Since our dances come from all over the world, our music does too. An extensive collection of CDs and tunes on iPod gives us access to the sounds of bagpipes, zurnas, conch shells, fiddles, mandolins, cimbaloms, guitars, flutes, panpipes, zills, kavals, clarinets, brass bands, vocal music, and more. We also occasionally sing our own songs, or do body-percussion. Our music is truly without borders!
We try to have live music about every three months, and have had bands like Buffalo Gals, June Apple, Cultural Ecology, and Moveable Fingers, as well as talented individuals including Sharon Rogers and Ruth Anne Fraley.
We are open to having live musicians play for us. I can provide sheet music to the tunes we use, and recordings to give you an idea how fast to play. We are a community group, and open to music students of all ages and abilities. Please let me know if you are interested in playing some folk tunes for us!
Flute and Balalaika at Creswell's first Moveable Feet dance and beyond
Cecily Morris, of Springfield, played flute; and Casey Janz, of Eugene, played alto balalaika at our first dance. Casey told us that her Russian instrument has only 3 strings, and 2 of them are both tuned to the same note (E, E, A) - yet the beautiful chords that come out of it provided great rhythm to the smooth notes of the silver flute.
We were thrilled to have them return for our September dance at the Grange, where they played, sang, and danced. These are some talented women!
They have since played for several of our dances. We love having Casey and Cecily!
They played again for the Teddy Bear Dance on April 4, 2014. We now call them Moveable Fingers. Sometimes they are joined by other musician friends. It's always great to have them.
Rich Klopfer and Dianne Dugaw played lively fiddle-and-guitar tunes for our dancing pleasure one year at the Creswell Grange. They had so much fun that since then, their larger band, "June Apple," has played old-time music for us a couple more times! (scroll down for photo)
Difference between violin and fiddle? Violin has strings, fiddle has strangs. ☺
Local pianist Lindsey Quigley graced us with her talent once at the VFW.
When not playing the music for us, Lindsey was on her feet dancing with us! Lindsey is now off at college.
Connla's Well, a Celtic band from Eugene/Springfield, played at our June 2014 dance! Mary Grace plays the Celtic harp, and bandmate James Gregg joined her on silver flute as well as small pipes. Regan Mulvahil plays drums. Look up "Connla's Well" online and enjoy the legend from ancient Irish literature!
Cultural Ecology, from Coos Bay, played for our October 2014 and August 2015 dances. Sharon Rogers, on accordion, is also the accordionist for Kef, Eugene's Balkan band, and has a marvelous voice as well. Gail Elber, holding a bouzouki at left and a mandolin below, is the director of the Sweet Adelines in Coos Bay, so you know she can sing too! Tom Purvis plays a lovely flute, and Marty Giles plays bodhran, an Irish drum. Cultural Ecology plays music from around the world. The band is often joined by Stacy Rose on flute, pennywhistle, and/or hammered dulcimer. In addition, Sharon has played more than once for us by herself.
June Apple, (below) old-time fiddle music from Eugene. Dianne Dugaw on guitar; Rich Klopfer and Rachel Marcotte on fiddle; Carol Skarstad on cello. They brought down the house!
Ruth Anne Fraley, below, is the newest gem in our treasure chest of musicians. She plays all kinds of music on her accordion, and is a dancer herself, so she knows how to play to keep the dancers happy.
Buffalo Gals, Dianne and Rachel, will rock the house with old-time tunes and singing! We are so fortunate to have them playing for us!
Moveable Feet, Feb 2020 iteration. Fred Wilson, Pam Endzweig, Connie Davis, Cecily Morris, Kara Merfeld, Casey Janz, Sheila Tasker, and way too many instruments to count!
Hanna and Emily, above, played some fabulous arrangements for us! Let's invite them to play again!