Annual FiddleSticks Reunion Concert, and CD Release

 

Hi friends
 
The stars are aligned over Planet FiddleSticks -- and Katie and Liz are miraculously in the same town at the same time.  Just days before they leave for Korea and Ireland, they'll get together to play some old favorite tunes and a bunch of new ones.  And to celebrate the new "Big Fiddle" CD that Liz just released.

 

Come visit, replenish your FiddleSticks CD collection, and wish our intrepid musicians "bon voyage!"  Here's the scoop:

 

OREM
Monday, July 20, 7pm
Orem City Library

Children's Library Stage

58 North State Street

Orem UT

 

The Orem Library is one of our favorite and longest running venues.  It's like coming home to play here, and we hope you'll come visit, too.  We're joining the TImp Storytellers for the night's event: Stories start at 7pm, and we'll bring on the music at about 7:30 or so.  And of course, it's all free of charge.  Hope to see you there.

 

We'll have plenty of CDs on hand as well, so come say hi, bye, and enjoy the tunes!

 

Cheers!

 

 

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BACKGROUND

 

 

FiddleSticks is a family musical group that performs folk songs and traditional tunes from the Celtic lands, from England, and from America. The band is made up of three young sisters, Rebecca, Kathryn, and Elizabeth Davis, and their father Mark. Featured instruments include fiddle, flutes, cello, bodhran (Irish drum), guitar and vocals, with occasional hammer dulcimer, fretless bass, drum kit, and various other percussion.

 

FiddleSticks got their start in 1991 when the family lived in the Washington DC area, and since moving to Utah in 1996 they have entertained audiences throughout the state. They have performed throughout Utah, and have presented numerous concerts in the Mountain West, the Pacific Northwest, California, Maryland, and New England, the American Midwest including Nauvoo, and recently completed tours in Japan, Holland and Italy. Despite busy work and school schedules, the family band averages over fifty public performances a year, including various music and folk festivals, television and radio spots, numerous community, library, and school concerts, private parties and receptions, as well as performances at the Salt Lake Winter Olympics, the Scera Shell, Kingsbury Hall, Capitol Theater, Nauvoo Arts Theater, Provo Freedom Festival, Sandy Amphitheater, and numerous shows over many years for the Utah Performing Arts Tour.

 

Liz, who is the band’s cellist, just graduated from Berklee Music College in Boston as a cello performance major, and is now headed to Ireland as a Fulbright Scholar.  Katie, is the band’s fiddler and vocalist, recently complete a round-the-world tour and is moving to Korea to teach for a year.  Rebecca, who sings and plays flute, whistles and recorders, will miss the upcoming concert because she makes her home now in Kauai, Hawaii.  Mark, the dad, plays guitar and bodhran with the band, teaches part-time at BYU, and has an international trade firm in Washington DC.

 

FiddleSticks’ music has been recognized nationwide,  including Pearl Awards in 2003 and 2008 for best contemporary instrumental recording. They have released eight recordings. The newest, "Big Fiddle” was written and produced by Liz, and features her cello, with backup from the band and other friends.  “Farewell to Nauvoo” (2007) includes pioneer and other old time songs and hymns.  “Ampersand (2006)” features celtic and bluegrass fiddle and cello.  “Return to Nauvoo” (released in 2004), is another collection of American and Mormon folk hymns that has been far and away the best seller. Celtic albums include “Cat and the Fiddle” (2002), “Time and Again” (2001) “Christmas Cold Fusion” (2000), “Playing Favorites” (1999) and “FiddleSticks Sampler” (1998), which have been enthusiastically received by the band’s growing crowd of admirers.  Recordings are available in local bookstores, by mail order, on CDBaby.com, or on FiddleSticks’ web page: www.fiddle-sticks.com.

 

FiddleSticks’ music is a lively mix of traditional Celtic and English dance music, together with original pieces by the group’s young members. A typical performance might also include a few sets containing Klezmer (Jewish), continental European, contemporary American folk, and Mormon Pioneer music. The program is easily tailored to fit the age and interests of the audience, and can include storytelling, Irish dance, and audience participation. At Christmastime the band presents a variety of English and Celtic carols, Hanukkah tunes, and Solstice songs.

 

What folks are saying about FiddleSticks!

 

“Time & Again sounds like the band is bustin’ out of the studio: it has so much energy! Wow! It’s a knockout! The playing is really expressive and the arrangements are brilliantly woven.” – Benjamin Huff (Univ. of Notre Dame, IN)

 

“The album really IS charming and lovely and both relaxing and fun to listen to. What more could I want?” -- Deborah Henson-Conant (jazz harpist, Boston, MA)

 

“The recording is terrific; I’m so pleased” -- Joy McCarthy (Celtic fiddler and composer, Berkeley CA)

 

“Your music is inspiring, soothing and lively. It warmed my heart and kept my foot tapping” -- Chieko Okazaki (Mormon Church leader and author, Salt Lake City UT)

 

“Well, I don’t know what you thought about that music, but it sounded like hell to me.” -- Marion D. Hanks (Mormon Church leader and author, Salt Lake City UT)

 

“Your music is lovely, true, and heartfelt. Thank you!” -- Sue Richards (Celtic harper, Bethesda MD)

 

“The perfect Christmas gift . . . Brings a happy, peaceful feeling each time you listen to it.” -- Daily Herald (Provo UT)

 

“The kids like the lively ones, of course--appropriate for kitchen dancing, and we adults tend toward the “Lost Love” type ballads.” -- Steven Kapp-Perry (composer/performer, Cedar Hills UT)

 

“FiddleSticks have a flair for Celtic and American folkmusic.  There are some great tunes... very ear-pleasing.”  -- Deseret News (SLC, UT)

 

“Your music made my Scotch and Irish blood bubble!” -- Reid Nibley (music professor and concert pianist, Provo UT)

 

“I’m sure I’ll listen to it over and over, and I know I’ll use it in my classroom for my students.” -- Luana Nelson Au (teacher, Ogden UT)

 

“When I’m stuck in traffic I pop your CD into the car stereo and things just seem better. You should market your music as a cure for road rage” -- Paul Nielsen (film editor, Los Angeles CA)

 

“Our whole family listened to your recording and we were transfixed” -- Marsha Paulsen Peters (Iowa City IA)

 

“Your CD has become my treasure! It stays on the CD player all the time.” -- Barbara Luke (Provo UT)

 

“FiddleSticks’s Christmas CD is a success, gives new life to holiday music” -- Provo Daily Herald

 

“We are all now FiddleSticks fans, listening to your music over and over, singing, dancing- and weeping at times” -- Deb Marcotte (Barrington NH)

 

“You have a gift -- it’s not just in the music, but in the hearts of your family who perform” -- David Arrington (Salt Lake City UT)

 

“Your music is beautiful, wonderful, incredible (and every other amazing word you can think of)?” -- Jean Ann Michie (Purcelville VA)

 

“Your harmony, spirit, and enthusiasm for life inspire us, your greatest fans” -- Steve & Debbie Barnes (Eugene OR)

 

“The first time I heard FiddleSticks was at an outdoor festival last year.  I was blown away.  FiddleSticks took our breath away. They got a huge audience reaction, and I was entranced by the delicate and driving music, by the angelic voices of Mark’s lovely daughters, by the impossibly accomplished fiddle virtuosity.
The last number blew me away.  Marco was hauling on that Celtic drum, even modulating the pitch with his back hand, jumping around and making unexpected stops, twinkle in his eye.  The girls took his lead and whipped that crowd into a excitement that topped the evening.  I loved when all 4 took turns doing instrumental breaks, especially the cello, which was at once simple and laugh-out-loud humerous.  If 150 audience members can do thunderous, they did thunderous.
Needless to say, I was sold on these guys.  I asked them to open for my CD release party because I had no doubt about their ability to warm up a crowd and to put the stamp of quality on an evening.  I wasn’t disappointed. FiddleSticks is one of the hardest-working groups in Utah right now. They have a consistent busy gigging schedule and each of their performances is high quality.  They have a wonderful Celtic/Jewish mix of music that is fresh for the area. 
These guys are simply great musicians, with a great, unique product.

 

David Edwards -- singer-songwriter (Highland UT)

 

 

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