Nothin' like some dancin' and hot music to keep us warm in cold weather!

Thursday, March 8, our friends Avi and Jonathan are playing the Scout House with two special guests. Eden MacAdam-Somer is the really fabulous fiddler in Notorious. Some people consider her to be one of the best fiddlers in New England. Keith Kirkpatrick, the bass player from Kebrada, the jazz band for which Avi plays piano, will join in on bass. The quartet should rock the house with a few instruments not typically heard in contradance bands.

Word on the street is that Apple Crisp and friends (Apple Crisp a la Mode?) will play at Club Passim in Harvard Square on Monday, July 10, at 8 pm as the opening act for guitar player Steve Tilston. Keith Kirkpatrick on bass and David Neiman on hammered dulcimer will join in. It should be fabulous musical entertainment.


Tickets are $10 for regular admission and $5 for Club Passim members. Holders of certain other discount cards (like WBUR or WGBH cards) might pay a reduced admission price, too.

Club Passim is at 26 Church Street--a short distance from the Harvard Square subway and bus station.

No, this isn't one of those things where you order food and it arrives in a newspaper like fish and chips. Globe Correspondent Keith O'Brien wrote a cool piece about Apple Crisp for the kickoff of the new season at Faneuil Hall. If you just put two and two together, you figured out that Avi and Jonathan are indeed playing there for their second year. Head out there on a Sunday sometime to hear them and you'll know that they've got power.

Sometimes, I want to pull aside the person who does my scheduling and ask, "What are you thinking?!?"

It's about 2 am and I'm sitting here wide awake rearranging my schedule many times in my head to accommodate a trip to NEFFA later this morning to listen to Apple Crisp play at the folk festival. They're like my favorite contradance band and I realized a few hours ago that missing them play means I'm missing their gigantic debut at NEFFA.

They perform in the auditorium at 11 am during Contras from Scratch.

I really can't change my schedule tomorrow morning. No matter how many times I convince myself that my alternate plans will work, they won't. My only consolation is the hope that Apple Crisp will continue to land bigger and bigger gigs and I'll get to see them play many other times in the future, too.

So, someone, please go dance to Apple Crisp at NEFFA Sunday morning because I can't.

I was at the festival Saturday for 14 hours. I got to hear Jonathan play piano with a youth orchestra at one of the large contradances. They were fabulous!

Their Faneuil Hall audition for the 2006 season is coming up soon, too. I'm really look forward to sitting out at Fanueil Hall this summer, too, to listen to them. Good luck, guys!

Jonathan has written some contra tunes over the past couple years & we've now gotten them written up & posted in our charts directory.

Shooting Star, which we've also recorded

Ship's Whistle - I've also got this one programmed into my cell phone, so I hear it often.

Pinellas Reel

A Taste of Tennessee - A Father's Day gift - written on our trip to Tennessee last year

Through the Woods

Lilac Bush

Man, it would be cool to go back in time and see Patrick Henry play the fiddle! I thought as I skimmed my history packet in order to collect information for an american history project. I had been looking over this packet, pausing to read the text box below the main article. To my surprise, the text box stated that playing celtic jigs and irish reels was one of Patrick Henry's greatest hobbies. It even said that Patrick Henry met Thomas Jefferson at a fiddling session! Of the three people I could research, I had received the one that I could directly relate to by my music. Furthermore, I could bring in my button box and play the class something that Patrick Henry might have played when he met Thomas Jefferson. When sunday arrived, my dad and I searched 17th century tunes on the web. There were many names I recognized, but I wasn't really excited until we saw Fairy Dance listed. Fairy dance is a tune we play almost every dance along with Batchelders reel. We learned that it was by Scottish Composer Neil Gow, who lived from 1727 to 1807.

I was able to quickly learn it on my accordian. In the end, I didn't get the chance to play it for my classmates, but it is interesting to realize some of the things we play connect us to famous politicians from the past. How fun to think that centuries ago, Patrick Henry might have played the same songs we play every dance.

Can you smell the apple crisp baking? I sure can. For that extra special ingredient, I listened to some Apple Crisp tunes while making it.

In case you missed the news, a deluxe version of Apple Crisp is playing at Springstep tonight at 8 pm--that's the contradance formerly located at the VFW in Cambridge and sometimes still referred to as the VFW. (No experience necessary. Bring a friend or ten.) I've been psyched about tonight's dance ever since Avi told me he and Jonathan had landed the gig. I even weaseled out of a regular commitment to be at the dance the entire time. I've been encouraging all of my dancing friends to come out. Apple crisp to those who do.

If you can't come out dancing tonight, perhaps you could download some Apple Crisp tunes and make your own dessert treat. Here's how I sometimes prepare mine.

Crumb 1 cup flour, 1 cup oatmeal, 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, and spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger to taste with 2/3 cup margarine. Toss in some toasted nuts or chipotle or dried fruit for something special. Fill a greased 9" X 13" pan with apple slices. (Rome apples are great baking apples, but they're not available in all areas of the country.) Top with the crisp. Bake at 350 degrees till the crisp is golden brown and the apples are tender. My recipe says 35 minutes, but it never works that way. For optimum results, bring it to the contradance tonight to share with your dancing friends. Don't forget to bring a serving spoon.