Hello!
After a crazy storm on Thursday that knocked out our power (and one of our windows), we had a gorgeous sunny day yesterday for cleaning up the mess left behind — and our electricity got restored. Yay! But, alas, the next line of storms arrived very early this morning, and we’re bracing for more this evening. All of that to say: I’m feeling a little distracted and not terribly articulate. So I’m going to do this newsletter “listicle” style. Here we go…
1. ONLINE WORKSHOP TOMORROW!
I’ll be broadcasting my now-monthly online fiddle workshop tomorrow (Sunday, March 28) at 1pm Central. But if you’ve got a busy Sunday, no worries — ticket holders can access the archived stream for TWO WEEKS after the workshop. The tune this time is “Ducks on the Millpond” in ADAE. Get your ticket here, and please tell all your fiddlegeek friends!
2. NEW MERCH!
Speaking of FIDDLEGEEKS… I’ve begun an experiment with some pretty niche “on demand” merchandise. I mean, hasn’t the public been screaming for #fiddlegeek leggings?? Well, we’ll see…
3. QUARANTINE HAPPY HOUR
In the increasingly bleak realm that we call “Facebook”, one bright spot is a sweet page started by my friends Barry Southern and Gabrielle Macrae (aka The Horsenecks) called Quarantine Happy Hour. It’s a simple and profound concept: a daily blast of old-time or other roots-flavored music, with tipping encouraged, to help keep spirits up and musicians busy during these strangest of times. I’ll be playing it for the first time on Wednesday, April 7 (at 7:30 Central time), as a part of a week of music curated by the amazing Nokosee Fields (if you haven’t heard him, check out in this video, or his spectacular “field recordings” project). I’m planning to play a lot of solo fiddle tunes for the QHH, but I’m sure I’ll also enlist Kieran to join me for a few numbers. I hope you’ll tune in!
4. Miscellaneous Bits:
This surprisingly racy old movie that includes “drugged cigarettes”
A great gift for yourself or anyone else who loves Alice Gerrard
That’s all for now!
Thanks so much for reading and keeping up with me. Drop a line if you want a fiddle lesson or want to put in a request for my QHH show.
I’m wishing you all good health and bottomless patience!
xo rayna