Fiddling Cricket Concerts 
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Concert Calendar |
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The Boulder Acoustic
Society |
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The return of Colorado's bright new innovative acoustic band, The Boulder Acoustic Society, who took the café by storm in August! They explore the rich world of acoustic traditions with catchy and original rhythms using an exotic and energetic lineup of violin, guitar, double bass, marimba, percussion and occasional vocals. In addition all four members play the ukulele! Winner of the 2004 Notes at 9,000 Emerging Artist Series in Colorado, BAS was lauded as "refreshing, entertaining, enlightening and in a professional class above the others". The originality, compositional skills and talent of the group also shines in their debut self-produced CD, So Many Stars in the Sky. Their second, just released, CD will be available at this show. |
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The group consists of Kailin Young, classical and swing jazz violinist, winner of 1st prize in the Singapore National Music Competition, and founder of what he calls "Chinesegrass" (he also recently received the Daniel Pearl Memorial Violin to promote understanding, friendship and harmony through the power of music); Scott Higgins, a freelance percussionist who plays with the Colorado Symphony, Colorado Ballet, and Colorado Opera; Aaron Kleim, who is a French Horn player turned double bassist, and who also plays as one half of the acclaimed duo, Ukelele Loki and Sidecar Slim (!); and acoustic guitarist, Brad Jones, who has been gigging and recording since he was 13 and now also plays in the Signature Jazz Quartet while working for his degree in Jazz Studies. One of our star new shows in 2005 we are pleased to be able to get them back so soon. www.boulderacousticsociety.net |
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Mollie O'Brien Duo
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Mollie O'Brien, who grew up in West Virginia, is known for her early career as a jazz singer in New York, her collaborations with brother, Tim O'Brien, and solo work, in the areas of bluegrass, folk and country, gospel, old-time and traditional southern mountain music, and with her rhythm and blues band in Colorado, where she moved in the 80's. |
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She has been called one of roots music's best interpreters and singers, and her voice described as "smooth," "smoky," "powerful," and "bright and bold as sheet lightning." Once you've heard it, you're hooked. She moves without hesitation from style to style, dipping into the songs of Lennon and McCartney, Percy Mayfield, Memphis Minnie, Chuck Berry, and the Subdudes. Mollie has earned rave notices at major festivals and venues throughout the U.S. and in the United Kingdom, Europe, and South America. Her class and versatility earned her a long-time slot in Prairie Home Companion's Hopeful Gospel Quartet. Mollie has 8 CDs to her credit, the latest being Big Red Sun in 1998, an acoustic blues album, and Things I Gave Away, in 2000 ( produced and played on by Nina Gerber), a more cabaret style jazz/blues album. Mollie does not play an instrument and she does not write songs. Her great strength is her voice and the classy and wide selection of material, she chooses. In this show she will be accompanied by husband, and guitarist and bassist, Rich Moore. Rich is a consummate picker and guitarist or bassist of choice for many bands. He also writes his own material and has an excellent solo guitar CD, Steady State, to his name. Mollie played once for Fiddling Cricket about 6 years ago in one of our most memorable shows. It's taken this long to get her to come back and grace our stage again. We are ecstatic she is able to do so! www.mollieobrien.com |
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Muriel
Anderson |
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Muriel Anderson
is widely regarded as the premier woman fingerstyle guitarist in the US,
covering classical to folk, to her own compositions which may fit in anywhere.
She has appeared in places as diverse as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
to the Grand Ole Opry. She’s a National Fingerpicking Guitar
Champion and her Heartstrings album went into space with astronaut
Susan Helms ( “the most mileage I’ve gotten” says
Muriel) |
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"Acoustic guitarist
Muriel Anderson... has justifiably gained a reputation as one of the world's
best, and most versatile, guitar instrumentalists." ...Chicago
Tribune |
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Palm Wine Boys
Acoustic |
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The mellow sound of the Palm Wine Boys is achieved by blending acoustic folk with West African Palm Wine music, using intertwining guitars, simple catchy rhythms, percussion, bass and harmonizing voices. The group is an offshoot from, and a reduction of, an 8-piece Palm Wine world beat dance band. The simplified group brings out the melodic flavor and "allows the audience to really hear the songs" (which are about life's challenges and triumphs, but also the simple pleasures the world has to offer). Newcomers to this music often describe it as having a somewhat Hawaiian flavor. |
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. The group, from Berkeley, consists of Tom Chandler, jazz and world music guitarist and vocalist; Richard Linley, guitar and vocals, and a student of Indian music, Q.B. Williams, percussion and vocals, an original member of the popular a cappella group, Street Sounds; and Ellyahu Sills, bass, flute and vocals. The Palm Wine Boys are from Berkeley and have appeared for Fiddling Cricket twice before. We welcome them back. www.palmwineboys.com |
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The Biscuit
Burners |
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The Biscuit Burners are a young dynamic bluegrass and mountain music band from the East Coast (North Carolina), who appeal both to traditional fans and newgrass fans. The band features Billy Cardine (Larry Keel Experience), a dobro maestro, together with Sharon Whitworth (lead vocals and guitar), Dan Bletz (lead guitar), and Mary Lucey (lead vocals and bass). Recently John Stickley (mandolin) joined the band. They visited us as a last minute thing a couple of years ago when they were just getting started as a group. |
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Since then they have become pretty well-known and have appeared on stage at The Ryman Auditorium with the legendary Vassar Clements, and at many major festivals, including The Strawberry Music Festival in California. They have two CDs out. Their song, ”Come on Darlin’", on the first CD, was chosen as the IPOD Hot Pick Bluegrass Song of the Year. The combination of Sharon’s and Mary’s solo and duo style vocals, which captures the classic sister duet style at the heart of classic mountain music, and the instrumental power of Billy, Dan, and John, makes for a very attractive mix, which they call “Fiery Mountain Music”.www.thebiscuitburners.com/ |
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Michael Smith
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Michael Smith is a Chicago song-writing legend. His material has been covered by Jimmy Buffet, Steve Goodman, Jerry Jeff Walker, Tom Rush, David Allan Coe, Liam Clancy, Claudia Schmidt and many, many others. His two best known songs (out of several hundred) are probably Spoon River and The Dutchman. The latter, which glimpses images of love through the unlikely kaleidoscope of Alzheimer's and old age, has been recorded by over 30 artists. We can't do him justice in this space, but in addition to the two quotes below, which describe his songs and his playing, it must be mentioned that he has written and produced music for several successful stage productions, including Steppenwolf's version of Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath ( with which he toured for two years). |
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"Hearing the stories of
Michael Smith is like reading short stories by Hemingway after decades of only
comic books. It's a realization that songs can hold a whole lot more than
they're usually expected to hold, that they can possess a genuine sense of
place and time as evocative as the finest literature….you can listen to a
single one over and over for an afternoon and feel satisfied". Song
Talk |
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Concert Calendar |
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Last Updated: 12/07