Walt Michael & Company

with Alexander Mitchell & Ralph Gordon

Guitar & Hammered Dulcimer Trio

Walt Michael & Company, incorporates the talents of such exciting traditional musicians as Ralph Gordon, Evan Stover, Frank Orsini, Tom Wetmore, Alexander Mitchell, and other artists of the highest caliber.

Considered to be a virtuoso of tremendous influence in the revival of the hammered dulcimer, Walt's wide repertoire ranges from old-time Southern Appalachian, to Celtic, to breath-taking original compositions.

His various musical incarnations, including Bottle Hill, Michael, McCreesh & Campbell and Walt Michael & Co., have spanned over 35 years and taken him from the coal camps of Appalachia to the Closing Ceremonies of the 13th Olympic Winter Games.

As a vocalist and mulit-instrumentalist he has recorded fourteen albums and instructional videos, appeared at the White House, the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and toured extensively throughout the US, Canada, Europe and the UK. His music has been heard on ABC-TV, NBC's Tonight Show, Broadway, BBC, TNN, CBC, OLN and PBS.

Walt's most recent studio endeavor is as musical producer, composer and musician for the Outdoor Living Network's 13 episode documentary series, Cowboy 101 which premiered in October 2004.

Walt is the Artist-in-Residence at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland as well as Founder and Executive Director of Common Ground on the Hill, an international arts organization which seeks to promote interracial and cultural harmony through traditional arts.

In this concert, Walt is joined by fiddler and multi-instrumentalist Alexander Mitchell and cellist/bassist Ralph Gordon.  The ensemble, with the nuance and grace of classical music as well as the energy and dynamism of traditional roots music, makes distinctive and compelling music.  It can perhaps be best described as “folk roots chamber music in overdrive.”  Alexander Mitchell features heavily in the acoustic music scene of the past 25 years, including stints with John Lincoln Wright, Masterson & Blackburn, the Capitol Quicksteps, Alexander’s Reel-Time Band and Walt Michael and Company.  A Berklee School of Music graduate, Mitchell’s recent solo release “Chameleon” has been recognized as a fiddling tour de force. Ralph Gordon is perhaps best known as a long-time member of the folk ensemble Trapezoid and has been the anchor is countless acoustic groups throughout the US.  He is equally at home in a wide variety of musical genres including Celtic, jazz, swing, classical, oldtime, bluegrass and folk.

The concerts program will consist of selections from the rich musical traditions of Scotland, Ireland, the Appalachians north and south, as well as songs and tunes of contemporary roots artists.  As well, original compositions will be featured. ( See program list below)

The artist’s recordings will be available for purchase at intermission and after the program.

“For more than twenty years, veteran performer Walt Michael has been setting standards in acoustic music. Walt Michael & Company continues to cross barriers, tastefully and successfully blending tradition with innovation.”

-Sing Out Magazine

"Walt Michael has established himself as one of the most innovative and expressive of traditional musicians..."

-Lincoln Center

Click here to visit his web site.

The music playing is an excerpt from "Snowblind." To hear a Turlough O'Carolan selection played by his trio, click the play button (►).

photos by Richard Anderson

1.  Snowblind                                                         Walt Michael
2.  Montreal Reel, Bay of Fundy                             Quebecois Reels                      
3.  Shebeag y Shemore, Planxty Irwin                     Irish Harp Tunes, Turlough O’Carolan
4.  Chinquipin Hunting, Rock the Cradle Joe            Old Time Appalachian Reels
5.  Hello Stranger                                                    Carter Family
6.  Step Stone                                                         Tin Pan Alley Song
7.  Legacy                                                               Pierce Petis
8.  Early                                                                  Greg Brown
9.  Smoke in the Hollow                                          Alexander Mitchell
10.  Da Slokit Light                                                 Shetland Aire, Tom Anderson
11.  Bermudaful                                                       Walt Michael

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INTERMISSION

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1.  Ashokan Farewell                                               Jay Ungar
    Yellow Rose of Texas, Green Willis,                    Civil War Era Fiddle tunes
    Arkansas Traveler, Soldier’s Joy              
2.  Cuckoo’s Nest, Rights of Man                            English & Irish Hornpipes
3.  Mary Queen of Scots, Down the Brae                 Scottish Marches
4.  Dixie Darling                                                       Sara Carter
5.  Angel Band                                                         Appalachian Hymn
6.  Little Sadie                                                         Appalachian Murder Ballad
7.  Yo Rinny                                                            Walt Michael
8.  Arran Boat                                                          Scottish Aire
9.  Fanny Power                                                      Irish Harp Tune, Turlough O’Carolan
10.  Hawks & Eagles,                                              Old Time Appalachian Reels
       Gray Cat on the Tennessee Farm,
       Rockingham Cindy, Golden Slippers

Time, date, and program subject to change.