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Serving Cabot and the Region with Quality Arts Experiences
"Community is what we do together!"
The Green Mountain OldTime Workshop Weekend
ARTISTS
Ida Mae Specker Band
Pointe Noir Cajun Band
Ida Mae Specker
A 3rd generation fiddle player, Ida Mae was born in a one room cabin in the woods of Vermont. Along with her older sister Lila, she learned to play the fiddle at a very early age from her father John Specker. Vermont Public Radio's Robert Resnik calls the Specker family "Vermont Folk Heroes." The Speckers have been performing since 2005 and are renowned for “playing a rambunctious version of old-time music that owes as much to punk rock as Appalachia, at least
in attitude.” (Seven Days VT). As a solo performer, Ida Mae fuses original, contemporary, and traditional material, bringing heartfelt new life and relevance to the chain of American folk music. Her EP of original music, 'Billy in the Heartland,' was released in December 2019.
Since he came of age in the 1960s, fiddle icon John Specker has dedicated his life single-mindedly to the art of playing old-time traditional American fiddle music. To this folk idiom he dared to fuse his own highly personal, idiosyncratically forged Queens, New York, musical sensibility. John earned the title “Father of the Ithaca Sound” honing his art with the genre bending Correctone String Band in early 1970’s Ithaca, New York. John has made rural Vermont his home for over forty years now. He performs solo, as well as with his daughter Ida Mae Specker, who inherited dear old dad’s hard driving, primal approach to fiddle music. The Speckers are renowned for “playing a rambunctious version of old-time music that owes as much to punk rock as Appalachia, at least in attitude.” (Seven Days VT). Vermont Public’s Robert Resnik calls the Specker family "Vermont Folk Heroes."
Will Seeders
Will Seeders is a skilled luthier based in Southern Vermont and the founder of Seeders Instruments (est. 2010), where he specializes in crafting and restoring banjos, guitars, and a variety of other stringed instruments. Renowned in the Old-Time music community and beyond, his banjos are favored by prominent musicians such as Allison de Groot, Jake Blount, Kendl Winter (The Lowest Pair), Rachel Baiman, Maggie Shar, and Nora Brown, among others. A versatile musician, Will Seeders is proficient with clawhammer and three-finger banjo, pedal steel, fiddle, guitar, and bass. He is one-half of the duo Carling & Will, alongside fellow clawhammer banjoist Carling Berkhout. Will also performs as a sideman for artists such as Caitlin Canty, Brett Hughes, and Ida Mae Specker, bringing his diverse instrumental talents to a range of collaborations.
Jenny Monfore
Jenny Monfore is an old time fiddler and flower farmer in Montpelier. She’s traveled around the US for 15 years, playing tunes at dozens of regional festivals like Clifftop, Mt. Airy, the Portland Old Time Gathering and Fiddle Tunes. She is in several old time stringbands and has played for large dances including the Old Farmers Ball in Asheville, Atlanta, and the Washington DC square dance. Learn more about Jenny and her farm, Old Time Flowers, at https://www.oldtimeflowers.com/oldtimemusic
Henry Clark
Henry Clark aka 'Mandolin Hank' grew up in southern Vermont, attended Johnson State College studying Music Recording & Cultural Anthropology, and has been an active member of New England's music scene throughout his life. He has played with the Heavy Nettles, Ida Mae Speaker, Christine Malcolm, Fiddle Witch, Acoustik Ruckus, and others. When not performing he enjoys botany, general tinkering, and working on his homestead.
Mowgli Giannitti is a Bassist, Singer, Composer, Multi-Instrumentalist, Teacher, and Actor currently based in Upstate NY. Since studies in Composition, Bass, and Voice, at Bennington College, he has performed and recorded alongside Grammy-winning musicians, composed music for Bessie-winning dancers, toured across the US and Europe, and instructed countless students on bass, guitar, piano, drums, and voice. Mowgli can be found playing bass and/or singing in regional orchestras, Salsa band Alma Picante, Bluegrass trio Heavy Nettles, with Old Time fiddler/singer Ida Mae Specker, Indie Rock artist Nick Granelle, or any number of freelance engagements. Mowgli's own compositions can be heard in the Fusion/Rock project, Satyrdagg. Music is available on all major streaming platforms.
Tom Mackenzie
Tom MacKenzie has been a full-time musician for decades, traveling the world with several bands. I took up the Banjo about 55 years ago and still feel like I have more to learn. I’ve always felt comfortable with this instrument and love sharing what I’ve picked up over the years.
www.tmackenzie.com
Marc Edwards is a guitar player originally from Southern Vermont. He has a deep reverence and love for all things bluegrass/old time, and has studied the styles extensively. He is also well versed in Jazz, and holds a bachelors from Berklee College of Music in Guitar Performance. He started playing guitar at 9 years old, and quickly became enamored with blues music. As he continued to learn, he began to branch out into Jazz, and discovered Bluegrass at local "picks" around Vermont. He began to learn about the stylistic ornamentations that give Bluegrass its character, and in the process became aware of Old time music. He is currently based in Vermont, and works as a professional musician throughout New England and beyond.
Karen Taylor has been playing the violin since childhood and has picked up old time fiddling in recent years. She's a regular at the Cabot and Hardwick old time sessions. After falling in love with Cajun dance, she's spent the past year doing a deep dive into Cajun fiddling, including a trip down to Louisiana. She's learned about the style in workshops with fiddlers she idolizes, like Rosie Newton, Blake Miller, and David Greeley. Aside from fiddling, Karen works in the building trades and runs a small farming business in the northeast kingdom.
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