It’s June, it’s June, it’s June! Here in Bridgetown, that means gardens full of snow peas, greens, and strawberries, and enough sunshine to play outdoors! What could be nicer?

It’s going to be a great month in Fiddleville. For starters, on Sunday, June 2nd, I’ll be playing for the Every Sunday Square Dance with Crankset: Scott Killops on banjo, Joe Moore on guitar, and Robin Wilcox on bass. Straight-at-you, gotta-dance old-time music is what we do. I can’t wait! Put on your dancing shoes and catch us at the Village Ballroom, 700 NE Dekum St., 7-9pm.

Then on Friday, June 14, it’s a house concert in SE Portland at the home of Abbie and Harold Weisenbloom. It’s their (drumroll, please) 100th house concert! What an incredible, generous gift. Over the past three years, Abbie and her family have given thousands of Portlanders an opportunity to hear some of the very best traditional musicians in an intimate living room setting. Thank you, Abbie & Cie.! To celebrate, I’ll be teaming up with Johnny Connolly (Irish button accordionist extraordinaire) and Dan Compton (ace guitarist and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist–it’s our newly formed trio’s debut concert!

Johnny, Dan, and I got together a few months back to kick around a few tunes just for fun and poof! instant musical chemistry. Turns out that Johnny, in addition to being one of the best Irish button accordionists on the planet, is an accomplished old-time musician in love with crookedy, honking old-time fiddle tunes (wait til you hear his killer take on “John Brown’s Dream”). It’s been pure joy working up duets of old mountain tunes. As if that weren’t enough, we’re now deep, deep into tune-swapping Irish and French-Canadian repertories. The synergy has been amazing. Dan, Johnny, and I are clearly on the same musical page–it feels like we’ve been playing together for years. Please join us for this debut concert of fresh takes on time-honored tunes and songs from Appalachia, Quebec, and Ireland (see calendar for details).