Sunday, October 8, 12 – 7 pm
An autumn tradition in the Catskills
Fiddlin’, dancin’, good eats, and much more!
Roxbury Arts Center
Advance Tickets: $20 Adult, $18 Student/Senior
All tickets day of performance: $25
The first snap of Autumn, the vibrant colors on the mountainside, and the scent of harvest means its time for fiddling, square dancing, fine homemade food, and world renowned folk musicians in Hilt & Stella Kelly Hall at the Roxbury Arts Center; it’s time for the Fiddlers! Festival. With FIDDLERS! 24 we present a roster of phenomenal female fiddlers in a genre that has traditionally been dominated by men.
We are offering an exceptional line up for this year’s event! The Tremperskill Boys kick things off with a Square Dance at noon, supported by our friends at Catskills Folk Connection. The Tremperskill Boys return to the stage to perform a set of traditional music, followed by a performance from fiddlers Ari & Mia. Then Lula Wiles take the stage of the Roxbury Arts Center, and the final performance of the evening is from the joyously unrestrained Hanneke Cassel. But it doesn’t end there! Bring your own instrument and join all of our performers for the All-Star Jam!
FIDDLERS! 24 Festival Schedule:
Noon – 1:15p Square Dancing with The Tremperskill Boys
2:00 – 2:45p Traditional music with The Tremperskill Boys
3:00 – 3:45p Ari & Mia
4:00 – 4:45p Lula Wiles
5:00 – 6:00p Hanneke Cassel
6:00 – 7:00p All-Star Jam (Bring your own instrument!)
Come hungry! The Roxbury Arts Group will offer a spread of Catskill comfort food prepared by community members and local restaurants.
About Hanneke Cassel: Effervescent and engaging, Boston-based fiddler Hanneke Cassel is a performer, teacher and composer whose career spans over two decades. Her style fuses influences from the Isle of Skye and Cape Breton Island with Americana grooves and musical innovations, creating a cutting-edge acoustic sound that retains the integrity and spirit of the Scottish tradition. Hanneke’s music is a blend of the contemporary and traditional, described by the Boston Globe as “exuberant and rhythmic, somehow wild and innocent, delivered with captivating melodic clarity and an irresistible playfulness.”
A prolific composer, Hanneke writes music from personal experiences of love and loss as well as to commemorate the joys and sorrows in the lives of loved ones. A native of Port Orford, Oregon, Hanneke started out as a Texas-style fiddler and went on to win the 1997 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship, which awarded her the opportunity to study with Alasdair Fraser and introduced her to fiddle camps and the folk community — both of which continue to play an integral role in her life. Hanneke is a sought-after performer who has graced stages across North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. She has been featured at Celtic Connections (Glasgow, Scotland), KVMR Celtic Fest (Grass Valley, USA), Milwaukee Irish Fest (Milwaukee, USA), Celtic Colours (Cape Breton, Canada), WGBH Christmas Celtic Sojourn (Boston, USA) and the National Celtic Festival (Port Arlington, Australia).
In addition to performing with her own band, Hanneke has been featured on PBS with Boston-based fiddle band Childsplay and has performed with Baroque/Celtic group Ensemble Galilei at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (with former NPR ‘Talk of the Nation’ host Neal Conan) and the National Geographic in Washington, D.C. (with actor Bill Pullman). She has made guest appearances with Cherish the Ladies, Matt Glaser & the Wayfaring Strangers, Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas, and Joey McIntyre (from New Kids on the Block.)
About Lula Wiles: If you ask Lula Wiles about their self-titled debut album, they’ll be quick to tell you it was a long time coming. The band is deeply rooted in traditional folk music, but equally deep is their devotion to modern songcraft. The songs span from heartbreak-drenched acoustic ballads to honky-tonk swagger to contemporary grit and back again, all anchored by rich vocal harmonies. Their lyrics are fiercely honest, littered with reinvented folk tropes and evocative images – a rainy field of daisies, a dusty bar lit by Christmas lights, an unmade bed. The three band members swap instruments and frontwoman duties, with six songs penned and sung by fiddler/guitarist Ellie Buckland, four by fiddler/ guitarist Isa Burke, and one by bassist Mali Obomsawin. Onstage, the band gathers tightly around a single microphone for a spirited live show that resonates like a whiskey-slap to the heart.
Though the band is young, all the members of Lula Wiles have spent their lives grounded in songs. Born in Maine to musical families, they began playing music together as kids at Maine Fiddle Camp, and eventually each made their way to Boston to study at Berklee College of Music. Isa and Ellie began performing as a duo in 2013, and Lula Wiles was born when Mali joined the band a year later. When Lula Wiles performs, the band’s many years of friendship are clear from their effervescent vocal blend and electrifying musical chemistry. All proficient vocalists, multi-instrumentalists, and songwriters, the three women of Lula Wiles are each uniquely powerful in their own right; but combined, they are a force to be reckoned with.
About Ari & Mia: Ari & Mia reference the styles of Southern and Northeastern fiddle music and the early American songbook to create a realm where their own compositions cross paths with older traditions. Their stylish and sophisticated music honors the sounds of Appalachian cottages, rural dance floors, and urban concert halls. Combine this with their innovative approach to songwriting and the result is a captivating sound.
Together, the sisters have toured all across the U.S and Australia and are both graduates of New England Conservatory’s cutting edge Contemporary Improvisation department. Both award winning songwriters, Mia’s song “Across the Water” won the 2010 John Lennon Songwriting Contest in the folk category, and Ari’s song “Old Man” was a semi-finalist for the 2016 International Songwriting Competition. Their two previous albums, Land on Shore and Unruly Heart, ranked high on the national folk radio charts.