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And in a change of pace from traditional ballads and dance-inspiring fiddle tunes, harpists Grainne Hambly and William “Billy” Jackson are bringing a more contemplative sound straight from Ireland to the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph on Saturday evening.
Hambly’s just not bringing her own instrument.
“The airlines sometimes make life difficult when you’re traveling abroad with a harp, so I’ll be borrowing one from Regina Delaney, who lives in Exeter, N.H., for the tour,” Hambly, 42, said in a telephone conversation last weekend from her native County Mayo, where she and Jackson, her husband, live. “Luckily it’s by the same harp maker in Canada who made mine, so it should be fine.”
Jackson, who grew up in Scotland and taught himself the harp, brings that country’s rhythms and sensibilities as well as the distinctive style of his parents’ native Donegal to the show, to blend with the music Hambly learned in Mayo, at festivals and in college, relatively late in her development.
“I tried the whistle, the piano, the fiddle and the concertina — which I still play sometimes in accompaniment with Billy — when I was younger,” Hambly recalled. “Then I went to a festival with my older sister, who plays the harp, and the second I heard it in a performance, I was just blown away.”
And the more she learned, both during her formal education and during the 10-year stretch they lived in Asheville, N.C., the more “blown away” Hambly was by “the response to Irish music and to the harp all over the States, not just in the places with big Irish populations, but all over the country.”
Hambly also grew to appreciate the many sounds and traditions that harpists from around the world have shared since at least the late 1600s and early 1700s, when blind Irish composer Turlough O’Carolan incorporated Italian folk and baroque traditions into his repertoire.
“Twenty or so years ago, at an art festival in New Jersey, there were harpists playing Irish, Latin American, Appalachian — so many different styles,” Hambly said. “Everything you listen to, even if it’s not conscious, influences you.”
Hambly and Jackson will share those influences at the Chandler first by taking turns playing solo, then joining forces after intermission.
“I think we’ve played in a concert hall once before in Vermont,” Hambly said. “More often it’s been house concerts, in small venues. So it’s grand to be able to start our tour there on St. Patrick’s Day.”
Celtic harpists Grainne Hambly and William Jackson play music of Ireland and Scotland in the Upper Gallery of the Chandler Center for the Arts in Randolph on Saturday night at 7:30. For tickets ($17 in advance, $20 at the door) and more information, visit chandler-arts.org or call 802-728-6464.
On Friday night, the Sunapee Community CoffeeHouse hosts an Irish seisiun at the Methodist Church in Sunapee Harbor at 7. Performers include fiddlers Skip Gorman and Jane Orzechowski, flute players Deanna Stiles and Grant Taylor, accordionist Tim Travers and guitarist Vic Reno. Admission is by donation.
For the Upper Valley’s five Salt hill Pubs, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into a party that begins before noon, with musicians from around the Twin States shuttling among the venues to provide a live, and lively, Celtic soundtrack till long after dark. Here, by band or soloist, are the migratory routes for each act:
Bel Clare, a Boston-based band of natives of Galway, plays at 9 a.m. in the downtown Lebanon pub, at 12:30 p.m. in Hanover and at 5 in Newport before ushering out the holiday with a performance at 9 at Salt hill’s Shanty in Newbury, N.H.
The Middlebury, Vt.-based trio O’hAnleigh opens Salt hill’s Shanty at 9 a.m., plays Newport at 12:30 p.m., hits West Lebanon at 4:30 and finishes its journey at 9 p.m. in downtown Lebanon.
Lakes Region balladeer Jim Barnes begins his Salt hill journey at 9 a.m., in Hanover, then heads to downtown Lebanon for a show at 1.
The Salt hill Ceili Band welcomes the morning people to the Newport pub at 9, takes the 1:30 p.m. turn in West Lebanon and closes the festivities in Hanover at 9 p.m.
The Eire Flare duo of Randy Miller and Roger Kahle, who lead Salt hill’s weekday sessions of traditional Irish music, opens the West Lebanon pub at 9:30 a.m.
Atlantic Crossing, the central-Vermont roots trio led by fiddler Viveka Fox, arrives at the Shanty at noon, then hustles to Lebanon for a 4:30 show and to the grand finale that starts at 9 in West Lebanon.
The roots-rock duo Black Agnes comes from the New Hampshire seacoast to close the Newport pub with a performance that starts at 9.
Lebanon-native rocker Chris Powers visits the Shanty at 3:30 p.m.
The Lebanon-based trio The FROGZ plays Van Morrison-inspired Irish music during the 5 p.m. show in Hanover.
Elsewhere in the Upper Valley on Saturday:
At the Taverne on the Square in Claremont, the party begins at 3 and the folk-rock duo of Mark and Deb Bond plays between 4 and 7.
Saxophonist Mike Parker leads his Soulfix quintet into the Farmer’s Table in Grantham for a Celtic-inflected session at 7.
The Wheelers help wash down the corned beef and root vegetables with a draught of rock at The Public House in Quechee between 8 and 11 p.m.
Moxley Union cranks up the volume for the celebration at Windsor Station, starting at 9:30 p.m.
Best Bets
The Northern Harmony quartet of Larry Gordon, Emily Weatherill, Sinead O’Mahoney and Emma Rothman sings traditional folk music of Corsica, eastern Europe and North America on Sunday afternoon at 4 at the Seven Stars Arts Center in Sharon. Admission at the door costs $5 to $15. To learn more, visit sevenstarsarts.org.
The Bread & Puppet Theater company performs The Basic Bye-Bye Show on Tuesday night at 7 at the Seven Stars Arts Center in Sharon. Bread & Puppet describes the play as “a manifesto of transformation” of the environment by global capitalism. Admission to the play is $10 to $25. To learn more, visit sevenstarsarts.org and breadandpuppet.org.
Aztec Two-Step plays its long-lived brand of folk-rock at the Flying Goose Brewpub & Grille in New London next Thursday night at 8. For tickets ($25) and more information, visit flyinggoose.com or call 603-526-6899.
Looking Ahead
Our Savior Lutheran Church in Hanover is inviting musicians of all ages and abilities to perform works of Johann Sebastian Bach in its sanctuary on March 24, during the annual marathon celebrating the 333rd anniversary of the baroque composer’s birth. Players and singers are welcome to perform solo or in ensembles, and the celebration will conclude with a flashmob orchestra around 6 p.m. To select a time slot, email Margaret Gilmore at mouxgie@gmail.com or Mark Nelson at markdnelson1@gmail.com.
Theater/Performance Art
Northern Stage’s production of Ayad Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Disgraced runs through this weekend at the Barrette Center for the Arts in White River Junction. To reserve tickets ($15 for students up to $59) and learn more about this and upcoming shows, visit northernstage.org or call 802-296-7000.
Friday is the deadline for teen performers to sign up for auditions for lead roles in the Chandler Music Hall’s youth summer-musical production of White Christmas!. To register and learn more, visit chandler-arts.org/youth or call 802-728-9878/extension 3, or email outreach@chandler-arts.org. The musical, an adaptation of the 1940s movie Holiday Inn that featured music of Irving Berlin, will be staged at the Chandler July 5-8.
Music
Interplay Jazz & Arts hosts its monthly jam session at Woodstock’s Norman Williams Public Library tonight at 7. RSVP to either perform or listen, at interplayjazzandarts.org.
The teachers at the Upper Valley Music Center play works of Bartok, Barber and other composers, as well as sing show tunes and a cappella numbers, during the faculty showcase concert at the center in Lebanon on Saturday afternoon at 4. Proceeds from the sales of tickets ($15) benefit the center’s tuition-assistance fund.
Jennifer Lord leads The Riders of the Apocalypse into the Corinth Town Hall on Saturday night at 7, for the Corinth Coffeehouse’s dose of cabaret music. Admission is by donation to the Northeast Slopes ski area in East Corinth.
Pianist Ziang Xu plays works of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Liszt at the North Universalist Chapel in Woodstock on Sunday afternoon at 2. While admission is free, donations are welcome. To learn more, visit northchapelvt.org.
Dance
Gina Sonne leads her next Mostly Waltz practice in the parish hall of Norwich’s St. Barnabas Episcopal Church tonight at 6:15. The session begins with a warm-up featuring cross-step and other social-style waltzes. From 7:15 on, practice will focus on music for the Lindy hop, one-step, night club two-step, and West Coast and Blues. Admission is by donation, and dancers are encouraged to bring their own music as well as snacks to share during breaks. To RSVP and learn more, call 802-649-7062.
Bar and Club Circuit
Navytrain co-founder Cole Davidson pulls into Windsor Station tonight at 7 with his new alt-folk band. Citizen Pine visits the venue for a session of rock on Friday night at 9:30, and singer-pianist Kenny Ebell ranges among honky-tonk, soul, rock, R&B and country on Tuesday night at 6.
Randy Miller leads the weekly live session of traditional Irish music at Salt hill Pub in Hanover tonight at 6. Arthur James sings and plays the blues on Friday night at 9.
Boston-based folk-rocker Nico Rivers performs at Salt hill Pub in Newport on Friday night at 9. Roger Kahle joins Randy Miller on Wednesday night at 6 for their weekly live session of traditional Irish music.
On Tuesday night from 6 to 9, fiddler Roger Burridge and piper Anthony Santoro share their weekly session of traditional Irish music at Salt hill Pub in downtown Lebanon.
Saxophonist Mike Parker and singer-guitarist Alison “AliT” Turner play Big Fatty’s BBQ in White River Junction on Friday night from 6 to 8:30.
Vermont-based singer-songwriter Matt Seiple performs roots music at The Skinny Pancake in Hanover on Friday night at 7:30.
The Squids set the rockin’ rhythm for dancing at Skunk Hollow Tavern in Hartland Four Corners on Friday night at 9.
Pianist Sonny Saul performs jazz at the On the River Inn in Woodstock on Saturday and Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 9.
The Diamond Special quartet covers rock from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s at The Dusty Bottle in downtown Bradford on Saturday night starting at 9. The show is open to ages 21 and older, at a cover charge of $5.
Saxophonist Mike Parker collaborates with singer Iva Wich at 56 Main in downtown Enfield on Tuesday night at 6, and with guitarist Norm Wolfe for a set of jazz on Wednesday night at 6 at the Quechee Inn at Marshland Farm.
Open Mics
Ramunto’s Brick & Brew Pizza in Bridgewater hosts an open mic starting at 7:30 on Thursday nights. Participants get a free large cheese pizza.
String players of all ages and abilities are welcome at the weekly acoustic jam session at South Royalton’s BALE Commons on Friday night from 6:30 to 10.
Joe Stallsmith leads his weekly hootenanny of Americana, folk and bluegrass on Monday night at 6 at Salt hill Pub in Hanover.
Jim Yeager hosts open mics on the following nights over the coming week: at Bentley’s Restaurant in Woodstock on Monday night at 7:30; at the Public House in Quechee on Tuesday night at 6; on Wednesday from 8 to midnight at Skunk Hollow Tavern in Hartland Four Corners; and next Thursday night at 7 at the ArtisTree Community Arts Center in South Pomfret.
Fiddler Jakob Breitbach leads a weekly acoustic jam session of bluegrass, Americana and old-timey music on Tuesday nights at 7 at The Filling Station Bar and Grill in White River Junction.
Tom Masterson hosts the weekly open mic at Bradford’s Colatina Exit on Tuesday nights at 8.
David Corriveau can be reached at dcorriveau@vnews.com and at 603-727-3304.