November Happenings!

November 1st: 2nd Winter Farmer's Market from 10-2. We will be featuring the farms of Goodness Grows, Savage River, and many more as interest grows. Farmers will be bringing all the fresh grow products of their farms as well as baked goods, herbal products, etc. The other dates are Nov 15th, Dec 6th, and Dec 20th.

November 8th, from 12-3, we will be hosting an old-time and bluegrass jam. It is open to the public and all levels of players are welcome! Bring your instrument to join in or just come to listen.

November 14th and 15th we will be welcoming the Davis and Elkins Appalachian Ensemble for a series of workshops and performances. See the flyer below for more details!

Don't miss these one of a kind events only at Mountain City Traditional Arts!

Davis and Elkins Appalachian Ensemble coming November 14th and 15th!!

October and November Events at MCTA!!!!

October 11th 5pm-9pm

ARTS WALK!

Mountain City Traditional Arts will hosting some wonderful artists at this Fall's Arts Walk! Katie Neptune will be present helping people to weave their own baskets. Gary Phillips will be bringing in African instruments and doing a lecture and demonstration on those instruments. We will also have some members of our fiber arts and spinning available fro demonstrations. Plus, our shop is, as always full of wonderful locally made gifts for friends and family!!

October 18th 10am-2pm

Winter Farmer's Market!

The first in a series of regular off-season farmer's market's will be held at MCTA. We will be featuring the farms of Goodness Grows, Savage River, and many more as interest grows. The other dates are Nov 1st, Nov 15th, Dec 6th, and Dec 20th.

November 14th & 15th

Workshops and Performance by the Davis and Elkins Appalachian Ensemble!

It will be a weekend of Appalachian music and dance hosted by the talented students of Davis & Elkins College. More details to follow as the event gets closer. A don't miss event to save the date for!!!

Mountain City Traditional Arts

A Project of Folklore and Folklife at Frostburg State University

Supported in part by the Maryland Traditions Program of the Maryland State arts Council

25 East Main St Frostburg MD

301 687 8040

mountaincitytradarts@gmail.com

Matt Cranitch and Jackie Daly: Legends of the Sliabh Luachra Tradition of Instrumental Irish Traditional Music

 Sunday, October 5^th, 5:00pm

  Suggested Donation: $15.00

Fiddler Matt Cranitch and accordionist Jackie Daly have become legends of the Sliabh Luachra tradition of instrumental music. This unique music stems from northwest Cork and east Kerry and provides a very distinctive style of performing and a source of inspiration for both musicians. They have toured together many times, releasing their first CD, The Living Stream, in 2010, as well as touring the US in 2011 during the Imagine Ireland tour.

Matt Cranitch, a native of Ireland, is a well known fiddler and teacher across the globe. He has won All-Ireland Fleadh Cheoil titles, as well as The Fiddler of Dooney and Oireachtas Crotty Cup. He received a PhD from the University of Limerick for his study on the fiddle-playing tradition of the region. He was a consultant for the Geantraí series on TG4, has been an adviser to the Arts Council Deis scheme for the traditional arts (2005–2013), and has served on the board of the Irish Traditional Music Archive (2007–2010). He received the Hall of Fame Award from University College Cork in 2003 and is still teaching there. He is the author of The Irish Fiddle Book, published in 1988 (in its fourth edition). He has made multiple albums including three with Sliabh Notes, in addition to Éistigh Seal which consists entirely of slow airs. His most recent recording is The Living Stream with Jackie Daly.

Jackie Daly a native of Cork, has been described as arguably “the best accordion player in Ireland” by the New York Times. He was strongly influenced by Sliabh Luchra and has performed with many acclaimed musicians and groups owing to his versatility and desired talent, including previous MCTA performer Kevin Burke. He is also a highly valued teacher and received the TG4 Gradam Ceoil (National Music Award)in 2005, and the Kanturk Arts Festival Award in 2009.

The Alt: Irish, Scottish, English and American Songs and Tunes With John Doyle, Nuala Kennedy, and Eamon O’Leary

Friday, September 12^th, 7:30pm

Suggested Donation: $15.00

Praise for their soon to be released CD-- The songs are delivered with great flair and sensitivity, adorned with beautiful harmonies, and accompanied with consummate understated virtuosity where flute, guitar, and various members of the bouzouki and mandolin families weave a delightful tapestry of subtle musical textures that are just perfect for every song. ..It is nothing short of a musical delight.” - Mick Moloney New York City, August 2014

      For a one night only spectacular music event at Mountain City Traditional Arts Grammy nominated rhythmic guitarist John Doyle will be in Frostburg teaming up with vocalist and flutist Nuala Kennedy, and vocalist, guitarist, and bouzouki player Eamon O’Leary of the Murphy Beds as the trio The Alt. These three phenomenal musicians will be performing their own blend of traditional Scottish, Irish, English and American music for a can’t miss performance.

      Doyle gained an international reputation when he formed the band Solas and received his first Grammy nomination. He was featured on Tim O’Brien’s 2006 Grammy award winning album and has traveled in many duos and trios with multiple legendary artists such as Chicago fiddler Liz Carroll, with whom he received another 2010 Grammy nomination.

       Nuala Kennedy was raised amongst a great deal of Scottish culture in Dundalk where she quickly became heavily involved in music. She joined a ceilidh band, studied classical piano in Dublin, and finally became in immersed in traditional music in Edinburgh where she began performing Scottish and Irish tunes and traveling and releasing two albums with other traditional musicians

       Eamon O’Leary grew up in Dublin and began playing Irish influenced by the Mayock family, traditional musicians. He began performing with a variety of Irish musicians following his move to New York City in the 1990s. 

Mountain City Traditional Arts:A Project of Folklore and Folklife at Frostburg State University. Supported in Part by the Maryland Traditions Program of the Maryland State Arts Council, 25 East Main Street, Frostburg, MD; 301-687-8040, mountaincitytradarts@gmail.com

Irish musicians John Blake, flute, and Ruairy McGorman, bouzouki, will perform at Mountain City Traditional Arts, 25 East Main Street, Frostburg, Sunday, June 29^th at 3pm. The event is free and open to the public, with donations greatly appreciated. The concert marks one of several East Coast stops to launch Blake’s first solo CD endeavor, “The Narrow Edge,” which the Irish Echo touts as “excellent, straightforward and thoughtful,” filled with “brilliant stylish flourishes that reveal [Blake’s} command of his instrument.”

Blake is a traditional Irish flute player, guitarist, pianist, producer and sound engineer. An ex member of traditional group Teada, he has performed and recorded with the cream of Irish musicians including, John Carty, Paddy Glackin, Noel Hill, Liam O’Flynn, Jesse Smith, Harry Bradley, Colm Gannon, The Kane Sisters and James Kelly. Brought up in London, John was immersed in the vibrant Irish music scene that was there at the time, and was tutored by famed teacher Brendan Mulkere. John moved to Ireland in 1998 and developed a reputation as an accompanist of note, racking up several album credits. He joined ‘Teada‘ in 2001 and toured with them for 3 years, at which point he got off the road and settled into a job in Na Píobairí Uilleann (The Pipers Club) in Dublin. These days John is still appearing on many albums, and is to be found in his studio ‘The Lions Den‘ in Raheny, Dublin.

Dedicated to the education, sales, documentation and perpetuation of the traditional arts in the mountain region, Mountain City Traditional Arts is a program of Frostburg State University, with support from FrostburgFirst, the Allegany Arts Council, and the Maryland Traditions Program of the State Arts Council. For more information contact mountaincitytradarts@gmail.com or call 301-687-8040.

FSU is committed to making all of its programs, services and activities accessible to persons with disabilities. To request accommodations through the ADA Compliance Office, call 301-687-4102 or use a Voice Relay Operator at 1-800-735-2258.

Toothbrush Rug Making Workshops with Debra Johnson!!!

March 17th and 24th from 12-3. Classes limited to 5-6 people. $10 for the course and tools. All attendees must bring a ruler, scissors, T-pins, and at least 4 yards of fabric (cotton works best). To register or acquire more information please call Debra at 240-727-4694.

Basket Symposium and Exhibit Coming to MCTA This Weekend

Mountain City Traditional Arts and the Center for Research in Basketry, Inc. (CRB) will host a symposium and exhibit on the art and craft of Garrett County basket maker James McCrobie, Sr., on Saturday, April 5, from 1 to 3 p.m. at MCTA at 25 E. Main St. in Frostburg. The symposium will launch an exhibit of McCrobie baskets, which will continue through April 11. Come hear treasured McCrobie family stories highlighting a basket maker and his family who made and sold baskets to support themselves during the Depression.

The event is the result of research by Dr. Kathleen Beauchesne of CRB and FSU “Folklore in Appalachia” students who identified and recorded basket craftsmanship throughout Western Maryland and the entire state. Dr. Kara Rogers Thomas, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at FSU, and Beauchesne will speak about the work of these FSU students and the research done for the basketry project, Woven Traditions: Maryland Basket Making Culture and Communities, Past and Present. Symposium speakers will also include Dr. Charles Camp, who interviewed McCrobie and his family during the 1970s for the Smithsonian; McCrobie’s son, the last of six generations of basket makers; and Richard Yoder, curator of the Springs Museum in Springs, Pa., and McCrobie basket collector.

The symposium and exhibit are supported in part by the Maryland Traditions Program of the Maryland State Arts Council and the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Teaching Project.

MCTA is a program of FSU dedicated to the education, sales, documentation and perpetuation of the traditional arts in Mountain Maryland.

For more information, contact Beauchesne at 410-967-3585 or kobeauchesne@basketresearch.org, or call MCTA at 301-687-8040.

FSU is committed to making all of its programs, services and activities accessible to persons with disabilities. To request accommodations through the ADA Compliance Office, call 301-687-4102 or use a Voice Relay Operator at 1-800-735-2258.

Irish Singer-Songwriter to Perform at Mountain City Traditional Arts

Wednesday, April 9, 7:30 PM

Seán Tyrrell, Irish Folk Singer

Suggested Donation $10

Mountain City Traditional Arts will host a performance by Irish Singer-songwriter Seán Tyrrell, Wednesday, April 9 at 7:30 pm. Seán’s American tour kicks off the release of his 7th solo CD, “Moonlight on Galway Bay,”featuring a strong mix of Irish standards—songs that his US audience will be sure to recognize. 

“Like a lot of traditional musicians,” said Tyrrell, “the songs went over our heads mainly because of the way the lyrics have been treated over produced, laced sickly sweet. I have grown very fond of them and they have been part of my live performances for quite sometime. I hope I have treated them with the respect and delicacy that they deserve.”

Remembering the earliest stirrings of this idea for a CD which was unlike anything he’d done before, Tyrrell recalls, “An old lady came to the stage, ‘Young man will you sing Galway Bay for me?’ Mam I said  have never sung that song in my life and I suggested maybe the Isle Of Innisfree. As she made her way slowly back to her seat I thought I had to honour the request.  I apologized to the audience, said I needed a bit of time to find the key for the song. I had heard it so often I felt I might remember a lot of it. I did and when I came to those lines, ‘They might as well go chasing after moonbeams, Or light a penny candle from a star,’ I realised what I had missed for years. . .Thank you old lady who ever you for opening my eyes and ears.”

Dedicated to the education, sales, presentation and perpetuation of the traditional arts, MCTA is a program of Frostburg State University. To learn more call 301-687-8040 or visit them on the Facebook.