ECCD Calendar Archive
- January 26 The Try-Works are Alex Sturbaum (guitar, foot percussion) and Penka Jane Culevski (fiddle). Expect old-time tunes played with energy and impossible amounts of groove. Koren Wake and Jack Laurel call.
- January 19 Hot Seat is Jesse Partridge (fiddle), Alex Sturbaum (acoustic and electric guitars), and Julie Bennett (drums). They’ve played together in many configurations, and now they are officially a band, and are here to rock you like the proverbial hurricane. Rich Goss calls.
- January 12 Hummingbird: Koren Wake on fiddle and viola da gamba, Melissa Coffey on woodwinds, spaceship, and fiddle, Nick Leininger on guitar. Eric Curl calls.
- January 5 Folderol is a richly-seasoned brew of wild Celtic ingredients, stirred by Susan Burke (fiddle), Joe Micheals (guitar), and Brad Reynolds (accordion). Their music is tasty and playful, with tunes old and new, carefully matched for dancing. Valerie Cohen calls.
- December 29 Heliotrope: Paul Englesberg (flutes, whistles, concertina), Robin Brown (fiddle), Greg Sherman (bass), and Michael Hobart (guitar). They’ll stir lively, playful, and pleasurable surprises into a distinctive blend of modern and traditional contradance tunes. Maybe Bach? Maybe Beatles? Maybe…? Joe Micheals calls.
- December 22 The Cinnamon Teals – Vienna Scheyer, Hayden Stern, Patrick Gunning, and Jesse Partridge. Amy Wimmer calls.
- December 15 Effervescence is a brand new, bicoastal contra dance trio! Boston-based guitar powerhouse and rising star Helen Kuhar returns to their home dance in Seattle, and has joined forces with the vivacious fiddle of Vienna Scheyer and the unstoppable accordion of Alex Sturbaum. Expect Celtic tunes served hot, fast, and groovy! Isaac Banner calls.
- December 8 Countercurrent: Brian Lindsey on fiddle, Alex Sturbaum on guitar & accordion, both on vocals. (No light show this time.) Lindsey Dono calls.
- December 1 – – – No dance – – – the PNA sets up for their annual Winterfest craft sale. Get some information about the artists, vendors, and performances at the event here.
- November 24 Ben Jackson (fiddle), Anita Anderson (piano), Dave Bartley (mandolin). Kelsey Hartman calls.
- November 17 Chicken Feathers (Bonnie Zahnow, WB Reid, & Laurie Andres) – “The Band With Pluck,” named in honor of Bob McQuillen, and that fowl old joke he used to tell. Mac wrote two tunes in honor of Bonnie and Laurie, and WB played in the Rhythm Rollers with him for decades. They carry on the tradition of hard driving tunes with finger licking good harmonies, eggszactly what’s needed to get your feet moving, webbed or not. Sherry Nevins calls.
- November 10 The Faux Paws (Noah VanNorstrand, Chris Miller and Owen Morrison). George Marshall calls.
- November 3 Play for Keeps provides dance music that you won’t want to give up. Vienna Scheyer studied with Calum MacKinnon and plays Scottish small pipes and highland bagpipes in addition to fiddle–you can hear her with Keltoi and the Cascadia pipe band as well. Seattle-raised fiddler Elise Snoey draws on her celtic and nordic background to add swinging tunes, sweet harmonies, and driving rhythm. And Anita F. Anderson supports from underneath (like a good bra) on the piano. She is part of Spin, Clickbait, and other bands. Koren Wake calls.
- October 27 KGB: Julie King (piano), Claude Ginsburg (fiddle, concertina, octave fiddle, stompa), & Dave Bartley (mandolin, guitar, feet). With thirty years of creating innovative contra dance music under their belts, they’ll take you on a journey from the traditional to the original to the inconceivable. All while propelling you around, and sometimes above, the floor. Susan Petrick calls.
- October 20 The Sage Thrashers – Hayden Stern of Natterjack, Jesse Partridge of Contra Quartet, & Patrick Gunning – fiddles & guitar cavort merrily for our dancing pleasure! David Kreiss-Tomkins calls.
- October 13 Merriweather is Clyde Curley on fiddle, Sam Vogt on guitar, and Mike Haberman on mandolin. Suzanne Girardot calls.
- October 6 Vienna Scheyer (fiddle), Cameron St. Louis (flute and whistles), and Dave Bartley (cittern, with perhaps some other strummed instruments). Susan Michaels calls.
- September 29 Dante Faulk (cello, bodhran), Eros Faulk (fiddle, guitar), and River Scheuerell (fiddle, guitar) bring a new and exciting energy to contra dance music. The three young multi-instrumentalists are already well versed in the worlds of Irish, Scottish, Canadian, old-time, and bluegrass fiddling, as well as many genres beyond. They blend new and old tunes with driving and innovative arrangements! Elisabeth Monica calls.
- September 22 Dale Russ (fiddle) and Mike Saunders (guitar). A master fiddler and a master rhythm player team up again. Tom Wimmer calls.
- September 15 Natterjack: Hayden Stern on fiddle, Ezra Jane Landsman on guitar, and Alex Sturbaum on accordion, bouzouki, and percussion. They’ll bring smooth grooves and joyous interplay to the dance with Irish tunes (mostly), but with a groovy vibe. Isaac Banner calls.
- September 8 Hummingbird (Koren Wake, Melissa Coffey, and Nick Leininger) brings a unique sound blending medieval, modern-traditional, and futuristic instruments: viola da gamba, spaceship, fiddle, whistles, and guitar. Expect a joyful variety of moods, with sweet harmonies, driving rhythms, minor keys and modal tunes! Craig Wolfe calls.
- September 1 – The Hat Band is Jon Neff on guitar, Syd Newell on fiddle, and Meg Tapley on flute. They create a unique sound with their use of three-part harmonies along with the contrasting tones of the three instruments. Dancers love the diversity of tunes – traditional fiddle tunes, rags, blues, swing, & klezmer. Sherry Nevins and Victoria Fox call.
- August 25 – Contra Quartet returns! They are Jesse Partridge (fiddle), Jay Finkelstein (guitar), Steve Cifka (cello), and Julie Bennett (percussion). You’ll enjoy wonderful melodies, harmonies, percussion, and some creative solos. Noah Grunzweig calls.
- August 18 – Joyride is a contra dance band known for fun, skilled playing, tunes fit to dance figures, and ringing, rocking, gorgeous melodies that make you want to move. George Penk’s rich and lively fiddle, Erik Weberg’s nimble flute and harmonica, Sue Songer’s piano, and Jeff Kerssen-Griep’s percussive guitar breathe big life into modern and traditional tunes. Lindsey Dono calls.
- August 11 – RiffRaff: Lindon Toney on fiddle, Evo Toney on fiddle, Jesse Partridge on piano. The twin fiddles provide harmonies and the ability to play off each other, and they will have as much fun playing for the dance as you will have dancing to them. Expect an eclectic mix of uptempo tunes. Joe Micheals calls.
- August 4 – LAST MINUTE BAND CHANGE! River Scheuerell and Eros Faulk, both of whom play fiddle and guitar, will provide the tunes. They may bring other friends to play with them. BRING YOURS! Jesse Partridge calls.
- July 28 – The Sono Onos play wicked, joyful tunes with lyrical harmonies and driving rhythms. Sono Hashisaki (fiddle) Olga Hauptman (fiddle), Laurie Andres (accordion), and Jay Finkelstein (guitar) draw from a wide range of musical traditions, including Metis, Quebecois, northern, Irish, old timey and more. Amy Wimmer calls.
- July 21 – The Electrodes: Joe Bowbeer plays a 5-string electric fiddle, and he can coax brass, woodwind and techno along with a traditional fiddle sound. Marcy Kubbs fills in the spaces with rich rhythmic chords on the piano. Joe Micheals holds it all together with rock-solid rhythm on guitar. Dance to classic northern music as well as some original tunes. Abigail Hobart calls.
- July 14 – Red Crow. Eric Curl calls.
- July 7 – Clickbait is Ryan McKasson, Anita Anderson, and Dave Bartley. A trio of masters, on Scottish fiddle, all things plucked and strummed, and versatility on piano team up for tunes you can’t help but move to. Russell Owen calls.
- June 30 – Claude Ginsburg (fiddle), Vienna Scheyer (fiddle), Dave Bartley (various fretted instruments) Dual fiddles will weave wonders and creative rhythm will keep you stomping. These three always have a few tricks up their sleeve. Craig Wolfe calls.
- June 23 – An evening of surprises is in store with Au Contraire: tunes of Cape Breton, Quebec and even Texas. Susan Burke lays down the fiddle tunes while Jay Finkelstein on guitar and Julie Bennett on percussion provide the rest of the drive. Elisabeth Monica calls.
- June 16 – Bison Socks is Vienna Scheyer (fiddle), Sam Vogt (whistles), and Rosie O’Neil (guitar). Tom Wimmer calls.
- June 9 – The Peptides are Clyde Curley on fiddle, Cary Lung on mandolin, Carol Noyes on banjo, and Kate Lichtenstein on guitar. Susan Michaels calls.
- June 2 – Countercurrent is Brian Lindsay on fiddle and Alex Sturbaum on guitar. You’ll dance to a mix of driving tunes, fiddling classics, and groovin’ melodies. Michael Karcher calls.
- May 26 – No dance at Phinney – go to Northwest Folklife Festival at Seattle Center. Enjoy 4 days of dancing, food, music, friends, buskers, more music, and more dancing. Spend some time enjoying your favorite dancing with friends from around the country, and spend some more time discovering other fun.
- May 19 – Blue Star: Gordy Euler (fiddle, piano), Melissa Coffey (woodwinds, spaceship), Dave Hamlin (mandolin, fiddle), Will Brown (guitar), Marcy Kubbs (piano, fiddle), Julie Bennett (percussion). Rich Goss calls.
- May 12 – Ryan McKasson (fiddle), Vienna Scheyer (fiddle), Dave Bartley (guitar). Koren Wake calls.
- May 5 – “Hot Seat” is Jesse Partridge (fiddle), Alex Sturbaum (acoustic and electric guitars), and Julie Bennett (drums). They’ve played together in many configurations, and now they are officially a band and are here to rock you like the proverbial hurricane. Qwill Duvall (Chicago) calls.
- April 28 – New Three Cents: Forrest (fiddle, mandolin), Amy (piano), and Ruthie (fiddle) Carroll are a family band full of delights and delightful music. Their dance-driving tunes range from Appalachia to Ireland and somewhere in between. Isaac Banner calls.
- April 21 – The Raccoon Carnival – Over a dozen musicians (plus raccoon herder, Sarah Comer) delivering fine-tuned arrangements and multipart harmonies designed to drive the dancers! Expect lilting jigs, growling hoedowns, and of course, the unexpected. Sherry Nevins calls.
- April 14 – The Luddite Ramblers: Craig Shaw (flute, whistles), Laurel Stone (fiddle), Olga Hauptman (fiddle), Jay Finkelstein (guitar). David Kreiss-Tomkins calls.
- April 7 – Dante Faulk (cello, bodhran), Eros Faulk (fiddle, guitar), and River Scheuerell (fiddle, guitar) bring a new and exciting energy to contra dance music. The three young multi-instrumentalists are already well versed in the worlds of Irish, Scottish, Canadian, old-time, and bluegrass fiddling, as well as many genres beyond. They blend new and old tunes with driving and innovative arrangements! Russell Owen calls.
- March 31 – Noah Van Norstrand (fiddle), Chris Miller (saxophone, etc.), Dave Bartley (guitar and other guitar-like instruments). Jesse Partridge calls.
- March 24 – The Sound Crossing Band is Eric Hardee (Hammered Dulcimer), Marissa Villemain Essad (Fiddle), Kris Johansson (Fiddle), Jean Geiger (Guitar and Banjo), and Cathy Britell (Bass). Their sound is known for unique hammered dulcimer and twin fiddle leads, with interesting and beautiful guitar and bass chord progressions. The band loves playing for contra dances and delights in creating music that particularly enhances the flow of the dances. Elisabeth Monica calls.
- March 17 – The Sono Onos play wicked, joyful tunes with lyrical harmonies and driving rhythms for maximum ‘danceability.’ Fiddlers, Sono Hashisaki and Olga Hauptman, Laurie Andres (accordion), and Jay Finkelstein (guitar) draw from wide-ranging musical traditions, including Metis, Quebecois, northern, Irish, old timey tunes and more for your dancing pleasure. Joe Micheals calls.
That’s as far back as we have. This website had a software update around that time and prior versions of our main calendar page are lost to the sands of time.