Silicon Valley House Concerts is Back!!!

Upcoming Concerts:

Reservations, address and directions:    Email:  sv.houseconcerts@gmail.com 

You must indicate Concert Name with each reservation request.   Thank-you

We are located off of N. Whisman Road near Moffett Field and within walking distance of VTA (0.7 mile from Middlefield Station)    Mountain View, CA

Hosted by: Susan Goodis and Matt Mathis

Charmas Music
Sing-along

Wednesday May 22nd, 2024

Reservations: SV.houseconcerts@gmail.com

Suggested Donation: $20.00

Come early for a jam session and potluck

5:30 PM Traditional Music Jam and Potluck dinner

  Bring your instruments

7:00 PM Wednesday May 22nd 

Charmas Music Outdoor concert with Sing-along - Lyrics provided

Charmas Sea Music Medley with KPIG Interview

ELISE MACGREGOR FERRELL – Band Manager, Songwriter, Trio performer on fiddle, Great Highland Bagpipes

Elise’s musical journey began at age 5, with piano lessons and playing flute for her middle school’s marching band, as well as listening to classical music every night during dinner. She fell in love with folk music at Yosemite’s first Strawberry Music Festival, becoming a regular at both the Spring and Fall festivals, while also entering the world of rock and roll music as a handheld camera operator and principle director for the Concord Pavilion’s live-feed video screens. Later taking up fiddling, she squandered countless early motherhoood evenings learning traditional Irish and Scottish tunes at drop-in Celtic sessions, and joining old-time/bluegrass jams. It could be said that Elise jumped off the deep end when she became a Great Highland Bagpiper, nowadays performing solo for swank private events, competing with California’s Silicon Valley Pipe Band, and marching seasonally with Canada’s 100-year-old Kincardine Scottish Pipe Band. Elise’s original inspiration for founding Charmas came from watching her favorite Celtic bands, The Old Blind Dogs and Molly’s Revenge. Since then, the band has evolved continually, with influence from various new members and guest performers.

AARON CLEGG – Sea Music captain, Trio performer on lead vocals, wooden flute, whistles, saxophone

Aaron Clegg: At age 13, Aaron first went to a traditional Celtic music session with his musician father, and his life changed forever. He returned to that session in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for the next 15 years off and on, learning to play Celtic flute and tin whistle, singing Irish songs and sea chanties, and eventually taking classes and playing in sessions with many famous Irish musicians. Meanwhile, he played saxophone in high school and college jazz bands. Rounding out his versatility in instruments and genres, Aaron became part of the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir for two years, performing at major concerts and sporting events and on national television. In 2013 he sang at the San Francisco Sea Music Festival. Aaron teaches private lessons in classical and wooden flute, tin whistle, saxophone, and voice technique, performs at weddings and memorials, and earns the balance of his living teaching at schools in the Santa Cruz area.

PHIL JOHNSTON – Trio performer on acoustic and electric guitar, lead vocals

Phil’s musical family started him on the piano at age 6 -which only lasted for a year, before the “great Folk scare” and the arrival of the Beatles inspired him to switch to guitar and never look back. Phil was 11 years old when he landed a lead singing role in a production of the Gian Carlo Menotti operetta, “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” Seven succeeding years of learning how to play the Blues and Psychedelic Rock music (with a particular focus on the music of Jimi Hendrix) may have helped Phil to earn a degree in Music Composition and Theory from the University of California Santa Cruz. “Between jobs” after college, he answered a want-ad for a guitarist/vocalist to join the Celtic-American folk group, Shanachie, and subsequently spent three years touring the U.S. and Europe, performing Celtic and American folk music. One highlight of this touring which Phil fondly recalls was representing the U.S. at the Dublin, Ireland Millennium Folk Festival in 1989. Nowadays, Phil uses his combined talents as a guitar player and vocalist to cross between genres and creatively explore the Celtic and American Roots music catalogs, developing ideas that bring fresh character to the Charmas musical family.

Email for Reservations: SV.houseconcerts@gmail.com

Suggested Donation: $25.00

All proceeds go to the musicians

A jazz- and folk-infused string duo, Secret Oaks formed at Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp in 2022 in one of those rare musical experiences where, from the very first notes, it was like they’d been playing together for years. While drawing on their experience in and enjoyment of just about any style of music they can get their hands on, Caroline and Daniel present an engaging show full of original tunes steeped in tradition, as well as fresh new arrangements of traditional favorites. Come join us for a fun evening of fiddle and cello!

Caroline McCaskey

A native daughter of the genre-bending West Coast music scene, Caroline McCaskey is equally at home in the regional traditional, improvising and classical music worlds. In demand as a teacher and performer throughout North America and author of the AltStrings Fiddle Method, she holds degrees in music composition and performance, as well as Suzuki teaching certification in violin and cello. She also runs AltStringsAcademy.com, a learning community for amateur adult string players who are ready to build their technique, style, and musicianship skills. Caroline is a fiddler for the dance bands Tartan Suite, Reel of Seven and Greenwich Mean Time. She also performs regularly with Boston-based guitarist and banjo player Larry Unger. Caroline is the 2019 U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Champion and a two-time International Musical Saw Champion.

Daniel Delaney

Multi-style cellist Daniel Delaney is an improvisor, composer, singer-songwriter, and rhythm player. He has performed throughout the U.S. as a concerto soloist, band leader, recording artist, chamber musician, and clinician. Sought after as cello and chamber music faculty for camps and colleges across the country, he’s also the creator of the Groove Cello Academy which trains creative cellists in the art of rhythm play and jamming. Daniel has been recorded for popular projects by BeachSlang (Polyvinyl), Elvira Nikolaisen (SONY), mewithoutYou (Tooth and Nail), Twin Sister (Domino), Sun Airway (Dead Oceans), and many others. His songs and compositions have been called “cowboy music,” “hero music,” “epic,” “funky,” and “groovy.” The Philadelphia Inquirer called him a “master musician” and Broadway World a “world class cellist.”

Past Concerts:

Silicon Valley House Concerts

Presents

Liz Knowles, Eamon O’Leary & Marla Fibish

 Irish traditional musicians

Driveway Concert

Wednesday April 10, 2024

6:00 Potluck 

7:00  Concert

Email for Reservations: SV.houseconcerts@gmail.com

Suggested Donation: $25.00

Having relished every opportunity to play together over the years when their journeys have converged, these three Irish traditional musicians are touring together for the first time this April.

All three musicians are deeply steeped in the tradition, and none are strangers to risk taking and invention.  Each enjoys the discovery of unearthing traditional tunes and songs — and brings their distinct musical sensibilities to bear in expressing them anew in today's light.

Liz, Eamon and Marla will deliver traditional repertoire with joyous energy and blend the textures of their instruments and voices in exploration of each others’ compositions. 

Liz Knowles’ fascination with music has always been rooted in how one can arrive, land, and leave a note. Though arriving to music through the language of classical music, it is her more than thirty year journey through Irish music that has defined her musical style. She established herself as a dynamic performer and recording artist as soloist on the soundtrack for Michael Collins, fiddler with Riverdance, Broadway’s The Pirate Queen and The Green Bird, soloist with the New York Pops, the National Symphony and other orchestras and as featured artist for the Ireland 100 Festival at the Kennedy Center. She was music director and producer for several large scale stage shows and recording projects that toured Europe, Asia and South America. Her compositions and arrangements of tunes and songs have been recorded by John Whelan, Flook, Chicago’s Metropolis Symphony Orchestra, Liz Carroll, Beolach, Bachue, J.P. Cormier, Michael Black, John Doyle, and Ensemble Galilei. Liz is well-known as an active and engaging teacher at camps in the US and abroad and is on faculty at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Liz has composed and produced music for two exhibits featuring Irish art at the Art Institute in Chicago and at Notre Dame’s Snite Museum. She is a member of The String Sisters, The Martin Hayes Quartet, and Open the Door for Three and produces an ongoing podcast with fiddler Liz Carroll called “The Lizzes”. www.lizknowles.com

Eamon O’Leary, From Dublin is a long time resident of New York City. A singer and string player, with deep roots in the world of Irish trad, he is one half of The Murphy Beds with Jefferson Hamer. Their debut album was described by The “Hufffington Post as one that “bears repeated listening from start to finish, with ten beautiful, crystalline songs.” He is also a member of The Alt with Nuala Kennedy and John Doyle. His songwriting can be heard, most recently, on The Silver Sun from Reveal Records. As well as playing with many friends and comrades from the 'trad' music world he has also performed and/or recorded with many artists across the folk spectrum including Anais Mitchell, Glen Hansard, Bonnie Prince Billy, and Sam Amidon. 

Marla Fibish's 40-plus years in the music started in San Francisco, where, given her grandfather’s mandolin and a newfound passion for Irish music, she forged her own approach and style, not even realizing at the start that she was playing an outlier of an instrument.  Over the years, she has become a prominent voice of the mandolin in the music, as well as a composer, and a dedicated and enthusiastic teacher.  Her compositions include tunes in traditional and not-so-traditional forms, songs, and a wide variety of verse she has set to music. She teaches classes, workshops and camps around the US and in Ireland, as well as online at Peghead Nation String School. In addition to the mandolin, Marla sings, plays mandola, tenor guitar, and dabbles at the button accordion. Her discography includes her 2020 solo release The Bright Hollow Fog, a 2011 duo project with Cork singer Jimmy Crowley The Morning Star, trio projects Out of the Rain and Three Mile Stone, and she has released four albums with Noctambule, her duo with guitarist and husband Bruce Victor, most recently Every Migrant is My Fellow in 2021.  www.marlafibish.com

Listen:

Liz joins Noctambule on Marla's composition ‘Murmuration’:  https://youtu.be/B8jvHsLzQN4?si=PnLiHnzrs63zWzZx

Watch:

Liz with Open the Door for Three: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEzEV36bboM&t=184s

Liz with Martin Hayes Quartet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os6j_tlcKrA

Eamon with The Murphy Beds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmFPNAnKJUY&t=73s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh126gLAWK4&t=3s

Eamon with Nuala Kennedy: https://youtu.be/55amYJaqTCc?si=VQC0Yu_d4XO5Pjpz

Marla with Jimmy Crowley: https://youtu.be/QYYIsUf-vvU?si=PBA4xyjidwBCXuNL

Marla with Noctambule: https://youtu.be/CGaBt7VpSOA?si=GpPYqR4RTIHChih4

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxgV7z9kln3OofIYwSohcLRqnTUxJgQTRe?si=xy8eYyoC8ZpstV1s

Janie Rothfield and Allan Carr

HOUSE CONCERT, WORKSHOPS & JAMS 

Dec 8th & 9th - Make it a Music Weekend

RSVP for reservations & directions: sv.houseconcerts@gmail.com

RSVP for reservations & directions: sv.houseconcerts@gmail.com

Janie Rothfield and Allan Carr

Friday December 8th 

SCOTTISH AND OLD TIME MUSIC HOUSE CONCERT/JAM 

with JANIE ROTHFIED & ALLAN CARR

Doors Open at 6:30pm

Concert from 7-8:30pm

Jamming 9-10pm

Concert Suggested Donation of $20-25 - all proceeds going to the artists.

Cash-Check-Venmo-Paypal accepted at the door

Pre-Sale Tickets encouraged and appreciated 

Venmo (Jane-Rothfield16)

Paypal (Janerothfield@gmail.com). 

Please make sure to pay WITHOUT ANY FEE’S.

Saturday December 9th  

OLD TIME MUSIC WORKSHOPS/POTLUCK/JAM 

with Janie Rothfield & Allan Carr

4-5pm   Clawhammer Banjo with Janie                    5-6pm   Old Time Fiddle with Janie

and

   Old Time Guitar with Allan

All Workshop Classes are Intermediate Level

6-7pm   Pot Luck - bring a dish to share         7-?    Jam with Janie & Allan          

                     (please label your dish)         (donation appreciated for jam only)

Contact Janie for more information about the classes Info@janierothfield.com

 Suggested Donation: $25 PER CLASS (includes the jam)

$20 per class if you attend the Friday night House Concert.

ABOUT JANIE & ALLAN

Award winning fiddler Janie Rothfield and husband Scottish singer and guitarist Allan Carr have been playing and recording their unique blend of Celtic and Appalachian music for over 40 years! Allan (from Aberdeen, Scotland) grew up surrounded by the rich traditional music of the Northeast of Scotland and is one of the finest singers from that tradition. His Celtic/old time guitar style perfectly complements his traditional songs and all styles of fiddle tunes! Janie is a highly acclaimed fiddler, clawhammer banjo player and tune composer with deep roots in the fiddle traditions of New England, Scotland, and the American South. She has numerous recordings to her credit and has TWICE won the prize for Best Non-Traditional Tune at the Clifftop Appalachian Music Festival in West Virginia. Together, they play roots music that is directly from the source while expanding on that tradition with newly composed songs and tunes. Great singing, hot instrumentals and with Allan’s humor, always a whole lot of fun! In 2024, Janie and Allan will be releasing a new DUO album featuring their signature blending of traditional (and new) music from Scotland and America.   www.janierothfield.com

LOOK AND LISTEN TO JANIE & ALLAN
The Peacock Rag (tune) https://youtu.be/Qik-p6pl93Q
Chilly Winds (song) https://youtu.be/eYNX_gQNo54
Blue Eyed Susie (tune) https://youtu.be/Ro9leRIUwnc
Too Late for the Bacon (by Janie Rothfield) (tune) https://youtu.be/o3MZKLCBXlU
The Candlelight (Scottish Song-words by Marion Angus/Tune by Janie Rothfield) https://youtu.be/SEz6b95mklw

Janie Rothfield is a power-house American fiddler, clawhammer banjo and guitar player who is widely recognized for her traditional and inventive style, in the pocket rhythm, whimsical groove and her award-winning original tunes. She is a full time touring musician playing concerts, workshops, festivals and dances around the world and online. Janie has been performing, recording and teaching music that is rooted in Traditional American and Celtic Music since her teens when she started playing with older generation musicians from New England, North Carolina and Quebec. With over 15 recordings to her credit, Janie has traveled the world with her unique brand of traditional based music including the UK, France, Germany, Holland, Australia, Canada and throughout the USA. Janie is also the founder and director (and instructor) of Janie’s Jumpstart Home Based Weekend Music Camps held in homes around the world!

Janie currently performs as a solo artist and with duo with Scottish Singer/Guitarist ALLAN CARR (her husband), BEVERLEY STREET (Old Time and Celtic Music), THE IDUMEA QUARTET (innovative old time string quartet), HEN’S TEETH (with cellist Nathan Bontrager), LITTLE MISSY (duo with daughter Shona Carr), CORACREE (Contra Dance and Folk Band) and with Breton Fiddle star, YUNA LEON. 

Allan Carr was born and raised in Aberdeen, Scotland, a region known for its rich musical traditional musical heritage. He began singing traditional songs in his teens, learning from such source singers as Jeannie Robertson, Lizzie Higgins, Jimmy McBeath and Stanley Robertson and performed regularly at the Aberdeen Folk Club, and won traditional singing competitions throughout Scotland. In the 80’s Allan teamed up with American fiddler Jane Rothfield and they have been melding their two musical traditions together ever since. Allan's old time backup guitar playing is firmly rooted in the old style but also reflects his creativity, rhythm, and drive for Old Time Music. His singing of both Scottish and Appalachian style songs and ballads remains true to tradition and with his expressive and mellifluous voice he weaves musical stories from both sides of the Atlantic. Plus he's really funny!  Allan plays with Janie as a duo, bass with their dance band Coracree and as a solo Scottish traditional singer. 

Upcoming Performance:

The Canote Brothers - March 4th or 5th, 2024   exact date and time TBD

Corwin and Grace

Monday, September 11th, 2023 

6:30 PM Driveway Concert

Suggested donation: $20.00 - $25.00

I highly recommend attending Corwin and Graces’ concert; they are both amazing musicians, performers with wonderful original material. I’ve known Corwin since he was 13 and watched him grow into a seasoned professional who with Grace are sure to delight the most critical of listeners       - Yvette Tannenbaum

I played a gorgeous waltz written by Corwin before every meeting them. Then I attended a Contra Dance and all of the music was magical. I am delighted to share this music from such brilliant young musicians and encourage my guests to attend my house concert with Corwin and Grace      - Susan

Corwin Zekley has deep roots in music, having grown up in traditional & world music communities in Northern California. They’ve played violin for over 20 years in a myriad of styles from traditional Celtic music to Hot Club Jazz, to singing and playing classic love songs. Corwin has played over a thousand shows, appeared on dozens of records, and has published albums and books of their own songwriting and compositions. Since graduating from the Berklee College of Music in 2019, they've spent most of their time touring the U.S and internationally with multiple bands, as well as playing solo shows and teaching music. Check out their music at www.corwin.us/

Grace Fellows fell in love with music as a child, and formed her first band at age 14. She studied at Ventura College and CalArts. Last August, she completed her masters from the BIMM Institute (London Music College). She has been recording, performing, and touring. Check out her music at www.towselikehouse.com/

The Corn Likkers 

with Masankho Kamsisi Banda

Friday June 30th, 2023    6:30PM

Driveway Concert 

Admission: sliding scale donation - up to $20.00

Email for reservations: SV.houseconcerts@gmail.com

Come listen and learn some African  dance  

The Corn Likkers perform hard-driving Old-Time string band music and haunting songs rooted in the traditions of North Carolina and the Appalachian Mountains. 

I know this South Bay Family personally and their connection is not to be missed! - Susan

Masankho Kamsisi Banda, M.A

African Dancer & Storyteller — Educator—Healer–Interplay Leader & PeaceBuilder Using InterPlay, Dance, Music, Drumming, and Storytelling to motivate and inspire diverse people of all ages to work together to bring about Peace, Social Justice and Cultural/Spiritual Healing & Understanding. Brief Bio: Masankho is a multi-disciplinary Performing Artist, Educator, Spiritual Healer and PeaceBuilder. He brings many unique perspectives to his work around the world. He learned the fine arts of storytelling and dance from his Malawian culture spending many long days and nights listening to stories and dancing to music that captivated his mind, shaped his being, nourished his soul and strengthened his spirit. Using performing arts, Masankho motivates and inspires people of all ages to work together to bring about peace, social justice and cultural understanding. In 1997, he started Ucandanc African Healing Arts to bring his passion for dance and storytelling to communities around the world. In 2001, Masankho was awarded the Unsung Hero of Compassion by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Pathways to Peace       Masankho Biography

The Corn Likkers are an old-fashioned family band with a modern sound. They play regularly for Bay Area contradances, won awards at BOTMC, took 1st place at the Santa Barbara Old-Time Fiddlers' Festival – where Eleanor won 1st in singing and Lael won 3rd in fiddle – and played at the Grass Valley CBA Father’s Day Festival. They’re thrilled to be playing with a long-time family friend and [strong positive adjective] musician, Masankho Banda. 

Each of the band members carries a separate tradition. 

Eleanor (banjo-uke, banjo, flat-footing and vocals) learned banjo and ballad singing from her mentor Sheila Kay Adams, a 7th generation North Carolina ballad singer and National Endowment of the Arts Fellow. 

Elijah (guitar) has been learning the flat-picking style of Tony Rice from Jason Keiser, a student of Tony’s brother, Wyatt Rice. 

Lael (family friend - second fiddle & vocals) plays the chording second fiddle style taught by Tricia Spencer, a master old-time fiddler from Kansas. 

Ray (fiddle) learned Tommy Jarrell’s fiddling style from John Engle, one of the few acknowledged experts in that style. 

Lauren (upright bass) spent years learning and then teaching African dance from and with African dancer and storyteller Masankho Banda.

Traditional Jazz and Western Swing   

Paul Anastasio, Paul Shelasky & Tony Marcus

Friday June 2, 2023                   6:30 PM               Suggested Donation:  $25.00

This will be an outdoor concert.  Bring a sweater.

Paul Anastasio grew up near Seattle, Washington. He started playing the violin at nine, soon getting hooked on popular and folk music. He was fortunate to have been able to study with the inventor of swing jazz violin Joe Venuti, in the late 1970s.  Around that same time, he was hired to play fiddle in Merle Haggard's band, touring the U.S. and Europe for six months and performing on Austin City Limits in 1978. After that, he worked four years with western swing band Asleep at the Wheel. Moving to Nashville in 1984, he worked for three years with Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers and, later, two years with Loretta Lynn. 

Paul Shelasky took up guitar at 14 and fiddle at age 20. He has played Bluegrass with nationally touring bands such as Lost Highway and the Good Ol’ Persons  With the Rhythm Brothers he spent 5 years entertaining at the original Disneyland and a year at Tokyo Disneyland. He has twice won the California state fiddle championship. Paul has played and taught at Bluegrass and Jazz festivals around the world for the last 4 decades.

Tony Marcus has played jug band music and blues with Geoff Muldaur, string swing with Cats & Jammers, big band jazz with the Royal Society Jazz Orchestra, weird old Hawaiian and hokum with R. Crumb and the Cheap Suit Serenaders, bluegrass with mandolin legend Frank Wakefield, fiddle tunes with the Arkansas Sheiks, and honky tonk country with Rose Maddox, to name a few.

May 8, 2023, Monday - 6:30

Suggested Donation: $25.00

Jerry Wicentowski 

& some of the finest bluegrass musicians in the Bay Area

Tom Bekeny- fiddle 

Keith Little- banjo 

Steve Pottier- bass

Butch Waller- mandolin

Jerry Wicentowski- guitar, lead vocal

Tom Bekeny, Fiddle

Tom Bekeny is a mandolinist, fiddler, and experienced teacher who has performed and taught in the

U.S. And abroad for over 45 years. He was the mandolinist in such San Francisco Bay Area bands as

Done Gone, Tenbrooks, and an early version of the Grant Street String Band with Laurie Lewis. He has

appeared with Peter Rowan, the Rowan Brothers, David Grisman, George Cole, vocalist Lua Hadar,

and Jerry Garcia. Tom has played mandolin with the highly acclaimed Kathy Kallick Band since 1996

and has held the fiddle spot with California's premier traditional bluegrass band, High Country since

1988. He has recorded with many of these groups, was featured in the Summer of 2009 issue of

Mandolin Magazine, was recently interviewed in Bluegrass Today, and has an instructional DVD on

beginning mandolin (Music Star Productions). Tom also plays in the popular trad bluegrass “jam”

band, Bangers and Grass, with west coast bluegrass luminaries Jim Nunally, Steve Pottier, Bill Evans,

and Chad Manning.

Keith Little, 5-String Banjo, Vocals

Keith Little was born into a musical familyliving in The Sierra Nevada Foothills of Northern

California wher ehe was first introduced to string band music by his father. He quickly developed the

instrumental skills that continue to please audiences regionally, nationally, and internationally dating

from his first professional engagement in 1969.

Keith's singing has also made his musical participation invaluable, as over the years he been a band

member of and/or recorded with (partial list): Rose Maddox, The Vern Williams Band, Frank

Wakefield, The Chieftains, Dolly Parton, The Country Gentlemen, Ricky Skaggs, The David Grisman

Bluegrass Experience, The Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band.

Keith's musical compositions have been recorded by Claire Lynch, Tim O'Brien, the Country

Gentlemen, Longview, Crystal Gayle, Vern Williams, and the Whites, among others.

Most of Keith's current stage appearances are as a solo act and with his group the LittleBand.

Steve Pottier, String Bass

Steve Potttier has been playing bluegrass music in the Bay Area for decades, performing on guitar,

bass, and mandolin. He has played bass with local bands High Country and Done Gone, as well as with

Frank Wakefield, the Johnson Mountain Boys, the Mighty Crows, and more recently with Bangers and

Grass. Well known for his Clarence White style guitar playing, he collaborated with Sandy Rothman on

a Sierra Records CD, the highly acclaimed “Bluegrass Guitar Duets.” Steve has taught guitar and

mandolin at several music camps, including California Coast Music Camp, Bluegrass at the Beach,

Bluegrass Camp at Leveland, TX, and at the CBA camp. He wrote a regular column for Flatpicking

Guitar Magazine.

Butch Waller- Mandolin, Vocals

Butch Waller is well known to Bay Area bluegrass fans as the leader, mandolin player, and singer of

the band High Country, which has toured nationally and internationally over the past 50+ years. A slew

of High Country recordings can be found on various labels and Butch's “Golden Gate Promenade” is

available on Rebel.

Jerry Wicentowski- Guitar, Lead Vocals

Jerry Wicentowski discovered bluegrass music growing up in NYC, and considers himself as much a

fan and student of his first generation bluegrass idols as he is a performer and practitioner. Vocally, his

focus on tone, emotional expression, and phrasing distinguishes his singing from that of many of his

contemporaries. These qualities come to the fore on his two releases 'Lucky Break' and 'Thanks, Mac!'-

the latter a tribute and expression of gratitude to Mac Wiseman whose singing Jerry found so inspiring.

Mac endorsed and praised the recording saying:

“Jerry, I'm very flattered by your interpretation of my material and I think it's a wonderful

piece of work! I heartily endorse it, and I'm very pleased that you're carrying on my legacy.”

Jerry is thrilled to return to the Bay Area where he and the Wiseman Institute toured successfully in

2019, followed by an appearance at the prestigious Station Inn in Nashville. Jerry feels fortunate and

humbled to have assembled the current edition of 'Jerry and the Wiseman Institute' and can't wait to

hear the audience's response.

Gangspil    -   March 1, 2023

"Two of Denmark’s leading folk musicians take you along on a tour around the music traditions of their home country!”

7:30 Concert $25.00 suggested donation

5:00 - 6:00   workshops  fiddle with Kristian, accordion with Sonnich 

             (1/2 price for low income and students)

            6:00 - 7:00 - potluck dinner for workshop attendees

Sonnich Lydom (accordion, harmonica) and Kristian Bugge (fiddle) will guarantee you an entertaining and varied journey through the traditions of Danish folk music. This lively duo performs old dance tunes and songs from every corner of their Scandinavian home country. From rural islands like Læsø to the metropol Copenhagen, including a few of their own compositions. Expect everything from wild polkas and jigs to lyrical waltzes, fiery reels and happy hopsas, plus the exotic “Sønderhoning” dance tunes from the famous Island of Fanø, and long forgotten songs from all over the country. An unforgettable live experience spiced up with humor and stories from their many years on the road. 2016 has been a really great year! Receiving the "Tradition Award" at the Danish Music Awards (Danish Grammy) and playing more than 50 concerts around North America as well as a good number in Denmark too. We are delighted and proud of that, it has been great to play for you all!

Sonnich (accordion, harmonica, vocal) is a master of Irish, French-Canadian, and especially Danish traditional tunes. During the last 25 years he’s been leading the revival for diatonic accordion and harmonica in the Danish folk music. Sonnich holds a special place in his heart for the music from the Western Island of Fanø, where his family is deeply rooted. He is best know from his work with the ULC trio and later quintet (adding jazz pianist Peter Rosendal and bassist Mads Vinding). ULC received the Danish Music Award (Danish "Grammy") in the category "Folk Album of the year" in 2001 and 2004.

Kristian (fiddle) has specialized in the strong Danish folk music traditions. He is very active on the Danish and Scandinavian folk music scene as well as in the rest of Europe and North America, both as a musician and teacher. His debut CD was awarded "Danish debut of the year" and "Danish Folk Instrumentalist of the year" at the Danish Music Awards Folk 2006 (Danish “Grammy”). At the same occasion in both 2012 and 2016, Kristian received the prize as ”Danish Folk Artist of the Year!”

More info: www.kristianbugge.com

Both Kristian and Sonnich were amongst the first twelve musicians to receive the honorary title ”Danmarks Rigsspillemænd” (National Danish Folk Musicians) in 2014. This evening they will also talk about the traditions from back home, how they learned and how the music lives on today and is part of the famous Danish hygge!

The musicians are known from bands like: Baltic Crossing, Habadekuk, Jensen & Bugge, ULC, Marianne Green Band and Dronningens Livstykke. They released their first album, ”Gangspil”, in the summer of 2015! The U.S. release took place at the great Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend, WA in the first week of July. The Danish/European release was celebrated at the Tønder Festival in Southern Denmark in the last weekend of August.

www.trad.dk    www.facebook.com/traddk   www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUjlxALByhw

April Verch & Joe Newberry

Newberry & Verch became masters of their traditions and tour the world with their respective bands and projects. Yet they never forget the roots of their music, that connection to the people in the audience, on the dance floor, to the community sparked by a good song. For these veteran performers who come from distinct traditions and parts of the world, their collaboration is fueled by their kindred passion for bringing people together to celebrate traditional music. Blues and ballads stem into Canadian regional styles and originals. Their voices blend in harmony, their tasteful instrumentals prove that these masters have nothing left to prove, and then their feet kick up the dust in perfect rhythm…and together, they make you remember why this music existed in the first place.

Wednesday February 22,2023 - Mountain View - 

Reservations: SV.houseconcerts@gmail.com

Fiddle Workshop 5:00 - 6:00

Joe’s Workshop 6:00 - 7:00 (guitar or songwriting)

Concert 7:30 - 9:30

Suggested concert donation:  All Donations Benefit Performers

                                                                                                Workshop $25 live or on zoom

                                                                Concert $30

                                                                1 Workshop & Concert $45

                                                              2 Workshops & Concert $60

Fiddle Workshop:   5:00 - 6:00

Ottawa Valley Fiddle: April will give an overview of the Ottawa Valley fiddle style she grew up with and teach a favorite tune or two from the region. In addition to the melody, April will demonstrate and help you implement bowing patterns and ornamentation that fit this regional Canadian fiddle style. April will be teaching “be year” so please feel free to bring a recording device to help you remember the tune when you get home. There will also be time for more general fiddle Q&A, so bring your questions and together we’ll learn something new and have a good time!

Guitar Workshop 6:00 - 7:00 - Using a flatpick, thumbpick, and bare fingers, Joe Newberry's guitar workshop will highlight the strong right hand rhythm of the bass notes on the 1 and the 3 of the beat and the strum on the 2 and the 4 that propels a fiddle tune or a song forward. Highlights include Maybelle Carter’s “Scratch” thumb style lead, bass runs from bluegrass to old-time, and John Hurt’s fingerstyle.  The workshop will also provide some tips and techniques on how to accompany yourself singing, too.  Joe will leave room for guitar Q&As. Bring a recording device, as the class will be taught by ear.

Fiddler, singer, and stepdancer April Verch knows how relevant an old tune can be. She was raised surrounded by living, breathing roots music—her father’s country band rehearsing; the lively music at church and at community dances; the tunes she rocked out to win fiddle competitions. She thought every little girl learned to stepdance at the age of three and fiddle at the age of six. She knew nothing else and decided early on that she wanted to be a professional musician. 

While Verch is perhaps best known for playing traditional fiddle styles from her native Ottawa Valley, Canada, her performances extend into old-time American and Appalachian styles and beyond, for a well-rounded tour-de-force of North Americana sounds. Verch tours with world-class musicians as a trio, featuring acoustic guitar, mandolin, bass and clawhammer banjo in addition to Verch’s vocals, fiddle and foot percussion.

One might suspect a performer with as many talents as Verch would pause to take a breath, or need to somewhat compartmentalize her skills during a live performance. But on stage, Verch is almost superhuman, flawlessly intertwining and overlapping different performative elements. She stepdances while fiddling. She sings while stepdancing. Sometimes she sings, steps and fiddles all at once, with apparent ease and precision. Verch is - as they say - a triple threat in performance, her live show a beautiful companion to her music: versatile, robust, and masterfully executed. 

Joe Newberry is a Missouri native and North Carolina transplant who has played music most of his life. A frequent guest on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, Joe performs in a duo with Mike Compton, and also performs with guitarist Jon Shain. Another special side project pairs Joe with old-time music legends Bill Hicks, Mike Craver, and Jim Watson.  He was recently a featured singer on the Transatlantic Sessions tour of the United Kingdom with fiddler Aly Bain and Dobro master Jerry Douglas, along with an all-star band and fellow singers Rhiannon Giddens, the Milk Carton Kids, Carla Dillon, and Karen Matheson.

A noted teacher of traditional music and song, Joe has taught at numerous camps and festivals, including Ashokan, Pinewoods Camp, Vocal Week and Old-Time Week at the Augusta Heritage Center, the Australia National Folk Festival, the Blue Ridge Old-Time Music Week, and the Bluff Country Gathering.  He was for many years the coordinator of Old-Time Week at the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, WV. He won the songwriting prize for Gospel Recorded Performance at the 2012 IBMA Awards for his song Singing As We Rise, and was co-writer, with Eric Gibson, of the 2013 IBMA Song of the Year for They Called It Music.

Joe came to North Carolina as a young man and quickly became an anchor of the incredible music scene in the state. Still going strong more than 30 years later, he writes songs that consistently show up on Bluegrass charts, does solo and studio work, and plays and teaches at festivals and workshops in North America and abroad.

  Silicon Valley House Concerts

Presents

Corn Potato Stringband

“Impressive fiddle work... authentically raw and homespun” -The Scotsman

Prelude to Berkeley Oldtime Music Convention

Tuesday -  September 20th, 2022 - 6:00 PM -  Mountain View

Driveway Concert - Bring a jacket 

Reservations: SV.houseconcerts@gmail.com

 $25.00 suggested cash donation 

(Advance electronic payment Preferred - additional $2.50 service fee) 

PayPal.me/aaronjonahlewis, Venmo: @aaronjonahlewis, or Cashapp: $aaronjonahlewis

Route 77 - Corn Potato String Band - Live at Jalopy, 4 April 2015

Peor Es Nada - Corn Potato String Band - Live at Jalopy, 4 April 2015

The Corn Potato String Band earns high praise in traditional American music, keeping old time fiddle and banjo music from a one-way trip to the dustbins of history. Theirs is a story of struggle, hard knocks and triumph. Essentially unable to cope with modern life, the members of this band are outcasts of society who survive by playing the lost music of the flatlands where they were raised.

The Corn Potatos have delighted audiences with their driving fiddle tunes and harmonious singing across the US, Canada, Europe, Mexico, and India. They are all multi-instrumentalists dedicated to continuing the music and dance traditions of the Central and Southern US. In addition to being champion fiddlers they play banjo, guitar, bass and mandolin and deftly handle many different antiquated styles including ballads, “ho-downs,” country “rags” and southern gospel, specializing in twin fiddling and double banjo tunes.

THE CORN POTATO STRING BAND, Westport's 8th Folk & Bluegrass Festival pt2 2,822 views  Jul 4, 2014  THE CORN POTATO STRING BAND performing in 

Upcoming Silicon Valley House Concerts

February 22nd, 2023 - April Verch

Woodside House Concert  

Outdoors

Evie Ladin Band Concert 

Portola Valley 

June 18, 2021   5:00pm 

"Door" opens at 4:30pm

Tickets:  $20 at the door

Check out this link for more information about the band!

https://evieladin.com/projects/evie-ladin-band/

Reservations, address and directions:   

             Email Angela Schillace at aschillace@gmail.com 

Information about location and parking will be given upon RSVP

Concert will be outdoors with limited seating. 

Masks required if you are not vaccinated. 

Masks optional if you are vaccinated.

This is NOT a Silicon Valley House Concert.

Keenan Hammack 

Wednesday      March 11, 2020        8:00 PM

Suggested Donation:  $15.00

SPECIAL:   Silicon Valley House Concerts 7th year and 50th house concert celebration

Trust me, Keennan Hammack is young musician bound for fame.

Keenan Hammack has been an award winning flatpicker since the age of  14, taking the Arizona contest circuit by storm.  Watching Keenan’s live  performances you can expect anything from blazing fast bluegrass licks, to tasteful jazz influenced improvising on original material. Everything from virtuosic through-composed pieces to improvisational pieces that have NEVER  been played before.   While listening you will be taken on a journey, guided by the melodic sounds of narrative guitar playing.    There will also be some vocal pieces to compliment his guitar playing.

He first picked up the guitar at the age of 10, out of pure boredom and in result fell in love with bluegrass and acoustic music. Since then Keenan has learned and shared the stage with many of his heroes including Del McCoury, Sam Bush, David “Dawg” Grisman, Punch Brothers, Sean Watkins, Steep Canyon Rangers, Jerry Douglas, Sierra Hull and many more. 

Disregarding his acceptance to Berklee College of Music, Keenan is currently touring the festival circuit with Telluride Band Contest winning band 'Sugar and the Mint"[played here 10-2-19],   He can be found in downtown Prescott pickin’ and grinnin’ with various duos. 

With several albums under his belt already, this 19 year-old Arizona native is “stoked” to see what life will bring to the table next. 

Listen:

Butterfly Magnet

Keenan Hammack Pourover CD 

Caleb Klauder and Reeb Willms

February 26, 2020 - Wednesday

7:30 PM to 9:30 PM

Cupertino Odd Fellows Lodge   (NOT IN OUR MOUNTAIN VIEW HOME)

20589 Homestead Rd

Cupertino, CA 95014

Link to Eventbrite for tix -

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/caleb-klauder-and-reeb-willms-at-the-cupertino-oddfellows-lodge-tickets-92947559653

A link to Caleb Klauder - calebklauder.com

Fellow Pynins

"Folk Music with a hefty touch of whimsy" - Bob Boilen (NPR) 

Wednesday -  Feb 5, 2020 - 7:30 PM -  Mountain View

Reservations: SV.houseconcerts@gmail.com

 $20.00 suggested donation