Special Contra Dance: 2 Great East Coast Bands

This dance is the culmination of a 3 day Harvest Moon Festival with 250 dancers from 22 states, and is OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

The bands are: Wild Asparagus with caller George Marshall, who also plays several instruments AND The Latter Day Lizards with Lisa Greenleaf calling.  $20

6:30 to 9:50 p.m.Special Finale of the Harvest Moon Dance Festival (Register @ https://www.sbcds.org/hm/ to attend entire weekend)

Come just for the music of two great East Coast bands

Wild Asparagus is a five-person band from Western Massachusetts. Drawing upon music from New England, the British Isles, and Canada, as well as classical sources, Wild Asparagus takes an original approach to the traditional dance music of our folk heritage. Using their unique blend of instruments, creativity, and skills, they offer a sensitive and powerful performance. Since 1984, Wild Asparagus has been highly successful in bringing their music to dances and concerts throughout the United States.

The heartbeat of Wild Asparagus is Ann Percival on piano, guitar, and vocals. Ann’s playing is highly inventive while still maintaining an irresistible rhythm. David Cantieni, a wood-wind wizard, pours forth lively melodies and liquid harmonies on his flutes, tin-whistle, oboe, saxophone and bombard. Becky Tracy’s masterful fiddling is that rare combination of energy and beauty. George Marshall is an accomplished English concertina player and also provides driving rhythms on bodhran and bones. We usually play with a bass player, some of our regular players include Corey DiMario, Mark Murphy, Harry Aceto and Ralph Gordon among others. George also provides excellent instruction and calling for New England style contras.

Wild Asparagus has appeared at numerous major festivals and dance events throughout the United States, Canada, and Alaska. Upcoming special events include the Tropical Dance Vacations and Dance-a-Rama. Look at our schedule page for other upcoming appearances.  Wild Asparagus currently has seven recordings available.

The Latter Day Lizards are a New England based dance band featuring a trio of musicians fervent with the desire and talent to ignite flames under dancing feet. With a wide ranging and hopelessly eclectic repertoire including everything from Irish and Scottish traditional jigs and reels to Balkan, blues and swing tunes (often juxtaposed next to each other) the Latter Day Lizards bring excellent musicianship, playfulness, drama and unrelentingly infectious rhythm to their dance performances. With Kate Barnes on piano, guitar and flute, Bill Tomczak on clarinet, sax and drum and Dave Langford on guitar and fiddle, they blend swing, rock-and-roll and jazz influences with traditional foot-stomping dance music to make an innovative, spontaneous and rhythmically inflammatory sound.

The members of the Lizards come from diverse backgrounds within the traditional dance world and have been hired for dance events, festivals and concerts from California to the British Isles. Kate Barnes has been playing piano, flute and assorted other instruments for dancers for an embarassingly large number of years, and has been invited to most major contra, square, English and vintage dance events throughout the United States. She currently works with the bands The Lizards, Bare Necessities, and Yankee Ingenuity. Bill Tomczak has been playing clarinet for folk dance of one kind or another since 1979. He has recorded with BLT, Wild Asparagus and Yankee Ingenuity and appears on the recordings Cascade of Tears and Gypsy Wine with Mary Lea and friends. Dave Langford is an experienced and versatile fiddler and guitarist and fiddle teacher from the Boston area. A veteran of 30+ years of playing for public dances, weddings, parties and late night sessions, Dave combines multiple styles of fiddling with fierce energy and drive. He has been a staff member for music and dance weeks at Pinewoods, Ogontz, Mendocino, Augusta and Christmas Country Dance School at Berea KY as well as hundreds of weekend dance events around the US and beyond.
Shared among all the Lizards are decades of experience in getting people’s pulses racing and feet moving.

This is a once a year event !