Lindsay Lou and the Flatbellys

Friday • March 20th • 8 PM
Admission: $18 • KAC Members: $15

Blazing hot Michigan roots ensemble Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys is touring in support of their new release, Ionia. Listen to the new album and you’ll hear a band at the very top of its game. A band uncommonly attuned to each other, the product of near-constant touring and live shows made legend by their infectious, high-energy performances. Performing live, the Flatbellys delight in swapping instruments back and forth. There’s a great sense of play and warmth in their music as well–just listen to the fantastically sarcastic “Criminal Style or the lovely housewarming song “House Together”– no doubt bolstered by long car rides and a strong camaraderie between the band members. But much of the power of this interplay comes from the impressive mastery each member shows over their instruments. Leading the group, Lindsay Lou has the kind of voice you can get lost in. One part jazz singer, effortlessly transitioning octaves, one part blues shouter, soaring over the band like a clarion call, and one part folk singer, rousing them all together in song. Mandolinist Joshua Rilko picks with a careful precision that turns surprising when he slams into speedy power chords, dobro player Mark Lavengood is remarkably deft at matching melody lines with quick responses, and bassist PJ George creates bass lines cleverly crafted to uphold the whole structure of the songs. The instruments and the bedrock of the band may come from bluegrass, but the music that Lindsay Lou & The Flatbellys present on their new album Ionia can best be described as Americana. This is music that’s caught between the pull of the past and the push of the beckoning future, ready to leap forward bursting with new ideas and youthful energy. www.lindsayloumusic.com

Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer

Friday • April 17th • 8 PM
Admission: $18 • KAC Members: $15

“As close to flawless folk/bluegrass as it gets.” — Billboard Magazine

Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer are a formidable power- house of sound, with a repertoire of traditional and contemporary folk, old time country and swing music.

Their superb harmonies are backed by instrumental virtuosity on the acoustic & electric guitar, five-string banjo, mandolin, cello banjo, ukulele, percussion and a world of other instruments. The duo has won Two GRAMMY® Awards and been honored with 14 GRAM- MY nominations for their folk and children’s music CD’s. They produced and performed on Tom Paxton’s GRAMMY® nominated “Live in the UK” CD and tour. Tom says, “Cathy & Marcy are at home in a dozen mu- sical styles. They swing you, jazz you, and old timey you till you just give up and bliss out.” Their latest recording, “ROCKIN’ THE UKE”, features blues, swing, old time country, folk, original songs and more.

What do Tom Paxton, Si Kahn, Riders in the Sky, Pete Seeger, Brave Combo, Mariachi Los Camperos, Mike Seeger, Patsy Montana, Pete Kennedy and Ysaye Barnwell all have in common? They have all worked with Cathy & Marcy in the studio. Their skills have led to producing over 60 recordings by and with other artists, and to projects with National Geographic, AT&T, McGraw-Hill School Publishing and numerous corporate clients who appreciate roots music values. Cathy & Marcy have performed at hundreds of bluegrass and folk festivals, appeared on the “Week- end Today Show”, “CBS Early Show”, National Public Radio’s ”Morning Edition”and “All Things Considered”. In their 25+ years performing together, the Washington Area Music Association has recognized Cathy & Marcy with over 50 WAMMY Awards for folk, bluegrass and children’s music.

As performers, Cathy & Marcy have toured worldwide from Japan to New Zealand, Vancouver to New York, and everywhere in between. Recent shows include the Kerrville Folk Festival (TX), Smithsonian Folklife Festival (Wash- ington, DC), The Rock & Rall Hall Of Fame and Museum (OH), Wolf Trap’s Theatre in The Woods (VA), Tuscon Folk Festival (AZ) and Levitt Pavilion Steel Stacks (PA).

http://www.cathymarcy.com/

RUNA

Friday • May 15th • 8 PM
Admission: $18 • KAC Members: $15

“There is truly a mystical quality to their playing.  They create a lyrical sound that is at once unique as well as seamless.” – Lori Lander Murphy, Irish Philadelphia

RUNA draws on the diverse musical backgrounds of its band members and offers a contemporary and refreshing approach to traditional and more recently composed Celtic material.  Through their repertoire of both highly energetic and graceful, acoustic melodies, along with their fusion of music from Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and the United States, this vocal and instrumental ensemble gives its arrangements of traditional songs and tunes a fresh sound.

“Best of all, RUNA sounds like no one else.” – Travis Rogers, Jr., Music Life and Times

Members of RUNA have played with Solas, Riverdance, Slide, Clannad, Fiddlers’ Bid, Moya Brennan, Eileen Ivers, Hazel O’Conner, Full Frontal Folk, Keith & Kristyn Getty, Barcó, Téada, and the Guy Mendilow Band.

RUNA consists of vocalist and step-dancer, Shannon Lambert-Ryan of Philadelphia, Dublin-born guitarist, Fionán de Barra, Cheryl Prashker of Canada on percussion, Dave Curley on mandolin, vocals, bodhrán, and step-dancing, and Maggie Estes White of Kentucky on the fiddle.  The band often performs with world-renowned, guest musicians, including Ross Holmes (Mumford & Sons, Cadillac Sky, Chessboxer) on fiddle, Matt Mancuso (Cathie Ryan Band) on fiddle, and Isaac Alderson (The Yanks, Comas) on the uilleann pipes, flutes, and whistles.

RUNA was recently recognized on an international level in the Irish Music Awards for 2013, winning Top Group (US, IRE, EU, UK) and Top Traditional Group in a Pub, Festival, Concert, and a nomination for Best Female Vocalist (2013, 2012), and in the 12th Annual Independent Music Awards, winning both the fan ballot and judges’ votes for Best Song in the World Traditional Category for “Amhrán Mhuighinse” (Somewhere Along the Road).  The band, also, appeared as the featured Cover Artist in the October Issue of the Irish Music Magazine this year!

Jim Allford of PA Music Scene writes, “The band is going to be reckoned with and I really feel they are Grammy bound within time.”

RUNA recently released their fourth album, “Current Affairs” – hailed by The Celtic Crier as “an incredible masterpiece”.

“For contemporary Celtic music at its very best – do yourself a favor and check out RUNA.. brilliant!”– Gene Shay, co-founder of the Philadelphia Folk Festival; WXPN-FM

http://www.runamusic.com/wordpress/

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