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May 2021
Hammered Dulcimer
with Dave Neiman
Come learn how the hammered dulcimer fits into traditional music. It is set up for keys that are Old Time friendly. Dave will show the arrangement of scale patterns and how they relate to a circle of fifths. It is suited for tunes that are major, minor, and modal. Not only good for playing melodies, the dulcimer works for playing backup for fiddles and other instruments. You’ll be able to play along as Dave plays some tunes.
Dave Neiman, Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been performing and teaching both privately and at festivals since the early 1980’s. His passion for the hammered dulcimer has taken him to music festivals, concert stages, and street performing venues in many parts of the U.S. as well as Canada, Europe, and Japan, where he had the honor of a royal audience. A former National Hammered Dulcimer Champion at the Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, Kansas, Dave started out playing traditional New England dance tunes on dulcimer but, influenced by his classical and jazz guitar studies, established a reputation for his arrangements of classical and popular pieces. After a bit of a hiatus from life on the road, he is finally restarting his participation at a variety of festivals.
Mandolin Tunes
with Alan Kaufman
Learning From Source Recordings
with Ben Wetherbee
Source recordings! They’re often scratchy, funky, and frequently intimidating to learn from! But with a little work and some deep listening, they can be an incredible and indispensable learning tool. In this workshop we’ll talk about tips for learning and growing from these recordings and we’ll listen to a recording and go through the process of learning parts of it on the fiddle together. This workshop will be geared towards intermediate fiddlers with some tunes in their repertoire. Folks who are new to learning by ear are welcome!
We’ll be playing in Cross G (from the lowest string to the highest, that’s GDGD, with the A and E strings both tuned down a whole step to G and D). If you want to tune your fiddle to GDGD before the workshop, that would be easiest, though I’ll give folks a moment to tune in the workshop too!
Ben Wetherbee is a fiddler, singer, and multi-instrumentalist from Boston, currently based in Western Massachusetts. Growing up in a musical family with his mom, Ruth Rappaport, his earliest musical memories are of fiddlers playing all night long. Inspired by the fiddling he heard at parties, dances, bars, and festivals, Ben was soon “taken” by the fiddle, learning both from older sources and modern players. Now, he plays in a duo with Ruth, in a contra dance band, and as a solo act, mixing original songs, tunes, and experimental music.
Young Tradition Vermont
Our workshop will be a combination of teaching and performing. We will teach two old-time fiddle tunes and a child ballad, and participants are encouraged to play along on mute throughout the workshop. Please join us for a fun hour!
The Young Tradition Youth Commission is one of Young Tradition Vermont’s numerous programs. Each year, a young artist is chosen to lead a group charged with putting together a program of music to be played at events representing Young Tradition Vermont, and also completing a final project. We are currently preparing to record an EP in June with Colin McCaffrey, and are starting to perform again as the Covid-19 situation allows. The 2020/2021 commission is led by fiddle and flute player Maeve Fairfax. The group includes fiddler Hadley Stockwell, flute and fiddle player Anya Hardy-Mittel, guitar, fiddle, and mandolin player Emerson Zelis, and piano and accordion player Ben Munkres. We will be joined by fiddle player Romy Munkres, the leader of the 2019/2020 youth commission. We are thrilled to be participating in this festival! The Youth Commission project has been made possible in part by support from the Nelson Family Foundation, as well as support from Young Tradition Vermont, family, neighbors and mentors.
Old-Time Jam in the Key of A
with Craig Edwards and Friends (Jake Wysoski, Charlie Nolan, Sandol Astrausky, Rory Macleod, Bill Stumpf, and mystery guests)
This will be an Old-Time jam starting in the key of A and we’ll see where it ends up.
Old-Time Jam
with Janie Rothfield and Friends
Faster old time Jam with Janie Rothfield (fiddle), Allan Carr (guitar) and her festival friends Joanne (bass) and Rick Davidson (clawhammer banjo) Let’s create that Black Creek night time fun jam vibe and we will all crank out some fun tunes guaranteed!! Please bring your tune requests, a snack and beverage of your choice and let’s PARTY!!! We will play in a variety of keys TBD!! janierothfield.com
Here’s a cut from the new Dolly and the Devil CD (produced by Rick Davidson)
Open Mic
Tune swaps and schmoozing
Back in the Saddle Again
Ann Downey and Mary Gick of Ottawa, and Ruth Rappaport and Mark Wholley from Boston, will lead us off with some songs about moving on and reaching new heights. Please bring some songs you would like to share.
Mark Wholley is from the Boston area. He has played fiddle and guitar with the Dixie Butterhounds, The Hoot Owls, and other various ad hoc old time and Cajun bands. He has taught at some occasional singing and guitar workshops but mostly just loves to sing and play wherever there’s a jam.
Ann Downey is a longtime Black Creek and Old Songs attendee, on her own and with Finest Kind. She loves to pile in and sing with most anything going, and has sung, yodeled, and played banjo, bass, and guitar all the way from her native southwest to Ottawa, Ontario, and sometimes even gets paid for it.
Ruth Rappaport has been playing traditional music all of her adult life. A singer, guitar player, and pianist, she has performed with The Poodles and The Hoot Owls; with her son, Ben Wetherbee; and anyone else who wants strong backup and good songs. She lives in the Boston area.
Mary Gick was a teen-aged, finger-picking guitar player in a folk music cover duo in suburban Montreal when she first fell in love with clawhammer banjo at Mariposa Folk Festival. Currently living in Ottawa, she enjoys playing string band music with friends and has attended Black Creek off and on since its beginning.
Afterparty
Come say your goodbyes, questions, thank you’s, find out what you missed, and play some tunes, sing one more song, make plans for the summer.