Sunday, May 4, 2008

Fantastic Finish-New Old Stock brings our house concert season to a close

A perfect ending to our house concert season, New Old Stock played to a full house following Cassie and Chris' surprise guest appearance, holding to our tradition of a Jenkins' family member opening each house concert for the past five years.
It's difficult to label New Old Stock because they're at the forefront of a new acoustic music genre which has been emerging around the country over the past 20 years or so. Their instrumental repertoire includes complex and finely detailed arrangements of original tunes for fiddle, cello, 5 string banjo and hammered dulcimer. The fiddle and hammered dulcimer often shared a chromatic line played in unison, which was woven in and out of undulating time changes. Their sound is grounded in tradition and artistically sophisticated, not what the titles of their tunes might suggest-Itchy Spoon, Acorn Stomp written by fiddler and audience member, Kimber Ludiker, and Panda & Critter. Originally from California and Washington states, band members, Tristan(cello and fiddle), Tashina(fiddle) Clarridge & Wes Corbett(banjo), have all recently moved to the Boston area, while Simon Chrisman, on hammered dulcimer, resides near Seattle. Tristan will be travelling internationally this summer with Aoife O'Donovan, a past JHC artist, lead singer of Crooked Still.
Many thanks go out to all of you who have supported out house concert series over the past five years. We'll keep on hosting if you keep on showing up for our once a month musical gatherings. Look for a listing of next season's performers starting in September. Laurel Masse will return sometime in October and the New Lost Faculty Ramblers will be hosting a night of their own.

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