Ryan McKasson, Ashley Broder & Dave Bartley
Tickets: $13 advance, $15 at the door.
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Ryan McKasson, Ashley Broder & Dave Bartley are all quite well-known in their respective fields, but never before performed as an ensemble. This unprecedented collaboration on the Empty Sea stage will provide a night of music-making never before heard!
Ryan McKasson started his classical violin studies at the age of four and began his viola studies when he was fourteen. At the same time, he switched from classical violin to begin his traditional fiddle journey with the renowned fiddler and teacher, Carol Ann Wheeler. Under her instruction he explored a wide range of American and Celtic styles, but found a new passion in the music of his heritage, Scotland. In 1993 Ryan attended the Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School for the first time. There he heard the fiddling of Alasdair Fraser and Buddy MacMaster, who have since been his greatest influences. In 1995, Ryan was winner of the National Junior Championship, and went on a year later to be the youngest winner of the National Scottish Fiddle Open Championship in Loon Mountain, New Hampshire. As a fiddler, Ryan has performed with artist Bobby McFerrin. He has also shared the stage with pop artists Elvis Costello, Beck, Bjork, Galvin Friday and composer Phillip Glass. In 2001 Ryan collaborated with fiddler Richard Greene and the Greene String Quartet in Los Angeles for the Harry Smith Project.
An accomplished classical musician, Ryan attended the University of Southern California in Viola Performance as a student of Donald McInnes. He has been awarded fellowships to many prestigious music festivals, including the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara and the Bowdoin Music Festival in Maine.
Ashley Broder began her classical violin studies at the age of eight in Ventura County, California. Her violin teacher, Charl Ann Gastineau, also encouraged her to simultaneously learn mandolin where she became familiar with fiddle styles associated to the instrument. Ashley traveled the west coast competing in fiddle contests, winning several. In 2005, after studying classical violin and cello in college, she met fiddler Jamie Laval and the duo set off on a four year musical touring adventure that took them across the U.S. numerous times and to the U.K. Ashley has worked with renowned mandolinist Mike Marshall at the Mandolin Symposium in Santa Cruz, CA as well as helped organize his series The Mandolin Method Books. Now pursuing another passion, composition, Ashley is currently working on arranging singer-songwriter, Billy Jonas’, songs for orchestra.
Dave Bartley plays mandolin, guitar, cittern, and numerous other plucked string instruments in numerous bands. He has also written over 250 tunes, some of which are working their way into repertoires around the country. He can provide a quiet foundation, inject a fiery driving rhythm, or pull wicked licks out of thin air. His odyssey from flashy rock guitarist to classical musician to eclectic sideman to tunesmith filters through his fingers.
Dave has played mandolin onstage in the Seattle Opera in the 1999 and 2007 stagings of Don Giovanni and played steel-string acoustic guitar with the Seattle Symphony in 2004 for performances of Naive and Sentimental Music by composer John Adams, as well as mandolin for Mahler’s 7th and 8th symphonys with the same orchestra.
John Reischman & John Miller
Tickets: $20 advance / door.
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John Reischman
Mandolinist John Reischman and guitarist John Miller combine in an instrumental duo that specializes in Latin Jazz, with forays into boppish original numbers and Celtic-influenced originals, all played with gorgeous tone and intense listening. The duo has performed internationally, in England, Japan, and Canada, as well as the United States. Their two CDs have received international acclaim.
John Reischman and John Miller’s debut CD, The Singing Moon (Corvus Records CR004) offers a beautiful musical journey, from Reischman’s Choro For Shadow, through Jacob do Bandolim’s Noites Carioca, and Miller’s haunting title cut to it’s soulful conclusion, Damien Miley.
John Miller
The Singing Moon is an increasingly rare instance of melody holding its own with harmony and rhythm.
-Scott Nygaard
John Reischman and John Miller’s The Bumpy Road (Corvus Records CR009) continues in the vein established by The Singing Moon, with hits like Kenny’s Gone, Danza, The Three Lions and Snake Eyes, but with some notable differences. John Miller steps forward more often into a soloing role, and singer Koralee Tonack joins the duo for the eerie The Path Downhill. John Reischman expresses himself with the sumptuous tone and grace we’ve come to expect from his playing.
Taarka
Tickets: $13 advance, $15 at the door
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Emerging from a long tradition of gypsy circus troubadours come the solar- powered travelers: carriers of a new musical light; Taarka. This merry band is the culmination of the new millennial, sonic adventures of David Tiller (mandolin, tenor guitar, vocals), Enion Pelta-Tiller (five string violin, vocals), Daniel Plane (cello, vocals), and Troy Robey (bass, vocals) – a virtuosic cadre of performers who have roamed the freeways and backroads of the new and old acoustic caravan trail in search of a revolutionary ancient sound for modern times. While the four musicians have individually been spreading song and tune over the aural superhighway since the last century, their collaborative intersection marks a new era of Taarkan tunesmithing. Taarka has realesed their 4th CD, Seed Gathering for a Winter Garden, in March 2009; a collection of beautifully written and arranged songs and original instrumentals swimming the gamut of indie-gypsy chamber folk.
What is Taarka? While meaning many things in many tongues to many peoples, the musical Taarka of your concern hails from Lyons, CO and performs a patented and irreplaceable blended evolution of Western and Eastern folk traditions of jazz, rock, bluegrass, old-time, gypsy, Indian, and Celtic music interpreted through the highly capable ears and hands of four of today’s top classically trained, eclectic-acoustic music pioneers.
Collectively and individually, members of Taarka have shared stages with members of the Grateful Dead, Phish, and String Cheese Incident, Yonder Mountain String Band, Darol Anger, Joe Craven, ALO, Keller Williams, Mike Marshall, Danny Barnes, Leftover Salmon, Steve Kimock, Garaj Mahal, Widespread Panic, The Samples, Colonel Bruce Hampton and Aquarium Rescue Unit, Kevin Mohagoney, Kaki King, Drew Emmit Band, Rob Wasserman, Tony Furtado, The Slip, The Motet, Dan Bern, The Everyone Orchestra, and have been Mark O’Connor fiddle camp performers and instructors.
Taarka has performed at such music festivals as High Sierra, Joshua Tree, Northwest String Summit, Oregon Country Fair, Whole Earth, Telluride Bluegrass, Bumbershoot, Seattle Folklife, Earthdance, Full Moon Dream Dance (String Cheese Incident), Horning’s Hideout with Leftover Salmon, Faeirieworlds, Willamette Valley Folk, Seattle Hemp Fest, Seattle Rhythm Fest, Bite of Portland, Nedfest, Lightening in a Bottle, Berkeley World Music, Stone Soup World Music, Bend Summer Music, Boise Alive After 5, Frogville Records Frogfest, Yellowstone Music Festival, Garden Valley Bluegrass, Remembering Jerry, Eagle Island Experience, Solano County Fair, Dancin’ in the Dunes, Groovefest, Crested Butte Festival for the Arts, Aspen Bluegrass Sundays, Rogue Valley Earthday Celebration, San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, and The Millpond Folk Festival.
Viper Central w/ Squirrel Butter
Tickets: $13 advance, $15 at the door.
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Based out of Vancouver, BC, Viper Central is a six-piece acoustic string-band that takes that “high lonesome sound” to new places. All six band members contribute original songs, but won’t hesitate to deliver up their take on an ages-old mournful waltz or bring the house down with a barn-burning bluegrass standard. The band first came together through a love for the old timey sounds of such artists as Ralph Stanley, Bill Monroe, Hazel Dickens, and the New Lost City Ramblers along with the more contemporary styles of acoustic innovators David Grisman, Béla Fleck, and David Lindley. Everyone brings a colourful resume and a unique sense of creativity to this collaboration. While the members of the band play significant roles in many other roots music projects (The Mountain Bluebirds, The Fugitives, The Blue Island Trio, Whiskey Jar, Headwater, Redgrass, Badgentina), the chemistry of the six members gives Viper Central a one-of-a-kind sound that will stick with you long after the show is over.
In the summer of 2008, Viper Central released their debut album, The Devil Sure is Hard to Please. Blending instrumental prowess with innovative arrangements and creative vocal harmonies, the album showcases the diverse songwriting talents of every member in the band and is quickly earning them a place among the bands to watch for in Canada’s thriving roots music scene. The band was also featured on the Whiskey Hollow Bound compilation album, which showcases six Vancouver bluegrass and old time bands and has been receiving rave reviews across the country since its release in 2007.
Appearing with Viper Central is Squirrel Butter, the duo of Charlie Beck and Charmaine Li-Lei Slaven. Charlie and Charmaine began performing together in 2005 after meeting at the Portland Old Time Gathering and discovering that they lived merely blocks away from each other in Seattle. The pair began busking, and soon realized that their individual styles, sense of rhythm, and tendency towards the quirky and obscure blended well together. It wasn’t long before they began performing at venues off the street.
Charlie Beck, hailing from Indianapolis, Indiana, is a highly accomplished musician. His mastery of guitar and banjo come from years of consistent study. He is well versed in jazz and swing, is an avid enthusiast of old American blues and string band music. His repertoire includes a bushel of traditional folk tunes along with many jazz numbers. A talented songwriter, Charlie’s original compositions combine modern approaches with traditional styles, giving his songs a unique sound. Charlie is an outstanding vocalist, and also plays brilliantly on fiddle.
Charmaine “Lady Li-Lei” Slaven, from Stevensville, Montana, is a gifted dancer, and her skill at traditional percussive buckdancing is phenomenal. She is also an adept rhythm guitarist, ukulele player, and vocalist. Her clear, strong singing style is reminiscent of the Carter family. She brings a fine repertoire of traditional ballads to the duet, along with several of her original works.
Cahalen Morrison & Zoe Muth
Tickets: $8 advance, $10 at the door.
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Amongst red rocks, dry soil, and clear sky, Cahalen Morrison was reared on Hot Rize, Doc Watson, Norman Blake and Rory Block while running around in a diaper, trying (at times unsuccessfully) not to fall into patches of prickly pear. Now, he’s got the ears for roots music. Hopping effortlessly from fingerpicking to mandolin, clawhammer banjo to lap slide guitar, Cahalen’s writing encompasses everything from punchy political commentaries, to soul warming serenades, branching out into instrumental rags and fiddle tunes, yet still retaining his subtle musical signature.
Though only 24, he is quite well traveled, having toured nonstop for 2 years. In June of 2008, Cahalen debuted his first full length record. Subcontinent has been applauded by his peers, and by spun regularly by DJs and fans across the country. After its release, Cahalen hit the road hard, not spending more than two weeks anywhere for a solid 13 months before taking a break. From Santa Fe to Seattle, New Orleans to Minneapolis, Nashville to Boston, he has played most every nook and cranny of this fine country.
In November of 2009, Cahalen released his second record, a live album entitled Old-Timey & New-Fangled featuring his father Dave Morrison on guitar and fiddle, Santa Fe fiddler Andy Cameron, and Jenny Fisher on harmony vocals. OT&NF was recorded live on August 14th, at the historic Western Jubilee Warehouse Theater in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado by Butch Hause (engineer for Norman Blake, Don Edwards, and Waddie Mitchell.)
Joining Cahalen will be Eli West, former singer and guitarist of the bluegrass band Loose Digits, playing musical chairs on clawhammer banjo, flatpicking guitar, and octave mandolin.
Sharing the bill with Cahalen is Seattle’s own Zoe Muth.
Mandomorphosis: Orville Johnson, Matt Sircely, Scott Schaffer and Michael Connolly
Tickets: $13 advance, $15 at the door
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In 2009, producer and musician Scott Schaffer brought together seven mandolin players from across the United States to create a record of creative mandolin music. The resulting project, called Mandomorphosis, is a genre-spanning tour through jazz, bluegrass, folk, and free-spirited improvisation. Please join us for the project’s West Coast CD release of its debut album, 2010.
In attendance will be the Western component of the Mandomorphosis project: Orville Johnson, Matt Sircely, Michael Connolly and Scott Schaffer. Expect a high-energy evening of improvised instrumental music focused on mandolin, but also featuring dobro, fiddle, tenor guitar, and more!
“Intricate… energetic… intriguing… brilliant… I highly recommend 2010 for its varied musical styles and approaches, creativity and overall sound. 4 Stars (out of 5)”
-Wildy Haskell, Wildy’s World (Nov 16, 2009)
“These cats rock right in the pocket. Progressive bluegrass ala the Bela Fleck ilk with energy and good vibes for all that just keep coming… This is certainly a winner for adult ears on the prowl for something new and different… Hot stuff that just doesn’t wear out its welcome.”
-Chris Spector, Midwest Record (Nov 13, 2009)
The Players
Orville Johnson was born in 1953 in Edwardsville, Illinois and came up on the St. Louis, Missouri music scene, where he was exposed to and participated in a variety of blues, bluegrass and American roots music. He began singing in his Pentecostal church as a young boy, in rock bands in middle school, then took up the guitar at 17,with early influences from Doc Watson, Rev. Gary Davis, Mississippi John Hurt, and Chuck Berry. In the early 1970’s, Orville spent several seasons playing bluegrass on the SS Julia Belle Swain, a period-piece Mississippi river steamboat plying the inland waterways, with his group the Steamboat Ramblers.
Johnson, known for his dobro and slide guitar stylings and vocal acrobatics, has played on over 100 albums. He has appeared on Garrison Keilor’s Prairie Home Companion, Jay Leno’s Tonight Show and was featured in the 1997 film Georgia with Mare Winningham. His musical expertise can also be heard on the Microsoft CD-ROMs Musical Instruments of the World and the Complete Encyclopedia of Baseball. He teaches as well at the International Guitar Seminar, Pt. Townsend Country Blues Week and Puget Sound Guitar Workshop.
Johnson released 4 recordings in the 1990’s: The World According to Orville (1990) Blueprint for the Blues (1998) Slide & Joy (1999) an all-instrumental dobro tour de force and Kings of Mongrel Folk (1997) with Mark Graham. He also appeared on 4 discs with the File’ Gumbo Zydeco Band and produced Whose World Is This (1997) for Jim Page and Inner Life (1999) for Mark Graham. In the 21st century, he has released Freehand, a new Kings of Mongrel Folk disc, Still Goin’ Strong, and been featured in the soundtracks of PBS’ Frontier House and the Peter Fonda flick The Wooly Boys as well as the compilation CD Legends of the Incredible Lap Steel Guitar.
Matt Sircely is a creative mandolinist, songwriter and independent journalist living in Port Townsend, Washington. Sircely improvises fluently, composes 
prolifically and is familiar with a diversity of musical traditions.
At the age of 32, versatility with the mandolin has earned Matt Sircely gigs and guest appearances with some of the finest acoustic musicians on the continent. In late 2008, Sircely performed in the debut of bass legend Buell Neidlinger’s Prairie Ramblers in Washington State, and recorded electric mandolin with Kelley Breidling’s classic country group Kelley and the Cowboys in a session produced by Joel Savoy in Louisiana, featuring an all-star lineup from around the country.
In 2000, he joined Hot Club Sandwich, a young band of creative individuals who shared a love of Django Reinhardt’s music and the Gypsy jazz it spawned. Operating as a collective, Hot Club Sandwich also incorporates other influences that members bring into the mix, including Latin American folkloric traditions. Within two years, the group was performing at some of the early Gypsy jazz festivals to appear on the West Coast.
In 2005, David Grisman asked him to compile the liner notes for his Tone Poets project, a historic assembly of 42 musicians, each playing Grisman’s mandolin or guitar. In the same year, Sircely began contributing to the Fretboard Journal and Strings, finding deep inspiration in researching the lives and work of some his musical heroes like Wade Mainer, Andy Statman and Juan Reynoso.
In 2008, Sircely contributed an original composition to Galen Garwood’s short film Ed & Ed, which first appeared at the Port Townsend Film Festival. Two of his compositions, written to accompany the poetry of the beloved James Broughton, were included in ‘Letters from James,’ a film by Garwood and Rowan James which was the first film to appear at the first PTFF. Entering into 2009, Sircely is continuing to hone his solo material in anticipation of his first solo release.
Scott Schaffer’s 30-year career in music defines eclecticism. He has played bass, guitar, mandolin and a variety of other instruments in bands and genres ranging from jazz, to punk rock, to traditional folk, to experimental music. He has produced a dozen CDs and two movie soundtracks, and specializes in bringing together musicians of different backgrounds to a common purpose. In this vein, his most recent project is MandoMorphosis, a creative collaboration of seven mandolinists.
Through the 1990s, Scott co-led quirky and undefinable Pennsylvania-based string band Bala Hounds. He later produced three critically acclaimed records as a member of improvisational group Edge City Collective. More recently, he recorded a soundtrack of original music for the feature film Port of Angels, which premiered at the 2009 Idaho Film Festival.
A versatile multi-instrumentalist, performer, and teacher, Michael Connolly has been steeped in acoustic music since his childhood in Memphis, Tennessee. While his most called-for instruments are fiddle, mandolin, and accordion, Michael also performs and records on Hammond organ, piano, uilleann pipes, tinwhistle, harp, and guitar.
Michael’s familiarity with a range of genres from classical to jazz, Irish to old-time has landed him in a number of performance situations from recording with the University of Michigan Symphony to playing celidh dances in Saint Paul pubs to sharing the stage with the Indigo Girls. As a sideman, Michael has backed musicians such as Coyote Grace, Korby Lenker, Captain Gravel, Amber Darland, The Starlings, Kate Graves and others.
Broken Blossoms
Tickets: $13 advance, $15 at the door.
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The beauty of Broken Blossoms is that they are both new and familiar, rooted in tradition, yet rejuvenated by unique arrangements—a happy convergence of traditional bluegrass, gospel, country blues, and folk-pop.
Broken Blossoms is the unification of a group of highly recognizable performers in Boston’s celebrated folk-music circuit—its members gathered by gifted songwriter and guitarist, Andy Cambria, in support of some the city’s most prominent singer-songwriters.
Cambria, mandolin player, David Goldenberg, bassist/hammered dulcimer wizard, Simon Chrisman and banjo player, Charles Rose, performed regularly throughout 2008. The group recruited friend and 2009 National Old-Time Fiddle Champion, Kimber Ludiker, just before the year drew to a close and recorded a four-song EP in early 2009.
Although the members of the band have impressive personal resumes, with performances on such legendary stages as Grey Fox, Wintergrass, The Birchmere, The Grand Master Fiddle Championship, Falcon Ridge and Club Passim to their credit, it is their strength and style as a unit that’s made an instant impact on Boston’s roots-music scene. Talent buyer, Geoff Bartley, operator of Boston’s bluegrass Mecca, The Cantab Lounge, describes them thusly: “Every time I hear this band, they’re tighter, deeper and more poised. The sultry vocals and refined songwriting, steeped in traditional roots and bluegrass, vault the group into another category. Look out—these folks could become well-known very fast.”
Sarah Sample & Kate Graves w/ Michael Connolly
Tickets: $10 in advance, $12 at the door.
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Sarah Sample dishes up a plate of acoustic folk rock that is salty and sweet. In an era littered with shoegazing introverts, tragically detached hipsters, and overly stylized pop tarts, she stands out like a big, beautiful sore thumb. She lets the audience in by witnessing to what is known and felt by most of us. And wrapping it up in a way we may never have heard- or felt- it before. Engaging, witty, real. The songs and the moment become everyone’s. Just ask audiences from Austin, Texas to Logan, Utah where Sarah has played coffeehouses, concert halls, amphitheaters, and street corners with artists like Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart, Peter Breinholt, Julie Hill, and Colors.
The last thing Sarah Sample wanted to make was just another folkie -girl-with-acoustic-guitar album. Sure, the songs were born as just an acoustic guitar and a voice. And, in the folk tradition she loves and respects so much, would likely be taken across America that way. But she didn’t want to document them that way. At least not this time. Enter Scott Wiley (Bonnie Raitt, Tracy Chapman, Elliott Smith) and a new sonic palette. With plenty of reverence for the songs– because, after all, it’s all about the songs– they set out to take Sarah’s music into new territory. The album Never Close Enough is to Sarah Sample as “Flaming Red” is to Patty Griffin: a marked departure from a promising, acoustic debut but never too far away from her soulful folk roots.
Kate Graves writes little songs….little songs that are raw. She tries to spread them around like wildflower seeds. She likes wildflowers. If she could be a plant, she would be a thistle branch. She sometimes worries that by saying she would be a thistle branch, she is saying that she symbolically pricks things, but she still picks the thistle branch as her flower totem.
Kate Graves is neurotic. She’s okay with this term and generally uses it as a term of endearment…or when somebody is really bugging her.
Kate Graves likes kissing. And singing. And trying to explain to the world that her chihuahua is just scared and not really cold-hearted.
Appearing with Kate is Empty Sea’s own Michael Connolly, a versatile southern-born multi-instrumentalist whose fiddle, mandolin, and accordion have shared the stage with Coyote Grace, Captain Gravel, Korby Lenker, the Barbed Wire Cutters, and the Indigo Girls.
Kate and Michael share tight harmonies, beautifully understated phrasing, and the love of a good novelty song.
RedDog CD Release Party
Tickets: $8.00 advance, $10.00 at the door.
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Please join us with RedDog as they celebrate the release of their debut album, Hard Times.
RedDog plays traditional music from the American Southeast—music that connects old-time tunes with the blues, with spirituals, and with stories. Specializing in sweet, haunting vocal harmonies and free-wheeling instrumentals, the band features Doug Yule on fiddle, Cary Lung on mandolin, and Tom Collicott on guitar and banjo.
Doug Yule grew up on the East Coast playing and singing from an early age. In 1968, standing on the wrong street corner, he was captured by The Velvet Underground, a cult rock band. Doug played bass with the Velvets for a time, then stayed on a rock ‘n’ roll track until he encountered the fine arts of carpentry and cabinet making. In the last few years he’s discovered a passion for the fiddle and for violin making. When he’s not knee-to-knee with RedDog playing tunes, Doug builds violins, violas, and cellos at Lasley & Russ Violin Shop in Seattle.
Cary Lung is from a small farm town in the San Joaquin Valley of California where he learned to sing and harmonize with his grandfather. In the mid-1960s he met Kenny Hall, the legendary mandolin player, who became his mentor. Cary recorded with the Sweets Mill String Band and, with the Portable Folk Festival, performed at festivals and in coffeehouses across the country. In the late 70s he changed directions and opened a magical toy store in Tucson. But the mandolin kept calling. He moved to Seattle in 2003 and tuned in to his musical roots.
Hard Times, RedDog's debut studio album, will be available for sale.
Tom Collicott has spent most of his adult life in Seattle behind a camera, carving out a successful career as a photo-illustrator and website designer. About 12 years ago he picked up the guitar of his youth. He found himself spending more and more time spellbound by the Southern roots music that has found a home in the Pacific Northwest’s thriving old-time music scene. And he found himself drawn to the close vocal harmonies. In addition to playing guitar and banjo in RedDog, Tom also performs with Seattle’s raucous Atlas Stringband.
For more information about the band, visit www.reddogseattle.com.
Al and Emily Cantrell In Concert
Tickets: $14 ($12 for SFS and PNA members)
Make reservations at 206-528-8523 or online at www.seafolklore.org
It’s a pleasure to team up with the Seattle Folklore Society to present Al and Emily Cantrell.
Al and Emily Cantrell
Al and Emily Cantrell cast a magical spell with their airy, joyful acoustic songs. Emily uses her voice as an instrument on soaring vocals like a country Joni Mitchell, while Al plays spirited fiddling and dazzling mandolin. Currently based in Nashville, the Cantrells have been touring and playing their original folk and bluegrass music in concerts and festivals since 1985. Their performances feature Emily’s songs, and Al’s contest-winning fiddling in traditional, swing and Irish styles, their duet harmonies, ”fiddlesticks” (“playing the straws”) and the wide variety of cover tunes from traditional bluegrass to Broadway musicals.
They have recorded four CDs of mostly original songs featuring Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Ranger Doug and Too Slim from “Riders in the Sky”, Jim Hurst, Rob Ickes, Tim O’Brien and Mark Schatz of “Nickel Creek”.
For several seasons the Cantrells taught swing guitar and fiddle at Jorma Kaukonen’s Fur Peace Ranch. They will also be presenting swing guitar and fiddle workshops Sunday, May 10 at Dusty Strings.
Come hear the magic of this special Seattle Folklore Society concert.
Make your reservations by telephone, 206-528-8523 or online at www.seafolklore.org
