Howdy folks – if you are looking for the 12th Ever Los Angeles Old Time Social – we have given it a new home at
See you at the Social!
Poster by Dee Farnsworth
New Website Here: http://losangelesoldtimesocial.com/
UPSTAIRS
12:00-1:00 Harmony Singing with Charmaine and Charlie Beck
Let’s reveal the magic of harmony singing in this workshop… we will dissect a simple song, learn how to use our ear to find the harmonies, and sing while staying in our lane. All singers welcome!
Squirrel Butter, husband and wife duo of Charlie Beck & Charmaine Slaven, started performing together after meeting at a music festival in 2005. Sharing a deep love of traditional music, they explore the genres of old-time, early bluegrass, blues, country, & cajun while adding their unique perspective to these traditions and threading these influences into their original compositions. Multi-instrumentalists, they play banjo, guitar, fiddle, steel guitar, step-dance, and sing in harmony. Occasionally, Squirrel Butter appears with guest musicians to form a trio or quartet. Currently both members of honky tonk project, The Lucky Shots, and were also half of venerable string band, The Tallboys. They are anchors of the old-time music, honky-tonk, & square dance communities in the Pacific NW and beyond.
1:00-3:00 How to Call a Square Dance with Susan Michaels
Learn how to call squares for your friends and family. Beginners welcome. Or just show up and get your dancing shoes on.
Susan Michaels is a teacher and a caller of traditional American dancing, especially contra dancing and square dancing. She has called and taught dances at local evenings, weekend workshops, week-long elementary school programs, week-long family camps and dance weekends throughout the U.S. and Canada.
3:00-4:00 Clawhammer Banjo with Charlie Beck
Playing clawhammer banjo is a real joy, and through some great, old songs we’ll take a peek at the banjo’s many plucky possibilities. I’ll start with some foundational banjo techniques, and then cover their many uses and variations. There will be an emphasis on creating solid grooves, and we’ll examine interplay between the banjoist, singer and other potential instrumentalists. All experience levels welcome. We’re gonna have fun and learn stuff too, so bring your banjo, any banjo questions you may have and your voice!!
Born and raised in Indiana, Charlie Beck moved to Seattle and became a founding member and banjoist of the The Tallboys String Band. He currently performs in the duo, Squirrel Butter, with his wife, Charmaine Slaven, and in their 5 piece country band, The Lucky Shots. An avid songwriter, he has recorded three albums of original and traditional music and other songs of his are featured on many Tallboys and Squirrel Butter albums. On banjo Charlie plays clawhammer and finger styles, displaying a deft touch and a propensity for creative explorations within the music. His love of old-time, bluegrass, country, blues and swing is evident while he happily offers his own voice to the music. He is also a talented singer, guitarist, fiddler, lap/pedal steel player and teacher.
4:00-6:00 Flatfooting with Evie Ladin and Ruth Alpert
Danced to the fiddle & banjo of Old-Time music, flatfooting is the percussive dance tradition that lights the fire under the music. In this workshop, we will learn a few basic steps that get you to dancing to stringband music, as well as during square dances. It’s a rhythmic good time! No experience or special shoes necessary, though hard soled shoes might be more fun to dance in. We’ll pepper the teaching with some basic Hambone, African-American body percussion from the slave era and talk about where and how it all evolved.
Ruth Alpert has been flatfooting for 34 years. She has taught workshops, danced with old-time Appalachian string bands, busked (street performed) in various cities in at least 6 states, and is a two time National Champion in Senior Buck Dancing, 2013 and 2014. Currently, Ruth is the percussion section of The Honeysuckle Possums, an all-female string band playing original and traditional music.
Evie has always been surrounded by music – credit to her upbringing as daughter of an international folk dance teacher, and an old-time folk music devotee, she grew up thinking that playing music, dancing, singing with others was what people do. Though entrenched in the traditional cultural arts of Appalachia, her home was in Northern New Jersey, New York City, Baltimore – in cities, not mountains. But the tradition bearers came through these towns, and stayed in her house. They played in her living room, and weekends were spent running free at music festivals and house parties.
DOWNSTAIRS
12:00-1:00 Italian & New Mexican Music with Paul Rangell & Emily Abbink
This will be a workshop to play music, not to watch. All instruments welcome. Paul will go through tunes phrase by phrase for melody makers on fiddle or mandolin, while Emily will play the chords on guitar. We provide our own style of chord charts for everyone. We’ll teach a march, a shotis, and mazurka – time permitting – and get everyone on board the train.
Paul Rangell and Emily Abbink play traditional music from the old country and the new world. They specialize in tunes from Italy, Mexico, New Mexico, Arizona, and the Carribean that feature angular and distinctive rhythms like tangos, mazurkas, shotis, boleros, tarantellas, pasodobles and marches. They are founding members of Bayou Seco (New Mexico) and performed for seven years with El Teatro Campesino (San Juan Bautista, CA) in theatrical productions. At home in Santa Cruz, California, they collaborate with several notorious musicians in maintaining three weekly public gigs where people are eating and drinking. Together they have forged a large repertoire and recorded two CDs Tuesday Nights (2012) and Noche Azul (2014). In 2015, they enjoyed a seven-week music residency in Venice, Italy allowing contact with traditional musicians in the mountains of Northern Italy.
1:00-2:00 C Tunes- The Final Frontier -with Greg Canote, fiddle. Jere Canote, guitar
In this workshop we will learn a couple of happy tunes in the key of C.
Then we’ll saw away until we are Happy!
2:00-3:00 Old-Time Ukulele with Jere Canote
What’s that persistent strumming sound heard at every jam these days. It’s the sound of the old-time ukulele! We’ll learn the basic chords in the fiddle keys of C, G, D, and A. Explore right hand strumming techniques, like the Freight Train rhythm. And cover what it takes to back up fiddle tunes and old time songs on the curvy little uke. Bring a working uke or banjo-uke tuned gCEA.
Greg and Jere Canote are identical twins whose music is all about having a good time. They do, you will. It’s steeped in vintage Americana — forgotten fiddle tunes, swing classics, and quirky novelty songs — but with their own twists (and a few of their brilliant original takes on the world around us). They’re fabulous musicians, moving effortlessly among fiddle, guitar, banjo, ukulele, and various hybrids, and their genetically-matched voices recall brother duets from the Blue Sky Boys to the Everlys.
3:00-4:00 Old-Time Song Backup Guitar with Chris Berry
If you know your basic guitar chords this workshop is for you. We’ll go over several different backup styles for old-time songs as used on classic recordings from the days of the 78. Some of the styles we’ll look at: the fingerpicking of Roy Harvey with Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers, the powerful gospel guitar of Alfred Karnes and the basic flat-picking of Jimmie Rodgers. Bring a regular pick and a thumb-pick if you have one, and something to record the workshop!
Chris Berry has been playing country blues and old-time country music on guitar and banjo for over 25 years. He plays guitar and sings in Sausage Grinder, the Los Angeles area’s premier jug band, appearing on the Grinders’ debut CD Delicious Moments, and on the new album Big Fancy from fiddler David Bragger.
Chris especially loves those rarely documented areas where blues and old-time overlap, and learned many tunes and a lot about music generally from the late legendary Illinois/Southern California fiddler Mel Durham. Chris has taught guitar and banjo and played at many festivals including the Portland Old-Time Music Gathering, the Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest, the Goleta Old-Time Fiddlers Convention and the Old-Time Social.
4:00-5:00 Old-Time Fiddle Tunes and Bowing with David Bragger
This workshop is for all levels! The objective is to get the fiddler playing some incredible tunes with a focus on rhythm and interchangeable variations. I’ll be drawing from a vast repertoire of Kentucky, West Virginia and North Carolina fiddle tunes that are rhythmic and easy to grasp. As always, my workshops emphasize the key ingredient to old-time fiddle: Bowing!! All workshop attendees will receive audio files of the tunes with phrase by phrase instruction. Please email davidbragger@gmail.com for registration and questions.
David Bragger plays banjo, fiddle and mandolin in the old-time stringband Sausage Grinder and in several local dance bands. David teaches old-time fiddle, banjo and mandolin to students of all ages and levels. He is also the host of the Old Time Tiki Parlour (oldtimetikiparlour.com) which produces concerts, workshops, CDs and films by the best old-time musicians alive, including Kirk Sutphin, Dan Gellert, Bruce Molsky, Paul Brown, Bob Carlin, Eric & Suzy Thompson, Mike Compton, Joe Newberry, Scott Prouty, etc. David is in high demand as a fiddle teacher at festivals and has private students in four continents! He is renowned for his ability to break down tunes and bowing with ease and clarity.
5:00-6:00 Fiddle Tunes in Two Keys with Earl White and Adrienne Davis- This class will explore a few of the many tunes that are in two keys that are great for both contra and square dances. Class will focus on bowing technique for that old-time sound, and the guitar’s role with lead in/ lead out bass runs. Should be fun.
Earl White and Adrienne Davis are a dynamic duo who have been icons in the old-time music and dance community for more than a decade. Earl’s energetic fiddle style upholds the Appalachian tradition while adding his trance like sound and distinct bowing. He is well known for his extensive repertoire of traditional american fiddle tunes and songs. Adrienne’s steadfast hand on the guitar completes their sound as she drives the bass notes and lays down rhythm. As a duet they perform concerts and instruct at many camps throughout the US.
The Velaslavasay Panorama, 1122 West 24th St., 90007
Sausage Grinder (House band for the night)
Tom Marion & Frank Fairfield
**Pre-sale tix available HERE!
*****
Earl White and Adrienne Davis are a dynamic duo who have been icons in the old-time music and dance community for more than a decade. Earl’s energetic fiddle style upholds the Appalachian tradition while adding his trance like sound and distinct bowing. He is well known for his extensive repertoire of traditional american fiddle tunes and songs. Adrienne’s steadfast hand on the guitar completes their sound as she drives the bass notes and lays down rhythm. As a duet they perform concerts and instruct at many camps throughout the US.
Earl and Adrienne are the foundation of the Earl White String Band, an energetic, driving, old time string band that have pleasured audiences and dancers across the nation. They have been joined by various great musicians, such as Mark Olitsky (banjo), Joe (bass) Desjarnette, Chris Jong (banjo), to name a few. Currently they are joining forces with another dynamic duo, Evie Ladin and Keith Terry.
*****
*****
Twins, Greg and Jere Canote, make their first Los Angeles appearance with their infectious fiddle tunes, nutty novelty numbers, and enthusiastic attitudes. Greg and Jere have been performing together since childhood, from their first-grade role as Christmas elves tap-dancing around the wishing well, to their thirteen-year stint as the affable sidekicks on National Public Radio’s Sandy Bradley’s Potluck. They have played for concerts, dances and musical events in forty-seven states and a few foreign countries. With guitar, fiddle, harmonica, ukulele, banjo, and genetically matched voices, these guys love to share what they do. Fiddle tunes are their first love, but they also sing together in the tradition of the brother duets. With a nod to the Vaudeville days, they are always eager to dip into their bag of tricks. For over thirty years, they have taught a thriving Seattle string band workshop and have been regular teachers at the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes, Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, Portland Uke Fest and many more.
*****
El Cid, 4212 W. Sunset Blvd, 90029
Squirrel Butter, husband and wife duo of Charlie Beck & Charmaine Slaven, started performing together after meeting at a music festival in 2005. Sharing a deep love of traditional music, they explore the genres of old-time, early bluegrass, blues, country, & cajun while adding their unique perspective to these traditions and threading these influences into their original compositions. Multi-instrumentalists, they play banjo, guitar, fiddle, steel guitar, step-dance, and sing in harmony. Occasionally, Squirrel Butter appears with guest musicians to form a trio or quartet. Currently both members of honky tonk project, The Lucky Shots, and were also half of venerable string band, The Tallboys. They are anchors of the old-time music, honky-tonk, & square dance communities in the Pacific NW and beyond.
Check them out layin’ down – REUBEN’S TRAIN!
*****
The High Life Cajun Band plays traditional Cajun dance music. Paul Rathje – accordion/vocals, Ben Guzman – fiddle, Joseph D’amico – guitar, and Dempsey Pappion – rub board/vocals.
Listen to their tunes – Church Point Breakdown & The KLFY Waltz
Poster Design by Joe Wack!
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This year is the 10th Ever Los Angeles Old-Time Social!
May 14, 15, 16 will see concerts, workshops, parties, jams and a big square dance! May 17th is the Topanga Banjo and Fiddle Contest to top off the weekend! Full day by day calendar and details below. If you need more info, email info@oldtimeisagoodtime.com
El Cid, 4212 W. Sunset Blvd, 90029
Full Kick Off details and band bios HERE!!
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The Velaslavasay Panorama, 1122 West 24th St., 90007
**Pre-sale tix available HERE & NOW!!!
Full Concert details and band bios HERE.
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Square Dance | Family Dance | Cakewalk:
Family Dance & Cake Walk – 6:30, Square Dance 8pm
Cake Walk Cake Baking Sign Up & Info HERE:
Contact Katy katherinecroshier@sbcglobal.net
• Callers:
• Bands:
For caller and band bios coming soon!
Upstairs
12-1 Appalachian Flatfoot Dancing with Charmaine Slaven
1-2 Flatfooting 102 with Ruth Alpert and Rebecca Stout
2-3 Square Dance Calling Workshop with Susan Michaels and Charmaine Slaven
3-4 Square Dance Calling Workshop continued
4-5 Harmony Singing- Kelly Martin and Sabra Guzman
Downstairs
12-1 Early Italian Mandolin & Guitar with Paul Rangell
1-2 -Fiddle/Banjo Duets with Travis and Trevor Stuart
2-3 -Old-Time Guitar with Beverly Smith
3-4 Old-Time Fiddle with David Bragger
4-5 Beginning Fingerpicking Guitar with Devin Champlin
5-6 Old-Time Banjo with Riley Baugus
FULL Description, Times & Sign-up HERE
So excited to be able to share this with the WORLD! Thank you Joe Wack for this year’s awesome poster!
Click the image to get to 10th Ever LAOTS’ info page!
Upstairs
12-1 Appalachian Flatfoot Dancing with Charmaine Slaven
1-2 Flatfooting 102 with Ruth Alpert and Rebecca Stout
2-3 Square Dance Calling Workshop with Susan Michaels and Charmaine Slaven
3-4 Square Dance Calling Workshop continued
4-5 Harmony Singing- Kelly Martin and Sabra Guzman
Downstairs
12-1 Early Italian Mandolin & Guitar with Paul Rangell
1-2 -Fiddle/Banjo Duets with Travis and Trevor Stuart
2-3 -Old-Time Guitar with Beverly Smith
3-4 Old-Time Fiddle with David Bragger
4-5 Beginning Fingerpicking Guitar with Devin Champlin
5-6 Old-Time Banjo with Riley Baugus
Paul Rangell & Emily Abbink
Old Lively Dance Music from Italy on Mandolin/Fiddle & Guitar
This will be a workshop to play music, not to watch. Paul will go through tunes phrase by phrase for melody makers on fiddle or mandolin, while Emily will play the chords on guitar. We have our own style of chord charts for everyone. We’ll teach a tarantella and a mazurka. We will introduce a few tunes from our recent visit to the Caffaro Valley in Northern Italy, where we collected tunes from a fiddle band playing for the village dancers. If time permits, we may share a video of the dancers and musicians in action.
Paul Rangell and Emily Abbink play traditional music from the old country and the new world. They specialize in tunes from Italy, Mexico, New Mexico, Arizona, and the Carribean that feature angular and distinctive rhythms like tangos, mazurkas, shotis, boleros, tarantellas, pasodobles and marches. They are founding members of Bayou Seco (New Mexico) and performed for seven years with El Teatro Campesino (San Juan Bautista, CA) in theatrical productions. At home in Santa Cruz, California, they collaborate with several notorious musicians in maintaining three weekly public gigs where people are eating and drinking. Together they have forged a large repertoire and recorded two CDs Tuesday Nights (2012) and Noche Azul (2014). This year, a six-week music residency in Venice, Italy allowed contact with traditional musicians in the mountains of Northern Italy.
Travis and Trevor Stuart:
Fiddle/Banjo Duets
This workshop will focus on the repertoire of WNC tunes, waltzes, and the dynamic interplay of these two instruments in a duet setting. Through demonstrations of tunes and techniques, the brothers share helpful tips on: playing together as a duo, matching rhythms, and the role of each instrument in a duo setting.
The Stuart Brothers are world renown for their masterful performances of Appalachian fiddle and banjo duets. Trevor and Travis were born and raised in Bethel , a rural farming community in Haywood County, NC — an area of magical beauty where the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains meet and once the ancient Cherokee settlement of Sonoma. These majestic ranges surrounded the young brothers with the rich musical and cultural environment of Appalachian fiddle tunes, Baptist spirituals, banjo pickers, all night square dance shindigs and poetic tale weavers.
With deep family musical roots, their great grandfather was the legendary fiddler Rev. Henry King, and great uncle the banjoist and singer Austin Stamey. The brothers learned some of the oldest regional fiddle and banjo styles from masters such as the Smathers Family, Byard Ray, Oscar “Red” Wilson, Gordon Freeman, and the Sutton family. They formed their first band in junior high and played for local clogging teams, local functions and fiddlers conventions. Since then they have toured extensively throughout the US and several foreign countries, teaching and performing at major festivals and music camps.
Charmaine Slaven
Appalachian Flatfoot Dancing:
Learn the art of accompanying Southern fiddle music with your feet! We’ll start with the basic rhythm foundation steps, and learn accent steps as we go, with an emphasis on dancing with good musicianship. All levels are encouraged to participate, as we’ll start by building a foundation of basic rhythm steps, then build upon those steps, learning how to accent melodies. Flatfooting is an excellent way to improve your rhythm as a dancer and/or musician. You’ll be learning to let your entire body “hear” the music. It’s also an excellent work-out, as you’ll be so entrenched in the music, you won’t even realize you’re working up a sweat! This class is physical, so be cautious if you suffer from back, hip, knee, ankle issues. Comfortable clothing, a full water bottle, and low-heeled leather-soled shoes appropriate for dancing are recommended. Please feel free to contact me in advance with any questions atcharmaineslaven@gmail.com
Charmaine Slaven, the guitar player of venerable Northwest bands, The Tallboys & Squirrel Butter, is well-known for her skill as a flatfoot dancer, singer, and, of course, caller extraordinaire! She has committed years of time and energy into promoting traditional square dance & old-time music around the West coast, and is a founding member of the Seattle Subversive Square Dance Society, has helped shepherd the Dare to be Square West conference, and organizes dances, jams, and concerts around Seattle, including the Tractor Tavern Square Dances, & NW Folklife Festival Square Dances.
Devin Champlin
Beginning Fingerpicking Guitar
Learn some basic finger picking patterns that are the foundation of many forms of rural blues music. We’ll cover the driving single string thumb style of greats like Mance Lipscomb, and the alternating bass style of Mississippi John Hurt and others. We’ll also go over a few embellishments that can apply to many songs. Participants should be comfortable playing and switching basic chords, open to all!
Devin Champlin plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin and more in bands like The Gallus Brothers, The Hi-O Revelers, The Crow Quill Night Owls, and Maria Muldaur’s Garden of Joy Jugband. As a guitar player he mostly sticks to the country blues and is a dynamic fingerpicker. On the fiddle and mandolin he plays for square dances, honky tonks, and is very fond of rags and blues. He is passionate about music, loves to share it, and has taught at various festivals along the West coast. When not playing, he builds and repairs guitars in Seattle, and is known to make pretty good waffles.
Beverly Smith
Old-Time Back-Up Guitar
Welcome to the wonderful world of back up guitar! This class is for new comers and experienced players as well. If you can move comfortably between A D G E and C you will have an easier time. We will be working with backing up a fiddler, finding the chords, the groove, and adding some cool embellishments. I will mostly be teaching with a flat pick so bring one along if you can. More advanced players will have the opportunity to explore a variety of bass runs and chord choices. Be prepared for fun!
One of the most respected guitar players in old time music today, Beverly Smith is also in demand as a singer, fiddler, and dance caller. Besides her three highly praised recordings of early country duets with mandolinist Carl Jones, her guitar playing has been featured on recordings of fiddlers Bruce Molsky, Rafe Stefanini, Tara Nevins and Brad Leftwich, and her singing with Mick Moloney, John Doyle, Laurie Lewis and others. Along with June Drucker, Rose Sinclair and Tara Nevins, she was a founding member of The Heartbeats Rhythm Quartet. She has taught guitar, fiddle and dance at music camps including Ashokan Southern Week, Augusta Heritage, Swannanoa Gathering, Blue Ridge Old-Time Music Week, Festival of American Fiddle Tunes and Summer Acoustic Music Week as well as Sore Fingers UK; Haapavesi, Finland; and La Fuente del Musica in Spain. She has been a featured guest on A Prairie Home Companion, ETown, Mountain Stage and Voice of America.
Ruth Alpert and Rebecca Stout
Flatfooting 102
An intermediate course in the art of Appalachian flatfoot dance with Ruth Alpert and Rebecca Stout. Refine your technique! This class is for folks who feel they have the basics down and are ready to move on to a higher level of difficulty. Learn the classic Tennessee Walking Step, Snake Legs and The Indian. Get in-depth advice on musical phrasing so that you are not only keeping the beat, but playing the tune with your feet!
Ruth Alpert has been flatfooting for 34 years. She has taught workshops, danced with old-time Appalachian string bands, busked (street performed) in various cities in at least 6 states, and is a two time National Champion in Senior Buck Dancing, 2013 and 2014. Currently, Ruth is the percussion section of The Honeysuckle Possums, an all-female string band playing original and traditional music.
Rebecca Stout began clogging as a child in Cordele, Georgia, as part of the community mountain-style clogging group The Dixieland Cloggers. She went on to spend the next three decades developing and fine-tuning her unique “Tennessee Shuffle” style of free-form flatfoot and buck dance, inspired by friends, relations, masters and mentors throughout Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia. Today, Rebecca teaches and performs traditional Appalachian dance with a focus on dance as a percussive instrument, while encouraging students to develop their own personal style. More info at www.flatfootandfancyfree.com
David Bragger
Old-Time Fiddle Tunes and Bowing
This workshop is for all levels! The objective is to get the fiddler playing some incredible tunes with a focus on rhythm and interchangeable variations. I’ll be drawing from a vast repertoire of Kentucky, West Virginia and Louisiana fiddle tunes that are rhythmic and easy to grasp. As always, my workshops emphasize the key ingredient to old-time fiddle: bowing!! All workshop attendees will receive audio files of the tunes with phrase by phrase instruction. Please email davidbragger@yahoo.com for registration and questions.
David Bragger plays banjo, fiddle and mandolin in the old-time stringboard Sausage Grinder and in several local dance bands. David teaches old-time fiddle, banjo and mandolin to students of all ages and levels. He is also the host of the Old Time Tiki Parlour (oldtimetikiparlour.com) which produces concerts, workshops and films by the best old-time musicians alive, including Kirk Sutphin, Dan Gellert, Bruce Molsky, Bob Carlin, Eric & Suzy Thompson, Bertram Levy, etc. His students have won awards at festivals from Topanga Fiddle Banjo Festival to Galax, Virginia. Most importantly, he shows you how to have a foot-stomping good time!
Susan Michaels
How to Call a Square Dance
Learn how to call squares for your friends and family. Beginners welcome. Or just show up and get your dancing shoes on.
Susan Michaels is a teacher and a caller of traditional American dancing, especially contra dancing and square dancing. She has called and taught dances at local evenings, weekend workshops, week-long elementary school programs, week-long family camps and dance weekends throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Kelly Marie Martin and Sabra Guzman
Harmony Singing
Grabbing from early Country Music groups such as the Carter Family, E.C. & Orna Ball and the Delmore Brothers, we will work on how to best find the harmonies that fit for not only this genre of music but also for your voice and your singing partner. We will look at how harmony and melodies can best compliment each other by listening to and learning songs that are in the American Folk Canon. No experience necessary, just a desire to sing!
Kelly Marie Martin sings and plays guitar in Triple Chicken Foot and Chicken Liquor and in her yellow kitchen in Historic Filippinotown. She loves close harmony and loves to sing with Sabra whenever she’s in town.
Sabra Guzmán has been a part of Virginia since 2007, where she’s become a fully entrenched member of the burgeoning old-time & country music scene of the Appalachians and beyond. A founding member of the award winning old-time bands Old Sledge and Old Buck, Sabra is well known for her solid guitar & bass skills, her unique vocal stylings, and her captivating stage presence. She has been seen at many prestigious venues & festivals – Freight & Salvage, Pickathon, Blackpot, Club Passim, The Los Angeles Old Time Social, The Ark, Floydfest, Bristol Rhythm and Roots – and received a coveted first place Traditional Old Time band at the Clifftop Appalachian Stringband Festival.Sabra brings a musicianship and her unique approach to all projects, regardless of genre or instrumentation.
The Velaslavasay Panorama, 1122 West 24th St., 90007
The Happy Neighbor Club (House band for the night)
The Gallus Brothers
Beverly Smith & John Grimm
Riley Baugus, Sabra Guzman, Trevor & Travis Stuart
**Pre-sale tix available HERE & NOW!!!
*****
The Gallus Brothers sound like a record collection found in the basement of a retired acrobat with a penchant for good old fashioned blues. Devin Champlin savagely syncopates on a reso-phonic guitar, while Lucas Hicks amps it up by playing percussion on a suitcase full of bones, bells and antique tomfoolery. Both are talented multi-instrumentalists and their sets are a mix of country blues, old tin pan alley songs, mandolin and fiddle tunes, and a dash of danger by way of acrobatic antics. They have played across the US and Canada from festival stage to smoky bar, wooing crowds with their fun music, their good humor, and their willingness to jump on a table, stand on each other, and juggle while playing a good old tune from way back when.
*****
John Grimm and Beverly Smith live in the mountains of North Georgia in the beautiful little town of Dahlonega, in Lumpkin County. For the past 25 years, John has owned and operated the towns music store, Vintage Music, while Beverly toured the world in various band configurations. Since 2010 John and Beverly have been performing together at festivals, concerts, workshops and dances across the country and abroad. Their performances feature traditional country duets, fiddle tunes and originals. They choose their songs well; their traditional songs and tunes reveal a deep familiarity with and great love for the genre. From archaic banjo and haunting fiddle tunes to raucous hillbilly singing and aching ballads they display an ease that sounds nothing but genuine.
John Grimm is an award winning fiddler and multi-instrumentalist who has played with many old time bands such as The Georgia Mudcats, The Georgia Potlickers, and Rural Radio Company. He was a recent recipient of the Dr. Gene Wiggins Award in recognition of long and significant contributions to traditional music in N. Georgia. Dr. Wiggins was the author of the book “Fiddling Georgia Crazy” the definitive book on fiddler John Carson. John played the role of John Carson in the PBS film “The People vs. Leo Frank” and has appeared in the Atlanta production of “The Cotton Patch Gospel”. In addition to his old time performances he teaches fiddle with the highly successful “Pick & Bow” after school program, and has played with The Indigo Girls, Jonathan Byrd, Shawn Mullins, Rising Appalachia, The Little Country Giants, Pauline Scanlon and others.
One of the most respected guitar players in old time music today, Beverly Smith is also in demand as a singer, fiddler, and dance caller. Besides her three highly praised recordings of early country duets with mandolinist Carl Jones, her guitar playing has been featured on recordings of fiddlers Bruce Molsky, Rafe Stefanini, Tara Nevins and Brad Leftwich, and her singing with Mick Moloney, John Doyle, Laurie Lewis and others. Along with June Drucker, Rose Sinclair and Tara Nevins, she was a founding member of The Heartbeats Rhythm Quartet. She has taught guitar, fiddle and dance at music camps including Ashokan Southern Week, Augusta Heritage, Swannanoa Gathering, Blue Ridge Old-Time Music Week, Festival of American Fiddle Tunes and Summer Acoustic Music Week as well as Sore Fingers UK; Haapavesi, Finland; and La Fuente del Musica in Spain. She has been a featured guest on A Prairie Home Companion, ETown, Mountain Stage and Voice of America, has toured extensively in both the US and the UK, and has played concert halls and festivals all over Europe, Canada and the US. Her guitar playing was featured in the October 2000 issue of Acoustic Guitar Magazine. Besides her duo with John Grimm, Beverly currently plays and tours with Alice Gerrard, the indisputable Queen of Old Time Music.
*****
Riley Baugus, Sabra Guzman, Trevor & Travis Stuart:
RILEY BAUGUS
Riley Baugus represents the best of old time American banjo and song. His powerful singing voice and his expert musicianship place him squarely in the next generation of the quality American roots tradition. Riley first came to music through his family. His father had a love of old time music which touched the young Riley on a molecular level. His family’s attendance at Regular Baptist church gave him early exposure to the unaccompanied singing that is a time-honored tradition for ballad singers throughout the Appalachians. Starting on the fiddle, Riley quickly moved on to the banjo, building his first instrument from scrap wood with his father. With a friend, Riley visited elder traditional musicians throughout North Carolina and Virginia. When not teaching or building banjos, Riley can be found out on the road performing. He plays with the Dirk Powell Band and with Kirk Sutphin. He is a frequent guest of Polecat Creek and of Tim O’Brien with Dirk Powell. With Ira Bernstein, he presents the show “Appalachian Roots”, a unique showcase of Appalachian music and dance. Riley makes his home near Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Riley-Baugus-Music/137480982953940?fref=ts
SABRA GUZMÁN
Sabra Guzmán has been a part of Virginia since 2007, where she’s become a fully entrenched member of the burgeoning old-time & country music scene of the Appalachians and beyond. A founding member of the award winning old-time bands Old Sledge and Old Buck, Sabra is well known for her solid guitar & bass skills, her unique vocal stylings, and her captivating stage presence. She has been seen at many prestigious venues & festivals – Freight & Salvage, Pickathon, Blackpot, Club Passim, The Los Angeles Old Time Social, The Ark, Floydfest, Bristol Rhythm and Roots – and received a coveted first place Traditional Old Time band at the Clifftop Appalachian Stringband Festival. Sabra brings a musicianship and her unique approach to all projects, regardless of genre or instrumentation.
http://facebook.com/sabraguzman
http://twitter.com/sabesontherun
THE STUART BROTHERS
The Stuart Brothers are world renown for their masterful performances of Appalachian fiddle and banjo duets. Trevor and Travis were born and raised in Bethel , a rural farming community in Haywood County, NC — an area of magical beauty where the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains meet and once the ancient Cherokee settlement of Sonoma. These majestic ranges surrounded the young brothers with the rich musical and cultural environment of Appalachian fiddle tunes, Baptist spirituals, banjo pickers, all night square dance shindigs and poetic tale weavers.
With deep family musical roots, their great grandfather was the legendary fiddler Rev. Henry King, and great uncle the banjoist and singer Austin Stamey. The brothers learned some of the oldest regional fiddle and banjo styles from masters such as the Smathers Family, Byard Ray, Oscar “Red” Wilson, Gordon Freeman, and the Sutton family. They formed their first band in junior high and played for local clogging teams, local functions and fiddlers conventions. Since then they have toured extensively throughout the US and several foreign countries, teaching and performing at major festivals and music camps.
http://www.stuartbrothersmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TheStuartBrothers
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The Happy Neighbor Club:
