Round Mountain

American grit with a Worldly amalgam

Sunday June 9th at 3pm -outside concert

• Blending dusty American grit with a worldly amalgam of global influences, Santa Fe-based duo Round Mountain presents a singular take on folk music that is both foreign and familiar. The multi-multi-instrumentalist band of brothers has travelled the globe absorbing bits and pieces of musical cultures, returning to filter them through their own sepia-toned Americana framework

• Char and Robby Rothschild have been writing songs and singing together since they were kids harmonizing in the back of the family car. They live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they grew up, now with families of their own, yet their musical horizons are as broad as the world. They weave elements of world music into their original songs, providing both the comfort of the familiar with the excitement of the new. They themselves are family men as well as travelers, whose performances bridge folk and world genres. They play their original songs on a multitude of instruments from around the world, often playing several of those instruments at once. Their lyrics evoke the emotion of family, giving listeners a path to access the universal and rugged beauty conveyed by global traditional music.

• From the rock music of their first band, Lizard House, in 1990, the brothers developed a passion for Irish music, then adding West African, Appalachian, Afro Beat, Zimbabwean, Turkish, Roma, and Balkan to their repertoire of study and performance. But the authenticity they sought could only come if the music was truly theirs, and these songs began to emerge in 2000, the first of which were released in 2004 on their debut album, Round Mountain. Their second album, Truth and Darkness (released in 2007) and their third album, Windward (October 2009), were released to sold out audiences in Santa Fe, each receiving consecutively more national airplay and press.

• Elder brother Char Rothschild studied music since age 8, eventually finding his own voice as he traveled from Egypt to Ireland in 1996, and to Tokyo in 1997, playing for the Old Moscow Circus. On stage, Char sings and plays accordion, guitar or dobro, together with trumpet or Bulgarian gaida, and also highland bagpipes. He has studied trumpet with Paul Yutaka Tobe of the Japan Philharmonic, and Zahir Ramadanov of Ansambl Teodosievski.

• Younger brother Robby Rothschild has studied many forms of music, with teachers around the world. He has performed with Thomas Mapfumo, Guinean griot Prince Diabate, and Ottmar Liebert, and has a Masters Degree in Composition from the University of New Mexico. Onstage, he sings and plays percussion- the West African djembe and Peruvian cajon. He also plays the West African harp known as the kora, and the Irish bouzouki

• Round Mountain is named after a mountain peak at the apex of the Pecos Valley, on whose grassy slopes the brothers played as children. The mountain is a gentle place of rest at the threshold of the high country of the Truchas peaks. Round Mountain, the group, is a lively mixture of ceremony and irreverence, of exuberance and reflection. In a time when most music has become so brightly polished that no one can see inside, Round Mountain is a rare authentic gem of music that glows from within.

• Round Mountain connects with listeners in many settings, from festival crowds to performing arts venues. They have opened for such folk icons as Toumani Diabate and Bela Fleck, the Mammals, Sonya Kitchell, as well as opening for and accompanying traditional Irish music’s great innovator Andy Irvine. They’ve also performed with Toubab Krewe, Boulder Acoustic Society, VOCO, and Taarka. They’ve contributed music to the films Solace: Wisdom of the Dying (2008) and Ride the Divide (2010). Given their incorporation of the traditional into their unique music, Round Mountain appeals to a fan base wide in age and background. They have been developing a following in Colorado since 2005, on the West Coast since 2007, and the Northeast since 2009. They are also teachers, Robby having taught percussion and musicianship classes at the College of Santa Fe, and Char being a certified teacher of elementary school music since 2000.

• Three CD's

• Instrumentation:
  Char Rothschild - vocals, trumpet & accordion (simultaneously!), guitar, dobro, gaida (Bulgarian bagpipe), and more!
  Robby Rothschild - vocals, cajon, kora (W. African harp) bouzouki, djembe.

  Round Mountain

   

  

  Molly's Revenge Trio

  Sunday June 23rd at 3pm. Outside concert

  Celtic -summer CD Release Party!

• Molly's Revenge Trio is a dynamic, acoustic Celtic trio known for its unique and infectious enthusiasm. The classic combination of bagpipes, whistle, and fiddle, with a backdrop of guitar, mandola, and bodhran guarantees an enjoyable experience for all fans of Scottish and Irish music. Molly's Revenge has performed at many of the top folk festivals and performing arts events in the USA, and prestigious events in Scotland, Australia and China. Their arrangements of traditional Celtic jigs and reels bring these dance tunes up to date with a driving, hard-edged accent that always leaves audiences shouting for more.
• David Brewer: Highland bagpipes, border pipes, uillean pipes, whistles, bodhran. John Weed: Fiddle. Stuart Mason: Guitar, mandola.
• David Brewer has been playing whistle and four types of bagpipes for about 20 years. He studied in Scotland at the Ceolas Music School in South Uist under the tutelage of some of the best pipers in the world. His authentic and unique style of playing has earned him the reputation of being one of the most accomplished pipers on the West Coast. David has composed close to 200 traditional style tunes, many of which have appeared on recordings, independent films, and television.
• John Weed is a classically-trained violinist who switched to playing Irish fiddle about 15 years ago. John lived in Ireland in 2000 and taught fiddle workshops at the Flowing Tide International Music School in Doonbeg, County Clare. He hones his skills annually by attending the Frankie Kennedy Winter School in Dunlewey, County Donegal where he has studied with Ciaran O'Maonaigh and Dermot Mcloughlin.
• Stuart Mason has been collecting and performing traditional music for over 30 years. He has appeared on stage from Ireland to China performing Celtic, old time bluegrass, and his original compositions, which have won awards from the West Coast Songwriters Association. He leads workshops and classes in traditional music techniques at music festivals and camps.

Molly's Revenge

 

 

 

 

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