gosh, we're up next

I really only went to the neffa website to look up the time for emily's concord gig tonight. And there we were. Time to go buy good baking apples (and also rehearse).

Natalie MacMaster blows Apple Crisp into a whole new way of thinking

Being a contra pianist in training, I had listened to many fiddlers, keeping track of who I thought was best. I had heard of many fiddle artists, but on a lazy Sunday morning, I was introduced to a new one who would stand out to me. I watched with curiosity as dad rifled through his itunes account, finally pressing play on a song called Catharsis. Catharsis is a tune that is amazingly fun to play with those chords that make you want to dance while you belt out the rhythm. When the recording started, I was surprised to hear not only a fiddler who was comfortable with her instrument as someone would be with their own home, but also that the accompaniment was electric guitars and drums. Yet, the band had a chemistry like no other, and the tune just rocked. Immediately intrigued, I heard some other songs, liking them almost as much as the first. ”Wouldn’t it be cool to see her live?” I thought, not realizing that this would become an experience I would have.

My dad must have been having a comical reaction when he heard me exclaim that it would be cool to see her live, since he had purchased tickets for the front row in the balcony to see her. He presented the tickets to me on the eighth night of Chanukah, and I found myself thinking about what it would be like for the next couple weeks.

Two weeks later, I found myself sitting forward in my seat in Sanders Theater, clapping as Natalie MacMaster took the stage. The show as a whole, was so well planned out and spectacular, that I can only describe some of the key things I noticed while listening. One amazing feature that I noticed, was that there were lots of whole band “hits,” where everyone would accent a single note or phrase. Another thing that stood out was how much she moved and interacted with her other players, especially the guitarist. It made me jealous about how portable her instrument is, but she definitely put that freedom to good use! Lastly, the band was so together in everything they did, that they were able to channel all of the talent of the players into one solid sound that I will never forget.

Natalie MacMaster

Subscribe to the Apple Crisp Calendar

Seth and I made a cool discovery. You can "subscribe" to the Apple Crisp calendar & have it show up in your own calendar program (I use iCal on mac).

From your calendar program, subscribe to the following URL:

http://applecrispcontra.com/calendar/calendars/Apple%20Crisp.ics

I know this works on iCal. Anyone want to let me know if it works on Entourage?

And speaking of the calendar, I've revamped it to better blend with the website.

Latest MIT dance

We had a solid turnout for the MIT contra dance this week, I think partly due to P.E credit being granted to students who came to dance. I every time we play, I still hear Jonathan pull of some surprising and tasty chord progression and think to myself "I gotta have him teach me how to do that!". His playing is becoming quite polished. Thanks to Barney for covering on piano for the second half.

The band (Dave, Gene, Barney & me) was also called on to demonstrate a Hey-for-four at one point, firmly establishing ourselves as renaissance men.

We'll be back at the MIT dance on May 16th.

School Contra Dance snowed out!

The contra dance at Jonathan's school was snowed out last night. No word on if it will be rescheduled. Hopefully it'll be on a night when I'm not working.

Booked for NEFFA

We got into the New England Folk Festival.

We're scheduled for a Sunday morning beginner Contra Session, "Contras from Scratch". 11:00 am in the Auditorium.

Rocking Horse People is also booked for the annual Beatles singalong on Saturday at 3:00.