Southeastern Vermont’s Northern Roots Traditional Music Festival will take place on Saturday, January 25, 2014 in Brattleboro, Vermont. Now in its 7th year, the Brattleboro Music Center’s annual festival brings together local and regional musicians representing the best of various northern musical traditions. This year’s festival features over twenty musicians and the rich traditions of Ireland, Scotland, England, Scandinavia, New England and French Canada.
The annual Northern Roots Festival is a celebrated opportunity for Brattleboro’s vibrant community of traditional musicians to come together to share their music with each other and the community at large. The festival also draws on the richness of talent in the broader region, with players from throughout New England coming to perform, teach and participate in informal sessions.
The Northern Roots Festival is a day-long event featuring participatory workshops, performances, pub sessions, a dance band, and a family dance, all of which culminate in an evening performance honoring the best of the northern musical traditions.
Among the musicians featured in this year’s evening performance and daytime workshops are Irish fiddler Armand Aromin from Rhode Island; the Maine based, fun-loving, folk singing, banjo playing Gawler Family; Irish flute and whistle player Dan Restivo; Scandinavian and English Country Dance fiddle and nyckelharpa player lydia ievins; Swedish fiddler Andrea Larson; traditional English folk singer Tony Barrand; local musician, guitar, mandolin, piano and foot percussionist Keith Murphy; folk singer Megan MacArthur; Douglas Cox, violin maker; and local Vermont musicians Mia Bertelli, Carol Compton, Doug Creighton, Andy Davis, Louisa Engle, Mary Lea, Lissa Schneckenburger, and Brendan Taaffe.
Also returning for this year’s evening performance is the ever-changing, crowd-pleasing Traddleboro ensemble. With a name reflecting the rich presence of traditional players in Brattleboro, Traddleboro is a shifting conglomeration of local musicians who each year create and perform a set of music specifically for the Northern Roots Festival. This year’s Traddleboro ensemble includes fiddlers Randy Miller and Becky Tracy, with guitarist Roger Kahle.
The daytime schedule includes several participation workshops including French Canadian Fiddle, Irish Fiddle Ornamentation, Irish Flute Workshop, Approach to Fiddle Practicing, Accompanying Maine Fiddle Tunes; Accompanying Irish Tunes on Guitar, Harmony Singing; and for all instruments Irish Polka, and Scandinavian Tune workshops; as well as a Dance Band Prep workshop.
Daytime performances include Harmony Singing, and Matching Fiddles with Players. The Gawler Family will present a Family Concert that promises to engage the youngest followers of traditional music and their counterparts of all ages. The Family Concert will be followed by a Family Dance featuring an exciting dance band that will evolve in a workshop earlier in the afternoon.
Since its inception the Northern Roots Festival has provided vehicles for engaging youth. This year’s festival continues to showcase youth talent with a daytime performance by The Zeichners, Oliver, Yasi and Loula, on Ulliean pipes, flute, fiddle, tenor banjo; and fiddlers Emma Snope and Kyra Bleicher with guitarist Everest Witman.
Welcoming all musicians, and rounding out the daytime activities are a slow jam, Irish and French Canadian sessions, and a pub sing.
The majority of the festival events happen at the New England Youth Theatre, a state-of-the-art downtown venue, with multiple teaching sessions occurring simultaneously throughout the building along with performances in the main theater and a family dance on the stage. McNeill’s Brewery, only a couple of blocks away from NEYT, provides the perfect setting for a rollicking afternoon of jam sessions.
Tickets for the Northern Roots Festival (combination day & evening $35, daytime only $20, evening only $20; youth combination day & evening $15, youth day only $10, youth evening only $10) are available from the Brattleboro Music Center (www.bmcvt.org, 802-257-4523). Advance ticket purchase is recommended; seating for the evening performance is limited. Admission at 3 pm, for the Family Concert and Family Dance only, is $5 per person at the door.
On Saturday, during the festival, tickets can be purchased at New England Youth Theatre, 100 Flat Street in Brattleboro, Vermont, with doors opening at 11:30 am. For directions and the complete festival schedule of events visit the Brattleboro Music Center website at www.bmcvt.org or call 802-257-4523.
