Old Songs, Inc. is a not-for-profit, educational, 501(c)3 corporation
Virtual Office Hours: Monday–Friday, 11 am–4 pm.
PO Box 466 • 37 S Main • Voorheesville, NY 12186-0466
(518) 765-2815 • info@oldsongs.org
Past Events
Events List Navigation
April 2022
$50
Strum into Spring — Acoustic Guitar Workshop
with Maria Zemantauski, Thomasina Winslow, and Ron Gordon
This is a guitar-centric event that provides great learning and listening opportunities for guitarists on every level. You’ll have a chance to learn from and interact with true experts of the acoustic guitar. There will be workshops where new perspectives, sounds and techniques will be taught. Wrapping up the day will be a concert featuring the diverse acoustic styles of our teachers.
Register
In-Person Event — COVID-19 Safety Policy: PROOF of VACCINATION and MASKS REQUIRED. Read more…
Schedule
- 8:30 am — Doors open, participant check-in.
- 9:15 am — Introductions
9:30 am — Early Morning Workshops- Old Songs Building — Maria Zemantauski: Rasquedo; three flamenco strum patterns and how to incorporate them into basic dance rhythms: farruca and rumba
- American Legion — Thomasina Winslow: Fingerstyle Piedmont Blues. Educate that thumb! The fine points of fingerpicking using the thumb with alternating strings and learning to improvise in the style.
- 11:00 am — Late Morning Workshops
- Old Songs Building — Ron Gordon: Traditional bass runs, bass melody and the “Carter Scratch” The roots of playing country guitar.
- American Legion — Thomasina Winslow: Improvisation with the blues using chord progressions and bass lines.
- noon — Lunch Out (of the building): There is a town park and a diner a block away. Many eateries on Rte 20, Western Ave.
- 1:30 pm — Afternoon Workshops
- Old Songs Building — Maria Zemantauski: Continuation of the morning session with the addition of soleares and 12 beat compas.
- American Legion — Ron Gordon: Flat Picking Fiddle Tunes – Technique, exercises, dexterity and tunes.
- 3:00 pm — Sampler Concert: See and hear these workshops come to life!
- 4:30 pm — Everybody go home and practice!
Notes — Workshops are for approximately one hour. The American Legion is across the street from Old Songs.
Instructors/Performers
Maria Zementauski — Guitarist and composer extraordinaire, who has performed extensively throughout our area and beyond. She is a nylon-string guitarist and composer whose style is influenced by a variety of musical genres, most notably, Spanish classical, flamenco and American fingerstyle. mariazguitar.com
Thomasina Winslow — Traditional Blues guitarist who recreates meticulous versions of the 20s–30s fingerpicking styles that sound magical in expression and feeling. thomasinawinslow.com
Ron Gordon — His dedicated guitar class asked to have a guitar event here in the Capital District. Teaching and performing traditional flat pick and finger — picking styles, going back to the 1840’s — to today. learnyourfrets.com
$20
John McCutcheon Livestream Series — Instrumentalists in the Round
with Alasdair Fraser & Natalie Haas, Howard Levy, and Muriel Anderson
John will be joined by several of his favorite instrumentalists for a round-robin of string wizardry, conversation, and fun.
alasdairandnatalie.com | levyland.com | murielanderson.com/
Ticket price: $20 Livestream, $30 Family, $10 Student, $65 Series Pass, and more. Tickets are sold through Mandolin. The concert is being presented by the Artist and privately streamed on Mandolin. No Refunds.
$145
Beginner Ukulele
with Kathleen Hanely
Begin your uke career! This class at Old Songs will get you started down the path to heavenly strumming.We will learn chords (of course), right hand strumming techniques, some chord melody, jazzy, blues, etc. voicings and some finger picking… depending on our progress. This will all be learned through some classic songs, so singing is definitely part of the program. Handouts provided and recorders recommended. BTW, we’ll also delve into some uke history and ukeology along with my personal favorite… uke collecting!
For more information contact Kathleen at kathleen.m.hanley@gmail.com.
Class Dates: April 14, 21, 28, May 5, 12, 19
.
$145
Intermediate Guitar
with Ron Gordon
Learn and apply the fundamental concepts of counterpoint on the steel string guitar. This involves leading, alternate, and runs in the bass; while strumming a rhythm or finger picking an arpeggio, pattern pick, melody line, etc. Knowledge of chords “down the neck”, and how to play a basic rhythm is necessary. For returning students, the songs and tunes we learn will be all new.
For more information contact Ron at 518-372-4172 or rgukeboy@gmail.com.
Class Dates: April 14, 21, 28, May 5, 12, 19
.
$25
Hanneke Cassel Band — Live at Old Songs
Postponed to a soon-to-be rescheduled, later date.
Effervescent and engaging, Boston-based fiddler Hanneke Cassel’s fiddle music fuses influences from the Isle of Skye and Cape Breton with Americana grooves and musical innovations. Hanneke’s music is a blend of the contemporary and traditional, described by the Boston Globe as “exuberant and rhythmic, somehow wild and innocent, delivered with captivating melodic clarity and an irresistible playfulness.”
The Hanneke Cassel Band features Keith Murphy on guitar/vocals and Jenna Moynihan on 5-string fiddle/vocals. Newfoundland-born guitarist Keith Murphy is a rhythmic powerhouse on guitar and a traditional singer of rare finesse. A native of Newfoundland, he has lived in New England for many years where he has been an influential presence in the traditional music scene through his work with many respected bands, as a tune writer and as director of the Northern Roots Festival in Brattleboro, VT. Jenna Moynihan is regarded as one of the best of the best in the new generation of fiddle players. Versatile and inventive, her fiddling style draws strongly from the Scottish tradition, but is in no way bound by it.
Together, the Hanneke Cassel Band creates a cutting-edge acoustic sound that retains the integrity and spirit of the Scottish tradition.
May 2022
$50
Spring into Uke — Ukulele Intensive
with Jim Beloff, Bernice Lewis, and Ron Gordon
We’re coming down from the cloud and we’re back in person for the 2022 edition of Spring Into Uke at Old Songs. This year the great Jim Beloff will be back, teaching workshops, talking about his new book and the history of our modern day uke phenom, and of course performing. Bernice Lewis will also be teaching song smithing on the uke, and Ron Gordon will teach about fingerpicking. Our schedule will maintain the usual 6 workshops, a concert, and is modified to adapt to our current realities. Lunch will be out and the day will wrap up by 4:30. We are looking forward to seeing you there and revving up our uke energy for the warm months ahead.
learnyourfrets.com | fleamarketmusic.com | bernicelewis.com
Register
In-Person Event — COVID-19 Safety Policy: PROOF of VACCINATION and MASKS REQUIRED. Read more…
Schedule
- 8:30 am — Doors open, participant check-in.
- 9:15 am — Introductions
9:30 am — Early Morning Workshops- Old Songs Building — Advanced Beginners Workshop with Jim Beloff: For those who know a handful of chords and a basic up/down strum, here’s a chance to take your skills to a new level. A half dozen or so well-known songs will be played while learning more chords, new fingerings, new strums, transposing on the fly and performance tips and techniques along the way.
- American Legion — Begin Playing Ukulele with Ron Gordon: Get started strumming and singing on this most accessible of all fretted instruments. We’ll learn the ergonomics of playing your uke, basic chords (reading a chord chart), and two essential strums. It will all be put together with a few classic songs. Get a great start to your ukulele career!
- 11:00 am — Late Morning Workshops
- Old Songs Building — Fingerpicking on the Uke with Ron Gordon: Fingerpicking adds new sounds and rhythms to your playing by highlighting the notes that constitute harmony. We’ll learn two patterns having very different “feels”: arpeggio and alternating thumb. We’ll apply these to two songs and educate that thumb.
- American Legion — Songwriting with the Uke with Bernice Lewis: There’s plenty of need for personal expression these days so this may help you to jump-start your creativity. We’ll go over the anatomy and physiology of songs and talk about what makes writing for the ukulele unique. We’ll talk about the structure of songs, and why it works. We’ll analyze components, storyline, use of poetic devices, chord structure, melody, and look at how contemporary song has evolved historically.
- noon — Lunch Out (of the building): There is a town park and a diner a block away. Many eateries on Rte 20, Western Ave.
- 1:30 pm — Afternoon Workshops
- Old Songs Building — Jazzing Up The Ukulele/At The Ritz with Jim Beloff: (intermediate) How to use chord substitutions to “jazz up” a simple 4 or 5 chord song. Based on the 2015 Flea Market Music book. We’ll also play through several Lyle Ritz classic jazz arrangements.
- American Legion — Songwriting II with Bernice Lewis: This will be a continuation of the morning session, along with critiques and helpful suggestions on improving the details and process of song smithing. Bring your creations and ideas to try out and discuss: there is no bad or best in composition… Just better.
- 3:00 pm — Uke Sampler Concert
- 4:30 pm — Everybody go home and practice!
Notes — Workshops are for approximately one hour. The American Legion is across the street from Old Songs.
$20
John McCutcheon Livestream Series — The Story Behind the Song
Requests show!
Ever wondered where John came up with that song idea? How did he research the many historical songs he’s written? Who did he write that particular song for? What about that line/term/idea I don’t quite understand?
Here’s a chance to request, in advance, that John sing and talk about a song you’ve always wanted to hear. Get your requests in early, so John will have time to re-learn and remember your request.
Ticket price: $20 Livestream, $30 Family, $10 Student, $65 Series Pass, and more. Tickets are sold through Mandolin. The concert is being presented by the Artist and privately streamed on Mandolin. No Refunds.
$25
Cantrip
In Person AND Live Streamed at Old Songs
The name Cantrip is an Old Scots word meaning a charm, magic spell or piece of mischief and it aptly describes the unexpected twists and turns in their musical arrangements, likewise the compelling potency of their musicianship. Swirling border pipes, raging fiddle, thunderous guitar and three rich voices blend to create a sound energetic enough to tear the roof off. After 20 years of touring, Cantrip has found a character like no other. Echoes can be heard of trad music from the 1960s and 70s, but the years have slowly infested their music with the sounds of funk, metal, bluegrass, swing, and even klezmer. Dan Houghton, Jon Bews and Eric McDonald stir the elements in a witches’ cauldron, slowly coalescing into chaotic order.
Buy Tickets:
In-Person Concert — COVID-19 Safety Policy: PROOF of VACCINATION and MASKS REQUIRED. Limited Capacity. Read more…
The concert will be held in-person at the Old Songs building and streamed on the Old Songs YouTube Channel.
$22
The Remarkable, Irresistible Erie: Snapshots and Voices
Old Songs presents at Caffè Lena, In Person AND Live Streamed
Produced and directed by Ms “Andy” Spence, this is a performance telling stories of the people, the places, and the history of the original and enlarged Erie Canal, presented in song with narration. The concert features songs by folklorist and historian George Ward, Canadian Joe Grant, Dan Berggren & Jean Ritchie along with other familiar traditional Erie songs.
Musicians and singers: George Wilson, fiddle, bass & banjo; Paul Draper, vintage banjo; George Ward, concertina; Annie Rosen, ukulele; Jonny Rosen, guitar, Kate Blain, guitar; Alan Thomson, piano.
2022 Black Creek Fiddlers’ Reunion
Attention all old time musicians! Camp for the weekend and play old time music in the Old Songs Dutch Barn, at the Altamont Fairgrounds.