The Portland, Oregon based mandolin duet of Jack Dwyer & Tim Connell (Mando Planet) is returning to Chestnut House Concerts on Friday, April 10, 2015. Like doubling the good stuff in a drink, the rich sound of two mandolins fills the room as these artists bring their creativity, energy and talents together. It’s not a competition but rather a conversation between two instruments. You might hear Brazilian Choros, Irish Jigs, as well as African or traditional folk tunes.
To RSVP for this show, contact Tim Lehman at tlehman9@gmail.com or call/text 717940 9311. The suggested donation is $15/20 per person; all of which goes to the artists. Potluck at 6 pm, show at 7pm.
Mando Planet (Jack Dywer and Tim Connell) played at Chestnut House Concerts in March 2014 and we’re excited to have them return on April 10, 2015 to play the world’s music on sixteen strings. Their set typically includes music from Ireland, Brazil, the Appalachians, Africa and the African Diaspora, Greece, The Jewish Diaspora, and the Balkans.
The Corn Potato String Band plays traditional American music and all three members are multi-instrumentalists. In addition to being champion fiddlers they play banjo, guitar, bass and mandolin and deftly handle many different antiquated styles including ballads, “ho-downs,” country “rags” and southern gospel, specializing in twin fiddling and double banjo tunes. The Corn Potatoes will be at Chestnut House Concerts on Saturday, March 28, 2015.
Birds of Chicago won the hearts of the Chestnut House Concert audience in September 2013 and they will return on Sunday, March 22, 2015 for another evening of music. The Birds of Chicago just finished recording a new album Real Midnight with producer Joe Henry and they will share some of their new songs with us.
For all three shows the evening will start with a potluck at 6:00 p.m. followed by music at 7:00 p.m. To save a seat contact Tim at tlehman9@gmail.com or call/text 717.940.9311. Suggested donation of $15/20 per person.
Congratulations to Noah Wall and Tommy Norris of The Barefoot Movement on their April 2014 marriage. Your fans at Chestnut House Concerts wish you joy and happiness.
Laney Jones and the Lively Spirits were selected as the winners of the bluegrass genre of BELK’s Southern Musician Showcase in March 2014 and later that month performed at The Fillmore Charlotte. You can read more in the Charlotte Business Journal.
The 2014 Spring issue of Mandolin Magazine features mandolin player Tim Connell. Tim was at Chestnut House Concerts in March 2014 with Jack Dwyer (Mando Planet). The same issue of Mandolin Magazine gave a rave review of Tim’s new CD with musician Mike Burdette (Rio Con Brio) called Stumptown Swing. We’ll keep our ear to the ground for any news of another East coast tour.
Telisha Williams mentioned her training for an upcoming marathon when she played at Chestnut House Concerts in January 2014 with her band, The Wild Ponies. On April 26, 2014 Telisha completed two goals… she finished her marathon and raised money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Congrats to Chestnut House Concerts’ hero Telisha Williams!
Next in the series at Chestnut House Concerts:
Saturday, May 17, 2014: The Bombadils. Progressive Folk/Celtic/Bluegrass/Jazz Potluck at 6:00 PM, Show at 7:00 PM. Save a seat with a text/call to 717-940-9311 or email Tim at tlehman9@gmail.com.
In August I communicated with Rachel Baiman of 10 String Symphony about the possibility of having them perform at Chestnut House Concerts. Her response was “I wonder if you might consider doing a co-bill? Our tour this spring in the US will be co-bill with our friends and amazing New Zealand musicians Tattletale Saints. They just recorded an album in Nashville produced by Tim O’Brien and will be releasing it in the US in March. I can’t say enough good things about their music, they are also a duo but play guitar and upright bass so it makes for a nice, complementary co-bill.”
Consider it? What an honor!
The 48th Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards were held January 26, 2014 and Tattletale Saints took home the Tui for the Best Folk Album 2014. The album, ‘How Red Is the Blood’ was recorded at Butcher Shoppe Recording Studios in Nashville, TN with renowned engineer David Ferguson and was produced by Grammy award winner Tim O’Brien. The Tattletale Saints duo is described as a “masterful blend of Americana fused with jazz, soul and pop” and is made up of Cy Winstanley voice/guitar/harmonica and Vanessa McGowan voice/double bass.
This coming Friday (March 28th) we have a house show with Mando Planet.
One week later on Friday, April 4th, we have our first House Concert Co-Bill with 10 String Symphony and Tattletale Saints. Each band will perform separately but will also do some songs together.
For all house concert events – Potluck at 6, Show at 7.
RSVP by calling/texting 717-940-9311 or send an email to Tim at tlehman9@gmail.com.
Mando Planet, the next show at Chestnut House Concerts, includes Jack Dwyer (see previous post) and Tim Connell from Portland, Oregon. Tim is a graduate of the prestigious New England Conservatory of Music and a virtuoso multi-instrumentalist with over twenty-five years of professional performing experience.
Tim Connell is a rising star in the acoustic music scene, forging a sophisticated and worldly voice for the mandolin in his work with Mike Marshall, Avi Avital and Radim Zenkl in the international mandolin supergroup The Ger Mandolin Orchestra.
Tim records and tours with the Brazilian choro group Rio Con Brio; performs with acoustic guitar great Eric Skye; and with Mando Planet – mandolin duo arrangements with fellow 8-stringer Jack Dwyer.
The following video is none of the above – just Tim Connell on vacation with his family recording a new song “Black Butte Waltz”.
Mando Planet will be performing at 7 pm on Friday, March 28th. Potluck at 6 pm. Call/text 717-940-9311 or email tlehman9@gmail.com to save a seat.
Jack Dwyer – Oly Girl Photography (Natalie LeClerc)
Jack Dwyer got his start in a family bluegrass band in the wilds of Alaska, and was a gigging musician in New York City before he entered his teens. Years of playing have put him onstage with many great musicians including Peter Rowan, Bill Keith, Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, The Mammals and others.
These days he has found a home in the vibrant music scene of Portland, OR, where he teaches at Lewis and Clark College. His latest project is with multi-talented West Coast guitar picker Scott Law, and the group recently appeared at this year’s Wintergrass Festival. In January 2013, he collaborated with fellow Portland mandolinist and Lewis and Clark adjunct Tim Connell to release Mando Planet, a collection of instrumental world music mandolin duets.
Tim and I had the opportunity to travel to Wintergrass 2013 near Seattle – with Mando Planet: featuring Jack Dwyer & Tim Connell marked in our program as a must-see, and their show was a highlight of the festival. Their upcoming East Coast tour means you don’t need to travel to the Northwest to see them; they’re coming to you!
To save seats for their house concert performance at Chestnut House Concerts email Tim Lehman at tlehman9@gmail.com or call/text 717-940-9311. There is a traditional pot-luck at 6:00 p.m. and the show begins at 7:00 p.m. A suggested donation of $15-20 with all money going directly to the musicians.
In 2012 artist Kathy Krisinski attended a house concert at the popular Abbie Weisenbloom series in Portland, Oregon. Jack Dwyer, Tim Connell and Marijke Wiesenekker were playing mandolin along with Michiel Wiesenekker on guitar. It was not only a full moon that night, but a blue moon. Following the show the musicians jammed together until 2 a.m. and the good energy from the evening inspired Kathy to paint the blue moon guitar and 3 mandolins painting that sold to someone in Germany.
Though it won’t be a full moon on the 28th, Mando Plant featuring Jack Dywer and Tim Connell will be bringing that same energy to Chestnut House Concerts on Friday, March 28th. Potluck is at 6:00 pm and the show begins at 7:00 pm. Donations of $15/20 at the door.
The Ger Mandolin Orchestra is a memorial project of reviving the Jewish Mandolin Orchestra that was active in Gora Kalwaria (or as it’s known in Yiddish, “Ger”), Poland between 1920 to 1930. In 2010, founder Avner Yonai traveled from his home in California to Poland to learn more about his lineage and met with then 94 year old survivor Avrum Henryk Prajs. It was then that Avrum showed him a photo he had never seen that included his own grandfather, two great uncles and a cousin. It was the photo below, of the Mandolin Orchestra of Ger.
This black-and-white portrait of the Mandolin Orchestra of Ger eventually led Avner Yonai to relatives in Israel. Given that most of his mother’s family had played in the orchestra, Yonai decided to resurrect it. The contemporary Ger Mandolin Orchestra includes some of the best mandolin players in the world including Mike Marshall, Avi Avital, Eric Stein, Jeff Warshauer, Chris Acquavella, Sharon Gilchrist, Brian Oberlin, Dana Rath, Adam Rozkiewicz, Radim Zenkl and Tim Connell.
Chestnut House Concerts will host Tim Connell and Jack Dwyer (Mando Planet) on Friday, March 28, 2014. I invite you to watch the following film of the Ger Mandolin Orchestra from their performance in Toronto, Canada in November 2013. The Orchestra is seated in a semi circle, and Tim is at the end on the far right. The camera focused on Tim at 3:33, and from 6:02-6:10 there’s also a brief clip of him playing as part of a trio.
Avner Yonai commented about forming the Ger Mandolin Orchestra that it’s not just about the mandolins and about connecting to the past, “It’s about family”. In 2014 we at Chestnut House Concerts send you warm wishes with a challenge to keep music as a part of your day, and to maintain family as priority in your life.
The Portland, Oregon based mandolin duet of Jack Dwyer & Tim Connell (Mando Planet) is returning to Chestnut House Concerts on Friday, April 10, 2015. Like doubling the good stuff in a drink, the rich sound of two mandolins fills the room as these artists bring their creativity, energy and talents together. It’s not a competition but rather a conversation between two instruments. You might hear Brazilian Choros, Irish Jigs, as well as African or traditional folk tunes.
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