First off, Happy New Year and all the very best to you. Here is wishing you all the very best. May good health, love, laughter and music be your boon companions throughout 2016, and here is hoping that our paths will cross!

It’s been a busy month of January in Fiddleville: The year began with a great Québécois jam session chez nous. The monthly Québécois jam (first Tuesdays, 7-10pm) is a wonderful place to learn and share French-Canadian tunes in a learner-friendly environment. It’s free, hosted by jam e-mail list members in private homes around Portland. Get in touch with me to sign up for the list!
In addition to the jam, I just finished teaching a wonderful bunch of folks a 4.5 hour workshop series on how to play back-up fiddle for Cajun music (two steps and stomps); a follow-up to last Fall’s class focusing on “seconding” for waltzes. We packed one heckuva lot of material into these workshops. It’s been great watching Portland’s Cajun music scene grow and blossom. Speaking of which, our monthly Cajun jam (third Sundays, 1-3:30pm) was a knock-out. There must have been at least 15 musicians (fiddle, accordion, mandolin, rub board, guitar, singers, ‘tit fer) setting the rafters on fire, plus some beautiful dancing by Adam and Ali Grimshaw of the Cascade Zydeco. Thank you, Ali and Adam, for reaching out…the dancers and musicians in this scene are starting to connect! Please get in touch if you’d like to join the e-list for this free, monthly jam.

I’ve been cramming in private lessons this month in anticipation of about 6 weeks of touring soon to come up, both on-site and Skype lessons. Please get in touch if you’re interested…old-time music, music of Québec, and helping you strengthen your skills as a player are my teaching passions!

The Portland Old Time Music Gathering just came and went–another literally jam-packed event with dances, concerts, workshops, and after-parties scattered across Portland, run on volunteer steam. Thanks to the POTMG organizers, volunteers, and after-party hosts for their incredible dedication. I got to play a Cajun set at the kick-off dance at the Spare Room with the Côte ouest Cajun Band (myself, W.B. Reid, Tony and Catherine Mates, Eric Thompson, David Cahn, Jinny Macrae and Caleb Clauder–woo hoo!) and a square dance with Crankset String Band (Scott Killops, Joe Moore, Robin Wilcox, and Reese Dummer) at Velocult the following evening.

What’s ahead? Well, I’m off to Brittany! Le Bruit court dans la ville (myself, André Marchand and Normand Miron) is just about to leave for a series of concerts, workshops, festivals and school visits in France. We’ll be on the road January 26 – February 25th. It should be an amazing month. I’ve posted some, but not all of our gigs. If you happen to be in northwestern France during that period, send me a shout!

And no sooner do we get home, then we’re off again! It’s Le Bruit’s second Pacific West Coast Tour (March 5-16). This time we will start with school visits and the fabulous Festival du Bois in Vancouver, B.C. (March 5-6). On the 7th, we’re off to a 10-day run of concerts down the coast in Washington, Oregon, and California, with stops in:
Monday, Mar. 7: Lopez Island, WA (house concert) at 7:30pm
Tuesday, Mar. 8: 3:30-5pm band lab workshop and a 7:30pm concert at the Grange Hall in Port Townsend, WA
Wednesday, Mar. 9: house concert AND JAM SESSION in Seattle, WA starting 7pm
Thursday, Mar. 10: Traditions Fair Trade Cafe in Olympia, WA at 8pm
Friday, Mar. 11: house concert in SE Portland, OR at 7:30pm (with potluck at 6:30pm)
Saturday, Mar. 12: concert at Headwaters Building, Ashland, OR at 7:30pm
Sunday, Mar. 13: house concert in Sebastopol, CA at 7:30pm
Monday, Mar. 14: concert at Don Quixote’s International Music Hall in Felton, CA at 7:30pm
Tuesday, Mar. 15: concert at Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, CA at 8pm
Wednesday, Mar. 16; house concert in Arcata, CA at 8pm

Details for all these events are available in our calendar. We are so delighted to have the chance to visit and perform for friends in France and the U.S. west coast. Hope to see you at one of these events!, but not all of our gigs. If you happen to be in northwestern France during that period, send us a shout!