Apple Crisp's Blog

Apple Crisp + Special Friends, March 8, Scout House

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 16:31:00 +0000

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.

Apple Crisp at Club Passim, Monday (7/10), 8 pm

Thu, 06 Jul 2006 16:07:00 +0000

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.

Apple Crisp in The Boston Globe

Tue, 30 May 2006 18:08:00 +0000

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.

Apple Crisp's Debut at NEFFA

Sun, 23 Apr 2006 06:31:00 +0000

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!

The Globe Misleads

Avi — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 12:29:00 +0000

Minstrels mired in Market melee

This article, on the front page of Boston.com Thursday morning, gives the badly mistaken impression that performers at Faneuil Hall are battling free-for-all for performance space. Entirely untrue. The Faneuil Hall Marketplace is privately managed, and we street performers are on a roster that is by audition only. We play only according to our schedule. Just yesterday, I was checked for ID by Marketplace security (who didn't recognize us b/c we're new there), to verify we were part of the sanctioned performer roster.

The picture accompanying the article is of one of the sanctioned performers, whom, I surmise did not have to engage in a melee to play that day.

The article is based on some performers jockeying for position at one single spot, Sam Adams Plaza, which borders on Faneuil Hall Marketplace and is unregulated. The article gives the impression that this is happening all over. "Nowhere is the jockeying or acrimony so intense as it is on the cobbled plazas of Faneuil Hall". Huh? No jockeying, no acrimony yesterday. Just happy listeners putting dollars in our accordion case.

Furthermore, the article subtly tries to throw Stephen Baird under the bus. Stephen is the tireless street performers' advocate who brought suit against the City of Boston & had street performer regulations thrown out. Those regulations did not apply to Faneuil Hall, anyway. I applaud Stephen's work & have told him so before.

The Globe goes looking for a melee, and finds one. But it's not happening here.

From Drum Corps to Folk

Avi — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 13:14:00 +0000

We went to the Drum Corps International semi-finals show at Gillette stadium Friday night. I can't think of a music form more removed from our folk dance music. Such pomp, drama, and magnitude. We loved it - we were in awe of the musicianship, the precision, and the long dedication it took to get there. Jonathan had never seen anything like it before. It took me back to my marching band days, where I first started playing mallet percussion.

(click picture for larger version)
When we played out at Faneuil Hall yesterday (2 rain delays, just like the Red Sox), I kept looking out the corner of my eye for someone overtly associated with a drum corps. Nothing like having a hundred of the hottest mallet players in the country visiting Boston to make me real self-conscious :-) We had some of our biggest-ever crowds, when it wasn't raining. And while it was raining, we threw a tarp over the instruments and sat under the eaves taking turns playing accordion. I may be able to play Sunday River Waltz someday, but Jonathan is still the expert there.

Mad thanks to the Boston Chipyard for keeping us well-stocked in our favorite snacks. We want to play in front of their shop from now on.

Some original tunes

Avi — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 13:53:00 +0000

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

Discovering the roots of our music (and country)

Jonathan — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 13:38:00 +0000

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.

Double Apple Crisp Thursday, 8 p, Springstep

Thu, 02 Mar 2006 06:18:00 +0000

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.

Charts & Tunelist update

Avi — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 11:00:00 +0000

I added some small updates to our tune list, and also started up a basic repository for charts. Some entries in the tune list now link to their charts.

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

Jonathan — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 19:51:00 +0000

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

gosh, we're up next

Avi — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 00:43:28 +0000

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).

Subscribe to the Apple Crisp Calendar

Avi — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 05:32:00 +0000

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

Avi — Thu, 16 Feb 2006 05:24:00 +0000

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!

Avi — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 21:27:27 +0000

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.