On our first date we met Kate at the Oldtown School. She impressed us as a great songwriter with a great voice. This is a rare combination and one to be treasured. Since then we have tried to make all of her Chicago gigs.
While we can't say that we know him or have heard him perform, Carolyn is one of our favorite composers. We sometimes have friends over for musical gatherings and many of our instrumentalist friends have one or two of his tunes in their repertories.
Last April, when we went to the Schooner Fare concert at Alverno Collage in Milwaukee, we stayed overnight to see Great Big Sea. Our son, Kevin, had discovered this Newfoundland group on the web a few months earlier. They could be said to do Stan Rodgers type songs with Steeleye Span type arrangements. But the truth is that they are a new type of folk rock and they are well worth hearing. We had a blast at their Sunday night gig.
We've known Tom and Chris since the early days of their "Irish bar" period when they were known as Privateer. They are great singers and have a vast knowledge of great lakes music and folklore. Ask Tom to tell you about Jim Johnson's one and only sailing experience.
Alvin McGovern
We've been good friends with Chris and Alvin for a long time. Though the time that Rich strong-armed Alvin into entertaining a rabid Cub Scout troop may have put a small temporary strain on the relationship. We only wish that they performed a little more often. If you can catch one of their rare performances, do so!
Sharon and Betty Wilfong met at a La Leche meeting shortly after thier first children were born. Betty's three daughters are all very talented singers and mucisions. Betty and her oldest daughter, Sarah, formed O'Carolan's Daughters to perform at the Bristol Fair in Wisconson. Erica and Adrian are now full members of the group. Under the O'Carolan's Daughters name they have released two CDs. Sarah and her friend Danielle DeVelasco also performed under the name O'Carolan in the Kitchen. They have one CD to their credit. Sara was also a member of the group Crossrogues. Sara is now performing as part of the 7 woman group Mustang Sally.
Rich first heard a Stan Rogers song at the Irish Eyes pub in the late seventies. It was sung by our good friend Bob Burger. Bob would sneak Stan's songs into his "Irish" sets much to the annoyance of the pub owner. Rich and his friends really enjoyed these songs and we were all greatly saddened by Stan's untimely death.
This is another group that Bob Burger snuck into his Irish Eyes gigs. They are based in Maine. But once a year, in April, they have a concert at Alverno Collage in Milwaukee. We and a number of our friends make it an annual pilgrimage.
Rich introduced Sharon to this group when they first met. He has been a fan of theirs for more years then he cares to remember. The group has added and lost members over the years but has always been able to arrange old British Island poems and songs into works of wonder. Their many albums are "must have" items in this household.