gcoover Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 It's time to remind everyone about the 8th Annual Concertina Workshop in conjunction with the Palestine Old Time Music and Dulcimer Festival to be held March 29-31 2012 in Palestine, Texas. For more information on this great festival please check out the Old Pal website at: www.oldpalmusic.com. For those of you who have been before, you know how much fun it is spending two and a half full days and evenings of jam sessions, workshops, and concerts in the East Texas piney woods in springtime. The wisteria and azaleas are usually in full bloom, and there is also some pretty amazing BBQ there too. We welcome concertina players of all types, from pre-beginner all the way to accomplished performer. The festival is held in an old historical brick school building that is now the Museum for East Texas Culture, and there will be rooms full of people playing dulcimers, guitars, mandolins, fiddles and even singing shape note hymns. The concertina players usually commandeer a couple of rooms in the basement for workshops, but we could turn up anywhere for the jams - last year we were the last ones left until thrown out by the security guard. Back by popular demand, this year's featured visiting concertina teacher is Jody Kruskal, a renowned old time Anglo concertina player and all-around fun performer. This will be his fourth time at the Old Pal Festival, and he will give four concertina workshops as well as appear in several concerts and jam sessions during the festival. Don't worry if you don't play Anglo, he works with all systems and can give excellent advice and tips about making your playing more musical. Last year he led us all in a rousing rendition of Waltz Across Texas which we took to the main concert stage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd-p5fpQDJ0. For more information on Jody, his website is: www.jodykruskal.com, or check out these videos from his recent performance at the Union Music Store in Lewes, England: The concertina workshops are in the final planning stages, so now is the time to send in any requests. We will have concertinas of all sizes and shapes and fingering systems - English, Anglo, Crane Duet, McCann Duet, Jeffries Duet, Hayden Duet, even a bass English or two, a miniature English, and who knows what else might show up. This is where you can see dozens of different concertinas all in one place, by just about every concertina maker imaginable. If you're thinking of getting a concertina, this is an excellent opportunity to look, learn, try, and ask questions about the various types. Hopefully this year we will once again have a repair workshop with noted Texas concertina builders Harold Herrington and David Christakos, makers of Herrington Concertinas. They are always eager to share his vast knowledge of concertina construction and repair, and they usually brings an exciting new prototype to show us. Another favorite feature is our Concertina Banquet where concertina players and their significant (and long-suffering) others and friends dine together and showcase solo pieces for each other on all types of concertinas. All of this is in addition to nightly and lunchtime concerts by scores of Old Time musicians who come to this festival from all over the US. The two-and-a half day festival is only $75 ($140 for families), and there is and additional $30 to cover the concertina workshops and our guest artist. If you are planning on attending please let me know asap. Also let me know what type of concertina you play, and if there are any specific lessons or activities you'd like to see or participate in. For those who confirm their interest, we will be sending out workshop information and sheet music. And the really cool thing? Cartoonist Carol Lay in Los Angeles has created a wonderful design for us that you can get on t-shirts and coffee cups at www.zazzle.com. Hope to see many of you at this year's festival! Gary Coover English, Anglo and Jeffries Duet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jody Kruskal Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Hey there Gary. I'm really looking forward to Old Pal again this year... the beauty of East Texas, the BBQ, the genuine friendliness of all the nice folks there, and of course, all those concertinas. I've picked out some great old-time and country tunes and even a song for us to play. Yup, my list of possible workshop selections includes: Pig Town Fling (Wild Horses at Stoney Point) in G Greasy Coat - Am Yellow Rose of Texas in D Soldier's Joy in D Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase in C Shove the Pig’s foot a little Further in the Fire in G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Bellows Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Any chance we can get sheet music / Tune-o-Trons of these so we can practice a smidgen before the festival? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcoover Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Any chance we can get sheet music / Tune-o-Trons of these so we can practice a smidgen before the festival? Of course! We usually send out several emails in advance with music and often mp3's once we get all the workshops sorted out. We usually have a slow jam or two, an ensemble session, sometimes a workshop on sight reading, I might do my Third Row Anglo class again, so there might be lots of music or at least tune lists as we get closer to the festival. BTW, great selection of tunes from Jody! Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Mills Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I say "here-here" to Greg and Randy’s and others positive supportive comments. I just made reservations for the Palestine Texas gathering in March...I have only been squeezing since Aug. 2011. Lessons from Pauline de Snoo..I can find my way around the keyboard but admittedly have great opportunities ahead of me with speed, rhythm, chording and expression. Plus I am no way near playing by "ear". But I figured hey the way to learn is "jump in there". I received a nice acknowledgement of my attendance from Gary Coover for the Palestine group which I appreciated. In his email he said he "was looking forward to hearing my playing". This made me nervous! I thought to myself "damn I have a lot of practice before then..." Pardon my long winded story to make the following point. It is good to know there is alot of support out there and CNET has contributed very positively to this for me. Now I need a lesson on concertina players ettiquete as I know there are going to be many accomplished concertina players at Palestine. Should I limit myself to the beginners (book or no book)? I don’t know! I am replying to StephenTx's comment in this thread rather than the original, figuring he will find it and that the reply will be more generally useful here. I have been to the Palestine gathering 5 of the 7 years concertinas have been a part of it. Every time the range of proficiencies has run from absolute beginner to very accomplished, ear-only to “hearing-impaired”. There are slow sessions designed to be especially friendly for beginners and the other sessions are also accommodating. Jody Kruskal’s classes are not particularly anglo-centric, although he will help the anglo players with specific pointers. They are always attended by players of all systems. His teaching is pretty much universally applauded around here (and his concert performances are among the most popular even among the non-concertina folk.) The Palestine gathering at large (beyond concertinas) is also dedicated to bringing beginners into sessions and is theoretically accepting. I say theoretically only because I know so few old time tunes that I don’t try to sit it on these and have no first hand knowledge. Sheet music and music stands are widespread even among the dulcimer and other players. Don’t hesitate to suggest to Gary Coover things that you would like to see. For example, if you’d really like to play Stardust or Air on the G String, I’m sure Kurt Braun and I would be willing to make sure that happens somewhere, sometime, if we have the sheet music. Gary will keep you apprised of the planning process – the more you participate in the planning, the more likely it will accommodate your interests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenTx Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 ... Stephen, (great name and spelling btw), Thank you for taking the time to write you comments. As a first time participant in any gathering where there was another concertina player...I really did not know what too expect. I have renewed enthusiasm .... Stephen Tx (only about 30-40 miles from Palestine) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saguaro_squeezer Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 I just made my reservations. Fom what I hear, we may have at least one more Crane player this year. May have to have an arrangement of "Take the Pledge" for an SA tribute Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenTx Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Hi Gary, Do I need to register other than informing you that I am attending? It would be great to have access to some of the music before hand! Looking forward to meeting you. Stephen, Tyler Tx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Worrall Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Gary, Looking forward to the weekend, as always! Let's hope the dogwood and azaleas aren't stunted by the drought. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcoover Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 Hi Gary, Do I need to register other than informing you that I am attending? It would be great to have access to some of the music before hand! Looking forward to meeting you. Stephen, Tyler Tx Stephen, no official registering is necessary, I've already got you on the list. As soon as we get the workshops sorted out, which I hope will be very soon, we'll send music and maybe even mp3's to everyone's who has expressed interest in coming. We've already had 15 people sign up, some of whom will be traveling thousands of miles, so it's going to be an exciting weekend! Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Bellows Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Hi Gary, Do I need to register other than informing you that I am attending? It would be great to have access to some of the music before hand! Looking forward to meeting you. Stephen, Tyler Tx Stephen, no official registering is necessary, I've already got you on the list. As soon as we get the workshops sorted out, which I hope will be very soon, we'll send music and maybe even mp3's to everyone's who has expressed interest in coming. We've already had 15 people sign up, some of whom will be traveling thousands of miles, so it's going to be an exciting weekend! Gary Not to be a bother, but have the workshops / music been sorted yet? I finally got around to booking my room and was anxious to know so that I could start practicing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcoover Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 It's less than three weeks to the Old Palestine Concertina Weekend! Attached is the schedule of workshops and activities for this year. I've also attached our wonderful logo created by cartoonist Carol Lay so you can go to www.zazzle.com and order it on coffee cups and t-shirts. The workshops/classes this year: Old Time Music for All Concertinas - Jody Kruskal Old Time Music for Anglo - Jody Kruskal Master Class - Jody Kruskal Traditional House Dance Music for Anglo - Dan Worrall Slow Jam - Nancy Bessent & Steve Mills Tune Swap - Nancy Bessent & Steve Mills Pop & Jazz for English and Duet - Jim Bayliss Accompanying Tunes and Songs - Kurt Braun Beginning Anglo Chords and Tablature - Gary Coover Building the Herrington Concertina - Harold Herrington All Concertinas Great & Small (Ensemble) - Gary Coover Dan Worrall will be premiering his new audio book "Traditional House Dance Music for Anglo Concertina", the Beginning Anglo class will get a pre-publication copy of a new tutor "Anglo Concertina in the Harmonic Style". The Concertina Dinner will be at the Ranch House Restaurant on Friday Night. And I'm sure we'll make at least one lunch time run to Shep's BBQ - last year we went twice! Lots of fun stuff planned, all for only $30 extra. For more information on the festival go to www.oldpalmusic.com. Let me know if you're coming and I'll get the materials to you straightaway. Hope to see you there! Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jody Kruskal Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 At this point I have forwarded all four selections I will be teaching on to Gary and he will forward them on to all participants. This includes paper dots and mp3s for Yellow Rose of Texas, Greasy Coat, Pigtown Fling and Soldiers Joy. Looking forward to meeting and playing with you all in Texas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Bellows Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 It's going to be great fun, I just know it. I'll be arriving late this evening, but hopefully in time to catch part of the Thursday night concert! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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