These guys really put on a great show in addition to being genuine and friendly people who were just plain fun to hang out with. Below are a sample of the comments from the concert which occurred June 18th 2009 at the workshop at Canaan Institute. -Mike

“Thanks for hosting this and putting it together at short notice. I”m glad I was in town.  I had never heard that band before, and I’d never been to a house concert with a top act. Good musicians and friendly folks.”

“WOW!! THANKS!!!!”

“We had a terrific time, we were wowed by the show, live music is so mush better than recorded and they were a great presence and talent and the venue was wonderful”

“It WAS awesome last night! I carried their high energy home with me and couldn’t wait to put on their latest CD which I bought out there. The CD is a different experience from their concert, but all is great! I so much loved the longer, more intense music last night. There was even more emphasis on the music than the voice and lyrics, with much longer riffs and such. They were all fantastic!!! I’m so inspired I’m giving some thought to traveling up to Lowville to hear them again tonight.”

“Thanks to you both even though I didn’t get to sample Raylene’s awesome rhubarb punch. I’ll just have to make my own…now if only I could find the recipe again…I think I have it here somewhere. Your play space is just awesome!!! I love your collections all over the wall and the fantastic touches that make it a homey and great space dedicated to creating so many things: music, wooden things, as well as a launch and landing pad for skiing, snowshoeing and biking. You guys are wonderful! Take care and see you soon. Just another fan.”

“An excellent time…Thank you very much. A great bunch of musicians. Hopefully again sometime soon!”

Tonight there is an open Jam at our music workshop on Canaan Rd. This happens every Wednesday. We play traditional Celtic, American and world fiddle dance tunes such as Reels, Jigs, Hornpipes, Hambos and Waltzes in a friendly speed controlled atmosphere. Newcomers are welcome. All instruments welcome: Fiddles, Guitars, Mandolins even Banjos! Sheet music and MP3’s are available for learning. this happens EVERY Wednesday from 7:00 - 9:30 pm interrupted only occasionally by special events.

Come Join us! Email me for directions!

Michael Ludgate michael@canaaninstitute.org

Mike :-)

Cornell’s Free Summer Events Series Opens with Blue Heron Trio at the Schwartz

Works with a decidedly romantic flavor will highlight the program on Tuesday, June 23, when the Blue Heron Trio opens Cornell University’s free summer events series at 7:30 p.m. at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts. Clarinetist Richard Faria, violist Debra Moree, and pianist Kathy Hansen will present Modern Romance, a selection of twentieth-century pieces by composers Jean Francaix, Rebecca Clarke, Gordon Jacob, and Max Bruch.

Faria, who cofounded the new music group Ensemble X with Pulitzer prize-winning composer Steven Stucky, pursues an active career as soloist, chamber musician, and educator. He is on the faculty of the Ithaca College School of Music. Moree, also an IC faculty member, is a founding member of the Ariadne String Quartet and a former member of the Memphis String Quartet. Balancing an active performing and teaching career, Moree has been heard in recital and has given master classes throughout the northeastern U.S. and in the U.K., Ireland, and South Korea. Hansen maintains a busy teaching studio in Ithaca, serves as a regular staff accompanist at Ithaca College, and is a coach on the staff of the Ithaca Suzuki Summer Institute for Strings.

Cornell’s free summer events series, which runs from June 23 to August 5, is sponsored by the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions. For more information and to see the complete schedule, visit www.summer.cornell.edu/events, e-mail cusce@cornell, or call 607.255.4987.

Photo courtesy of Lou and Peter

Lou and Peter Berryman will be making a stop in Enfield on their way to the Old Songs Festival. Their concert will be a fundraiser for the McMillan Art Center, 7 Enfield Center Road West, on Thursday, June 25, at 7:30pm. You can call 607-330-1892 or 607-277-3147 for more information. Tickets are $15 at door, and there is a discount for Cornell Folk Song Society members of $3.

Lou and Peter have been performing together nationally ever since their marriage broke up more than twenty years ago. She mostly writes the music; he mostly is responsible for the wickedly funny material, rich with wordplay and witty images.

The McMillan Art Center is located in a beautiful 19th-century church building in Enfield. Its auditorium is on the upper floor and has a magnificent vaulted ceiling and delightful natural light.

Here are photos from the Fiddle Festival in Watkins Glen this past weekend. lots of jamming: Northern, southern, Cajun and Bluegrass!

The O’Shanigans perform Celtic and American Fiddle tunes suitable for general entertainment and contra dances. We currently combine the skills of two of Ithaca’s most experienced open music jam leaders with an incredibly talented young fiddler. We have our own sound gear and a publicity network to help gain attention for your event. The O’Shanigans is: Phil Robinson on guitar (Ithaca Bluegrass jam leader, multi-instrumentalist), Tim Ball on fiddle (Contrapasso, Tunescape, IC violinist and etc) and Michael Ludgate on mandolin (Canaan jam leader, waltz jam originator, CMEMME member and etc). We may substitute other well qualified musicians if any of these members are not available for a particular event.

The band O’Shanigans was originally formed by Phil Robinson to fill a fun gig for Saint Patrick’s Day in March of 2009. The original members shift and change a bit, but Phil and Mike are usually at the core. Yes, you guessed the name was coined as a spin off on the word shenanigans and that first Irish gig! We have not lost our sense of humor even when we hit a few bumps in the road! Our email address is oshanigans@canaaninstitute.org Our web page is here  http://www.canaaninstitute.org/oshanigans.html

Emily Arin on Sirius/XM Radio with Vin Scelsa — This Thursday, June 4th, local songwriter Emily Arin will be performing live on satellite radio as a guest on Vin Scelsa’s Idiot’s Delight. From 12noon to 2pm ET (9am to 11am PT) at “The Loft” on XM Radio - Channel 50, OR Sirius Radio - Channel 29 If you’re not a satellite radio subscriber, you can sign up for a free 3-day trial online and listen from your computer. Instructions can be found at http://www.sirius.com/theloft — About Vin Scelsa: “One of the most respected figures in NYC radio, Vin Scelsa can now be heard live on The Loft, bringing us his free-flowing mix of music, monologues, live performances and interviews with a wide range of guests. Whether he spends the program time with guests – encouraging them to speak on a range of subjects beyond their own projects – or alone in his home studio, going one-on-one with listeners and tapping into his vast personal music library – it is Scelsa’s sensibility and eclectic tastes that make his Idiot’s Delight a unique radio journey. ” http://emilyarin.com/

After countless requests over the past seasons, the hard pickin’ New Jersey natives, RAILROAD EARTH,  bring their original blend of bluegrass rock to the State Theater in Ithaca on Thursday, September 10th at 8PM. Advance tickets will go on sale this Friday, JUNE 5TH at 10 AM and be $21.50.  Day of show tickets will be $23.00. Tickets are available without service charge at the State Theatre Box office, located at 105 West State Street in Ithaca.  Tickets are also available online www.stateofithaca.com or by calling 800.919.6272.   For directions or venue information call 607.277.8283. Don’t miss their sure to be stellar Ithaca debut!

They can jam with the best of them, but they’re not a jam band. They’re bluegrass influenced, but they use drums and amplifiers. What kind of music is it then? Mandolin/vocalist John Skehan offers this semi-descriptive term: “I always describe it as a string band, but an amplified string band with drums.” Tim Carbone takes a swing: “We’re a Country & Eastern band! ” Todd Sheaffer offers “A souped-up string band? I don’t know. I’m not good at this.” Or, as Levon Helm once said: “Rock & roll! Well, that’s the way it is sometimes: musicians play music, and don’t necessarily worry about where it gets filed.
The members of Railroad Earth aren’t losing sleep about what “kind” of music they play – they just play it. When they started out in 2001, they were a bunch of guys interested in playing acoustic instruments together. As Railroad Earth violin/vocalist Tim Carbone recalls, “All of us had been playing in various projects for years, and many of us had played together in different projects. But this time, we found ourselves all available at the same time.”
Acoustic guitar/lead vocalist Todd Sheaffer continues, “When we started, we only loosely had the idea of getting together and playing some music.

It started that informally; just getting together and doing some picking and playing. Over a couple of month period, we started working on some original songs, as well as playing some covers that we thought would be fun to play.” Shortly thereafter, they took five songs from their budding repertoire into a studio and knocked out a demo in just two days. Their soon-to-be manager sent that demo to a few festivals, and – to the band’s surprise – they were booked at the prestigious Telluride Bluegrass Festival before they’d even played their first gig. This prompted them to quickly go in and record five more songs; the ten combined tracks of which made up their debut album, “The Black Bear Sessions.”

Railroad Earth certainly thrives in a live setting – Their last album, “Elko,” recorded live in the spring of 2005, is easy proof of that – and they can, in fact, jam. Improvisation is certainly one of the RRE’s big strengths. But what really sets them apart is the strength of their songwriting – it was the strength of those first five songs that got them on the bill at Telluride. And they’ve only improved since.

For video links check them out at dansmallspresents.com

Wilburnews Spring 2009

Wow. What a winter and spring! So much fun stuff going on!

My friend Melissa Wrolstad sent me a bunch of new songs to mix that she composed and recorded at home. She wrote really cool pieces and recorded them well, and mixing them was a blast! This is a good example of how lost of folks are making recordings these days. Record at home, have me mix. Works great!

A Cappella angels (well, not really angels lol…) The Chiclettes from Elmira College continue to work in a great collections of songs for an upcoming release. Totally a blast having them in the studio!

Local sonwriter Tom Mank has been working with his partner cellist Sera Smolen and Woodstock producer Julie Last on a 3 song CD to take with them on a tour of the Netherlands. Tom came to Wilburland to record tracks with Mac Benford on banjo and Dave Unland on tuba!

Cornell director of Jazz Ensembles and trumpeter Paul Merrill came in for a day to record a raucous New Orleans/street beat tune for a movie. Drums and three horns! Very cool!

Ron Kristy, best know as a composer of music and film was in with a singer songwriter  recording a few songs for an upcoming release. I really enjoyed meeting and working with Ron and look forward to future projects with him.

Local band Jimkata are currently exploring the intersection between jam band and electronica and have wisely chosen to work with engineer/producer Matthew Saccuccimorano. They did their tracking here and  Matt is currently in the middle of mixing this very cool sounding CD. Look for this one late spring.

A Cappella is a timeless musical form and Jim Blake and the Offbeat 5 deliver classic songs with fun and great spirit. 5 folks singing in a circle. Pure and simple.

A very cool acoustic duo named The Rusty Doves came all the way from Utica to record with me and I’m sure glad they did! Catchy vintage sounding tunes, both traditional and original, mandolin, acoustic bass and 2 voices. You totally need to hear this, especially the haunting Oubliette. CD out this spring!

Matthew Saccuccimorano was also in to mix an upcoming release from his alt-country band Hubcap. Should be out soon!

New Yorker George Mann seems to be making Wilburland his second home and that’s fine with me! Following on the heels of Fairwell To The Thief, George is now working on a collection of his own songs and they are wonderful!

Acoustic duo Littlewheel keep plugging along on their CD of sweet simple songs.

Trad jazz came to Wilburland with the Miles Brown trio. Miles came in to Wilburland with his dad, jazz guitarist Steve Brown and drummer Rich Thompson and recorded a bunch of tunes live and then we mixed them down. Old skool method with classic results. One thing for sure. These cats can play!

My friend, award winning songwriter Joe Crookston came into demo a bunch new songs that he is considering for his next CD. If these songs are an indication of what Joe’s up to the next CD will be awesome!

IY/New Neighbors singer guitarist Chris Frank recorded a bunch of new songs in his apartment and sent them to me to master. I love hearing one person from a band on their own and hearing more clearly what they contribute to the whole of the band sound. These songs were really solid and Chris did a great job with the recording and mixing.

Lute duo Mignarda continue to craft their songs for an upcoming cd and boy does it sound gorgeous!

Mother and daughter contra dance duo Confluence were at Wilburland recording 7 tracks of piano and flute…and feet! This will be lovely when it’s done!

Rocker Kris Hadlock was in doing new vocal tracks for an upcoming release. He’s taking his time but the results are worth it.

It always a good day when fiddler Laurie Hart comes to Wilburland, this time to record Swedish fiddle tunes with Stefhan Ohlström.
Um, WOW! Amazing stuff played with awesome skill and heart.

Summer is hear and it’s music festival season! The Horse Flies have a bunch of gigs this summer and you really need to get out to see them.

For those of you who are recording at home, don’t forget I’m here to help! I can assist you in making excellent home recording and I’m only a phone call away. Let me know how I can help!

Will Russell
Electric Wilburland
http://www.wilburland.com

Ithaca Festival JAM TENT Photos. Nice turnout despite chilly weather for pickin’ http://picasaweb.google.com/michael.ludgate/IthacaFestivalJamTent2009# share the link, put ‘em on Facebook, whatever! :-)

Ithaca Festival PARADE pics from Ludgate Farms: http://www.ludgatefarms.com/2009_IthacaFestivalParade/index.html and Ted Crane http://photos.tedcrane.com/IthFest/20090528/

Open Band Opportunities (YFN) — several coming up! http://canaaninstitute.org/mikesmusic/viewtopic.php?p=2595#2595 contras, waltzes, weddings!

TONIGHT — Mon Jun 01 — Monday Night YFN open contra dance band starts tonight!! 7:30-10:00 pm every Monday all summer. Thanks to Ted and Pam for arranging this every year! Come DANCE or play!

June 05 — Deadline for discounted OLD SONGS tickets: http://www.oldsongs.org/festival/index.html

June 06 and 07 — Fiddlers Festival at Watkins Glen State Park! Jamming, instrumental workshops and stage performances! I’ll be at the jam thent both days. Come join in or just say hello! DETAILS http://canaaninstitute.org/mikesmusic/viewtopic.php?p=2583#2583

Thu Jun 18 — Raylene and I have also booked a hot bluegrass band, Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike, for a house concert at Canaan Road Thursday June 18. Concert 7:00 to 9:00 pm followed by a jam. Valerie and her band are top notch bluegrass musicians and play at many of the big festivals. We expect this one to sell out. Concert $15- Valerie will be traveling with award winning fiddler Becky Buller http://www.beckybuller.com/ there is an option of private lessons or an intimate workshop late afternoon before the concert: interested in that too? Let us know! Lesson or workshop fee will be additional. http://canaaninstitute.org/mikesmusic/viewtopic.php?p=2607#2607 RSVP to reserve seat now! :-)

CAJUN JAM at Oasis is off for the summer - Also they need feedback to get it going in the fall! Email Pam or Lanie! http://canaaninstitute.org/mikesmusic/viewtopic.php?p=2657#2657

New website that features, among other things, lots of info and tunes from traditional Adirondack fiddlers from northern NY (www.adirondackmusic.org).  For every fiddle tune on the site (several dozen), there is downloadable sheet music that goes with it, transcribed directly from the playing of each fiddler.  Feel free to print some of these tunes out and share them at your jams.  It’d be great to see/hear people playing them again. — Dave Ruch