BRATTLEBORO — The Northern Roots Traditional Music Festival returns Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 26 and 27, with music, dance, and celebration.
Now a cornerstone of the traditional music calendar in New England, the festival, directed by Keith Murphy, continues to showcase a variety of northern musical traditions, including Irish, Scottish, English and French Canadian.
The festival begins with a full slate of daytime participation and performance activities at the Brattleboro Music Center, including workshops, panels, mini-concerts, a dance band class, and more.
On Saturday, a special “family track” includes a concert and a dance for all ages.
Day one concludes with a gala evening performance. In a news release, the festival organizers describe the events of Sunday afternoon as “a boisterous series of participatory sessions - pub singing, French Canadian and Irish tune jamming - at the local pub, McNeill's Brewery.”
Saturday evening's capstone concert features local and regional musicians. Following is a list with biographies provided by the festival.
• Dominique Dodge, a harper and singer who grew up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and now divides her time between Vermont and Cape Breton.
“She has a passion for melody-driven dance music and responsive, rhythmic accompaniment, as well as for songs, airs, and 18th century harp tunes. Her sound is firmly grounded in the traditional music and song of Cape Breton, Scotland, and Ireland.”
• David Surette, “highly regarded throughout New England and beyond for his work on the mandolin, guitar (both flat-pick and finger style), and cittern.
“His diverse repertoire includes Celtic and New England tunes, original compositions, blues and ragtime, traditional American roots music, and folk music from a variety of traditions.
“As part of a duo with his wife, singer Susie Burke, they have performed regularly together for many years, recording several albums and building a reputation as one of New England's top folk duos.”
• Eloise & Co. “features the combined creative force of two of the country's most sought-after dance musicians, Becky Tracy and Rachel Bell. Sometimes playing as a duo and other times joined by various guest guitarists, including Owen Morrison, Andrew VanNorstrand, and Bethany Waickman, these two crank out dance and concert music with unbridled energy and soaring beauty.
“Originally thrown together at a gig where Tracy led the contra dance portion of the evening and Bell led the French dance part of the evening, they have continued to fuse these two elements into their concerts and dances, as well as adding songs and original compositions to the mix.
“Their first recording, More, Please!, was released last summer, and as its name suggests, they are already dreaming of the next recording.”
• Acoustic guitar and mandolin player Flynn Cohen has “performed all over the world with many notable acts in traditional and contemporary acoustic music. He can be seen in concert with the American folk band Low Lily and legendary Irish accordion player John Whelan, as well as duo shows playing music from his four solo albums.”
• Owen Marshall “has performed and recorded with many of traditional music's top acts. In addition to being a respected performer, he is in demand at music camps throughout New England and the U.S., where he shares his approach to accompanying traditional music.”
• Fiddler Jenna Moynihan “is regarded as one of the best of the best in the new generation of acoustic musicians. Versatile and inventive, her playing draws heavily from the Scottish tradition but is in no way bound by it. Her prowess and subtle sure touch on the fiddle is uniquely expressive, and she is at home as a bandleader, collaborator, or educator.”
• Traddleboro is an annual Northern Roots Festival tradition that brings together a group of local musicians specifically for the festival. This year's Traddleboro 2019 incarnation features local pub singers Kirk Dale, Kate Richardson, Paul Eric Smith, and Amanda Witman.
“Richardson is a longtime devotee of community singing, with roots in Sacred Harp and Welcome Yule. Smith started singing pub songs with Morris dancers while in graduate school in Ontario, and Witman was drawn to the rich fullness of pub songs after hearing a Revels recording.
“Dale enjoys the feeling of harmony singing so much that he started a new pub sing in Marlborough, N.H. so his friends and community could enjoy the therapeutic benefits of a good local singing session.”