Irish & American Fiddle Extravaganza!

(To check on concert status/changes before any show call 203-488-7715
before leaving for the show)

Branford Folk Music Society

January 12, 2013: Stacy Phillips and Joe Gerhard with Friends

To kick off this New Year, we welcome back to Branford our old friends, Grammy Award-winning Dobroist and renowned fiddler Stacy Phillips and Joe Gerhard, fiddler extraordinaire of Irish traditional music. They will perform a special concert of American and Irish traditional fiddle music and will be accompanied by Ellen Cohn and Phil Zimmerman. It will be a night of two masters of these styles trading tunes and insights into the relationship between the music of America and Ireland and touching on the origins and evolution from Celtic roots music to versions from the American South. Irish step and American clog dance featured as well!  Not to be missed!

No stranger to Branford Folk Music Society audiences, Stacy Phillips has recorded or performed with Judy Collins, David Bromberg, Bela Fleck, Mark O'Connor, Leon Redbone, Peter Rowan, Eileen Ivers, Hazel Dickens, Andy Statman, Tony Trishka, Kenny Kosek, Skip Gorman, and many more! Stacy is a featured artist on the 1995 Grammy and International Bluegrass Music Association award-winning album, "The Great Dobro Sessions". Stacy's playing is celebrated for its uniqueness, eclecticism and humor.

Joe Gerhard has been playing Irish traditional music on fiddle for nearly 30 years. Though largely self-taught, he had the opportunity to play with and learn from many great Irish fiddlers in Boston and New York, including Paddy Cronin, Andy McGann and Seamus Connolly. In 2003, he was featured on the Irish TV program "Geantrai", as part of the series on Irish traditional music in America. For the past seven years, Joe has hosted a twice-weekly Irish music session at Anna Liffey's in New Haven.

Both musicians live and met in New Haven. They met at a jam session where the silence is painted by tunes and ornaments, licks, slides, and cat sneezes, chat and craic, Irish and Appalachian musical traditions. It was there with their fiddles and a few shots of good Irish whiskey that they hit it off and decided to play together.

Being familiar with the tales of the migration of the folk tradition across the Western Ocean playing together in special programs came to be an ideal way for the two musicians to illustrate the connection and evolution of melodies born in Ireland and continued in America.

This concert is made possible with support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts.



Admission: $15 for nonmembers, $12 for members, $5 for kids 12 and under     Pay at the door.

Branford Folk Coffeehouse
First Congregational Church of Branford
1009 Main Street, Branford, CT.

8:00pm

Wheelchair accessible.

For more information call: 203-488-7715
Email: branfordfolk@gmail.com
http://folknotes.org/branfordfolk

Branford Folk Coffeehouse welcomes refreshment donations of pastries, cold drinks and other assorted goodies!

Bring your own travel mug or thermos and take home any leftover coffee!

Branford Folk Music Society - Traditionally, the Best Folk Music in southern Connecticut since 1973.