Episode 14 - Mary Cay Brass

Contra Pulse

The intro and interstitial tracks from today's episode are Bonnie Isabel Robertson/John Howat's from the Greenfield Dance Band's album High Clouds, Rolling Ridge/Flying Home To Shelley from Airdance's Flying On Home, and Iles de la Madeleine from Mary Cay Brass' album Green Mountain.

See the Contra Pulse website for transcripts and more.

And the Country Dance and Song Society for information about Contra and English country dance across the continent.
See and hear Mary Cay Brass in action:

• The 2011 Village Harmony Teen Residential Ensemble performing Macedonian songs and dances, with Mary Cay Brass on piano accordion
• A 1996 recording by Ray Sebold of the Greenfield Dance Band (David Kaynor, Mary Cay Brass, Roger Kahle, Michael Kerry, and Susan Waters).
• A clip from a 2003 Airdance concert set
• Her recordings and books are available on:
• Her website
• Great Meadow Music
• The CDSS store
• Bandcamp (a Village Harmony recording of songs she collected in the Balkans)

Some dances and events mentioned in this interview:

• The Brattleboro Dawn Dancesare still happening twice a year in non-COVID times.
• The DownEast Country Dance Festival
• The Fiddle Tunes Workshop
• Festival Mémoire et Racines
• The Sage Gateshead still runs Folkworks summer schools in Durham, UK
• The Old Songs Festival in Altamont, NY
• The Sidmouth International Festival that Mary Cay mentions no longer exists in the same form, but the Sidmouth Folk Festival still happens in Sidmouth, Devon, UK in non-COVID times.
• Alasdair Fraser’s Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddle Campis at Camp Campbell in Boulder Creek, CA
• Village Harmony

Some people mentioned in this interview:

• The singer from Québec City Mary Cay blanked on the name of is Gabrielle Bouthillier. Here’s a video of her singing.
• Check out this recording of Bo Bradham playing “Wild Hog in the Woods” and “Pike’s Peak,” found on an archived copy of hiswebsite
• Mary Cay’s new accordion teacher, Sunniva Brynnel
• Andy Davis and Peter and Mary Alice Amidon, along with Mary Cay, make up New England Dancing Masters. They create instructional material grounded in traditional music and dance, like the album Mary Cay mentioned, Chimes of Dunkirk.
• Stéphane Delicq passed away in 2010, but here’s a video of him tearing it up on the diatonic button accordion in 1993
• Pascal Gemme is a Québécois fiddler best known for his playing in Genticorum
• Susan Kevraisthe caller on Full Swing, the album with dance-length tracks mentioned in this interview
• Mary Lea
• Here’s an interview with Mario Loiselle, the inspirational Québécois piano player Mary Cay mentioned.
• Here’s a video of Bob McQuillen playing in his boom-chuck style
• Marie-Soleil Pilette stepdances with Genticorum starting at 3:31 at Ashokan Northern Week, 2018
• Peter Siegel
• Lissa Schneckenburger spoke with Julie about her experiences playing with the Greenfield Dance Band in Episode 10 of this podcast.

Some places mentioned in this interview:

• Here’s a photo of the Belle of Brattleborofrom an old postcard
• Orchard Hill Breadworks in East Alstead, NH, is a fabulous bakery
• The church in Westminster West, VT

Some musical groups mentioned in this interview:

• Airdance recordings are available from Great Meadow Music
• La Bottine Souriante
• The Canterbury Country Dance Orchestraalso comes up in Julie’s interview with Charlie Pilzer, which is Episodes 2 and 3 of this podcast (part 1) (part 2). You can also check out Julie’s interview with Dudley Laufman.
• Héritage — we’re still looking for information about this group! Stay tuned, and let us know if you have any.
• Tidal Wave/Raz de Marée
• Le Vent du Nord

Some odds and ends mentioned in this interview:

• The Ethnic Folks Arts Center in New York City that Mary Cay mentioned is now called the Center for Traditional Music and Dance
• Green Mountain is available on YouTube
• If you want to hear more Québécois piano this week, check out Pascal Gemme and Marie-Soleil Pilette’s Fiddle Hell Online Jam from June
• Great Meadow Musichas many fabulous contra dance CDs available, thanks to the efforts Mary Cay mentioned in her interview