notloB Music Returns to the Roost
Harvard – Since 2007, notloB Music has been presenting “old-time, bluegrass, progressive string band, world, and Celtic concerts in unique listening room environments throughout the greater Boston area”, but actually got its start in 2006 at Harvard and Berlin coffeehouses when its principle, Jeff Boudreau, facilitated the featured artists. Then a resident of Bolton, Boudreau recently has returned to Harvard.
“In the subsequent years living just outside of Boston, I missed the woodlands and open spaces, guess you could say I was ‘pining’ to return.” Monty Python fans will get the “pining” and “notloB” references.
The initial Tannahill Weavers concert at the Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church sanctuary, the Scottish band’s first stop on their two-month US tour and its only Boston-area appearance, “will be the first of many”, said Boudreau optimistically. “It’s a great opportunity to present here. Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville are musically saturated. On any given night, patrons have the option of choosing between many concerts. It is also filled with world-class musicians teaching at Berklee and NEC or just passing through. Berklee and NEC are my deep wells, I am fortunate to have made many artist friends who will be presented over the coming months in Harvard.” Berklee faculty and staff who have been presented by notloB include John McGann, Darol Anger, Brittany Haas, Natalie Haas, Maeve Gilchrist, and Mark Simos.
Both the Tannahill Weavers and the Andersons, who are siblings from Westborough, are in the notloB “quiver” of past artist offerings. The Weavers will initiate their two-month US tour with the Harvard concert.
Tickets for the concert are available through Eventbrite.com, with an “early bird” discount available until March 8. A portion of the ticket sales will benefit the HUUC General Fund.
About the artists.
Tannahill Weavers
Website - http://www.tannahillweavers.com/
Listen and watch - http://www.tannahillweavers.com/listenandwatch.htm
In the late 18th and early 19th century Scotland was in a turmoil of change. Highlanders were being driven from their lands and into the burgeoning Lowland factory systems. This brought two quite distinct cultures together, the mystic Celtic culture of the North and the old Anglo/Scots culture of the Lowlands. They were married by the double barreled shotgun of necessity and the Industrial Revolution. But this forced union brought forth a cultural heritage which, thanks to people like Robert Burns and Robert Tannahill, outlasted the worst of the Industrial Revolution. It married the mystic beauty of the Celtic music to the coarse, brawling, but vitally human music, poetry and ballads of the Lowlands. It is precisely this strangely moving yet lustily stirring quality that the Tannahill Weavers have captured in their arrangements of the traditional music and songs of Scotland. All of their material is traditional, but as good musicians should, they have transformed it and brought it into the modern world, vitally alive and kicking.
The Tannahill Weavers are one of Scotland's premier traditional bands. Their diverse repertoire spans the centuries with fire-driven instrumentals, topical songs, and original ballads and lullabies. Their music demonstrates to old and young alike the rich and varied musical heritage of the Celtic people. These versatile musicians have received worldwide accolades consistently over the years for their exuberant performances and outstanding recording efforts that seemingly can't get better...yet continue to do just that.
The Tannahills have turned their acoustic excitement loose on audiences with an electrifying effect. They have that unique combination of traditional melodies, driving rhythmic accompaniment, and rich vocals that make their performances unforgettable. As the Winnipeg Free Press noted, "The Tannahill Weavers - properly harnessed - could probably power an entire city for a year on the strength of last night's concert alone. The music may be old time Celtic, but the drive and enthusiasm are akin to straight ahead rock and roll."
Born of a session in Paisley, Scotland and named for the town's historic weaving industry and local poet laureate Robert Tannahill, the group has made an international name for its special brand of Scottish music, blending the beauty of traditional melodies with the power of modern rhythms. The Tannahill Weavers began to attract attention when founding members Roy Gullane and Phil Smillie added the full-sized highland bagpipes to the on-stage presentations, the first professional Scottish folk group to successfully do so. The combination of the powerful pipe solos, Roy's driving guitar backing and lead vocals, and Phil's ethereal flute playing breathed new life into Scotland's vast repertoire of traditional melodies and songs.
Three years and a dozen countries later, the Tannahills were the toast of Europe, having won the Scotstar Award for Folk Record of the Year with their third album, The Tannahill Weavers. Canada came the next summer, with thousands at the national festivals in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto screaming an approval that echoed throughout the Canadian media. The Regina Leader-Post wrote, "The Tannahill Weavers personify Celtic music, and if you are given to superlatives, you have to call their talent 'awesome'."
Since their first visit to the United States in 1981, the Tannahills' unique combination of traditional melodies on pipes, flute and fiddle, driving rhythms on guitar and bouzouki, and powerful three and four part vocal harmonies have taken the musical community by storm. As Garrison Keillor, the host of "Prairie Home Companion", remarked, "These guys are a bunch of heroes every time they go on tour in the States".
Over the years the Tannies have been trailblazers for Scottish music, and their tight harmonies and powerful, inventive arrangements have won them fans from beyond the folk and Celtic music scenes. In 2011 the band was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame, and in 2014 they are joined by innovative piper Lorne MacDougall. Lorne comes with a high pedigree, having arranged and performed pipes for the Disney Pixar movie “Brave”, along with a long list of other accomplishments.
With the release of the Tannahill's 17th recording, Live and In Session, on award-winning label Compass Records, they are firmly established as one of the premier groups on the concert stage. From reflective ballads to footstomping reels and jigs, the variety and range of the material they perform is matched only by their enthusiasm and lively Celtic spirits.
Elizabeth and Ben Anderson
Website - http://www.elizabethandbenanderson.com/
Videos - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLVj1ivDkK1kaXJq6yJPtug/
Elizabeth and Ben Anderson, a Celtic fiddle and cello duo, has been gaining an enthusiastic following in the Boston area and throughout New England. Blending Scottish tunes with lively rhythms and innovative harmonies, they create a sound rooted in tradition, inspired by the contemporary, and completely original. On stage, they captivate audiences with their ability to effortlessly communicate musical nuances as only siblings can.
The duo has opened for Scottish bands The Battlefield Band and Dàimh at the Burren in Somerville MA, in concerts produced by Brian O’Donovan, host of “A Celtic Sojourn” on WGBH Public Radio. They have performed at the Boston Celtic Music Festival, the Ossipee Music Festival, the notloB concert series, and in solo concerts all along the East Coast. They made their international debut in 2016 with performances in Scotland and France.
Elizabeth is a graduate of Berklee College of Music and is the 2016 winner of the Perth All Scotland Fiddle Championship and a three-time New England Scottish Fiddle Junior Champion. She has been named a Top 12 Violin Teacher in Boston by Expertise. Ben currently studies computer science at WPI in Worcester, MA, and is the 2015 third-place holder in the National Scottish Fiddle Junior Championship.
notloB Music Since 2007, notloB Music has presented close to 200 folk, old-time, bluegrass, progressive string band, world, and Celtic concerts in unique listening room environments throughout the greater Boston area. Tickets for all concerts are available at http://www.eventbrite.com/o/notlob-music-6730833315. For more information see its website – notlobmusic.com – or Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/notloBParlourConcerts/ - or email [email protected].
Summary
What: Tannahill Weavers with Elizabeth and Ben Anderson
Genre: Scots Celtic
When: Thursday, April 27, 2017, 7:30pm
Where: Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church, 9 Ayer Road, Harvard, MA 01451
Admission: $20-25, “early bird” discount is in effect until March 8.
Tickets through eventbrite.com and, if not sold out, at the door the evening of the performance.
Artist’s website, feature: http://www.tannahillweavers.com/
Artist’s website, opener: http://www.elizabethandbenanderson.com/
notloB website: http://notlobmusic.com/
notloB Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notloBParlourConcerts/
More info: [email protected] (please do not contact the venue).
johnny cope + atholl highlanders
