in the U.S. and internationally. Blending Scottish tunes with lively rhythms and innovative harmonies, the pair create a sound rooted in tradition, inspired by the contemporary, and completely original. On stage, they captivate audiences with their ability to effortlessly communicate musical nuances as only siblings can. Elizabeth is the 2020 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion and the 2016 Perth All-Scotland Fiddle Champion. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, she teaches string instruments as a middle school and private instructor. Ben studied computer science and music at WPI and works in software. The duo has played at the New Hampshire Highland Games, the Boston Celtic Music Festival, Old Sturbridge Village, and for Scottish country dance balls along the East Coast. They have played to full houses at iconic Boston venues The Burren and have given popular performances and workshops as far away as France and Scotland. They released their first full-length album “Over the Isles” in 2018.
This concert continues the 2024 Take It Outside Concert Series which is sponsored by Navigant Credit Union and held in back of Blackstone River Theatre from 4-5 p.m.; chairs are provided. In the event of rain in the forecast the concert moves inside. Tickets are also available at the gate.
Cold Chocolate is a genre-bending Americana band that fuses folk, funk, and bluegrass to create a unique sound all their own. Featuring Ethan Robbins on guitar and mandolin and Ariel Bernstein on percussion and banjo, this power duo from Boston is impressing audiences throughout New England and beyond. Punctuated by tight harmonies and skillful musicianship, and with a focus on songwriting, Cold Chocolate has quickly gained recognition for their original music and high-energy shows. The band has shared bills with Leftover Salmon and David Grisman, and regularly performs at venues and music festivals across the country. The Boston-based duo released their fifth full-length album in the fall of 2023.
This concert kicks off the 2024 Take It Outside Concert Series which is sponsored by Navigant Credit Union and held in back of Blackstone River Theatre from 4-5 p.m.; chairs are provided. In the event of rain in the forecast the concert moves inside. Tickets are also available at the gate.
Get ready for an explosion of joyous, foot-stompin’ Celtic dance music, as champion Scottish & multistyle fiddler Mari Black and Nova Scotia/Cape Breton fiddler & pianist extraordinaire Troy MacGillivray team up for an unforgettable musical adventure, along with Noah Fishman on guitar and mandolin! Drawing on their deep musical roots, Troy and Mari will take you on journey from the majestic highlands of Scotland to the famed musical island of Cape Breton … and lots of other places where these musical styles have spread over the years. Dance along to driving reels, majestic strathspeys, cheeky hornpipes, lilting jigs, and soulful airs as these two power-house fiddlers let you into their playful collaboration that’s been years in the making. Mari burst onto the international stage when she became Scotland’s Glenfiddich Fiddle Champion, 2-time U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion, and 2-time Canadian Maritime Fiddle Champion, all within a 3-year period. From as young as six years old, Troy was impressing audiences with his step dancing and soon after, his fiddle and piano skills. He has received numerous nominations and awards from the East Coast Music Awards and the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Together they’ll make you laugh, sigh, tap your toes, and immerse completely in the delights of Celtic music.
Nashville songwriter Joe Doyle will be inducted today into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame. This honor was delayed due to the Covid pandemic and scheduling difficulties, but Joe will now join his fellow inductees in the Class of 2020. Joe will be joined by Rizzz members Dave Tanury on guitar, Rick Couto on drums, and Kenn Reynolds on bass. After graduating from the Berklee College of Music, Joe Doyle, of Riverside, moved to Nashville in January, 1988 to pursue a career as a songwriter. Originally a drummer, during college he’d learned to play guitar and piano and developed an interest in songwriting. It didn’t take long for those in the know in “music city” to recognize his talents – he signed his first songwriting contract in April of that year with publishing giant BMG Music. This began a 10-year run of recordings of his songs by the biggest stars in country music including Reba McEntire, Dan Seals, Martina McBride, Rhett Akins and Alabama. Since then, superstars including Kenny Rogers, Jason Aldean and Tim McGraw have covered his material.
For 50 years, two-time Grammy winner BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet have been hailed as “the best Cajun band in the world.” Doucet and the band can be credited with taking Cajun music from its regional roots in Louisiana to popularity worldwide. Born from their rich Acadian ancestry BeauSoleil’s distinctive sound derives from the distilled spirits of New Orleans jazz, blues rock, folk, swamp pop, Zydeco, country and bluegrass. Driven by bandleader Michael Doucet’s spellbinding fiddle playing and soulful vocals, BeauSoleil always lets the good times roll! Their most recent album and the 25th in their 45-year career, is titled “From Bamako to Carencro,” alluding the cultural and migratory connection between Bamako, in Mali, West Africa, and Louisiana, a connection that draws a sonic bloodline back to BeauSoleil’s roots. Since becoming the first Cajun band to win a GRAMMY with “L’amour Ou La Folie” (their Traditional Folk Album – 1998) and then a second Grammy in 2010, BeauSoleil has garnered many accolades, including twelve GRAMMY nominations. We are thrilled to present BeauSoleil for the first time … NOTE: this will be a concert, not a dance event!
Today’s matinee concert will be presented as one hour-long show followed by a reception! Multi-instrumentalists Cathy Clasper-Torch and Shelley Katsh bring years of music making and friendship to a virtuoso collaboration of musicianship and spirit. Their repertoire, as heard on their previous CD, “From the Inside Out” as well as on today’s CD release of “With Woven Hands” is infused with melodies ancient and contemporary – played “straight from the heart.” Clasper-Torch performs violin, cello, erhu and piano with a diverse range of RI-based bands and musicians, and has recorded on over 3 dozen albums. Cathy has also been the fiddle instructor at Blackstone River Theatre since 2006. Shelley Katsh, on piano and accordion, performed klezmer and Hassidic music with Fishel Bresler and a range of Boston-based klezmer musicians for 20 years. She accompanies and sings with several Rhode Island musical groups and is the Music Director of The Miracle Project-New England.
With a career spanning over two decades, Hanneke Cassel has helped redefine what it means to be a modern fiddler. A driving force in the ever-changing landscape of acoustic music, Hanneke blends originality and innovation with the spirit of Scottish traditional fiddle. Fusing musical roots from the Isle of Skye and Cape Breton Island with Americana stylings, Hanneke’s playing has been described by the Boston Globe as “exuberant and rhythmic, somehow wild and innocent, delivered with captivating melodic clarity and an irresistible playfulness.” Beyond the strings of her fiddle, it is Hanneke’s hugely generous presence and passion that round out her magnetism as a performer on the world stage of fiddle music. A two time Junior Scottish Fiddling Champion between 1992 and 1994, Hanneke went on to win the 1997 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship. Cassel’s latest album Infinite Brightness lyrically and poignantly captures a brightness that shines with sorrow-tinted joy. Written on the heels of a global pandemic and in memory of friends who’ve died in recent years, the nine compositions on this album exude Cassel’s trademark energetic playing while carrying the gravitas of loss, grief, and a sense of hope that endures. Co-produced with bandmate Keith Murphy, who plays guitar and harmonium on the album, Infinite Brightness also features Jenna Moynihan, who contributes five-string fiddle. Keith and Jenna will join Hanneke tonight!
With multiple Canadian Folk Music Awards, Genticorum have earned a reputation as a leading voice in the evolution of Québécois traditional music. For over twenty years, the trio has earned a place of privilege on world, traditional, folk and Celtic music stages. Known for their unbridled energy, their musicianship, and their magnetic stage presence, Pascal Gemme and Yann Falquet, the group’s two founding members, are both recognized individually as major contributors to the trad music scene in Québec. Since 2015, they have been joined by accomplished multi-instrumentalist and composer Nicholas Williams (flute, accordion). Together, they weave precise and intricate fiddle, flute, and accordion work, gorgeous vocal harmonies,and energetic foot percussion and guitar accompaniment into a high-energy musical feast. The band was just named “Ensemble of the Year” at the 2024 Canadian Folk Music Awards. Pascal Gemme (fiddle, feet, voice) is widely recognized as a cultural ambassador for Québécois music. Yann Falquet is one of the most active and creative acoustic guitar players in the Québécois and New England music scenes. Since completing a bachelor’s degree in jazz, he has developed his own personal guitar style for Québec folk music. Nicholas Williams has developed a reputation as a versatile and sought-after musician in the traditional music scenes of Québec and New England. His rhythmic yet nuanced style of flute playing draws from Irish and Scottish traditions, as well as from his studies of classical North Indian music.
The Tannahill Weavers are one of Scotland’s premier traditional bands. Their diverse repertoire spans the centuries with fire-driven instrumentals, topical songs, and original ballads and lullabies demonstrating to old and young alike the rich and varied musical heritage of the Celtic people. These versatile musicians have received worldwide accolades consistently over the years for their exuberant performances and outstanding recording efforts that seemingly can’t get better… yet continue to do just that. Says The Boston Globe, “Scotland’s Tannahill Weavers play acoustic instruments, but the atmosphere at their shows is electric. The quartet is as tight and as versatile as any band in the Celtic music revival. They can summon rock ‘n’ roll intensity or haunting introspection.” Born out of a session in Paisley, Scotland, and named for the town’s historic weaving industry and local poet laureate Robert Tannahill, the group has made an international name for its special brand of Scottish music. In 2021 they added exciting piper and fiddle player Iain MacGillivray, who is also Scotland’s youngest Clan leader. Iain has worked on such exciting productions as Outlander and Men in Kilts. The band is celebrating the nomination of their 18th recording, Òrach (“Golden” in Gaelic) as album of the year, and themselves as band of the year. Iain is joined by longtime members Roy Gullane on vocals and guitar, Malcolm Bushby on fiddle and bouzouki, and Phil Smille on flute, whistles and bodhran.