The Turning of the Year: A Holiday Celebration with John Whelan, Low Lily & Katie McNally
12-3-2017
7-time All-Ireland accordion champion and Narada recording artist John Whelan teams up with roots band Low Lily and Scottish-style fiddler Katie McNally for a spectacular holiday mini-fest! Featuring traditional and original music from Ireland, Scotland, and America, this diverse and energetic show will help usher in the holiday season with a bang. Alongside uptempo jigs and reels will be lesser-known Christmas carols and wintry classics, featuring two fiddles, accordion, guitars, mandolin, double bass and lush, layered vocals. This exclusive show brings the generations together for a fresh new take on roots music from both sides of the pond.
Although JOHN WHELAN grew up near London in Dunstable, England, he was raised on the fiddle and pipe music of Ireland. Dunstable has a large Irish community, and his father, Denis, was from Ireland’s County Wexford. “Ours was a very traditional household,” John says. “My father didn’t have any major vices – his only addiction was to Irish music.” At the age of 14, already a seasoned winner of numerous accordion championships, John recorded his first album, "Pride of Wexford." Named in honor of his father, Pride of Wexford was no passing fancy - the album is still is print and selling steadily. Since his debut album, John has recorded six more albums, and has been featured on numerous compilations, recorded several albums and has collaborated with such luminaries as Eileen Ivers, Bernadette Peters, Johnny Cunningham, Tim O'Brien, and Kathy Mattea. His music has been featured in numerous television shows and commercials, and he appeared in the major motion pictures Ride with the Devil, The Drowning Plains, and Gods and Generals, and has performed live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Fox After Breakfast.
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Voted the Falcon Ridge Festival’s "Most Wanted" band of 2016, the Brattleboro-based trio LOW LILY explores the roots and branches of American folk music, creating a unique brand of acoustic music that is rooted yet contemporary. Low Lily is Liz Simmons (vocals, guitar) Flynn Cohen (vocals, guitar, mandolin), Lissa Schneckenburger (vocals, fiddle) and Corey DiMario on the double bass. They are all masterful players, composers and arrangers with deep relationships to traditional music styles ranging from bluegrass to Irish, Scottish, New England and Old Time Appalachian sounds. Liz has performed with Livingston Taylor, Tom Chapin, and Lucy Wainwright Roche. Flynn has toured worldwide with numerous notable acts in traditional and contemporary acoustic music, including John Whelan and Ruth Moody of the Wailin’ Jennys. Lissa grew up in Maine as an active member of the folk community, graduated from The New England Conservatory of Music and has performed as a solo artist and with Solas and Childsplay. Together as Low Lily, these young but well-seasoned musicians create an undeniably rich and versatile musical palette.
"(Low Lily) takes roots music into areas that have not been explored fully and it sounds exceptional and refreshing..." –No Depression
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"The new face of Scottish fiddling in the USA" (the Living Tradition), KATIE McNALLY has made waves in both the American folk music scene and abroad since the release of her debut album, "Flourish," in 2013. A 2009 New England Scottish Fiddle Champion and recent cover girl for Fiddler Magazine, Katie has performed and taught fiddle courses in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Scotland, England, and France. She earned the Etta and Harry Winokur Award for Outstanding Contribution to Performance from Tufts University in 2012. She has performed and toured with famed Galician piper Carlos Núñez, the fiddle super-group Childsplay, Eric McDonald and her own trio. She released her sophomore album "The Boston States" in the fall of 2016.
VIDEO - VIDEO 2
7-time All-Ireland accordion champion and Narada recording artist John Whelan teams up with roots band Low Lily and Scottish-style fiddler Katie McNally for a spectacular holiday mini-fest! Featuring traditional and original music from Ireland, Scotland, and America, this diverse and energetic show will help usher in the holiday season with a bang. Alongside uptempo jigs and reels will be lesser-known Christmas carols and wintry classics, featuring two fiddles, accordion, guitars, mandolin, double bass and lush, layered vocals. This exclusive show brings the generations together for a fresh new take on roots music from both sides of the pond.
Although JOHN WHELAN grew up near London in Dunstable, England, he was raised on the fiddle and pipe music of Ireland. Dunstable has a large Irish community, and his father, Denis, was from Ireland’s County Wexford. “Ours was a very traditional household,” John says. “My father didn’t have any major vices – his only addiction was to Irish music.” At the age of 14, already a seasoned winner of numerous accordion championships, John recorded his first album, "Pride of Wexford." Named in honor of his father, Pride of Wexford was no passing fancy - the album is still is print and selling steadily. Since his debut album, John has recorded six more albums, and has been featured on numerous compilations, recorded several albums and has collaborated with such luminaries as Eileen Ivers, Bernadette Peters, Johnny Cunningham, Tim O'Brien, and Kathy Mattea. His music has been featured in numerous television shows and commercials, and he appeared in the major motion pictures Ride with the Devil, The Drowning Plains, and Gods and Generals, and has performed live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Fox After Breakfast.
VIDEO 1 - VIDEO 2
Voted the Falcon Ridge Festival’s "Most Wanted" band of 2016, the Brattleboro-based trio LOW LILY explores the roots and branches of American folk music, creating a unique brand of acoustic music that is rooted yet contemporary. Low Lily is Liz Simmons (vocals, guitar) Flynn Cohen (vocals, guitar, mandolin), Lissa Schneckenburger (vocals, fiddle) and Corey DiMario on the double bass. They are all masterful players, composers and arrangers with deep relationships to traditional music styles ranging from bluegrass to Irish, Scottish, New England and Old Time Appalachian sounds. Liz has performed with Livingston Taylor, Tom Chapin, and Lucy Wainwright Roche. Flynn has toured worldwide with numerous notable acts in traditional and contemporary acoustic music, including John Whelan and Ruth Moody of the Wailin’ Jennys. Lissa grew up in Maine as an active member of the folk community, graduated from The New England Conservatory of Music and has performed as a solo artist and with Solas and Childsplay. Together as Low Lily, these young but well-seasoned musicians create an undeniably rich and versatile musical palette.
"(Low Lily) takes roots music into areas that have not been explored fully and it sounds exceptional and refreshing..." –No Depression
VIDEO - VIDEO 2
"The new face of Scottish fiddling in the USA" (the Living Tradition), KATIE McNALLY has made waves in both the American folk music scene and abroad since the release of her debut album, "Flourish," in 2013. A 2009 New England Scottish Fiddle Champion and recent cover girl for Fiddler Magazine, Katie has performed and taught fiddle courses in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Scotland, England, and France. She earned the Etta and Harry Winokur Award for Outstanding Contribution to Performance from Tufts University in 2012. She has performed and toured with famed Galician piper Carlos Núñez, the fiddle super-group Childsplay, Eric McDonald and her own trio. She released her sophomore album "The Boston States" in the fall of 2016.
VIDEO - VIDEO 2