It's a New Year!

Happy New Year to all of our friends and fans and now that the holiday season is over, we am eagerly awaiting spring! Red River Breeze had a busy December - we played at 11 events before Christmas. This year we had an extensive repetoire of traditional Christmas tunes and carols - some of them pretty obscure (I think those are the best kind!). Our arrangements of this repetoire is becoming pretty cool, I think so there just may be - finally - a Christmas CD in our future. Of course, this means recording Christmas music in the summer to be ready by winter - which is a tough sell for all of us!

The band's schedule is starting to expand with the new year also. Several events are coming up in the next few months with more that are being firmed up so they haven't shown up on the schedule yet. We love playing our music so come on out to wherever we are to hear us and we love talking to you about all things related to Celtic music, traditional music and traditional instruments!

Playing for the Fall Frolic at The Nature Station at LBL

Last Saturday (November 6th), four members of Red River Breeze played for the Fall Frolic at the Nature Station at LBL. Members were: Byron Dumas (fiddle), Melanie Beck (fiddle), David Magers (guitar) and Stephanie Taylor (hammered dulcimer). This is (if we remember correctly) our fourth year to play for this event - and as it usually is in November - it was a cold day! Several of us were recovering from colds and flu so the Nature Station folks were sympathetic and we got to play INSIDE this year! Yes, hearing the music waft through the trees of the station is really cool.... well, actually it's really COLD. Most of the folks who came out to the Fall Frolic seemed to appreciate being inside in the warm - as much as we did. We had a great audience for both performances and we had a really great time. The impromptu percussion band that Stephanie and Byron organized with member participation for one of our tune sets was a blast - there were some terrific drummers sitting in the audience! Thanks, as always, to the great job Cindy Earls of LBL does to make us feel welcome and appreciated. And equally, thanks to the great folks at the Nature Station!

Time to Book Red River Breeze for your Holiday Events!

It's been awhile since I've posted anything about Red River Breeze....and I have been terribly remiss about it. But the long hot summer is pretty much past us and it's time to start thinking about booking us for your holiday events! The band's traditional music and sound is perfect for Christmas music - and we are already rehearsing the traditional carols, tunes and hymns we love to play at this time of the year. Check out our schedule on this blog and contact me, Stephanie Taylor at 931-801-0251 or steph2stepper@aol.com, to book Red River Breeze for your seasonal event!

Playing for Jefferson Davis Birthday Celebration in Fairview, KY

On Saturday, June 5th 2010, David Magers, Melanie Beck, Byron Dumas and Stephanie Taylor played at the Jeffereson Davis Monument Park in Fairview, KY for the Jefferson Davis birthday celebration. This was a weekend long Civil War re-enactment with a Civil War Ball held Saturday night. It was a beautiful day - although at times a bit warm - but it's always fun to attend events like this and experience a slice of living history!

The monument is definitely impressive - if a touch unnusual when you first see it from a distance traveling across the farm lands of Kentucky!



Here are some of the re-enactors that attended including, I believe, the newly crowned Miss Confederacy (there is a pageant held as part of this event also!). The definitely look serious in their roles!



Stephanie and David arrived in the early afternoon to provide background music and drum up interest in the Ball that evening. Thankfully, there was a nice large and shady pavillion to play in. The Stage where we played that evening is behind me.



These are particularly interesting shots of a soldier and two woman taken by David over my hands on the dulcimer.

Melanie and Byron arrived in the evening for the Ball. Here is a shot of the dance caller (holding the broom) giving the dancers instruction in doing the Broom Dance. I enjoy playing for this particular dance because it's a lot like playing Musical Chairs and I get to arbitrarily stop the music when I want - and then watch the guys (or girls if it's their turn) scramble for a new partner and try not to end up dancing with the broom!

The four of us had a great time playing at this event and look forward to doing it again next year! (All photos were taken by David Magers.)

Logan County Art and Film Festival Rescheduled, May 22nd

We will be playing in downtown Russellville, KY tomorrow from 3:00 to 4:00 pm for the Logan County Art and Film Festival. This was the festival that was rained out several weekends ago - the day before the Great Flood of 2010 began in Nashville and started heading downriver to Clarksville and other Tennessee and Kentucky communities sitting on the Cumberland and Red Rivers. For a few weeks, I wondered if being named Red River Breeze was a good thing! Because this festival had to be rescheduled, only three of us will be there - Steph on hammered dulcimer, David M on guitar and Melanie on fiddle - but despite being small, we will be musically mighty! We have performed as a trio before and it works! The beauty of Red River Breeze is that we can be so amazingly flexible - and we then produce music in the true spirit of traditional live music - always somewhat different in wonderful ways everytime we play together! We hope you can come on out to Russellville for this festival. The folks in Russellvile are very warm and friendly and their town is a truly nice place to be!

We will be at The Looking Glass, Friday April 23rd...

And if the weather cooperates, we will be playing at the Logan County Art and Film Festival in Russellville, Kentucky at 3:00 pm on Saturday, April 24th. We have played at this wonderful little festival for the last three years and are looking forward to it again this year. But, the weather man is already calling for severe storms on Saturday - never a good thing when they start alerting us 3 days before.... So, stay tuned!

Last weekend, David M and Stephanie went to Chicago for a couple of days of sightseeing and then went to a hammered dulcimer festival in Monee, IL with Ken Kolodner as the instructor. It was a great day of workshops with a concert and jam in the evening. David and Stephanie even got to perform two Red River Breeze pieces of music in the evening concert! Here's a photo of part of the jam - imagine up to 17 hammered dulcimers as well as other acoustic instruments (fiddle, guitar, mandolin...) playing at the same time! Ken Kolonder is the gentleman on the left (he is an amazing performer as well as instructor), Stephanie in the back and fellow hammered dulcimer player Donna Woerth on the right. David's dulcimer is on the front of the picture with the fancy green handled hammers - he was taking the photograph so he doesn't appear... but he was there!

We will not be at The Looking Glass this Friday, April 16th....

Due to other committments and scheduling conflicts, Red River Breeze will not be performing at The Looking Glass this Friday, April 16th. Look for us at The Looking Glass next Friday (the 23rd) as well as at the Logan County Art and Film Festival in Russelville, Ky on Saturday, April 24th at 3:00 pm.

Spring is here and our schedule is filling up! Hope to see you at some of our performances soon!