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- Blackstone River Theatre is celebrating our 10th anniversary season! BRT has now presented more than 1,000 events since reopening in September, 2000, in front of more than 65,000 audience members! THANK YOU!
- Five levels of fiddle classes with Cathy Clasper-Torch start September 14th and 15th including total beginner.
- A two-day beginner Celtic stone carving workshop with Laura Travis will run Sept. 18-19.
- A Svaroopa Yoga weekend workshop will be offered Sept. 25-26 with Vidyadevi Stillman.
- Deborah Bazer and Lahri Bond will exhibit "Leaf and Stone: Mythic Sculptures and paintings" in BRT's Art Gallery from September 16 through October 30. Their shared love of world myths and legends, particularly Celtic and Norse tales, has been the inspiration for this current show of new and older works that encompass terra cotta relief tiles and wall panels, as well as paintings in gouache and acrylic.
- BRT continues to host more and more private events... in September we will host a fundraiser for Frank Caprio as well as the public showing of the final draft for the Broad Street Regeneration Initiative.
If a show at BRT has an advance price & a day-of-show price it means: If you pre-pay OR call in your reservation any time before the show date, you get the advance price. If you show up at the door with no reservations OR call in your reservations on the day of the show, you will pay the day of show price.
Tuesday & Wednesday, September 14 and 15
Fiddle classes begin with Cathy Clasper-Torch
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Thursday, September 16, 8 PM, $13.00 advance/$15.00 day of show
PRESTON REED - Virtuoso percussive fingerstyle guitarist
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 "Widely thought of as the world's most gifted guitarist" - Total Guitar
Preston Reed has virtually reinvented how the acoustic guitar is played. Practicing a flamboyant self-invented style, characterized by percussive techniques and simultaneous rhythm and melody lines that dance and ricochet around each other, Reed gives his music a level of excitement that is unparalleled among today's guitarists. Playing an array of guitars from acoustic to electric to classical, Reed's vast range of explosively original music will forever change your expectation of a guitarist. His influence is crucial for a new generation of guitarists including Kaki King and Andy McKee, both of whom play in the style developed by Reed in the mid-'80s. Simply put, this 53-year-old New Yorker tweaks the nose of musical convention and burns the rule book of the past. His unique style is unthinkable as with blurred hands he taps, tickles, and slaps his guitar, fusing polyrhythmic percussion with emotion-filled melody to create a sonic landscape. Starting with 1979's Acoustic Guitar, several thrilling albums spread Reed's reputation, and by 1988 he had signed a major deal with MCA. But behind closed doors, the guitarist was frustrated. Though spellbinding by any standards, his playing had reached a plateau, his muse held in check by the physical limitations of the instrument. Then the thunderbolt struck. Reed wiped his technique clean, and made his first attempt at the two-handed fretboard attack that would change his career forever. If Reed were the type of musician to look back, he could reflect on 30 years of glories including gigs with Bonnie Raitt and Linda Ronstadt, huge sales of his 15 studio albums, untold hits on YouTube, and the praise of both the man on the street and fellow six-string pioneers like Al DiMeola and Michael Hedges. But Reed doesn't deal in nostalgia. Twenty years after he changed the face of the acoustic guitar, this trailblazer still tours and records with a passion that flows into the hearts, heads and feet of his audiences, and continues to push his musicianship to a place where other guitarists fear to tread. Do not miss this guitar innovator's first Rhode Island performance (and only New England show) as BRT kicks off our 10th anniversary season! |
Sat. & Sun., September 18-19, 9 AM to 3:30 PM both days
Celtic stone carving for beginners with Laura Travis
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Monday, September 20, 8:30-9:30 AM and 5:30-7:00 PM, Free!
Public showing of final draft of the Broad Street Regeneration Initiative
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Thursday, September 23, 8 PM, $15.00
THE TANNAHILL WEAVERS - Music from Scotland
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 The Tannahill Weavers are one of Scotland's premier traditional bands. Their diverse repertoire spans the centuries with high-energy instrumentals, topical songs, and original ballads and lullabies. Their music demonstrates to old and young alike the rich and varied musical heritage of the Celtic people. These versatile musicians have received worldwide accolades consistently over the years for their exuberant performances and outstanding recordings that seemingly can't get better... yet continue to do just that. The Tannies turn their acoustic music loose on audiences with an electrifying effect featuring a unique combination of traditional melodies, driving rhythmic accompaniment, and rich vocals that make their performances unforgettable. As the Boston Globe notes, "Scotland's Tannahill Weavers play acoustic instruments, but the atmosphere at their shows is electric. The quartet is as tight and as versatile as any band in the Celtic music revival. They can summon rock 'n' roll intensity or haunting introspection." Born of a session in Paisley, Scotland, and named for the town's historic weaving industry and local poet laureate Robert Tannahill, the group has made an international name for its special brand of Scottish music, blending the beauty of traditional melodies with the power of modern rhythms. Over the years, the Tannies have been trailblazers for Scottish music, and their tight harmonies and powerful, inventive arrangements have won them fans from beyond the folk and Celtic music scenes. Members are Roy Gullane on vocals and guitar, John Martin on fiddle and vocals, Phil Smillie on flute, whistles and bodhran, Les Wilson on bouzouki and guitar, and Colin Melville on Highland bagpipes and Scottish small pipes. They are firmly established as one of the premier groups on the concert stage; from reflective ballads to footstomping reels and jigs, the variety and range of the material they perform is matched only by their enthusiasm. Don't miss a rare New England appearance! |
September 25-26: Svaroopa Yoga Weekend Workshop, 9 AM to 5PM
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Saturday, September 25, 8 PM, $12.00
PAUL GEREMIA / MARY FLOWER - Acoustic blues at its best
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  Acoustic Guitar magazine calls Paul Geremia "One of the best country blues finger-pickers ever." Geremia is possibly the greatest living performer of the East Coast and Texas fingerpicking and slide styles and he has been called a national treasure. Paul has created a style which is very much his own combining his interpretations of the music of Blind Lemon Jefferson, Robert Johnson, Blind Willie McTell and Blind Blake. His superb recordings have made him a critical favorite and place him firmly among the legends who inspired and influenced him over the past four decades. With his six and twelve-string guitars, harmonica and a husky, soulful voice - and with an innate sense of the humor as well as the drama of the music - Geremia keeps traditional blues fresh and alive with his performances. Paul has recorded ten solo albums, and has also appeared on numerous anthologies and compilation discs. Mary Flower, 2008 Blues Music Award nominee as "Acoustic Artist of the Year," is renowned for a uniquely personal vision of roots music that blends ragtime, acoustic blues, and folk - technically dazzling yet grounded in the down-to-earth simplicity of early 20th century American music. With eight albums under her belt, Flower has earned rave reviews from critics and audiences alike for her unassuming vocals, but it is her instrumental skill - a mastery of the difficult Piedmont blues guitar that takes most players a lifetime to hone - for which Flower is most celebrated. Mary also excels at lap slide guitar, allowing her to infuse songs with a supremely delicate, plaintive sound that's hers alone while recalling the blues giants of the past. Flower performs and teaches internationally, and has released several instructional DVDs. "A world-class fingerstyle and lap-slide guitarist" - Downbeat Magazine; "unfailingly sweet, hot and sassy" - All Music Guide to The Blues |
Wednesday, September 29, 6-8 PM
Frank Caprio Fundraiser Event
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- Five levels of fiddle classes with Cathy Clasper-Torch continue; a new 5-week session begins Oct. 19 and Oct. 27.
- An 8-week session of Irish step dance classes for adult and children beginners, and advanced beginners begins October 2.
- New 6-week beginner and intermediate beginner sessions of mandolin classes with Ben Pearce begin October 18.
- Deborah Bazer and Lahri Bond will exhibit "Leaf and Stone: Mythic Sculptures and paintings" in BRT's Art Gallery through October 30. There will be a meet-the-artists reception on Oct. 3.
If a show at BRT has an advance price & a day-of-show price it means: If you pre-pay OR call in your reservation any time before the show date, you get the advance price. If you show up at the door with no reservations OR call in your reservations on the day of the show, you will pay the day of show price.
Saturdays, October 2 through Nov. 20
Irish step dance for beginner adults & children with Terry Songini begins
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Sunday, October 3, 7 PM, $20.00 advance/$24.00 day of show
MARTIN HAYES AND DENNIS CAHILL - Irish traditional
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 Advance ticket purchase strongly recommended!
Irish fiddle virtuoso Martin Hayes and American guitarist Dennis Cahill possess a rare musical kinship, ranking them among the most memorable partnerships of our era. Together they have garnered international renown for taking traditional music to the very edge of the genre, holding listeners spellbound with their slow-building, fiery performances. Hayes has been an All-Ireland fiddle champion six times over and has taken home a National Entertainment Award, the Irish equivalent to the "Grammy." Possessing the slow, lyrical style of his native East County Clare, Martin grew up playing traditional music with his father, P.J. Hayes, leader of the famed Tulla Ceili Band. Dennis Cahill is a master guitarist, as well versed in classical, blues and rock as he is in traditional music. A Chicago native, Cahill's innovative accompaniment is acknowledged as being a major breakthrough for guitar in the Irish tradition. The musical rapport between Hayes and Cahill is so strong that it is often said they appear to be playing one instrument; while Martin pursues a melody, Dennis explores the harmony and rhythms within the tune. Their live performances can weave tunes that stretch up to thirty minutes long, in what Hayes describes as "a three-way conversation between the two of us and the music." Not to be missed! |
Saturday, October 9, 8 PM, $12.00 advance/$15.00 day of show
JOHN DOYLE - Irish singer & virtuoso guitarist
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 As an original member of Irish-American supergroup Solas - and a highly sought-after session player - John Doyle pioneered a rhythmic, sophisticated approach to Irish guitar accompaniment, setting a new standard for the instrument. Over the past decade, Doyle's gifts as a guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, and producer have continued to play an essential role in the ongoing renaissance of Irish traditional music. When the original members of Solas parted ways, Doyle embarked on a solo career, producing albums for other artists and touring as a sideman as well as recording his own material. Preserving the tasteful simplicity of tradition, Doyle nonetheless adds a contemporary edge, finding fresh life in even the most well-worn of tunes. His playing encompasses hard-driving strumming, inventive chord voicings, precise single-note runs, and powerful rhythmic effects borrowed from traditional instruments such as the bodhran and fiddle. Doyle and Liz Carroll received a 2010 Grammy nomination for Double Play, in the Best Traditional World Music category; John also received a 2009 Irish Music Awards nomination for The Tommy Makem Award. Along with the release of the critically-acclaimed "Exiles Return," which sees Doyle join up with old friend Karan Casey, John continues to tour with fiddler Liz Carroll, and was also musical director and guitarist on Joan Baez's latest tour. Do not miss a rare solo show with one of this generation's best traditional Irish singers and guitarists. |
Saturday, October 16, 8 PM, $12.00 adv/$15.00 day of show
ANNALIVIA - Neo-traditional fiddle band
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 New England has long been a fertile environment for musicians inspired by sounds from the British Isles, and the group Annalivia is one of the latest, and best. The band features harmonious singing and high-energy instrumentals on a selection of traditional and contemporary material. One of latest alt-traditional acoustic bands to emerge form the potent Boston fiddle music scene, Annalivia's music combines Anglo-Celtic ballad singing and fiddle dance music traditions with their North American counterparts in the Southern Appalachians and Cape Breton Island. The sound is a genuine fusion of closely related musics, in addition to contributing original instrumentals to an evolving tradition. The band is comprised of seasoned touring musicians and champion fiddlers, all of whom have performed and recorded with many notable acts in a range of Celtic and American folk genres. Annalivia features the beautiful singing of Liz Simmons (The John Whelan Band, Long Time Courting), the stunning twin fiddling of Brendan Carey Block (Glengarry Bhoys) and Emerald Rae (The Cathie Ryan Band), and the rhythmic intensity of Flynn Cohen on guitar (Halali, Cathie Ryan, John Whelan) and Stuart Kenney on bass and banjo (Wild Asparagus, Airdance). Together they bring a fresh and exciting approach to traditional and contemporary songs from both sides of the Atlantic. Don't miss their BRT debut! |
Sunday, October 17, 7 PM, $12.00 adv/$14.00 day of show
JEZ LOWE - English singer-songwriter (solo show)
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 Jez Lowe is a remarkable songwriter using wit, sensitivity and keen perception to paint colorful portraits of ordinary people with ordinary lives who may be specific to North East England, but through Jez's eyes and verse become universal characters. Jez hails from Northeast England, an area rich in working-class values, with a wealth of songs and music unique to that windswept corner of the British Isles. Born to a coal mining family with Irish roots, Lowe was raised and still lives in an area close to the English/ Scottish border where coal mining was the dominant occupation. This was to be the substance from which he would create a body of work that would make him one of the most popular and enduring of the many singer songwriters to emerge from Britain in the last 25 years. His songs have been covered by Fairport Convention, The Tanahill Weavers, The Dubliners, Cherish the Ladies, and a host of other acts. Lowe was nominated for the 2008 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards as 'Folksinger of the Year' and he was an Indie Acoustic Project USA "Album of the Year" finalist in 2008 for his solo CD, "Jack Common's Anthem." Jez and the Bad Pennies have just released a new CD "Wotcheor," inspired by the people and the culture of North East England, and presented in a "radio cabaret" style in homage to the legendary 1950s BBC Radio show "Wot Cheor Geordie." Do not miss a BRT favorite and one of folk music's best songwriter! |
Mondays, October 18 through Nov. 22
Beginner & intermediate beginner mandolin classes with Ben Pearce begin
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Saturday, October 23, 8 PM, $15.00
JOHN WHELAN and DONNA HEBERT: The Irish-French Connection
Sponsored by Navigant Credit Union
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 When two forces of nature like Irish button box legend John Whelan and virtuoso French fiddler Donna Hébert (Chanterelle, The Beaudoin Legacy) take the stage, the energy they generate together is explosive, so expect a wild storm of music to ensue! Add Donna's talented daughter, Molly Hebert-Wilson, singing in English, French and Irish - and two brilliant guitarists in Flynn Cohen and Max Cohen - and there's no telling what will happen... Icons in their Irish- and Franco-American musical communities, John and Donna spark the Irish-French connection to life, each bringing 40 years of performing and recording experience to this new group. Repertoires and traditions stand distinct and separate and then find themselves blending and reinventing into something new, as did the Irish and French-Canadian immigrant communities in the northeast where both groups migrated in the 1880s to work in the textile mills. John Whelan was voted "Top Button Accordion Player" at the Irish Music Association's 2009 Irish Music Awards. Max Cohen, a veteran rocker, slid into the Celtic session scene in Western Mass and has become everyone's favorite guitarist playing often as a duo with Donna and others. His virtuoso fingerstyle guitar compositions are astoundingly melodic, while his world rhythms can drive any style of music. Guitarist and vocalist Flynn Cohen has worked with Whelan, Aoife Clancy, Jake Armerding, Airdance, and his current band Annalivia. Singer Molly Hebert-Wilson, an Irish studies and musical theater major at NYU, embodies her Irish, French and English-language songs with every ounce of character and meaning, whether she's treading the paths of comedy or tragedy. Do not miss an amazing night of musical collaboration as the French and Irish cultures connect! |
Saturday, October 30, 8 PM, $12.00 adv/$15.00 day of show
PADDY KEENAN - Irish Traditional music
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 Paddy Keenan, who has been referred to as "the Jimi Hendrix of the pipes," and "the King of the pipers" is generally acknowledged as one of the most accomplished, innovative uilleann pipers playing today. Paddy was the 2003 recipient of the Irish National Traditional Musician Award. Specializing in a wild, fluid style solely his own, Paddy was a founding member of the Bothy Band, one of the most influential Celtic bands of the 1970s. Keenan continues to tour in Europe and the U.S. and has released several solo albums including his most recent CD "The Long Grazing Acre." Paddy was born in Trim, Co. Meath, to John Keenan and the former Mary Bravender. The Keenans were a Travelling family (the wanderers of Ireland known amongst themselves as Pavees) steeped in traditional music; both Paddy's father and grandfather were uilleann pipers. Taking up pipes at age 10, Keenan moved to America at age 17 to play blues and rock and roll only to return to Ireland in the seventies. After several member changes, Paddy soon found himself with musicians who would go on to change the face of traditional Irish music. The Bothy Band forever changed Irish music, merging a driving rhythm section with traditional Irish tunes in ways that had never been heard before. Paddy's virtuosity on the pipes combined with the ferocity of his playing made him, in the opinion of many, its driving force. Paddy's style has continued to mature in the intervening years since the break-up of The Bothy Band as he has pursued a solo career. Keenan is certainly one of the most brilliant musicians of his generation. In a live situation, Keenan is possibly one of the most exciting traditional musicians in the world. His inventiveness and willingness to take risks most players wouldn't even think of and pull them off, make his playing an endless source of fascination for traditional music lovers and pipers in particular. Don't miss a rare Rhode Island appearance by a true Irish music legend! |
Friday, November 5
CUMBERLAND LAND TRUST FUNDRAISING EVENT
Saturday, November 6, 8 PM, $12.00
MICHELE CHOINIERE - Franco-American music
Friday, November 12, 8 PM, $12.00
JAY BOLOTIN/KEN LYON
Saturday, November 13, 8 PM, $15.00
DUKE ROBILLARD & SUNNY CROWNOVER - Tales from the Tiki Lounge
Friday, November 19, 8 PM, $12.00
PETER JANSON/TIM FARRELL - Fingerstyle guitarists
Saturday, November 20, 8 PM, $12.00 adv/$15.00 day of show
PATRICK BALL - The Fine Beauty of the Island
Saturday, November 27, 8 PM, $20.00
HOMECOMING CONCERT and Silent Auction Fundraiser
featuring The Atwater-Donnelly Trio, Pendragon and many others
Saturday, December 4, 10 AM to 3 PM, FREE!
BRT HOLIDAY CRAFT FAIR
Saturday, December 4, 8 PM, $15.00
NEWPOLI - An Italian Christmas Celebration
Saturday, December 11, 8 PM, $18.00 adv/$20.00 day of show
Holiday Show featuring Atwater-Donnelly Trio, Pendragon and the Miller Family
Sunday, December 12, 7 PM, $18.00 adv/$20.00 day of show
Holiday Show featuring Atwater-Donnelly Trio, Pendragon and the Miller Family
Friday, December 17, 8 PM, $30.00 advance/$35.00 day of show
CHERISH THE LADIES - A CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION
COMING IN 2011
January 15 - To be confirmed
MOIRA SMILEY & VOCO
January 21
RORY RAVEN - Mentalist & Mindbender
January 22
HANNEKE CASSEL AND KIMBERLEY FRASER
February 5
AINE MINOGUE
February 12
BERTRAND LAURENCE/OCCIDENTAL GYPSY JAZZ QUARTET
February 19
BARRY BROWN/MICHAEL TROY
February 26
LONG TIME COURTING/SHEILA FALLS-KEOHANE
March 20
LUNASA
April 2
PEPPINO D'AGOSTINO
April 9
CRAOBH RUA
April 10
ARCHIE FISHER AND GARNET ROGERS
April 23
MARJORIE THOMPSON/TOBY WALKER
April 30
SHANNON LAMBERT-RYAN & RUNA
May 14
NORTH SEA GAS - Music from Scotland
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