Archives

Super fun Celtic players Dick Hensold and Patsy O’Brien will be at Longstaff House.  They were cancelled in 2020 and are finally making it!

Also, opening will be an instrumental trio consisting of concertina and piano player Hannah Collins (County Cork, Ireland) and Missoula fiddle players Maggie Gammons and Kerry Morse.

A concert of traditional Celtic music, but with unique and innovative arrangements, including a variety of songs from Britain and Ireland, accompanied by guitar and Northumbrian smallpipes (a quiet bagpipe from Northeast England), or various whistles.  It also features traditional and historical tunes from Cape Breton Island, Scotland, Ireland and Northumberland, with a good measure of original music in the traditional style.  As well as a broad range of styles of Celtic music, this program also features an impressive range of expression, from the jaunty and humorous to soulful, led by Patsy’s warm and multi-colored baritone voice, Dick’s variety of pipes and whistles, and the nimble instrumental virtuosity of both musicians.  (Please note that NONE of the various bagpipes used in this concert are very loud.)

Dick Hensold, Northumbrian smallpipes, Scottish reel pipes, whistles and recorder. The leading Northumbrian smallpiper in North America, for the past 20 years Dick Hensold has performed and taught in England, Scotland, Japan, Canada, and across the United States.  He is an active composer, writing music both in the traditional Celtic idiom, and in more elaborately-scored pieces in the same style.  This repertoire is featured on his solo CD, Big Music for Northumbrian Smallpipes, released in 2007.  He is also a studio musician and theater musician, and is a 2006 Bush Artist Fellow.

“The piping is fluent and assured… his technique is impressive… delightfully interpreted”  — FolkWorld CD Reviews

“North America’s foremost smallpiper” –fRoots

Patsy O’Brien, vocals, guitar. As well as supplying the driving guitar rhythms of Celtic/World Music diva Eileen Ivers’ last European tour, and collaborating with many giants of the Celtic/World music scene (Paddy Keenan, Cathie Ryan among them), award-winning artist Patsy O’Brien hosts guitar workshops all over the country, and NPR saw fit to feature one of his song arrangements on the prestigious All Songs Considered. With 4 critically-acclaimed solo albums under his belt along with numerous live and studio collaborations, Patsy’s songwriting reflects his penchant for seamless genre-hopping, and a strong interest in roots Americana as well as jazz influences.

“Ireland’s best-kept musical secret” ­­— Irish Examiner

“Provocative, genre-defying excellence.” — FreeWorldMusic

https://krayvankirk.com/epk

A fine finger-style guitarist with a precise baritone, Van Kirk has a Ph.D. from the University of Alaska. After five years of living in his van and playing music across the US and Canada, he thought that a career in the sciences might be a bit more secure than playing music for a living, especially as a single parent. Eventually, however, he realized that he liked writing songs more than statistical models, and he put aside his computer, picked up his guitar, and set out again.

He’s not your average crying-in-your-coffee singer-songwriter. “We are driven by myth and the seasons of the heart” he says. “Science comes later. We need new stories and new myths for a very complex 21st century so that everyone, absolutely everyone, regardless of creed, color, gender, sexuality or anything else, can listen and look and see themselves on the Hero’s Quest.

Of this charming, Quixotic, and decidedly eclectic performer, the Borderline Folk Club in New York wrote “it is what every singer-songwriter should aspire to.”

“The evening’s act was Kray Van Kirk, whose 12-string guitar and soaring vocals were spellbinding. The Alaskan singer-songwriter, in his Edinburgh debut, was not the reason I arrived early, but was certainly why I stayed late.”

(Daily Fringe Review, Edinburgh, Scotland)

STYLE

The Timber Rattlers are an energetic bluegrass quartet from Missoula, MT. They pull inspiration from their traditional roots, but continue to push their boundaries in the realm of acoustic music.

EXPERIENCE

Each member has spent extensive time touring and in the studio. From the west coast to parts of Europe.

MEMBERS

Jesse Brown –

A violinist who has genre hopped many bands and instruments. He is most known for his years spent with “The Lil’ Smokies” both touring and writing music. You can also catch him playing with legendary Montana band “Mission Mountain Wood Band”.

Jamie Drysdale –

A class act guitarist with on-point bluegrass runs. Naturally entertaining the crowd with his quick, witty humor. He is always writing unique and ear-catching originals. Also known for his touring/songwriting with the Jackson Hole band “The Random Canyon Growlers”

Dillon Johns –

A recent graduate of the music program at The University of Montana. He now teaches elementary school music, passing on his extensive knowledge of music to the next generation. You can also catch him playing his groovy bass lines in the band “The Letter B”.

Caleb Dostal –

A prodigy in the field of contemporary banjo. Caleb has been playing since he was 11. He first heard the banjo on some old CD’s around the house and fell in love with the sound, and from then on has had an almost inhuman drive to improve his ability and discover more of the possibilities that the banjo holds.

I am pleased to announce that my friends from Bozeman and Livingston will be bringing their crew to Longstaff House for a show Novwnvwe 4th at 7:00 PM.  I have known Larry Barnwell for over 40 years starting with his band, Poor Monroe.  Add Joe Rock on banjo and killer tenor singing and you have the guts of a solid traditional bluegrass band.  Add twin-fiddle champs Isaac Callender and Louise Steinway plus Mike Parsons on mandolin and Kenny Williams on bass and you have a couple centuries of experience.

Please come only if vaccinated and mask if you prefer,

Joe Crookston

Songwriter, Performer, Artist, Facilitator & Producer

BIOGRAPHY

From Ithaca, NY…

Songwriter, guitarist, painter, fiddler, slide player, eco-village member and believer in all things possible. Named 2016 Folk Alliance International Artist-in- Residence and signed to I Book Shows along with David Francey and Irish Mythen. His songs are being made into films. 

He’ll surprise you and awaken the cynics.   He’s plumbing for lyrical gold like a social archeologist.  His songs are universal, his rhythm infectious and in concert, he is funny as hell one moment and transcendent the next.

This event is an outdoor concert with Longstaff House favorites, plus our host John Parker will be celebrating his 70th! Bring along a donation for the music, some food and drink, masks and a lawn chair if you wish.

John Reischman is one of the premier mandolinists of his generation. He’s a master instrumentalist capable of swinging between re-inventions of traditional old-time tunes, deconstructions from the bluegrass repertoire, and compelling original tunes, many of which have become standards. He’s also a powerful bandleader, touring his band the Jaybirds all over Canada and the United States. A member of the groundbreaking Tony Rice Unit, Reischman’s mastery of bluegrass, old-time, swing, and multiple Latin American musical styles, coupled with an Old Master’s sense of tone, taste, and musicality, has brought him a global reputation as one of the finest mandolinists of his era.  But most of all, he’s an understated visionary, the kind of master craftsman whose music is virtuosic without ever being flashy and who is renowned for his impeccable taste and tone as an artist. John Reischman embodies the true spirit of acoustic music in the 21st century.

Eli West is a Seattle-based multi-instrumental musician and interactive graphic designer. With an interest in angular phrasing and non-traditional improvisation within the historic precedents of bluegrass and old-time music, his playing both grounds and pushes the ensembles he is involved with. Well-known for his work with Norwegian fiddler Olav Mjelva, Cahalen Morrison, Jayme Stone and more, the Seattle-based singer and multi-instrumentalist oozes understated talent. He has released three records as half of the new/old-time duo Cahalen Morrison & Eli West, which tours regularly throughout the US and Europe. Eli is an active ingredient playing guitar, banjo, and bouzouki with both Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project and John Reischman and the Pine Siskins.