Six days of expert instruction
and spirited music making!
Instruction in: Fiddle (Celtic and French Canadian), Guitar, Flute, Whistle, Bouzouki, Bodhran and Scots and Irish song.
Faculty
Members of the Paul McKenna Band
from Scotland:
Guitar & Song: Paul McKenna
Mandolin & Bouzouki: David McNee
Fiddle: Ruairidh MacMillan
Flute & Whistle: Sean Gray
Bodhran: Ewan Baird
Director: Donna Hébert, Fiddle
Coordinator: Andy Spence
Paul McKenna Band Combining their love for traditional and folk music as well as original songs and tunes the Paul McKenna Band have been playing to audiences throughout the UK since 2006. With a contemporary approach to songs, although not straying too far from their roots, their arrangements are both fresh and innovative. Their exciting sound is created through outstanding vocals, driving Guitar and Bouzouki, intense Fiddle playing, a warm pairing of Flute and Whistles and dynamic Bodhrán and percussion. www.paulmckennaband.com
Paul McKenna
Paul is an outstanding singer and multi-instrumentalist from Glasgow. His own music draws from the rich traditions of Scottish and Irish music and blends it with modern rock and contemporary songwriting. After only a few years Paul has gained the respect of some of the UKs top folk musicians and continues to impress listeners up and down the country. He is currently studying towards a degree in Scottish Music at the RSAMD. He takes influence from great folk performers including Paul Brady, Christy Moore, Dick Gaughan, John Doyle and Donal Lunny and also contemporary artists such as Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.
Ruairidh Macmillan
Originally from Nairn in the Scottish Highlands, fiddler Ruairidh Macmillan is quickly making a name for himself in the world of Scottish Traditional music. Having been taught by the legendary Aonghas Grant Sr, and just graduated with a B.A. Honours (Scottish Music) from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2008, he already has a vast amount of touring experience behind him, having performed extensively throughout Europe and beyond! In February 2009, Ruairidh was awarded the prestigious title of ‘BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year’. He is currently working towards his debut solo album, due for release in early 2010, on the Greentrax label. In addition to performing, Ruairidh has a great deal of teaching experience, currently holding posts at the Glasgow Fiddle Workshop and the R.S.A.M.D.’s ‘Youthworks’ department, as well as teaching privately.
David McNee David is an exciting talent from Glasgow, Scotland. A multi-instrumentalist, he favours a contemporary approach but uses traditional instruments such as mandolin and bouzouki to achieve a modern robust sound. He recently produced and was featured on Irish singer Mary Kathleen Burke’s album “A song in her heart” which was released through Greentrax Recordings and is available in all good record stores. He is currently working with producer and drummer Fergus Mackenzie of the Finlay Macdonald Band on a new album which will be completed in 2009.
Seán Gray Seán’s involvement in the folk and traditional music scene goes back to the tender age of nine when with his sister Robyn he attended his first folk club. Throughout his early teens Seán with his Sister Robyn played at various clubs and festivals through out Scotland. Seán’s final year of secondary school was spent at the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music at Plockton High School in the Western Highlands. At the school he studied flute with Dougie Pincock and Guitar with Jack Evans. Over the years Seán has played along side many major acts such as Dick Gaughan, Back of the Moon, Jim Malcolm, Andy Irvine, Shooglenifty, Gráda, The Findlay MacDonald Band, The Peatbog Faeries and Lyra Celtica to name but a few.
Ewan Baird Ewan comes from a family long involved in the folk scene. Ewan took up the bodhrán only three years ago and in that time has developed a unique style of playing to a standard which is both impressive and the envy of many players. He also playes Cajon, and favours the DADGAD style of guitar. His unique style of playing is both effective and sympathetic to the music of the Paul McKenna Band.
D I R E C T O R
Donna
Hébert A Franco-American
fiddler who was mentored in the 1970s by Acadian fiddler
Gerry Robichaud
and Québécois-style
Franco fiddler Louis Beaudoin, Donna Hébert has taught
eight Franco fiddling apprentices through the NEA’s Master-Apprenticeship
in the Folk Arts program. Donna was named a 2008 Massachusetts
Artists’ Fellow in the Folk Arts by the Mass. Cultural
Council, which also named her Creative Teaching Partner in Fiddling
in the
Massachusetts schools. A national ASTA clinician and adjunct
fiddle instructor at Amherst College, Donna works with school
string teachers
in the Northeast to develop a regional model and curriculum integrating
fiddling into school string instruction.
Her workshops focus on incorporating
French rhythms and variations into the repertoire, and on the
music of the family of Louis and Julie Beaudoin. Donna is the publisher of the Fiddling Demystified
series of instructional materials for violin, viola and cello.
Says Darol
Anger in his foreword to her Practical Guide for String Players, “Donna
gets it all right!”
Old Songs
Community
Arts Center
37 South Main Street, Voorheesville, New York
Since 2005 this historic building in Voorheesville has provided us with
space for concerts, dances, classes, office and our summer camp series. It boasts one of the Capital Districts best listening rooms - a 36' by 34' assembly hall with adjoining lobby and kitchen. Downstairs houses the Old Songs office and gathering space.
Registration
Five days of tuition and evening sessions.
Housing, room and board available for 30 students.
Registration includes: Single motel room (we will make arrangements; let us know if you want to share a room)
[Note: registration cost is the same whether you stay at motel or commute.] Meals: Sunday dinner, all meals and snacks Monday through Thursday, breakfast and lunch on Friday.
Cost for the week is $725.
A non-refundable deposit of $50 is required to register.
Old Songs, Inc.
PO Box 466
Voorheesville, NY 12186-0466
For more information General info: Old Songs, Inc.
518-765-2815
Email: andy@oldsongs.org
Program questions:
Donna Hébert -
Directions to Old Songs in Voorheesville
To 37 South Main St., Voorheesville
From Capital District locations:
From Route 20/Western Ave. take Route 155 south toward Voorheesville 3.2 miles; turn right at the 3rd stoplight on Route 306/Voorheesville Ave. Follow into village (about 1/2 mile); turn right on S. Main St. (look for Stewarts Shop at that corner). 37 S. Main is across from Stewarts. For evening events, parking is available behind Voorheesville Carpet Co. and Phillips Hardware, down the street on your right.
From Route 85/New Scotland Ave. follow southwest from Albany/Slingerlands to Route 85-A. Follow 85-A into Voorheesville 2.2 miles. Take right on Voorheesville Ave., and first left onto S. Main St. (look for Stewarts Shop at that corner). 37 S. Main is across from Stewarts. For evening events, parking is available behind Voorheesville Carpet Co. and Phillips Hardware, down the street on your right.
From Route 156/Altamont-Voorheesville Rd. follow Route 156 to Route 85-A in Voorheesville; left on 85-A. Go 0.2 miles and turn left on Voorheesville Ave., and then take first left onto S. Main St. (look for Stewarts Shop at that corner). 37 S. Main is across from Stewarts. For evening events, parking is available behind Voorheesville Carpet Co. and Phillips Hardware, down the street on your right.
Krumkill Rd. and Johnston Rd. (near Crossgates Mall) offer other possible approaches. Either will lead to Normans Kill Rd. which becomes Voorheesville Ave. See map.
From farther afield:
From WEST or SOUTH via NYS Thruway
to NY Thruway Exit 24, Albany:
After the toll booth, follow signs to Rt. 20/WESTERN AVE.
(It’s the first exit, immediately after the toll booth).
Turn RIGHT (west) on Rt. 20/WESTERN AVE.
Follow Rt. 20 2.4 miles to Rt. 155.
Turn LEFT on Rt. 155 towards Voorheesville. Go 3.2 miles to 3rd stoplight.
Turn RIGHT on Rt. 306/VOORHEESVILLE AVE. Go .07 miles
turn RIGHT on S. Main St. (look for Stewarts Shop at that corner).
37 S. Main is across from Stewarts. For evening events, parking is available behind Voorheesville Carpet Co. and Phillips Hardware, down the street on your right.
From the EAST on I-90:
I-90 to Exit B-1.
Follow this non-Thruway section of I-90 to the Fuller Rd./State University Exit.
Turn LEFT on Fuller Rd. and continue to the next traffic light (Washington Ave.).
Turn RIGHT (west) on Washington and go 2.9 miles until it ends at Rt 155.
Turn LEFT on Rt. 155. Go 4.6 miles.
Turn RIGHT at light onto Rt. 306/VOORHEESVILLE AVE. Go .07 miles
turn RIGHT on S. Main St. (look for Stewarts Shop at that corner).
37 S. Main is across from Stewarts. For evening events, parking is available behind Voorheesville Carpet Co. and Phillips Hardware, down the street on your right.
From NORTH via Rt. 87/Adirondack Northway Take I-87 south to Albany. DO NOT take Exit One for I-90/I-87 New York Thruway.
Stay in the LEFT LANE and continue to Rt. 20/WESTERN AVE. Turn RIGHT (west) on Rt. 20/WESTERN AVE.
Follow Rt. 20 2.4 miles to Rt. 155.
Turn LEFT on Rt. 155 towards Voorheesville. Go 3.2 miles to 3rd stoplight.
Turn RIGHT on Rt. 306/VOORHEESVILLE AVE. Go .07 miles
turn RIGHT on S. Main St. (look for Stewarts Shop at that corner).
37 S. Main is across from Stewarts. For evening events, parking is available behind Voorheesville Carpet Co. and Phillips Hardware, down the street on your right.
Paul McKenna
Ruairidh Macmillan
David McNee
Seán Gray
Ewan Baird
Since 2005 this historic building in Voorheesville has provided us with
space for concerts, dances, classes, office and our summer camp series. It boasts one of the Capital Districts best listening rooms - a 36' by 34' assembly hall