Old-Time Archives - Canis Major Music

Windborne

Danielle Devlin — Mon, 30 Dec 2024 18:51:27 +0000

“The most exciting vocal group in a generation,” Windborne’s captivating show draws on the singers’ deep roots in traditions of vocal harmony, while the absolute uniqueness of their artistic approach brings old songs into the present. Known for the innovation of their arrangements, their harmonies are bold and anything but predictable.

With a 20-year background studying polyphonic music around the world, Lauren Breunig, Jeremy Carter-Gordon, Lynn Rowan, and Will Rowan share a vibrant energy onstage with a blending of voices that can only come from decades of friendship alongside dedicated practice. The ensemble shifts effortlessly between drastically different styles of music, drawing their audience along on a journey that spans continents and centuries, illuminating and expanding on the profound power and variation of the human voice.

There’s another, crucial dimension to Windborne that guides and roots their artistry. They are adherents to folk music’s longtime alliance with social activism, labor and civil rights, and other movements that champion the oppressed, the poor, and the disenfranchised. Their songs burst with lyrics that, while penned decades or centuries ago, still ring true in modern times, and Windborne’s dynamic harmonies breathe new life into these songs.

4 On Stage

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Newberry & Verch

Danielle Devlin — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 19:48:30 +0000

Growing up, Joe Newberry and April Verch absorbed traditions of home and hearth–in his Missouri Ozarks and her Ottawa Valley of Canada. Although they are on the road much of the year, the two musicians are fond of saying that they are rarely homesick, because their music means they always have a bit of home with them wherever they go.

Joe Newberry comes from a family of singers and dancers. He took up the guitar and banjo as a boy and learned fiddle tunes from great Missouri fiddlers. April Verch grew up listening to her Dad’s country band play for dances in the Ottawa Valley. She started step dancing at age three and fiddling at age six. In a Newberry & Verch show, delighted audiences see first-hand the roots of their music, their love of performing, and their strong musical connection. Original songs join timeless classics. Stories warm the heart, and give audiences a chance to understand where the music comes from. Lively fiddle and banjo numbers combine with traditional dance steps to illustrate happy times when people made their own fun.

Whether it is the power of two voices lifted in harmony, or the sound of traditional tunes calling people to get up and move, these two masters of tradition put on an unforgettable show.

PLUS, annual “Holiday Cheer Tour”

Each year the duo sets out in a modern day sleigh (with four-wheel drive) to perform their eagerly anticipated holiday tour. Original songs join timeless hymns. Stories warm the heart and give a twinkle to the eye. Lively fiddle and banjo numbers combine with traditional dance steps to illustrate happy times when people made their own fun at the holidays, and all year long. Make your holiday concert list, and check it twice… Newberry and Verch are coming to town!

2 On Stage

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April Verch & Cody Walters

Danielle Devlin — Thu, 31 Mar 2022 16:29:46 +0000

To listen to April Verch and Cody Walters is to be immersed in tradition. To watch them perform is to be transported. Be it regional Canadian roots, American old-time, 50’s Country, Scandinavian folk music, or something original that sounds as though it’s been around for a century —the one common thread is their love and reverence for the music and traditions that have been passed down to them.
Verch and Walters began playing together in 2007 when Walters joined the April Verch Band as their bassist. Together they have traveled to four continents, performed in eighteen countries, and played everywhere from tiny pubs and dusty festival workshops all the way to legendary stages such as the Kennedy Center and the Ryman Auditorium.

April and Cody combine their unique backgrounds from Verch’s native Ottawa Valley and Walters’ heartland roots in Kansas. April was the first woman to win both the Canadian Grand Masters and Canadian Open Fiddling Championships. She was one of six Canadian fiddlers featured in the Opening Ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Together, Verch and Walters are exemplary tradition-bearing performers: never forgetting the roots of the music, that connection to the people out there in the audience or on the dance floor, to the community sparked by a good song.

2 On Stage

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