Kutztown, Acoustic Roadshow, and the Most Excellent Martin Family Band

While for most of my Seasons posts, I at least attempt to stay on the subject of Seasons and our comings and going, I am going to digress into one of my most favorite digressing topics: cool bands I like, that we get to hang out with.

For the next few paragraphs I am going to shamelessly plug the Martin family band. For those of you who follow my notes (and as loyal Seasons fans I hope you do, though actually my mom doesn't even follow them) you may remember when I first met the Martin family back at Patsy Fagan's Pub during an Irish session. Since then we have been hoping for a chance to hear them perform live, and just last weekend we got a chance!

Both Seasons and the Martin Family band were slated to provide music at the Kutztown Craft Guild Trade show (or something with those words in some order) thanks to Acoustic Road Show and Butch Imhoff (see note on Acoustic Roadshow...)

Seasons, startlingly, got to Kutztown University on time to hear the Martins play. At first I thought we were just improving our punctuality, until my mom told me that she had misread the time on the calendar and thought we started playing at 12pm instead of 1pm. Oh well, it was a happy thought.

Anyway, the happier thought was that by arriving early we had enough time to tune our eons of strings (though I think only in heaven will our hammered dulcimer ever be perfectly in tune) and watch the Martin's show.

And these guys are AWESOME. Not only do they have five kids who each play multiple instruments and Irish dance (as well as a four-year-old who waited quite patiently under the Martin's table for the show to be over) but the parents play guitar and bass as well. While we do have their CDs, which are great, it is even better to see them live not only because of the dancing but because they have a great energy on stage and it is fun to watch the inter-band connections onstage, which you can't get on a CD. If you do have the chance to see them perform, make sure you get a chance to hear them play "Cathasis" and "Tammlin," and if they don't just give them a rousing encore and shout the song names over and over, because they are not to be missed. Of course, I would hope that you would give them a rousing encore in any case....

After the Martins finished their set, we had a Seasons/Martin family band jam. Our first song we played was "The Butterfly," which our little sister Clare calls "ED the Butterfly" so she can remember the chord names. Clare was tickled to play with a bunch of other fiddle players (and to use one of their cool fiddle mics) and I think she would have defected and joined up with the Martins had I not hastily given her a raise.

We then got to play a rousing rendition of Morrison's Jig followed by The Road to Lisdoonvarna. Sadly, we then ran out of jamming time and Seasons had to play their set, but we are hoping that the Martin family band and Seasons will again join forces to become "Seasons of the Martin Family." Or "The Martin Family Seasons."

Well, maybe by then I'll come up with a cool name....

Stay tuned for more Seasons dates and happenings!

Below I've posted a link to the Martin Family Band Website, and also one of their videos:

http://www.martinfamilyband.net/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwmxwk1Rjb0