Roxbury Arts Group has expanded its long-running Fiddlers! Festival weekend this year, including a series of Old Time Music and Dance Workshops Saturday, Oct. 10. This is an opportunity for musicians and dancers of all levels to receive world-class instruction from members of Cathy and Marcy’s Old Time Coalition, leading figures in the Old Time music tradition. Workshops are available in rhythm guitar, clawhammer banjo, fiddle, bass, and flatfoot dance. Advance registration is recommended, and tiered pricing is available at roxburyartsgroup.org
Saturday Workshop Schedule and Information
11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Solid Rhythm Guitar with Marcy Marxer — Roxbury Arts Center: Dive into the role that guitar plays; driving the rhythm and coloring tunes with chords. This session covers flatpicking techniques for bass/strum styles, along with bass lines that make the rhythm interesting, with a major focus on playing in-time and keeping a steady beat.
Clawhammer Banjo with Cathy Fink — Carriage House at the Jay Gould Memorial Church: This workshop focuses on strong right-hand technique and clean left-hand work, then using those techniques to learn a well-known tune that frequently shows up at square dances and jam sessions.
Noon – 1 p.m.
Fiddle Tunes and Techniques with Rachel Eddy — Roxbury Arts Center. Learn a tune or two, along with techniques to help those tunes along. Open to all levels.
Mapping the Bass with Em Hammond — Carriage House at the Jay Gould Memorial Church. Bring your bass and spend an hour working on the bass’ role in old time music — a chance to focus on steady rhythm, the right choice of notes, and the techniques to make it all come together. Open to all levels.
1 – 2 p.m.
Flatfooting Workshop with Becky Hill — Roxbury Arts Center. Explore the Appalachian percussive dance forms of flatfooting and clogging and their relationship to string band music. Along with the basics, the workshop will focus on musicality, improvisation, and what it means to dance the tune. All levels welcome, no prior experience necessary. Leather-bottomed or smooth-soled shoes are suggested. Hill is a percussive dancer, choreographer, and community organizer whose work is rooted in Appalachian music and dance traditions.
More detailed information, including registration and pricing, is available at roxburyartsgroup.org
More Fiddlers! Weekend
Stick around after the workshops for a chance to use your new skills at the open jam from 1–2:30 led by Catskills Old Time just down the street at the Carriage House at the Jay Gould Church in Roxbury. Also at the Carriage House: a potluck from 1–3 and a community square dance from 3–5, led by Cathy & Marcy’s Old Time Coalition.
Come back Sunday, Oct. 11, from 3–6 p.m. for the 33rd annual Fiddlers! Festival, featuring Laura Cortese, Catskills Old Time Stringband, and Cathy and Marcy’s Old Time Coalition - a whole weekend of folk festivities, fiddles, and fun!
