29 June 2009
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Great Groove Band at Old Songs 2006 (Roger Mock photo)
The 2009 Great Groove Band at Old Songs Festival had 45 young people between the ages of 7 and 17 performing on the main stage on Sunday. Singing and playing, they performed the traditional Scottish song and tune “Mairi’s Wedding, the Appalachian Old-Time song and tune “Sail Away Ladies,” and the South African song “Wimoweh/The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
The Albany NY Times-Union compared the band’s supportive and welcoming musical experience to the popular media-driven “American Idol” and quoted band member, 11-year old Darius Irani, in a June 28, 2009 story: “Here we vote people in.”
The Great Groove Band of school-age musicians is a three day participatory program at Old Songs Festivalof Music and Dance (June 26-28-NY) and thePhiladelphia Folk Festival (Aug 14-16-PA) and in 2009, growing a new Groove Band at the Champlain Valley Folk Festival (Aug 1-2-VT).
The Great Groove Bands at the Old Songs Festival and the Philadelphia Folk Festival have been successful from their start. The Old Songs band rolled into its 10th year and the Philly Folk Fest band had a great third year. In 2009 we add a third group at the Champlain Valley Folk Festival. Groovemama members Max, George and Donna are there already to play in the Beaudoin Legacy at Champlain. Working with Vermont fiddle teacher Sarah Hotchkiss, they’ll tailor the Great Groove Band program for a Saturday concert at Champlain.
April Verch with a chorus line of steppers at Old Songs 2008
What is the Great Groove Band?
The Great Groove Band makes fiddle and folk music accessible to young people who sing or play a (mostly) stringed instrument. The 2008 bands included fiddlers, guitarists, bass players, drummers, pianists, flutists and more. At Old Songs in 2008, fiddler and stepdancer April Verch taught a tune and a simple stepdance combination.
Since 2000, the Great Groove Band has provided an opportunity for school-age players (ages 6-18) attending the festivals with their parents or friends. They use their playing skills and learn about fiddle and folk music. Founded and directed by Amherst, Massachusetts fiddler, performer and educator Donna Hébert , bands average 30-35 participants a year at each festival. Eager participants join the band for the weekend, rehearsing intensively for three days before a main-stage performance on Sunday.
These festivals rely on our great volunteer staff who skillfully shepherd the group, tuning instruments and helping kids get organized. 2008 volunteers included Judy Harvey, Mary Beth Boyle, Colleen Holroyd, Hope Greitzer, Daniel Boucher, Pam Gonyer, Nate Ouellette and saxophonist Julie Sorcek. This year at Champlain Valley Festival, Montpelier string teacher Sarah Hotchkiss is teaching Friday and Saturday with Donna, George Wilson and Max Cohen.
Sectional rehearsals address the students’ differing skill levels and are used to teach arrangements. As well as the big band, the group breaks into smaller ensembles of more skilled musicians for the Sunday performance.
Who plays in the band?
Some Groove Band members are in their tenth year with the group, and it’s the high point of their summer. Seventeen-year-old Albany area fiddler Colleen Holroyd says,
“The Great Groove Band has shown me how to play, perform, and pass it on, opening windows and doors of opportunity.”
Says her mother, Nancy Holroyd,
“Not only is Colleen learning to make the kind of music that she loves, she’s learning to pass it on at her after-school traditional strings program. Particularly valuable is the Groove Band experience of turning a tune into a performance.”
Old Songs Festival director Andy Spence is an enthusiastic supporter of the Great Groove Band, observing that,
“Fiddle tunes provide an opportunity for the players to share the thrill of making music with friends, playing for dancing and just for fun! In the relaxed atmosphere of the Festival, Groove Band members keep the traditions alive, meet new friends from distant places, and begin the process of passing the music on.”
Who are the teachers?
The Great Groove Band depends on the efforts of Groovemama members Max Cohen, teaching guitar, rhythm, vocal and instrumental arranging; Stuart Kenney (Rodney Miller Band, Tidal Wave, Dance Flurry Big Band) teaching bass and banjo; fiddlers George Wilson (Whippersnappers, Fennig’s All-Stars, Beaudoin Legacy) and Donna Hébert (Chanterelle, The Beaudoin Legacy, Fiddling Demystified) teaching teens and improvisation while fiddler Jane Rothfield (Jane’s Gang, Atlantic Bridge) takes on the youngest and newest players, aided by our skilled interns. Jane and crew transform the youngest from shy newbies to band members in three days! Parents and music teachers also volunteer their assistance in getting the large group in tune, moving throughout the group to help wherever necessary. Sarah Hotchkiss of Woodbury Strings is co-teaching the Great Groove Band at Champlain Valley Festival.
What music do we play together?
The repertoire ranges from Amazing Grace to Norwegian waltzes to Irish jigs and Scottish marches and French-Canadian, New England and Appalachian reels and songs. Each group is assessed by the coaches, who teach tunes, chords, rhythms and lyrics on the spot, by ear. In 2008 at Philly, we heard one girl tootling “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” on a recorder and turned that into one of our songs, with vocalists, lead, harmony and rhythm parts. It’s never the same program and it’s always fun!
Summer camp week at Old Songs Community Center
Those wanting to continue the Great Groove Band experience can come to the first of four Fiddle & Strings Day Camp Weeks. Week I (July 6-10) is for ages 6-18 at Old Songs in Voorheesville NY. Later weeks (July 13-17 for adult novice-intermediate players) and Fiddling Demystified for Strings (July 27-31) provide a similar experience for adults. In 2009 we add a fourth week of French-Canadian music and song. We’re calling it French Accent Week. Check the 2009 camp website or email Andy Spence (andy (at) oldsongs (dot) org) at Old Songs to inquire or register for any of the camp weeks. Teachers George Wilson, Donna Hébert, Max Cohen and Jane Rothfield will use curriculum from the Groove Band book and students will kick up their heels for a camp concert. 2008 Week I campers are on YouTube – check it out!
REGISTER FOR THE GREAT GROOVE BAND
2008 was our ninth year at Old Songs Festival and we hope you can join us next year for our tenth! Tickets are available at the Old Songs Festival website. For more information about our program, or to register any musician for the Great Groove Dance Band at the next Old Songs Festival, the Champlain Valley Folk Festival and the Philadelphia Folk Festival, please contact Donna Hébert. Be sure to let us know:
- Your instrument
- Skill level/how long played
- Have you been in the band before?
- Parent e-mail address
- Music reader or not?
- Have book/CD already?
See you at the 200 Old Songs, Champlain Valley and Philadelphia Folk Festivals – Groove on!
Contact Donna Hebert to register (info AT fiddlingdemystified DOT com) once you’ve got your festival tickets, ordered from:
OLD SONGS FESTIVAL June 2-28, 2009 www.oldsongs.org
CHAMPLAIN VALLEY FOLK FESTIVAL – August 1-2, 2009 www.cvfest.org
PHILADELPHIA FOLK FESTIVAL August 14-16, 2009 www.folkfest.org
