September 15 – O’Hara’s Cup

If you are a regular at the coffee house, you probably remember the opening set performed by “O’Hara’s Cup” two seasons ago. You may also recognize Dave Weiss and Don Shaffer as frequent audience members. Joining Dave on the Celtic harp and Don, playing fiddle and guitar, is Karen Cunningham, playing mandolin, cittern, and whistle. Karen also sings the lyrics of the beautiful Irish folk songs, which comprise the group’s repertoire. Traditional jigs, reels, and hornpipes add their lively rhythms to some quieter Irish ballads to comprise an evening of wonderful music!

Karen grew up in Cecil County and played bluegrass music in her early career. But she was drawn to Irish music and has polished her skills in that genre before joining the group. Dave Weiss originally studied classical piano in his native Pittsburgh, before moving on to the harp. Don Shaffer is the grandson of James O’Hara, an Irish immigrant who came to Wilmington in the late 1800’s. After Don’s aunt found Grandfather James’ fiddle in her attic, she passed it along to Don. He began immersing himself in Irish fiddling styles. Once these three musicians got together, they blended their love of Irish folk music with their instrumental and vocal talents, and “O’Hara’s Cup” was born. Join us in September, as “O’Hara’s Cup” opens another exciting season of live music at the North Elk.

October 20 – Rob Northrop and Larry Tambini

Rob Northrop is the originator of the North Elk Coffee House. For its first nine years, in addition to bringing a constant stream of talented musicians to North East, Rob opened each evening’s entertainment with a set of folk songs and his own compositions. Rob has played on our stage each of the last two seasons and returns from his new home, in Florida, to play this month’s show as well. With Rob will be his longtime friend and accomplished guitarist, Larry Tambini.

Rob grew up in Brooklyn, NY. He spent many evenings at the small coffee houses, which dotted the New York City music scene. This was the time of folk singers like Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Dave Van Ronk, and street singers like the Reverend Gary Davis – singers, for whom the message was what mattered. For Rob, it was also a time to sing in a band with friends from his high school. So Rob’s introduction to music was a mix of the rock songs of the day and the growing archive of folk music of the 1960s. But Rob also spent time with a generation of his family, for whom the Appalachian folk music of Southern Virginia was foremost. It was here that Rob added great traditional songs like “Shady Grove” and “The House Carpenter” to his repertoire. Rob also discovered songs from the Black American blues tradition, especially those of Huddie Ledbetter, aka Leadbelly. Along with adding new material from several musical styles, Rob composed songs that expressed his observations on life and his love of the natural world. Rob honed his skills on the six-stringed acoustic guitar, playing concerts at colleges and in music clubs in and around Blacksburg, VA.

Recently, Rob has continued to write music and learn new songs. He has also reconnected with Larry Tambini, one of the members of the band Rob sang and played with in Brooklyn. Larry’s guitar work adds another dimension to Rob’s guitar and vocals. Larry owns a video production company, which films and edits commercials and other visual media. With Rob’s other high school friend, Jay Neenan, Larry opened a recording studio near Tampa, Florida, where Rob has just completed his first CD, “Thirteen Petalled Rose”. You can hear the fruits of Rob’s labors at our October coffee house.
Read more about Rob and sample or download some of his songs at: cdbaby.com/cd/robnorthrop .

November 17 – Geri Smith

You were fortunate if you were at the coffee house a few years back, when Geri performed an evening of music with her friend, harp and flute player Mary Kay Mann. Geri’s voice can be soft and flowing, on a lyric that reminisces over past loves or it can soar with volume and emotion, as she belts out an upbeat song accompanied by the driving rhythm of her piano. Over the course of an evening, her original compositions will take you to both extremes of the emotional continuum.

Geri Smith studied classical piano at an early age, then switched to guitar as a teen. The guitar became the vehicle to carry her developing song writing talents. She graduated from Music School after studying piano and composition, and majoring in Voice. After that, Geri studied jazz piano and arranging with Pete Levin of the Dave Brubeck Group and classical piano at the Julliard School. She has two solo CDs to her credit: “Two Sides to a Story” and “This Chain”. Since 1998, Geri has operated her own publishing company, London Sunset Music, Inc. She has also written and performed music for various commercial enterprises; played piano, guitar and mandolin as a studio musician; and made several appearances in New York City, including an off Broadway musical review, “Sisters of the 60’s”. Though she spends the majority of her time performing around the Delaware Valley, alone or with her band, Geri also teaches Voice, Piano, and Song Writing classes at the Center for Creative Arts in Yorklyn, Delaware. The November coffee house promises to be another of Geri’s wonderful performances!
Read more at: www.gerismith.com .

January 19 – Butch Ross and Christie Burns

The hammered dulcimer has a distinctive sound, which evokes visions of life in the early American colonies. And the light and bouncy notes and sliding chords of the mountain dulcimer give musical insights into the mountain communities of the southeastern Unites States. When these two instruments are joined, in an evening of music, they produce a magical experience. Hear for yourself, as Butch and Christie come to the coffee house this month.

Christie first heard the hammered dulcimer at a renaissance fair, at the age of fifteen. It has been the focus of her musical life ever since. With a BA in Ethnomusicology from UCLA and several years of study in Ireland, Christie has developed an extensive knowledge of Irish traditional music. In fact, she was the originator and director of the Cork Dulcimer Festival in Cork City, Ireland. Back in America, Christie demonstrated her mastery of the hammered dulcimer by winning the California State Championship and taking second place at the Hammered Dulcimer National Championship in Winfield, Kansas.

Butch Ross learned to play the mountain dulcimer and then made it his own by employing inventive new techniques on this traditional folk instrument. In fact, he has been called “the Bela Fleck of the mountain dulcimer” due to his creative playing style. Rather than setting the dulcimer on a flat surface to play, Butch holds it like a guitar. He then uses techniques developed for the mandolin, banjo, guitar, and the South American quarto to achieve the sound he is looking for. Butch applies this original style of play to traditional folk and old time music, as well as his own compositions.

Christie and Butch got together in 2003 to begin performing as a duo. When they aren’t touring, away from their hometown of Bowling Green, Kentucky, they work as instructors at music festivals and acoustic music workshops around the country and abroad. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear their creative performance at the coffee house in January.
Read more and sample some of their music at: www.christieburns.com
www.butchross.com
cdbaby.com/cd/burnsross

February 16 – Brooks Williams

If you want to hear what a well-played guitar can do with the fingerpicking blues, swing, flatpicking roots music, and soulful rock, come to see the performance by Brooks Williams. His show moves easily between all of these styles and beyond, and inspired Dirty Linen magazine to call Brooks one of “America’s musical treasures”. Brooks Williams’ performance of instrumentals, ballads, blues, and original songs will have you calling for more!

Brooks was born in Statesboro, Georgia but developed his musical talents in Boston. It was there that he released his first of fifteen CDs, entitled “North From Statesboro”. In the ensuing years, songs from Brooks’ CDs have gotten airplay on public and college radio stations around the country. Praise for his music has come from NPR’s “All Things Considered”; BBC broadcasts; The Washington Post; The Boston Globe; and in Acoustic Guitar, Performing Songwriter, and Guitar Player magazines. They all agree that Brooks Williams is something special. From his current home, in Northampton, Massachusetts, Brooks has been readying his latest CD for a scheduled release date of January, 2008, which will make it available at this month’s show. Be with us to welcome this versatile composer and interpreter of the many genres, which have blended to create American acoustic music.
Read more at: www.brookswilliams.com

March 15 – Eve Goldberg

From Toronto this month, we welcome back one of our favorite performers: Eve Goldberg. You will feel like you are sitting in a parlor, while an old friend plays and sings for you, as Eve blends country, old time, bluegrass, blues, and jazz styles into what can truly be called “folk” music. Relax in bed during “Something About a Sunday”, return to the days of radio during “My Mother’s Opery”, and savor Eve’s sister’s “Watermelon Sorbet”, without ever leaving your seat!

Eve last stopped in at the North Elk two years ago, on tour from her home in Canada. Though born in the Boston area, Eve’s adopted country has embraced her eclectic music over the last several years. She gets regular airplay on Canadian folk shows, as well as those in the States. She has an engaging smile and a warm stage presence to go along with her great guitar and vocal music. Her most recent album of songs , “A Kinder Season”, joins Eve’s two previous releases. While she plays in a variety of musical styles, what ties them all together is her pure voice and intelligent interpretations – she is comfortable playing and singing any type of song. Eve was the winner of the 1994 Juno Award (Canada’s highest folk music honor) for “Best Roots and Traditional Album of the Year”. The Toronto Star’s Greg Quill said: “(Eve has) a pure and pleasing voice and a performance style that knows no bounds.” And Dirty Linen magazine said: “Eve Goldberg shows a warm, inviting folk style in both vocals and guitar…”
Read more and sample some of Eve’s songs at: www.evegoldberg.com
cdbaby.com/cd/evegoldberg

April 19 – Kate Macleod and Kat Eggleston

Rich Warren, in a Sing Out! magazine review, calls the recently-released recording by this duo a “heavenly CD of traditional and original songs”. Kate plays her trademark violin and guitar and Kat adds traditional guitar and hammered dulcimer, as these “two expressive but distinctly different voices twine around their favorite songs…” If you love the sound of traditional American folk music, as we do, make sure you attend our April show!

Kate Macleod moved from the Washington, D.C. area to Salt Lake City to study violin-making. Her love of that instrument is evident in her mastery of its use in both the traditional American folk songs and original compositions she presents. Her wonderful music has been played on: “A Prairie Home Companion”, River City Folk”, and “Peace on Earth”, a holiday show hosted by Judy Collins. On her last visit to the coffee house, Kate wowed us with her version of Jean Ritchie’s “None But One” and her haunting reflection on fate’s dealings with a mining disaster in “Angels On My Mind”.

Kat Eggleston, one of the lead singers of “The Otters”, has joined her talents with Kate Macleod to create beautiful two-part harmonies. As Michael Parrish writes in Dirty Linen magazine, “she is a virtuoso guitarist and hammered dulcimer player”, as well. And about her songs, Dennis Palkow of the Chicago Tribune says, “Kat Eggleston not only has the soul of a poet but the voice of an angel…”Her songs expose emotional truths, turning an intuitive eye toward personal experiences, to which all in her audience can relate. Hear the result of the collaboration between these two remarkable artists on the coffee house stage in April.
Read more and sample some of their music at: www.katemacleod.com
www.kateggleston.com
cdbaby.com/cd/katemacleod4

May 17 – Eric Garrison

Eric played such a marvelous show on our stage last season that we wanted him to return in 2008! Those of you who were attending the coffee house from the beginning will remember Eric’s first appearance several years, when he first introduced us to his touching story about the train engineer and his wife, with which he introduced his song, “Lehigh Valley Line”. For this composition, Eric was awarded Second Place in the 2000 WAMMIE Awards in the folk category. Eric’s mellow voice and pretty guitar accompaniments make his songs engaging and entertaining.

Eric Garrison is equally as comfortable on the recording engineer’s side of the sound system, as on the performer’s side. But it is from his songwriting and his performances that Eric is best known. He draws from a variety of musical traditions to write songs whose lyrics demonstrate his insight into the ups and downs we all experience in life and whose melodies are remembered long after his evening’s performance is over. Eric develops a nice rapport with the audience as he moves from one story song to another. As the Stamford Advocate (CT) says of Eric Garrison: “(he is) the consummate performer, telling stories and singing his original songs as though he was entertaining in his own living room.” And Doug Orr, of the Charlotte Folk Society, says: “Eric Garrison possesses a special combination of musical gifts, from great songwriting to skills on several instruments…. There were few corners of the musical spectrum that he didn’t explore, and he did so with sensitivity, humor, and a fine sense of celebration of the music.” Eric should have some interesting stories to relate about his Cedar Run Songs Workshops, run for the first time this past summer, in Madison, Virginia. Conclude the coffee house season with us this month, by spending an evening with Eric Garrison.
Read more and sample Eric’s songs at: www.ericgarrison.net .
cdbaby.com/cd/egarrison