The acclaimed Utah family folk band "FiddleSticks" has again been selected
for the 2002 Utah Performing Arts Tour. This means you can now present our
unique mix of Celtic, English, and American folk tunes at a state-supported
rate: your cost is only $500 -- the state pays the rest.

FiddleSticks presents a variety of musical moods, ranging from authentic
traditional dance reels and plaintive love ballads to exuberant near-jazz
makeovers and swing-beat songs. Please call 800-969-7640, or email us at
Marco@... if you would like a complementary copy of our latest
CD to sample our music.

Please look us up in the UPAT catalog, and be sure to contact UPAT right
away to schedule a FiddleSticks performance. (As is always the case, there
is more demand for UPAT support than there is money, so first come, first
served!)

We have loved our UPAT performances in the past, and we have presented
concerts state-wide. We especially like the "outreach" performances in
schools or small groups, since we're mostly made up of teenaged performers,
who can inspire other young musicians.

We have added new musical elements to the band since our last UPAT tour in
2000 -- we now can switch the band on a little for a more contemporary
sound, with bass guitar and full drum kit. Or we are happy to maintian our
traditional instrumentation: fiddle, guitar, cello, bodhran, whistles,
voice, and hammer dulcimer. Your choice!

BACKGROUND INFO ABOUT FIDDLESTICKS:

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 California, Nevada, Idaho, Maryland, and New
England, and recently completed a tour in 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, numerous
community, library, and school concerts, private parties and receptions, as
well as performances at the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics, and shows for
the 1998, 2000, and 2002 Utah Performing Arts Tours.

FiddleSticks’ four recordings, “Time and Again” (2001) “Christmas Cold
Fusion” (2000), “Playing Favorites” (1999) and “A FiddleSticks Sampler”
(1998) have been enthusiastically received by the band’s growing crowd of
admirers. “Cold Fusion” was a finalist in the 2001 Pearl Awards, and "Time
and Again" has received multiple nominations in the 2002 Pearls. Recordings
are available in local bookstores, by mail order, on Amazon.com, or on
FiddleSticks’ web page: www.fiddle-sticks.com. FiddleSticks’ recordings are
distributed nationwide by Excel Distribution.

FiddleSticks’ music is a lively mix of traditional Celtic and English dance
music, together with original pieces by the group’s 17 year-old composer and
fiddler, Kathryn, as well as plenty of storytelling songs of life, love and
laughter. 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.

Kathryn, who is a junior at Orem High School, is the band’s fiddler and
vocalist, and has written much of the band’s original music. Elizabeth, in
ninth grade, plays cello in the band and is an enthusiastic gymnast.
Rebecca, who sings and plays flute, whistles and recorders, is a junior at
Brigham Young University, but is on leave from the band as a volunteer
Mormon missionary in Japan. Mark, the dad, plays guitar and bodhran with
the band, teaches part-time at BYU, and has an international trade firm.
Mark’s wife, Andrea, often joins the band on hammer dulcimer, and two family
friends, 17 year old Brandon Cummings on drum kit and Tom Halversen on
6-string fretless bass frequently round out the ensemble.

Since the members of FiddleSticks are mostly family and are mostly kids,
they relate particularly well to youth and family audiences. They enjoy
school or small seminar programs where the sources and origins of folk music
are explored and demonstrated, participation programs where audience members
learn percussion or vocal parts and play/sing along, storytelling including
the stories told by the songs performed, and explanations on playing the
instruments and their origins. Kids and parents alike can sometimes get
inspired by hearing the group’s young players talk about their instruments,
their love for music, how they practice, and how folk music has helped them
in their classical music studies.

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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