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Upcoming Shows

Mar
28
Thu
2024
Izzak Opaz & Devin Champlin March 28, 2024 @ LONGSTAFF HOUSE
Mar 28 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm

Izaak Opaz

Like many of his favorite songwriters (John Hartford, Lucinda Williams, Jeff Tweedy), Izaak Opatz is an ungulate in life’s winter pasture, chewing on and metabolizing disappointment, heartbreak, and the other tough stuff into enjoyable musical carbohydrates. A compulsive metaphorager (and inveterate wordplayboy), Opatz breaks it all down with enzymes of wry humor, thoughtful simile and close observation – a therapeutic process of narrativizing his own life that, almost as a byproduct, turns out savory nuggets of literate, confessional pop.

Izaak has been to Longstaff House before and we are pleased that he has returned and brought his friend Devin Champlin with him.

Devin Champlin

“Why does Devin Champlin so badly want to be emptied? To ditch his brain and keep his head?
The man who can kickflip an over-easy without breaking the yolk. The guy who puts a fiddle in his elbow and a guitar on his chin. The dude that can catch and release a whale from a park bench. The one that stares off places. Emptied? Yes, emptied. But only to be fulfilled anew. You see, that’s the Champlin way. Willing, and wanting, to change. To turn your outsides to your insides and be filled with something else. Marbles. Smoke. And someone like that never gets bored. Someone like that remains filled with a wonder most of us lost with our baby teeth. Someone like that…is the Champ.”                                                                                                              – Chris Acker, from the liner notes, How To Change From Blue To Green

Apr
28
Sun
2024
Claude Bourbon – Sunday, April 28th @ LONGSTAFF HOUSE
Apr 28 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm

Claud Baurbon
We have had Claud here at Longstaff House twice before, both performances were a delight. Since that time he has traveled the world entertaining inertnational audiences. Missoula will be happy to once again be included in that epic trek on Sunday, April 28th.
https://www.claudebourbon.org/
“Claude Bourbon has French and Swiss roots. His instruments are guitar and voice. His music is rooted in multiple traditions – blues, jazz, folk, Mediterranean, and for good measure classical. (Can we say BACH!)

 Mary Pat Cooney – FolkWorks:   “Mr. Bourbon’s guitar fingering and arrangements are varied and eloquent.  Claude has the gift of brilliant sequencing, and the result is  a hypnotic voyage along a river of songs and instrumentals.  He wisely began with a two separate songs to establish his connection with us.  What followed was a series of pieces strung together like a cleverly woven magic carpet.  I felt like I was floating along, all thought swept aside. I was flowing with him from sad to sweet to ironic and on to another dimension.  Some songs are in English, some in French, and within each there is rhythmic dance among the words.  He plays with consonant sounds, and his tone is sometimes like that of a lover whispering in your ear.  Other times, that tone goes deep and strong to relay important history or solidarity with those who have had similar experiences. Instrumentals provide continued rhythmic and melodic steps on the journey. Each strum or pluck is explicit, yet free flowing. Claude Bourbon aptly describes himself as a musical artist.  He uses a vast array of music tools to paint a landscape we have all visited either in person or in our dreams.”

 

May
16
Thu
2024
Larry and Joe Show May 16, 2024 @ LONGSTAFF HOUSE
May 16 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm


Larry & Joe were destined to make music together.

Larry Bellorín hails from Monagas, Venezuela and is a legend of Llanera music. Joe Troop is from North Carolina and is a GRAMMY-nominated bluegrass and oldtime musician. Larry was forced into exile and is an asylum seeker in North Carolina. Joe, after a decade in South America, got stranded back in his stomping grounds in the pandemic. Larry worked construction to make ends meet. Joe’s acclaimed “latingrass” band Che Apalache was forced into hiatus, and he shifted into action working with asylum seeking migrants. Then Larry met Joe.

Currently based in the Triangle of North Carolina, both men are versatile multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters on a mission to show that music has no borders. As a duo they perform a fusion of Venezuelan and Appalachian folk music on harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, maracas, guitar, upright bass, and whatever else they decide to throw in the van. The program they offer features a distinct blend of their musical inheritances and traditions as well as storytelling about the ways that music and social movements coalesce.

May
28
Tue
2024
Guitarist Richard Smith May 28, 2024 @ LONGSTAFF HOUSE
May 28 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm

Two days after seeing an amazing video of Richard with Tommo Emanuel, he wrote and asked for a show.  This will be killer!

  • 1999 AFG Golden Thumbpick Award
  • 2001 National Finger­style Guitar Champion
  • 2008 Thumbpicker of the Year
  • 2009 National Thumbpickers Hall of Fame Induction
  • Played with Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Nato Lima, Boots Randolph, Tommy Emmanuel, John Jor­genson, Marcel Dadi, Tommy Tedesco, Joe Pass, Biréli Lagrène, Mark O’Connor, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Martin Taylor, Jorge Morel, Earl Klugh, Suzy Bogguss, Victor Wooten, John Cowan and countless more.

https://www.richardsmithmusic.com/solo

Smith was born in Beckenham, England. He picked up the guitar when he was five years old after watching his father playing an Atkins and Travis version of “Down South Blues”. He begged his father, a longtime Atkins admirer, to introduce him to the fingerpicking style. Smith soon became a child prodigy on the guitar. As a kid he could play the entire discographies of Django Reinhardt and Chet Atkins. At the age of 11 he shared the stage with his idol when Atkins invited Smith to play with him at Her Majesty’s Theatre in London.[1][2] He was also influenced by guitarist Big Jim Sullivan and briefly studied jazz guitar with Shane Hill at Warlingham School, Surrey.[citation needed]

He formed the Richard Smith Guitar Trio with his brothers Rob and Sam before marrying American cellist Julie Adams and moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 1999.[3] He founded the Hot Club of Nashville, a jam band with a varying lineup that included John JorgensonPat BergesonBryan Sutton, and Stuart Duncan, combining gypsy jazz and western swing. Smith performs as a solo act and a duo with his wife. His repertoire includes countrybluegrass, blues, ragtime, folkjazz, pop, and classical music.[4]

Jun
8
Sat
2024
Bruce Molsky show and Fiddle Workshop June 8, 2024 @ LONGSTAFF HOUSE
Jun 8 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm

BRUCE MOLSKY – FIDDLE BANJO GUITAR & SONG 

Grammy-nominated, described as “an absolute master” (No Depression), Molsky transports audiences to another time and place, with his authentic and personal interpretations of rarities from the Southern Appalachian songbook and other musical traditions from around the globe. Best known for his work on the fiddle, Bruce’s banjo, guitar and his distinctive, powerful vocals also resonate with listeners. His combination of technical virtuosity and relaxed conversational wit makes a concert hall feel like an intimate front porch gathering.

Bruce’s take on tradition has landed him in collaborations with some of the world’s most highly respected players from roots to rock. He is a special guest on legend rocker Mark Knopfler’s recent CD, “Tracker.” His 1865 Songs of Hope & Home with Anonymous 4, was on Billboard’s top 10 for weeks. Along with Andy Irvine & Donal Lunny, Bruce is a founding member of the supergroup Mozaik, with three recordings. You can see Bruce on the BBC TV “Transatlantic Sessions” with Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas, and on “David Holt’s State of Music” on PBS. He stays active touring and recording with longtime collaborators Darol Anger, Tony Trischka and Mountain Drifters’ Allison de Groot.

February 2022 marked the long-anticipated release of Bruce’s solo guitar CD: “Everywhere You Go,” a coming-together of new interpretations and arrangements of a wide swath of styles.

Bruce holds the title of “Visiting Scholar in the American Roots Music Program” at Berklee College of Music, where he is the go-to guy for the next generation of roots musicians.

“Performing and teaching traditional music are the biggest things in my world. For me, being a musician isn’t a standalone thing; it informs everything I do in my life. It’s always been about being creative and being a part of something much bigger than myself, a link in the musical chain and part of the community of people who play it and love it.” —