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Sue Draheim Making her Fall Frolick debut, Sue Draheim is far from new on the traditional folk music scene. Born in Oakland, she has played her fiddle in the UK in the John Renbourn Group and in the first incarnation of Ashley Hutching's Albion Band. Closer to home, Sue has performed with the all-women Any Old Time String Band, with the Golden Bough, and with the electric Celtic-rock band Tempest. See suedraheim.com for more about her amazing folk and classical career. |
Noel Cragg plays inspiring morris dance music, and jazzy, swinging English (with Jon Berger and Erin Vang in Midnight Smorgasbord, among others), contra dance tunes (often with Chris Knepper). Master of piano and squeezebox, Noel brings a shot of brilliant energy to everything he plays. |
Charlie Hancock Pianist and accordion player Charlie Hancock is a star in the Bay Area English and contra dance scenes, and more. From jazz to swing to Irish music, Charlie plays with brilliance, drive, and clarity. |
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Rebecca King Known for co-producing the Bay Area Country Dance Society's CD Swinging On The Gate, Rebecca both produced and performs on the CD Farnicle Huggy for Andrew Shaw's 4th collection of 17th-18th century English country dances. Her emotionally moving and vibrant piano playing delights dancers and listeners alike as she plays for English Country dances and contra dances in the San Francisco Bay area. Listen to Rebecca at rebeccakingmusic.com |
Shira Kammen Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Shira Kammen has spent well over half her life exploring the worlds of early and traditional music. A member for many years of the early music Ensembles Alcatraz and Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings, she has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Boston Camerata, the Balkan group Kitka, the Oregon, California and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals, and is the founder of Class V Music, an ensemble dedicated to performance on river rafting trips. She has performed and taught in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Israel, Morocco, and Japan, and on the Colorado, Rogue and Klamath Rivers. Her website is shirakammen.com. |
Jim Oakden has gone through a succession of musical stages, from early music to traditional. Jim has been a staff musician at many West Coast camps including Fall Weekend, both by himself and as part of the GUPpies, and is currently active as a musician for English country dances, contras, Irish and Cape Breton sessions and dances from Brittany. Jim is a board member of the Traditional Dancers of Santa Cruz, led the band for the 2000 Playford Ball, programmed the 2001 and 2002 BACDS Fall Weekends, two American Weeks at (and the 2009 and 2010 English Weeks) at Mendocino. |
| Michelle Levy Michelle Levy has been performing on the violin/viola for over 20 years and studied classical viola & Old Timey fiddle/banjo at Brown University. After receiving the McKasson scholarship to Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddling School, she fell in love with the spontaneity of folk music and began a career focused on accompanying vocalists, improvising, and performing ancient music. For two years she toured with improvisational world music ensemble Cantiga. Michelle currently performs throughout the country with an eclectic variety of ensembles and vocalists, plays at concerts of Medieval music, and fiddles for both contra and English Country dances. |
Chuck Ward and his trusty piano started English dance in the Bay Area many years ago, and is still an incomparable favorite, , treasured by dancers and musicians all over the United States. This past year CDSS (Country Dance & Song Society) honored Chuck by awarding him its Lifetime Contribution Award, which was presented to Chuck in a ceremony held in the Bay Area on March 28. |
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Leading singalongs and singing music hall favorites is that Dickens Fair favorite, Doug Olsen of Oak, Ash & Thorn. [There's no way mere words can capture their music, so we won't even try. Go buy their CDs!] |
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Nick Cuccia "But I *am* dancing! It's just that my partner is electronic and has a lot of knobs!" is how Nick responds when asked why he's listening to music instead of dancing. Taking equal joy in producing contra, English, and other folk and couple dance music of the highest quality, Nick's credits as lead or assistant sound engineer include numerous BACDS events and camps (English Week, Fall Weekend, Fall Ball, Sierra Swing, and local tours by The Flying Romanos, Pete Grassby, and Four in a Bar), the first two NBCDS Mad Robin English balls, the San Francisco Free Folk Festival, and the Fairfield (IA) Folk Arts and Dance Co-op's annual Bare Necessities dance weekends. |