Contact:
Jacey Bedford of
Jacey Bedford Tour Management
01484 606230
agency(at)jacey-bedford.com
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Artists
Anthony John Clarke
Appalachian Roots
Bernard Carney
Cara Luft with Hugh McMillan
Cloudstreet
Coyote Run
Dan McKinnon
Eileen McGann with David K
Finest Kind
James Keelaghan
Jaime RT & Andy Hillhouse
Mad Agnes
Mighty Zuly Nation
The Outside Track
Peggy and PJ
Queensberry Rules
Shep Woolley
Tanglefoot
Tania Opland & Mike Freeman
William Pint & Felicia Dale
UK Tour dates booking now:
November 2008
6th New Greenham Arts
7th The Platform, Morecambe
8th Reeth Memorial Hall, N. Yorks
9th Square Chapel, Halifax
11th Queen's Hall, Hexham
14th Spot-On Touring, Lancashire
15th Spot-On Touring, Lancashire
16th Spot-On Touring, Lancashire
22n dApplause Touring, Kent
23rd Applause Touring, Kent
Appalachian Roots with Ira Bernstein & Riley Baugus (USA) -
Fiddles and Feet: Banjos and Ballads.
Tour booking from 31st October - 30th November 2008
and then again in November 2009
An old-time music and dance variety show chock full of humor and skill. Appalachian dance combined with the music from O Brother and Cold Mountain (direct from the man who made it!). Fiddles and Feet, Banjos and Ballads from North Carolina and Beyond.
Click in the image
to see the larger version
of the promo postcard
\
See Ira dance: 13 Video Dance Samples: Flatfooting, Tap, and more
Appalachian Roots is a dynamic mix of traditional dance, song, and instrumental music from the southern Appalachian region of the United States, with a few international twists thrown in. Performed by internationally renowned percussive step dancer Ira Bernstein of Asheville, NC, and virtuoso old-time musician, singer, and raconteur Riley Baugus of Walkertown, NC, concerts include: percussive flatfooting and buckdancing, rhythm tap dancing, French-Canadian step dancing, English clogging, South African boot dancing, hambone, fiddle tunes, and fiddle sticks by IRA; southern Appalachian songs and ballads, old-time banjo and fiddle tunes, and mountain preaching by RILEY; and a good dose of fiddle and banjo, and double fiddle duets by the duo. (Please note, not all concerts include all the listed dance styles.)
Ira Bernstein is regarded as one of the most versatile and
accomplished performers of percussive step dancing in America, and in
particular, as one of the foremost southern Appalachian flatfooters in
the world. His repertoire is a wide array of dances that all share a
common thread: the production of rhythmic, percussive sounds. The
dances are more than movements accompanied by music; they are
movements that make music, and as such, they are part of the music.
In a very literal sense, IRA is a drummer: his feet are the sticks and
the floor is the drum, which is why he refers to his art as Ten Toe
Percussion. IRA'S earliest group experiences were as a member of the
Mill Creek Cloggers, and then the Marlboro Morris and Sword team. He
later went on to perform with the highly influential, professional
companies the Fiddle Puppets, and the American Tap Dance Orchestra.
IRA was also the lead soloist in Rhythms of the Celts, which ran for six
weeks at the prestigious Waterfront Theatre in Belfast, as well as a
guest soloist with Rhythm in Shoes, and the Vanaver Caravan.
Ira has performed in concerts and at festivals all across the US and Canada, as well as in 17 other countries around Europe, Asia, and the Mideast. He has shared the stage with many of the world's greatest tap and step dancers, including Gregory Hines, Savion Glover, Honi Coles, Jimmy Slyde, and Chuck Green, and has appeared numerous times on television and in theatrical productions. He was also one of the artistic creators and featured soloists in Mountain Legacy, and is the director of the Ten Toe Percussion Ensemble. IRA has also repeatedly won first place in the Mount Airy Fiddler's Convention old-time flatfooting competition .
Riley Baugus first came to the British public's attention when his
singing was featured on the soundtrack to the recent Academy Award
winning film Cold Mountain. Those who watched the DVD have seen the
superb concert featuring the singers and musicians from the film--with
RILEY upfront. He is a North Carolina native who began singing and
playing music at an early age. Raised in a household where recordings of
old-time music were often played, he developed a love and appreciation
for traditional, southern Appalachian music. RILEY began honing his
musical skills with close friend and neighbor, fiddler/banjo player Kirk
Sutphin, by visiting elder traditional musicians in and around Grayson
County in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Virginia. He
often visited, played with, and learned from fiddlers Tommy Jarrell (a
National Heritage Award recipient) and Robert Sykes, and banjo player
Dix Freeman. During these visits, he also met and learned from many
other traditional musicians of the area, including former Camp Creek
Boys, Verlin Clifton and Paul Sutphin.
In addition to Appalachian Roots, Riley also plays with the Dirk Powell Band and Polecat Creek, and has played with numerous other old-time stringbands, including The Red Hots, Backstep, and the Old Hollow Stringband. He has also taught banjo, guitar, and fiddle at music camps throughout the US and England, and has toured in Europe with Ira Bernstein, Dirk Powell and Tim O'Brien, The Konnarock Critters, and The Farmers Daughters.
As Appalachian Roots, Ira and Riley have performed at major
festivals in the US, and toured England and Ireland extensively. A few featured performances include MerleFest in Wilkesboro, NC, the
Wheatland Music Festival in Remus, MI, the Open House Festival in
Belfast, Northern Ireland, and the Johnny Keenan Banjo Festival in
Longford, Ireland. Collectively, they have nearly 60 years of music and
dance experience.
Their show in 2008 is aimed at arts centres and small theatres where the audience is close enough to see the whites of their eyes, the tips of their fiddles and the toes of their boots.