Steelgrass Recording Studio is pleased to announce a two-day Music Production Workshop, presented by Stephen Webber and Will Lydgate. Stephen is an Emmy-award winning producer, performer, international clinician, and professor of Music Production and Engineering at Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music. Will is a well-known Kauai performer, producer and music educator. The workshop will be held Saturday and Sunday, June 19-20 at the state-of-the-art Steelgrass Studio in Kapaa, on Kauai’s east side. In addition, Stephen Webber will offer a special, limited seating Master Class the previous evening, Friday June 18, where he will critique participants’ songs and/or recordings in detail, in a smaller group setting. Workshop hours are 10AM to 4PM each day, for a total of 10 hours (with an hour off for lunch). Workshop cost is $195. On Saturday, Professor Webber will teach and put everyone through exercises, give homework, and review the results Sunday from 10-12. The rest of the time Sunday, Stephen and Will will give critiques of students' work, with a special eye to applying the principles of the weekend seminar. The Friday Night Production Master Class begins at 6PM and continues until it’s over (spending approximately 30 minutes on each participants work), and costs $60. Space is limited, and pre-registration is required. For more information or to sign up, please contact Will Lydgate, 808-651-0302, or will@steelgrass.org. MORE INFORMATION: Music Production Weekend Workshop: Get your songs into top shape, and take your self-produced records to the next level as Kauai music educator Will Lydgate and Emmy-winning producer Stephen Webber reveal Most Common Pitfalls and Ten Essential Skills designed to sharpen your writing and production tools. Taken from Webber’s award-winning, standing-room-only classes at Berklee College of Music, this weekend workshop is full of concepts that can spare you months of trial and error in your craft. Friday Night Production Master Class: In a small group setting, Stephen Webber will provide professional, personal feedback of your CD, demo, or live performance. Feedback will include strengthening your material, focusing your artistic vision, finding your voice, refining arrangements to emphasize your strengths, and realizing professional standards of production and engineering. Recordings can be in any style of vocal or instrumental music, including rock, folk, country, metal, world, R&B, hip-hop, dance, Reggae, Jawaiian, slack-key, etc. Stephen Webber is an award-winning composer, performer, and professor of Music Production & Engineering at the Berklee College of Music. His innovative teaching has helped propel his students to the top of the international music charts, garnering platinum records and Grammy awards and nominations in pop, rock, hip-hop, country, bluegrass, folk, and Latin. Millions have experienced Stephen’s teaching through features on NBC’s Today Show, NPR’s All Things Considered, CBS Sunday Morning, CNN Live, in the New York Times and Rolling Stone Magazine. Music Production Analysis, Stephen’s newly-authored course for Berklee Music Online, was just named the "Best Online Course of 2010" by the University Continuing Education Association. Stephen’s distinct approach to coaching songwriters, recording artists, producers and engineers is informed by a career that includes producing and engineering over 100 albums, and original research into the elements of effective records that integrates his in-depth interviews with scores of top record producers, including Sir George Martin (the Beatles), Phil Ramone (Paul Simon, Billy Joel), and Don Was (the Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt). A multi- instrumentalist who often contributes guitars, keyboards, banjo, mandolin and turntables to his productions, Stephen has recorded with Mark O’Connor, Tony Trishca and Meshell Ndegeocello, and performed with Bela Fleck, Grandmixer DXT, and Emmylou Harris. He is the author of two books, and dozens of articles and cover stories for Mix Magazine, Re-mix, and Electronic Musician. Webber has designed several recording studios (including two on Kauai; Steelgrass Recording Studio and the studio at Ke Kula Ni’ihau), produced records for Sony, Epic and Universal, conducted film scores at Lucas Film’s Skywalker Ranch, and composed a full symphony that features the turntable as a solo instrument. Here are some recent comments from musicians who have studied music production with Stephen: "This has by far been the best, most rewarding course I have ever taken in my whole entire life. It has completely changed me personally." "Stephen’s enthusiasm and knowledge are incredible. His teaching is concise yet comprehensive, covers all aspects of record making, and gives students the confidence to become music producers.” "This was my first experience with Berklee, and it's been the best thing that ever happened to me.” “I've taken 21 courses at Berklee, and this is the best one so far." "For me, the tools that the course provided gave me the confidence that I needed. Everything seems clear now. It feels almost like solving a difficult puzzle and after solving the puzzle I realized that it wasn't as hard as people made it seem." Space for both the Friday Master Class and the Saturday/Sunday workshop is limited, and pre-registration is required. For more information or to sign up, please contact Will Lydgate, 808-651-0302, or will@steelgrass.org.
		Steelgrass Farm and Kauai's The Power of Music series present the KAUA'I BOB MARLEY REGGAE WORKSHOP with MATT JENSON, to be held at the Steelgrass recording studio in Kapa'a, Kauai, March 20-22, 2008. As part of the event, Steelgrass also presents world-renowned Marley archivist ROGER STEFFENS in performance 7PM Friday, March 21, and again the next evening, Saturday, March 22. At the Saturday event, Roger will be joined by the Kaua'i Bob Marley Workshop Ensemble. Both events take place at Church Of The Pacific in Princeville. $15 advance tickets are available at Bounty Music in Kapaa and Hanalei Music on the North Shore. The three-day intensive workshop is led by Berklee College of Music (Boston) assistant professor of piano Matt Jenson, and is open to all beginner to advanced-level instrumentalists and singers. Students will learn about Marley's rich life and how the socio-political and personal events in his experience influenced his transcendent music, while preparing 4-5 Marley compositions to be performed at the end of the workshop. The fee for the three-day workshop, which includes lunch, is $250. Each day the workshop starts at 9:30am and finishes at 5pm. For those who may not play an instrument, but are interested in hearing the lectures and watching the rehearsals, the workshop can be audited for $125. Participating members will receive the repertoire list and music ahead of time. Ultimately, students take from this class a deeper understanding of Marley's life. They also learn how to work in a total groove mindset through reggae music, gain a greater understanding of the inner workings of great pop song writing, and experience thinking seriously, through Marley's example, about what it is they are saying with their own musical talents. MATT JENSON is the accomplished and inspired keyboard player, singer, composer, arranger and educator, who created this smash hit course at Berklee College of Music out of his pure love and near addiction to Bob Marley's music and message. In the time that he's been teaching the course (some 6 years now), he has taken it on himself to dig into the fine intricacies of Marley's music. Matt has had the experience of three research trips to Jamaica and, among other notable accomplishments with the class, he was asked by Rita Marley to present a talk on Bob Marley and education at the Africa Unite event celebrating Marley's 63rd birthday in Ghana, West Africa in 2006. Matt has performed with some of the members of Marley's band including Judy Mowatt and China Smith, and he is now developing an international-class musical project combining his love of Marley and of Afro-Cuban music. Rebel Tumbao is a ten-piece ROCKING band performing Matt's original compositions and amazingly creative Latin arrangements of some of Marley's compositions, all with a radical political awareness and the aim to speak the truth and free people with music. Matt's class is such a success because of the immense popularity of Bob Marley himself; however, Matt is a well-informed and passionate teacher who translates his love of Marley with an infectious positivity to all who cross his path through the class. ROGER STEFFENS is a world-renowned reggae collector, actor, author, lecturer, photographer, narrator, reggae and Marley archivist, producer and founding editor of The Beat Magazine. He is an acknowledged authority of the life and work of Bob Marley, reggae music and Rastafari. His reggae archives fill six rooms and contain the world's largest collection of Bob Marley material. Roger travels the globe collecting one-of-a-kind artifacts, and will be presenting his two-hour show on Marley, complete with rare video footage and anecdotes, on Saturday night, March 22 at the Church of the Pacific, with the Kaua'i Bob Marley ensemble opening the evening event. WILL LYDGATE, Berklee College of Music Alumnus, accomplished bassist, and manager of the Steelgrass Recording Studio, is the organizer of the workshop. Will is also going to be assisting the workshop along with drummer GABE JONES, both of whom recently completed Matt's "Music and Life of Bob Marley" class at Berklee. Matt will also be on hand for the week to give private instruction in piano/keyboard and improvisation (jazz, blues, rock, Afro-Cuban, reggae, pop), composition/arranging, Hammond organ. To register for the class call 808-651-0302, or email will@steegrass.org. Tickets for the concert may be purchased in advance at Bounty Music in Kapaa, and Hanalei Music on the North Sore. Further information on Matt and the class can be located at: www.acidreggae.com and at www.youtube.com/upful99. Further information on Roger Steffens can be obtained here: www.hermosarecords.com/marley/arcintro.html
		Kauai’s “The Power of Music” series presents America’s favorite string band, the avant-garde string quartet ETHEL performing Friday, February 15, 7PM at Church of the Pacific in Princeville. $15 advance tickets are available at Bounty Music in Kapaa, and Hanalei Music on the North Shore. ETHEL is America’s premier rock-infused, postclassical string quartet, consisting of four world-class, Juilliard-trained composer/musicians: Cornelius Dufallo and Mary Rowell on violin, Ralph Farris on viola, and Dorothy Lawson on cello. Their mission while on Kauai is to collaborate with local musicians to perform the first Hawaiian music including string quartet, and they will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat. Following “The Power of Music’s” emphasis on outreach and education, members of the band will be also sharing their knowledge and skills with local school groups, including Ke Kula Niihau o Kekaha. ETHEL will join Ke Kula singers at the Waimea Foreign Church at 9AM Tuesday morning, February 12, for a concert. For more information on the Church of the Pacific and Ke Kula Niihau events, contact the Power of Music at 808-821-1857, or email info@steelgrass.org. ETHEL will also appear at E Kanikapila Kakou on two Monday evenings, February 12 (6PM Island School, Puhi) and February 18 (7PM KCC Performing Arts Center, Puhi). These EKK events feature Maui nose-flute player Anthony Natividad plus established Hawaiian musicians such as the Aluli-Farden sisters. Guitar virtuoso Jeff Peterson will also be collaborating with Ethel. For more information, contact Garden Island Arts Council at 808-245-2733, or visit www.gardenislandarts.org. Performing self-composed works as well as works by notable contemporary composers such as Don Byron, Mary Ellen Childs, Pamela Z, Marcelo Zarvos, John King, Phil Kline and others, ETHEL incorporates rock, blues, classical, jazz and other popular genres – now including Hawaiian music -- to create a sound that defies categorization. "Ethel is a genre unto itself." (AM New York) In its eight seasons, ETHEL has toured the world, at one time sharing the stage with pop/rock icons Todd Rundgren and Joe Jackson and appearing on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Members of ETHEL have recorded/performed with some of today's most compelling artists: Sheryl Crow, Gorillaz, Roger Daltrey, Yo-Yo Ma, Ornette Coleman, and Lenny Kravitz. John Walters of the Guardian (UK) says, "I wish there were more rock bands who played like ETHEL." A favorite at countless festivals and venues around the globe, as well as a presence everywhere on the East Coast music scene, ETHEL continues to garner attention from major publications including The New York Times, The LA Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Their debut CD, ETHEL (Cantaloupe Music), was selected as Billboard's Best Album of 2003 and their recent CD release LIGHT (Cantaloupe Music) was featured on on Amazon.com's Best of 2006: Top Classical Editor's Picks and was voted 5 on the WNYC Best of 2006 Listener Poll. ETHEL's Truck Stop Tour In 2008, ETHEL celebrates its first decade with the launch of its ambitious community-driven TRUCK STOP project. As an organic exploration of the world's musical melting pot, the 11-stop, 10- month long TRUCK STOP performance/residency tour examines, unites, and honors indigenous communities, cultures, and music. In collaboration with local groups such as Kauai’s “The Power of Music,” ETHEL hosts projects and workshops with emerging artists at local schools, develops new works and instrumental practices with local artists, and performs concerts that salute the common creative impulse that is formed in the celebration of community. Estimated to accumulate over 40,000 miles across the United States and beyond, TRUCK STOP ranges from a three-day residency in San Antonio, Texas, exploring Tejano Conjunto music, to the upcoming week-long Kauai stay with “The Power of Music” studying the rich heritage of Hawaiian music. The tour kicked off January 14th at Joe's Pub in Manhattan with a collaborative concert featuring Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh and Hewar band, and will come full circle October 14-18, 2008, in Brooklyn, where ETHEL will be joined by TRUCK STOP's alumni artists for a special concert series as part of BAM's Next Wave Festival. Other TRUCK STOP highlights include: a week-long residency/concert with Kaotic Drumline -- a community project designed to get youth off the streets at Dominican University in Chicago, Illinois; a four-day residency/concert with NAMMY (Native American Music Award) award-winning flutist Robert Mirabal in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as part of the Chamber Music Albuquerque series; and a week-long residency/concert in Tilburg, Holland, as part of the 2008 Festival Mundial.
		A NIGHT OF TURKISH SUFI MYSTIC MUSIC, POETRY AND IMAGES Kauai's The Power of Music concert series presents Latif Bolat and the Healing Sounds of the Wandering Dervishes from Turkey, 7PM Saturday, February 24, at Church of the Pacific in Princeville. Advance purchase tickets are available at Small Town Coffee in Kapaa, and at Hanalei Music. For more information, call 821-1857, or visit www.steelgrass.org. Traveling to Kauai from the Turkish city of Mersin on the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean, Sufi musician, singer and composer Latif Bolat will present music, poetry, Sufi mystic stories and images of the Wandering Dervishes from the ancient land of Turkey. The ecstatic devotional Sufi songs and folk ballads Latif plays are the music and poetry of the Anatolian mystics, kept alive since the 1200's by a small but dedicated cult of devotees. This is the music of the triumph of the spirit: the uplifting wisdom and insight of this Sufi culture has energized and inspired people of good will for centuries, equipping inhabitants of the region to celebrate life, and to transcend the eons of social upheavals they have experienced: the destructive effects of the medieval Crusaders, the repressive reigns of Gengis Khan and the Ottoman Empire, and the turmoil of the present-day Middle East. Throughout the program, Latif Bolat will also recite devotional poetry from the 13th Century Sufi poets Yunus Emre, Jalal-ud-Din Rumi and other ancient writers, and will show images of Turkish people and sacred places from Anatolia, a land beyond time, whose human roots extend back into the ages for a thousand generations. One of the best-known Turkish musicians in the United States, Latif's mesmerizing performances draw on ancient texts, and employ the traditional long-necked lute known as the Saz. Latif has presented his music all across America, as well as in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore, Europe and the Philippines. In addition to his concerts and lectures around the world, he has recorded four best-selling CDs, made many TV and radio appearances, and composed music for the PBS Documentary "Muhammed: Legacy of a Prophet" and George Lucas's TV series "Young Indiana Jones". With poet Jennifer Ferraro, he has just published a translation of ancient Turkish Sufi poets entitled "Quarreling with God: Mystic Rebel Poems of the Dervishes of Turkey." Kauai's "The Power of Music" series presents singer-songwriter Maeve Gilchrist and her Trio in concert, 7PM Friday, March 9, at Church of the Pacific in Princeville. Maeve first performed on Kauai to sold-out audiences last spring and summer. Once again, she'll be accompanied by The Maeve Gilchrist Trio, which consists of Maeve on vocals and Celtic harp, and Argentinean musicians Andres Rotmistrovsky on bass, and Marcelo Woloski on percussion. Despite their huge differences in geography - Maeve is from Scotland, Andres and Marcelo from Buenos Aires - the three performers share a devotion to lyrical passion, powerful rhythms, and high-caliber musicianship. The Trio's music is a fascinating fusion, which combines their Scottish and Argentinean folk roots with jazz and improvisation. They play a mix of Maeve's original compositions, plus newly thought-out traditional material, in which her haunting vocals and dazzling harp playing, augmented by Andres's melodic bass lines and Marcelo's hypnotic percussion textures, produce an eclectic, exciting multicultural sound unlike anything else on the world music scene. Born in Scotland, Maeve began playing piano at seven, and soon afterward picked up the clarsach, or Celtic Harp. At ten, she enrolled in the City of Edinburgh School of Music, focusing on classical piano and Celtic folk music. By the time she was ready to graduate, she was an in-demand performer on the traditional music scene in Scotland. This early success earned her a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston. Although Maeve currently performs and records full-time on the East Coast, she would prefer to be living on Kauai. "This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen," she said on her first trip here last March. About her sold-out concerts, she added, "And everyone on Kauai is so friendly. I've never played for a more appreciative audience." Maeve's March 9 concert also celebrates the recent release of her debut CD, "Reaching Me," recorded here on Kauai at Steelgrass. Copies of the CD will be available for purchase at the concert. Advance tickets for the Saturday 3/9 concert, which begins at 7PM, are available at Small Town Coffee in Kapaa, and Hanalei Music. For additional information on Maeve, visit her website, www.maevegilchristmusic.com. Kauai's "The Power of Music" series presents the African musician Youssoupha Sidibe in a solo performance at 7PM Saturday, March 17, at Church of the Pacific in Princeville. Born in Senegal, West Africa, Youssoupha Sidibe is a master of the Kora, the traditional African harp, whose beauty and unique sound captivate listeners, and bring to the surface their deepest and most heartfelt emotions. The Kora is an instrument associated with the Griots, keepers of clan and family history and genealogy who play an important role in African culture. From ancient times to the present day, Griots have composed and performed Kora songs to honor principal figures in African history. In Youssoupha's hands, the sound of the Kora seamlessly mingles with the powerful human emotions and faith that Youssoupha embodies. His playing creates a sacred space with dimensions that are both ancient and contemporary, celebrating our shared humanity and inspiring and empowering people of all ages. Youssoupha has performed and collaborated widely throughout the United States. Recently he has worked with musicians as diverse as India Arie, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Charles Neville, Futureman, Michael Franti, and Matisyahu. His latest collaboration with Matisyahu, entitled "Shalom/Salaam", was released by Sony BMG. An earlier album released in March of 2006, entitled "Youth," went Gold, and contains the collaborative single as well as "Ancient Lullaby," another track featuring Youssoupha on Kora. In the March 2006 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, "Shalom/Salaam" was featured as one of the two "key tracks" selected on the album. This past January, the album "Youth" was nominated for a Grammy. Projects Youssoupha has currently in the works include an upcoming album with the legendary Charles Neville, of the Neville Brothers, for which Youssoupha is the producer. Next up is a collaboration with Michael Franti, the soundtrack for the children's book "What I Be," as well as two albums soon to be released on Youssoupha's "Sacred Sound" record label. Advance tickets for the Saturday 3/17 performance are available at Small Town Coffee in Kapaa and Hanalei Music. For more information on Youssou, visit his website, www.youssouphasidibe.com. Madi Diaz Debashish Bhattacharya Indian Slide Guitar Trio The Dixie Hummingbirds America's Premier Gospel Group A Bosendorfer in Paradise In February of 2007, Steelgrass was host to a three-day Songwriting and Recording Workshop presented by four leading music industry professionals: Kathy Mattea and Jon Vezner from Nashville, Producer-Engineer Stephen Webber, and songwriting teacher Pat Pattison, both on the faculty of Berklee College of Music in Boston. We're planning to offer the workshop again in February of 2008. Please check back here for dates and details. SONGWRITING: This is a workshop to stimulate your creative energies, and sharpen your lyric writing skills by discovering the techniques that have helped people like John Mayer and Gillian Welch win Grammies and write number one songs. You'll learn how to generate better ideas, find the right words to express those ideas, and organize rhythms and rhymes into compelling verses, choruses and bridges. Craft more vivid lyrics by mastering the elements of structure and the process of building great lyrical ideas into great songs. Whether you're a beginner or seasoned writer, this course will help you brainstorm ideas more freely and structure your lyrics more effectively. RECORDING: Why not make records and demos that people actually love to listen to? As a participant in the workshop, you'll develop your recording skills by employing the techniques that have helped Stephen Webber's students record Grammy-winning hit records for Sheryl Crowe, Sting, and Melissa Etheridge. You'll learn to avoid the pitfalls that beset most recording musicians, and produce compelling, focused records that seduce listeners and convey emotion. Discover simple engineering tricks that will give your mixes clarity and depth on almost any budget. Whether you've been recording for years or are just starting out, this workshop will help you focus the big picture, while zooming in to the most salient sonic details. About the Presenters Pat Pattison is Professor of Lyric Writing and Poetry at Berklee College of Music, where he developed the curriculum for the only songwriting major in the country. In addition to his lyric writing courses for Berklee, Pat has written three books, Writing Better Lyrics, The Essential Guide to Lyric Form and Structure, and Essential Guide to Rhyming. Pat has published over 40 articles for Home & Studio Recording Magazine, The Performing Songwriter, and the LASS Musepaper. Pat's students include Gillian Welch, John Mayer, Train, Kami Lyle and many others. He continues to present songwriting workshops across the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Kathy Mattea can look at her 20-year career and make a profound statement: "I am exactly where I want to be." The West Virginia native came of age musically in the Nashville songwriting community, where she sang demos for rising young tunesmiths. Signed to her first recording contract in 1983, she nurtured that connection, giving a score of now-famous songwriters their first hit -- and many their first #1, including Nanci Griffith, with Kathy's recording of Love At The Five and Dime in 1986. She's won two Grammy awards and two Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year awards, and her song Eighteen Wheels And A Dozen Roses was named CMA Single of the Year. Kathy's recordings also brought attention to such diverse talents as Guy and Susanna Clark, Gillian Welch, Tim O'Brien, Jim Lauderdale, Pat Alger, Don Henry, Fred Koller, Gary Burr, Larry Cordle, Mark Germino, Karen Staley, Steve Key, and Craig Bickhardt. She also made unusual yet prescient choices when hiring musicians for her records and her band, because many of them have gone on to great acclaim as instrumentalists, including Bela Fleck, Mark O'Connor, Edgar Meyer, Jerry Douglas, David Schnaufer, John Jarvis and guitarists Ray Flacke and Vince Gill. Originally from Minneapolis, Jon Vezner moved to Nashville in 1986, and within that year had songs recorded by Reba McEntire and Ronnie Milsap, followed by Lorrie Morgan's first single in 1987, Train Wreck of Emotion, which Vezner co-wrote with Alan Rhody. 1989 brought Vezner's Where've You Been, co-written with Don Henry, which earned him "Song of the Year" honors with both the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM). The song was honored with a Grammy Award for "Best Country Song" and the Nashville Songwriters Association "Song of the Year." Vezner was subsequently named "Songwriter of the Year" by the NSAI. Other co-penned songs include A Few Good Things Remain, Time Passes By, Whole Lotta Holes, Slow Boat, Who's Gonna Know, All Roads to the River, The Innocent Years, Calling My Name, Trust Me, and most recently the touching ballad Ashes in the Wind. Some of the other singles written by Vezner include If I Didn't Love You (recorded by Steve Warriner), Has Anybody Seen Amy (John and Audrey Wiggins), Then What (Clay Walker), and You're Gone (Diamond Rio). Other Vezner songs have been recorded by Martina McBride, Janis Ian, John Mellencamp, Nancy Griffith, Faith Hill, and Native American recording artist, Bill Miller. Vezner also has a growing list of production credits, producing CD projects for such artists as Danny O'Keefe, Victoria Shaw, and singing legend Patti Page. Stephen Webber is an Emmy winning composer and Professor of Music Production and Engineering at Berklee College of Music. In three decades as a record producer, engineer, session player, music director, recording artist, DJ, and studio designer, Stephen has recorded with Ivan Neville, Meshell Ndegeocello, the Manhattan Guitar Duo and the Turtle Island String Quartet, and performed with Bela Fleck, Mark O'Conner, and Emmylou Harris. A writer for Electronic Musician, Remix, and Mix Magazine, Stephen is the author of Turntable Technique: The Art of the DJ, the first book to teach the turntable as a musical instrument. Stephen has been profiled on the Today Show and All Things Considered, and in the New York Times and Rolling Stone Magazine. He is the designer of the recording studio at Steelgrass. The Power of Music is a workshop and concert series on Kauai that offers audiences who like great music the opportunity to listen to, study with, and get to know emerging traditional and contemporary performing artists from diverse cultures. Each year, our series brings musicians, instrument makers, dancers and related artists to Kauai from geographic regions throughout the world to present performances and give instruction in their art. Workshops, which enable participants to study and perform side by side with visiting artists, are held at Steelgrass Ranch, an eight-acre bamboo plantation that provides a stimulating environment for artistic and creative exploration. Our series was inaugurated in January of 2006, with a performance of Turkish spiritual music by Latif Bolat, focusing on texts from the poets Eunis Imri and Jalaluddin Rumi. This was followed in February by Bamboo and Bronze, a four-day workshop given by Indonesian gamelan performers from the group Sambasunda, based in Bandung, West Java, presenting traditional gamelan music and Jaipongan dance. Ismet Ruchimat, Ati Sumiati, Mira Gumbira and Ning Rumbini were joined by the celebrated Filipino singer-songwriter Joey Ayala, along with American musicians Andrew Weintraub, Sean Williams, Lei Bryant, and Henry Spiller. To learn more about the featured performers and order their cd's, please visit their websites: www.sambasunda.com, www.joeyayala.com, and www.latifbolat.com. For our March event, we island-hopped west and north from Java and the Philippines to Scotland, whose native daughter, singer-songwriter Maeve Gilchrist, came to Steelgrass Ranch in March to record her debut CD, Reaching Me, in our studio. Maeve returned in July with her Trio: see the write-up on their concerts below. An important aim for a working bamboo plantation such as ours is to lay the groundwork for a local industry in the manufacture of musical instruments made from bamboo. To further this aim, in May we invited the San Francisco group Gamelan Bamboo Bali to give a concert and bamboo instrument-making workshop. Although this group had not intended to record an album when they arrived on Kauai, their music was so fantastic that we persuaded our label, Steelgrass Records, to produce a recording of their music in high resolution 5.1 surround sound. Release date for their debut CD/DVD-A, entitled Gamelan Bamboo Bali, is March, 2007. Boston-based singer Watson Reid and his The Seriously Unserious Trio visited in June to complete the final mix for their newest CD of American folk and popular music.  Maeve Gilchrist first performed on Kauai in the spring of 2006 with acoustic guitarist Stephen Webber. The concert was sold out, so on her second visit she agreed to perform twice, and to bring The Maeve Gilchrist Trio with her. Maeve (vocals, Celtic harp) was accompanied by Andres Rotmistrovsky on bass, and Marcelo Woloski on percussion. The three met while they were students at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. Despite their huge differences in geography - Maeve is from Scotland, Andres and Marcelo from Buenos Aires, Argentina - the three young performers share a devotion to lyrical passion, powerful rhythms, and high-caliber musicianship. The Trio's music is a fascinating fusion, which combines their Scottish and Argentinean folk roots with jazz and improvisation. They play a mix of Maeve's original compositions, plus newly thought-out traditional material, in which her haunting vocals and dazzling harp playing, augmented by Andres's melodic bass lines and Marcelo's hypnotic percussion textures, produce an eclectic, exciting multicultural sound unlike anything else on the world music scene. Born in Scotland, Maeve began playing piano at seven, and soon afterward picked up the clarsach, or Celtic Harp. At ten, she enrolled in the City of Edinburgh School of Music, focusing on classical piano and Celtic folk music. By the time she was ready to graduate, she was an in-demand performer on the traditional music scene in Scotland. Maeve's talent earned her a full scholarship at Berklee, and that brought her to America, which she has made her new home. Actually, she'd prefer to be living on Kauai. "This is the most beautiful place I've ever seen," Maeve said on her first trip here last March. About her first sold-out concert, she added, "And everyone on Kauai is so friendly. I've never played for a more appreciative audience." Maeve's July 15 and July 21 concerts celebrated the release of her debut CD, Reaching Me, , parts of which were recorded here on Kauai at Steelgrass Ranch. To learn more about Maeve and her trio, visit www.maevegilchristmusic.com. In August, Boston-based singer-songwriter Lindsay Mac brought her Plucked Cello Revolution to Kauai. We celebrated her first CD, Small Revolution, and Lindsay began work on recording her next album. She gave her first public concert at our usual venue, Church of the Pacific in Princeville, and that led to an invitation two weeks later to share a much bigger stage with Glen Phillips, former front man for Toad the Wet Sprocket, and the popular Hawaiian performer Makana. This dynamic new singer/songwriter looks at music in a new way by singing funk, jazz and folk while accompanying herself on hand-plucked cello. Lindsay Mac's originality made her the lead story of the February, 2006 issue of Strings magazine, one of the few singer/songwriters ever to appear on the magazine's cover, taking her rightful place as a true innovator in transforming a traditional instrument to new heights. Classically trained, Mac is characterized by her combination of plucking the cello and standing while performing. She holds the instrument like a guitar, strapped around her small frame, and sings her own original songs in the folk/jazz tradition. In her pioneering way she creates a sound that is groundbreaking and compelling. Lindsay Mac has quickly earned wide recognition on the acoustic music scene, opening for KD Lang, "folk goddess" Catie Curtis, Vance Gilbert, and Daemon Records' group Girlyman. Lindsay has also backed up bass legend Charlie Haden and saxophonist Michael Brecker in New York's Carnegie Hall. Her image appears in publications such as Guitar World, Performing Songwriter, Northeast Performer, and Harp magazines as a part of a promotion deal with the Fostex Corporation. Playing over 180 shows per year, she tours internationally, often with her Boston-based band, which includes Stephen Webber (NPR's All Things Considered, Today Show, 60 Minutes) on turntables, banjo, and mandolin; Tim Ray (Lyle Lovett, Bonnie Raitt, Jane Siberry) on piano; Jesse Williams (Al Kooper) on bass; and Louis Cato (Boston Pops) on drums. This exciting performer is revolutionizing the way we think about the cello, while also expanding the definition of the folk/singer-songwriter genre. Her debut CD, appropriately titled "Small Revolution" because of her unique new approach to music, is receiving airplay throughout the country on hundreds of community and NPR-affiliate radio stations. Produced by Stephen Webber, guest artists on the album include two-time Grammy-winning cellist Eugene Friesen; fiddler Matt Glaser (Rounder Records' The Wayfaring Strangers); and pianist Tim Ray. Born in Iowa and raised by hard-working, party-hungry, bohemian bamparents, Lindsay was fed pork tenderloin and Midwestern microbrews for breakfast (she claims this accounts for her wholesome good looks and generally bad breath). Mac then set out to develop her talent at various schools, including The Royal College of Music in London, The San Francisco Conservatory, and Berklee College of Music in Boston, before trading her seat in the symphony for the vagabond life of a touring singer/songwriter. More on Lindsay Mac can be found at her website: www.lindsaymac.com; and on her blog at www.myspace.com/lindsaymacmusic Here's what reviewers and audiences have to say about Lindsay Mac: "I can't rave enough about this dazzling debut, one of the year's best in every way, with every track [in her CD "Small Revolution"] a winner. I want to run into the streets and force strangers to stop what they're doing and listen to this crazy genius girl with her strapped-on cello. Viva la revolution and all things Lindsay Mac." -- Kevan Breitinger, Indie-music.com "...a lush recording and an easy-going sound ensures that this track [Small Revolution] will be on the lips of all listeners." Review in NeuFutur and InterStitial Magazines -- James McQuiston, Editor "Lindsay Mac has the talent to move alongside the titans in this section of the industry; with the commercialization of Liz Phair, there needs to be a strong and assertive voice for the oppressed in society to draw from. "Small Revolution" thus is right in its definition of itself; here's hoping that Lindsay comes out with other albums of this same caliber..." -- Henry Gaffney, Songwriter and producer for artists such as Jennifer Warnes, the Pointer Sisters, Roberta Flack, Judy Collins, Tanya Tucker, and the Four Tops. "She arrived, cello in tow, and I have been a fan ever since. A cellist with an insightful lyrical eye, Lindsay plays cello as if it were a guitar. Rather than single line bowing, Lindsay plays chords, strumming instead of bowing while singing her beautifully crafted songs... she makes it seem as natural as rain. I am certain she leaves other cellists in wonderment, asking, 'Why didn't I think of that?' It is an entirely fresh approach. The effect of strummed cello is both ancient and contemporary... That mournful quality, so much a part of the character of a cello, becomes more primitive and percussive when strummed. Married to the lyric, this effect is primal and arresting... adding a resonance to her songs that reaches deep inside the listener. Lindsay is an artist worth watching." "I saw Lindsay Mac do a live solo show in San Francisco recently then bought her disc "Small Revolution." It's new, awesome and totally delightful. She has incredible lyrics: if you like Ani DiFranco, Andrew Bird or Patricia Barber, check out Lindsay Mac both live and on CD. Her version of Bill Withers' "Use Me" makes great use (a rare thing) of scratches and turn-tablism -- pomo, baby. Although classically trained in the cello, she stands and strums or picks it like it's a guitar or mandolin!!!" "This album brings me a total fresh feeling of music, story-telling and living. Lindsay Mac has a haunting voice and a funky sound, and her plucked cello adds an incredible dimension to the music. It's original, it's got soul, it's funky, it's beautiful. No matter my mood, there are tracks on this album to match. Mac is able to pull off being technically sophisticated and highly original while appealing to a wide audience. This CD is my new favorite -- what an album." "A friend of mine played me the Lindsay Mac CD last month, and I haven't stopped listening to it since. Even after what must be a thousand times by now, every time I hear it, I notice something new and different in this eclectic group of songs -- whether it's a witty or wise lyric, or an unexpected instrument artfully layered into the mix. " "I just can't seem to get tired of this CD. It's a breath of fresh air to find an artist doing something so creative -- seriously, who else plucks the CELLO, and makes it sound so so good? I can't come up with just one word or genre to describe Lindsay's music, but that is what makes her so amazing, she defies it all. And have I mentioned that her voice is absolutely mesmerizing. That's just icing on the cake of this fantastic CD. You only have to hear her once to fall in love with this unbelievably talented new artist." View Images
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