Native American Flute & Scottish Fiddle Workshop

Stephanie writes:

Hi Peter,

We've got an interesting performance coming up. I've been working with the organizers on this, but only recently found out that Arvel Bird (Native American) is also a Scottish Fiddler. Can you send this out to your list? Arvel will hold a flute/fiddle workshop on Friday February 23rd (tentatively 2:30pm) and a performance on Saturday, February 24th. We may be able to make some time for fiddlers to meet with him. Please let me know if you can send this out and if you (or anyone) are interested in meeting him. Hope to see you Sunday!

Stephanie (e-flyer below)



ARVEL BIRD

NATIVE AMERICAN SCOTTISH FIDDLER

Where: 2007 Potomac Native American Flute Festival Montgomery College Music
Department - Rockville, MD 55 Mannakee St. 20850

When: February 24, 2007 8 pm

Concert Tickets: $15 adults / $10 students
Contact: Angel Cruz (acruzn@yahoo.com / 703-338-2756)
Info: www.potomacflutecircle.net

· Arvel Bird is a 2006 Native American Music Award Winner. He's a dynamic and energetic Paiute /Scottish fiddlist who performs Native music, Jazz, Celtic, Blues, and Bluegrass. Fiddling like you have never heard before!!

* Workshop for Fiddle and Flute by Arvel Bird will be held at the Potomac Native American Flute Festival on Friday, February 23rd. Please contact Angel Cruz as listed above or the website for more information. Day workshop passes are available.

Arvel is a classically trained musician who attended Arizona State University on a music scholarship and later transferred to University of Illinois-Champaign/ Urbana. He is the recipient of the 2006 Best Instrumental Recording for the Native American Music Awards and the Best Contemporary Instrumental for the Indian Summer Music Awards. For 11 years Arvel enjoyed touring with Glen Campbell, Clay Walker, Louise Mandrell, Tom T. Hall, Ray Price, and Loretta Lynn and others.

Now as a solo artist, Arvel is an in-demand entertainer who tours internationally for concerts at Native American events, fairs, festivals, conventions, trade shows, and more. He is undoubtedly one of the best known and most in-demand Native American entertainers touring today.

http://www.arvelbird.com

Sorry about getting this up so late.

Scottish Fiddling Workshop

I got this info on an upcoming Scottish fiddling workshop via email and thought I'd pass it along:

Hi Fiddlers and teachers,

Please join us for a Scottish Fiddling Workshop in Cary, NC on Saturday March 31st, 2007 at 10:45am. This years Fidding workshop will be held at the Cary High School Ninth Grade Center, at 1111 Maynard Rd. The workshop will be led again by Mara Shea and Tom Kagan.

Links to additional information and the registration form (also attached) are below.

Like last year's event, the students will be split into two groups based on skill level. The workshop will conclude at noon, at which time students may stay and continue fiddling in a traditional Scottish jam session.

The $10 workshop fee includes admission to the Cary Indoor Highland Dance and Piping Competition as well.

Thanks,
Ian Dunbar

http://www.scot.us/

http://www.scot.us/FiddleRegistration2007.pdf

http://www.scottishfiddling.org/

February Fiddle Club Session

Hello again, everyone!

We had a great fiddle club meeting, with Elke Baker focussed on tunes in 9/8. Most were quite old tunes, and they fell into two categories: slip jigs and some of the deepest slow airs out there. We then went on into a great potluck and a rockin' well-attended session. Elke tested our memories on some of the new tunes from this week, and repeating a feat from last week, Catherine brilliantly (and accidentally) transposed a tune a whole step lower and launched into it with gusto. Who knew Duke of Fife worked so well in G, and that Back of the Change House sounded so good in C? Accident or not, it was a lot of fun trying to keep up!

Here's a list of tunes we played:
Stella's Trip to Kamloops
There Came a Young Man
Shifting Bobbins
Back of the Change House/Jenny Dang the Weaver/Pretty Pegg
Tail Toddle/High Drive
Hamish Henderson's Refusal/Tam Lin/The Tongadale Reel
In Dispraise of Whisky/Ho Ro The Dram, My Boy
Prince Charles
Hughie Shortie/Brenda Stubbart's/The Barrowburn Reel
The Piper's Weird/The Piper's Jig/Teviot Brig
Calliope House/Andy DeJarlis' Jig/The New Fiddle/MacArthur Road
Skye Boat Song (in G)/Space Available
Then Elke tried The Lees of Luncarty, but no one joined in. But it's a great tune.
Eternal Surge of the Sea
Sail Her Ower the Raftrees
Statten Island/Jackie Tar/Flowers of Edinburgh
Lochanside/The Muckin o' Geordie's Byre/The Stool of Repentance
The Duke of Fife's Welcome to Deeside
Petronella
The Shetland Fiddler
Willafjord/Spootiskerry
Rosebud of Allenvale
Highland Laddie
Cuzzle Together
The Ale is Dear/High Road to Linton
I tried to start The Crooked Bridge here, but it fizzled.
Put Me In a Box
De'il amang the Tailors/Timour the Tartar/Jack Daniel's Reel

February Royal Mile Session - Oops...

We had an awesome turnout for the Royal Mile session. Thanks to everyone for coming! We had fiddles, smallpipes, a 12-string guitar, and a cello, and went through a lot of great tunes.

Alas, it looks like I lost my notebook! So no list of tunes played. I do remember that we played a lot of our usual fare from previous months. A couple tunes resurrected that we haven't played in a while include The Cushion Dance, Neil Gow's Lament for the Death of his Second Wife, and a few strathspeys like This is No My Own Hoose, Rob Roy MacGregor. If any of you out there think of more tunes we played, email me!

On the issue of strathspeys, I issued a challenge to our sessioneers. If you have a favorite reel or reel set you like to start, try to think of a strathspey or two that leads well into it. We need to be playing more strathspeys, lest someone think we're Irish players!

Cheers, and see you all next time!

January Session & Fiddle Club meetings

We had a small Royal Mile session in January, and here, belatedly, is what I had on my tune list:

Calliope House/Andy DeJarlis' Jig/The New Fiddle
The Lime Hill/Miss Drummond of Perth/High Road to Linton/Put Me in a Box
The Braes of Banffshire/Clydesdale Lasses/The Merry Making
Willafjord/Sleep Soond ida Moarnin
Willie Davie/Lexy McAskill/Jenny Dang the Weaver/The Ale is Dear/The Forest Lodge
The Muckin o' Geordie's Byre/The Stool of Repentance
Lochanside
In Memory of Herbie MacLean
Highland Laddie
MacKenzie Hay/Keep It Up
Laird of Drumblair/Angus Campbell/Father Francis Cameron

I didn't make it to the January Fiddle Club meeting, but I'm told that between weather and the long drive home, everyone packed up their instruments immediately after the workshop and headed home, so there was no session.