The Republic Of Strings with Sara Watkins photo: Bryan T. Aaker, www.bryanaaker.net
In the first half of May, The Republic Of Strings toured the Midwest and South with Very Special Guest Sara Watkins on fiddle!
Sara aced all the parts, soloed like a sword fighter, carried equipment, and generally kept everyone cheerful during a grueling southeat and midwest record release tour.
At the tender age of 24, Sara has distingushed herself in Nickel Creek, one of the most popular acoustic string bands ever, sold over a million recordings, and plays the Ginger Rogers to Chris Thile's Fred Astaire; i.e., she does everything the phenomenal mandolin virtuoso does except "backwards and in heels", which describes well the experience of playing the violin. Sara has been a professional touring musician since she was 8, and her experience shows in all the music she plays. If there was ever a youthful fiddle phenomenon, Sara is it, and her short tenure this spring with the Republic Of Strings was a joy.
The Republic Of Strings in Washington, DC photo: J Milano
The Republic Of Strings toured the Northeast region of the US in April, and jammed with special guests such as 13 year-old mandolin virtuoso Bryce Milano, ASTA/Maine president and 5 string violist Lauren Rioux, and ROS alumnus Brittany Haas.
Here is the ROS rehearsing with Bryce, who played with the ROS in Pennsylvania, DC, and on an upcoming XM Satellite radio broadcast.
a beautiful weekend at the Suwannee festival near Jacksonville, Florida, the sister in soulfulness to the incredible Wintergrass. El Republico played a great set with long-time freinds Terry and Josh Pinkham, Rushad Eggleston, and Bryn Davies joining Darol and Scott. photo: the redoubtable Maria Camillo.
Darol attended the American String Teachers’ Association annual convention in Kansas City, home of Swing and Jazz, over the March 8-11 weekend. If you are involved in string teaching, you should have been there. Many were; See the education page for a report very soon.
Wintergrass with Psychograss, Nebraska with the Duo and uke virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro.
2006 finally kicked into gear, ready or not, with the first big festival of the year up in Tacoma, Washington: Wintergrass. Put on by a small group of dedicated believers, this volunteer-staffed festival is one of the best-feeling, friendly, and most family-oriented festivals I know of. It’s a lovely, inspiring event.
This year’s event went wonderfully, held in a big hotel in rainy Tacoma. I think we effectively doubled the population of the town! Psychograss made a rare appearance and the love was palpable- rare for an all-instrumental group to find that kind of support, but it sure worked for everyone.
Also an extremely emotional presentation engineered by Mike Marshall and the Wintergrass brain trust: a tribute to Vassar Clements. I was also involved in this, along with much-loved fiddlers Byron Berline, Laurie Lewis, Joe Craven, Psychograss members, and others. The tribute featured music by the participants, recorded highlights from Bill Monroe and others, a slide show, and some incredible video footage of Vassar playing with just about every great acoustic string musician of the 20th century, including the legendary 1972 David Frost show clip with John Hartford’s Aereoplane Band. This clip was found by Mike Marshall, videographer Dan Large, and Patrice Russell from Wintergrass, and was the electrifying highlight of the festival for many.
Just a couple of days later, Mike and I met again in Lincoln, Nebraska, for another concert with the amazing and wonderful ukelele phenomenon Jake Shimabukuro. (We all played together in California abotu a year ago.) Jake has has the Big Spotlight shining on him lately, with appearances on Conan O’Brien and other stuff. He has not changed his warm and loving attitude and his music only gained in gravitas and rich emotion.
2005: What a year!
Darol appeared with his buddies the Yonder Mountain String Band at the Fillmore in Denver on December 31, a rare New Year’s appearance… well, only once a year, anyway.
Darol recently completed a recording project with the Anonymous 4, the extremely popular early music A Cappella group. This project, to be released in 2006 on Harmonia Mundi, is an interpretation of early american shape note, gospel and folk music, with instrumental accompaniment by Darol and Mike Marshall.
Photo: Keith R.Wessel
Some of the last Duo shows have been Winter Solstice shows with Tuck & Patti in December. These shows were extremely soulful and well-received. If you have not heard the great Tuck & Patti, you should.
Darol’s Republic Of Strings played concerts in Idaho, Montana and the S.F. bay area in October 2005. Some new faces and exciting new talent along with old friends (shown L to R: Tyler Andal, DA, Tristan Clarridge, Todd Sickafoose, Chris Webster, Scott Nygaard) joined the group.
Darol played 3 wacked-out fabulous shows with Yonder Mountain in the Pacific northwest in October. Darol sez, “These boys is fine”.
Vassar Clements, the beloved fiddler who redefined the sound of fiddling for the whole world, died August 17, 2005 at 76. Here is Darol’s Appreciation.
Darol appeared as special guest…
…with Dobro master and long-time buddy Jerry Douglas at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and with the recently mighty Yonder Mountain String Band who delivered a monster set on the main stage. Picture above is of Sam Bush, Jean-Luc Ponty, DA, Bobby McFerrin, Byron House… Then on to a great edition of Mark O’Connor’s Nashville Fiddle Camp, then to Yonder’s incredible String Summit festival in Oregon… More Republic Of Strings shows happened in July & August, at festivals such as Grey Fox and the North Carolina Music Festival.
Darol was invited to participate in a week of “Soulgrass”, a live re-creation of jazz saxophonist Bill Evans’ new CD release, at the famed Yoshi’s Jazz Club in northern California. This four-night run featured Darol with Bill Evans, Bela Fleck, Jimmy Haslip (Yellowjackets) and master drummer Vinnie F. Colaiuta (Frank Zappa, sting, everyone else), playing mighty electric soul/bluegrass contusion music.
Darol has returned from a monumental tour of England with the Fiddles On Fire, which included Darol’s group the Fiddlers 4, Catriona MacDonald, Cathal Hayden, Hungarian fiddler Beata Salomon, and Swedish/UK fiddler Emma Reid.
The whole spring of 2005 was an important season of collaboration for Darol. In mid-April, Darol went into the recording studio with Mike Marshall and the phenomenal Swedish group Vasen to attempt to record some material for a CD to be released on Adventure Music. This was preceded by a sold-out 2-night stand with the 2 groups in Berkeley, California. Over the course of 2 long days, the five musicians succeeded in recording 9 originals and one medley of traditional American tunes, with multi-track recordings in the can of peak moments from their live show. This is a significant meeting of 2 important leaders of international string band music; the result is some exquisite ensemble and solo playing by proven virtuosos from opposite sides of the earth.
A big weekend in the south: Darol made a rare appearance on mandola at the Savannah Music Festival, on Mando Madness night, featuring Psychograss backing up David Grisman, Sam Bush, Mike Marshall, Don Stiernberg, and the show’s instigator, Tony Williamson. Later that weekend The Duo braved thunderous storms and 9 inches of rain at the beloved Suwannee Magnoliafest near Jacksonville, performing as themselves, and in a tribute to fiddler Vassar Clements, one of fiddling’s greatest human beings, with Peter Rowan, Tony Rice, Bela Fleck, and others.
The American String Teachers’ string conference in Reno, Nevada was a surreal and fantastic experience, a big casino/hotel full of wonderful string players at all levels playing all styles, getting together and comparing notes. Darol gave clinics, performed, and generally yukked it up in February at the Nugget Conference Center in the Nevada desert.
The Darol Anger Fiddle Ensemble hit the Midwest for the first of a series of weekend hops this fall out to the rest of the country: Chicago, Ohio, and MOUNTAIN STAGE radio show.
Mark O'Connor's August Fiddle Camp once again rocked. Darol, Natalie MacMaster, Johnny Frigo, Matt Glaser, Sara Watkins, Mark Wood, Catherine Cho, Sara Caswell, Rushad Eggleston, Natalie & Brittany Haas, and other luminaries taught like crazy and remembered the great departed Claude Williams and Joe Kennedy, Jr.
Photo above is of the Daniel Pearl Sholarship award winner Kai Lin Jong playing John Cooper's Daniel Pearl violin (center) with Darol, and on far right, the unbelievable Chinese Erhu virtuoso George Gao, on the last night's performance at the 2004 conference.
Here's a photo of 2001's Jazz Night's final melee. From left: Swing fiddle master Paul Anastatsio, Western Swing genius Buddy Spicher, young jazz hotshot Billy Conteras, Darol, Musical Philospher Extraordinaire Matt Glaser, Jazz violin Pioneer Claude"Fiddler" Williams, the world's greatest bluegrass cellist Rushad Eggleston, and the Big Guy himself: Mark O'Connor, all tearin' it up for the groovin'est and most knowledgable audience any of us ever play for. For more info, go to the Fiddle Campsite.
A busy June... Mike & Darol played the Florida Folk Festival (the US' oldest folk festival!) and Colorado, at Swallow Hill School in Denver and at a great fiddle contest and fester out near Mancos, Colorado.
Darol appeared at Telluride with the Yonder Mountain String Band, and the next week Darol's American Fiddle Ensemble appeared at Yonder Mountain's great festival, the String Summit, near Portland, Oregon. It was a good week because scenery freak Darol got to drive all over the Rocky Mountain states between festers. Herewit a couple of photos from the String Summit a The AFE with Jason Carter and some of the brilliant McCoury brothers. More good photos at Dave Boisson's site.
Darol Appears on Vanguard's new Creolebred CD, featuring Cyndi Lauper, Taj Mahal, Michael Doucet, David Hidalgo: Ann Savoy's new project involves Darol playing a fiddle duet with the great Ed Poullard, called The Old Carpenter's Waltz.
Merlefest '04, Big whacked-out start to Musicians' Fiscal Year, rumbles through!
Darol and Mike as The Duo were featured at this year's Merlefest in North Carolina, the biggest festival of the year for acoustic string musicians. Darol also appeared with Tony Rice, Bruce Molsky, Michael Doucet, Stuart Duncan, Casey Dreissen, Joe Craven, and with Mark O'Connor and Natalie MacMaster in a rather controversial set.
The infamous Merlefest Midnight Jam... this is an early post-Jam moment, as all the musicians crowd onto the stage in relief and let off some steam. Musicians who can be seen here are Gillian Welch (foreground), Left to right: probably Josh Pinkham, Led Zepplin mandolinist John Paul Jones, Mike Marshall, Gabe Witcher's 'do, Chris Thile, DA's back, Sean Watkins, kid bassist, big guy in pink T-shirt (our MC) Sara Watkins' back, David Rawlings. Photo by Maria Camillo. Hopefully more great photos to come from Maria, to be placed somewhere on this site, we hope.
Psychograss and The Duo appeared in Florida and points west, The Darol Anger Fiddle Ensemble got on national radio and played shows up in Colorado, and Darol appeared with the Yonder Mountain String Band.
In Louisiana, the Fiddlers 4 premiered a new "serious" work by Darol (is anything serious with that band?) based on the work of composer Virgil Thompson's sound track for 1940's film "The Louisiana Story", in turn based on traditional Acadian songs.
A new Psychograss recording was recorded at Todd Phillips' studio in January, editing now, awaiting fixes and mixes, to be released on Adventure Music. A Herculean effort, 5 days, all new music! Tentative working title: This is How We Do It.
A new Anger and Marshall DUO recording project is coalescing, material is now being written and recorded. This effort will echo and expand upon their classic "Chiaroscuro" recording, and will feature new ambitious arrangements and compositions utilizing all they've learned since 1984. And, due to the phenomenal response to the new AFE recording, Darol is madly trying to write and arrange a new recording's worth of material for that group...In between brunch and lunch, that is.
Darol's Fiddle Ensemble recording, Republic Of Strings released in February on Compass Records, is causing a real stir. In fact, Darol was interviewed on NPR's Weekend Edition for March 14th...and Amazon sales of Republic went up to #8 !!! (for a few hours, anyway.) Woo hoo! NPR's The World interview also aired March 20th. you can listen to Darol's interview Here.
You can buy this CD from this website or go get it now at this record's page at Amazon Featuring the amazing cellist Rushad Eggleston, guitar legend Scott Nygaard, and fiddle prodigy Brittany Haas, guest vocalists Laurie Lewis and Sara Watkins, the project prompted AP reviewer Eric Fidler to write:
Afro-Brazilian-Scandinavian bluegrass might be one way to explain the sound of "Republic of Strings." Another would be to just say it's sublime, and makes categories irrelevant. Darol Anger has been obliterating musical borders for years, but never to better effect than on his latest release. Whether the starting point is Bill Monroe or Stevie Wonder, the American Fiddle Ensemble creates rich, lusciously textured, complex and quite beautiful music. "Republic of Strings" is one of the most exciting albums in a long time."
Compass Records' radio liason, David Haley, says that " Republic of Strings debuted at #9 on the Roots Music Report's Bluegrass chart. Airplay and feedback is beginning to come on strong. " the Fiddle Ensemble's Bay Area tour was a roaring success, and national radio appearances such as E-Town (April 4) are scheduled... see Schedule Page.
Darol & the Ensemble wacking out at the legendary Freight & Salvage club in Berkeley, California...
"I shouldn't have been so surprised at the music, as Darol is always on the cutting edge. I just am so excited by the CD. There are many memorable moments, but highlights for me were Laurie's lush-ish singing on Joni's song, Rushad's wow! cello work on the Monroe tune, and all the overall great melodic arrangements. This is wonderful music." David Manski WERU-FM
NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory recently discovered a B-flat propagating through the Perseus Cluster at a wavelength 57 octaves below middle C-- the deepest tone ever detected. A friend reports that our sun puts out a tone merely 20 octaves below middle C... still a bit lower than we can hear down here.
If you feel angry about the illegally appointed Chief Executive using our Armed Forces to enrich his buddies' businesses at our expense, here is more that you can do: the MoveOn site, the Kerry-Edwards site, www.votetoimpeach.org; also an excellent pocket analysis of America's current "trance" at Granny D's website.
Check our Stuff Page too, for post-Independence Day giftage
RECENT STUFF
A composing residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in November: working on recasting a Virgil Thompson score to the 30's WPA movie "The Louisiana Story", which uses all Cajun source material. The Fiddlers 4 will reinterpret this material in the light of everything we think we know, at some arts centers in a guess where a Louisiana. Blueprint, the new CD release by Natalie MacMaster (produced by Darol) is now out on Rounder/U.S. and Warner/Canada, and it's looking good for fiddle phenom Brittany Haas's new recording, also produced by Darol, to be released some time in late fall or early winter.
Donna Hebert's GrooveCamp, in the Pocono Mountains, a wonderful experience and a musical success. click on the picture next year's info and photos from the camp.
A DGQ Reunion at the International Music festival; in Floyd, VA in August '03 (photo by Maria Camillo)
A string jam at Yonder Mountain's String Summit included (LtoR) Gabe Witcher, DA, Brittany Haas, Bruce Molsky, Heidi from The Reeltime Travellers, and Rushad Eggleston with Ben, YMSB's bassist (unseen), plus some big giant heads (unheard).
The first all-strings American String Teachers' conference (not just for teachers!) was held the last weekend of March at Ohio State University in 2003. One of the most exciting gatherings of alternative string players EVER! Info on the Education page.
A Grammy nomination for the Fiddlers 4 The CD is getting raves... "A fiddle bonanza...Fiddlers 4 [is] the most intriguing assemblage of similar-instrument all-stars since the Three Tenors..." Don Heckman, LA Times ...See the Fiddlers 4 page... The all-star unit features Darol, Michael Doucet, Bruce Molsky, and cello phenom Rushad Eggleston. The repertoire includes traditional Cajun and Appalachian tunes and vocals, Duke Ellington and Billy Taylor pieces, Darol & Michael's original pieces, Acadian surf music, and African stuff... You can order it from our Order Page or go off to Amazon, or your local record shoppe. The IAJE convention in Toronto: Darol appears on a new Danny Barnes recording with Bill Frisell and Dirk Powell, "Dirt On The Angel", on Terminus Records. Danny is an incredible old-time singer-songwriter who was the creative force of the Bad Livers.
Rockygrass 2002.
The Duo rides again, with new energy and resouces. Mike Marshall and Darol Anger have released their long-awaited Duo recording, At Home And On The Range, on Compass Records. This CD features the quietly spectacular result of 23 years of playing together, in a pared-down live acoustic setting, with no overdubs or additional musicians. Two minds, four hands, no waiting. Buy it from the Compass Records ordering site, Amazon, or your local record store. The Duo has a special area on this website devoted to them. See the Duo News Page for recent news. Bookings may be arranged through Maria Camillo.
EATERS: There's a really nice recording featuring Mike Marshall, Darol, Phillip Aaberg, Todd Phillips and Paul McCandless available with a special super-duper cookbook featuring many recipes of the great restaurants of the U.S. west coast Wine Country. On the CD are reprised many of the popular and out-of-print Anger/Marshall Windham Hill tunes, and some new stuff, played by this terrific band convened just for this project. Check it out and order at the Menus & Music Website.
Darol appeared with the Yonder Mountain String Band at the String Summit ... Darol appeared on their newest CD release, "Old Hands". YMSB continues to bring a new generation to acoustic string band music, while paying tribute to their heroes. Check out these guys' epic live shows, and read a review of their show with Darol at the Fillmore Auditorium in November 2002.
Interest is rising rapidly in fiddling and jazz strings everywhere, and organizations such as the IAJE and ASTA are beginning to move to address that need. If you want to get involved as a teacher or player, or just want information, go the Education page and find out.
Order some stuff from our Stuff Page... Many of Darol's CDs are obtainable, along with new stuff such as Darol's new instructional tape for Homespun Tapes, Blues On The Fiddle, and the digital sruti box. and of course the new DUO CD! We have added a new music publication, a folio for Darol's supercharged fiddle showpiece Melt The Teakettle, with parts for 2 fiddles or fiddle AND GUITAR, or a special edition for fiddle and cello. The folio is $15, and if you order the Diary Of A Fiddler recording too, the combined price is $25. (Darol played the tune with Natalie MacMaster on that CD.) Please check with us about the Windham Hill CDs. We hope to have PayPal service soon.
Work is nearing completion on Darol's ambitious project with Newgrange's genius pianist PHIL AABERG for their duet recording, to be released later in 2004. The selections include works by Ravel, Gershwin, Bix Beiderbecke, Paul McCandless, Vince Mendoza, and Anger. Download an MP3 sample of Gershwin's Prelude #1 as re-imagined by Phil & Darol.
yet another DA interview at Digital Interviews
Sentimental moments: a report on the 25th year reunion of the David Grisman Quintet.
