Morgan Rattler at the Woods Hole Inn, overlooking Main Street, 2016.
ArtsFalmouth celebrates traditional music and local musicians and dancers with the fourth annual Woods Hole Trad-Stroll on Saturday, May 6, from 1:30 PM to 11 PM. Performances of Celtic, old-time, Renaissance, Cajun, and contemporary folk music are free; there is a charge for the Contra Dance in the evening.
The Trad-Stroll takes place rain or shine at various locations in Woods Hole. It is part of ArtWeek Boston and ArtSpring Cape Cod.
Vineyard Swordfish, 2016
The fun begins at 1:30 PM with a special presentation for Arts Boston by Jan Elliott on the colorful cultural history of Morris Dancing in Woods Hole Community Hall, 68 Water Street. The talk will be followed by Morris and sword dancing by the Vineyard Swordfish dancers and their guests, the Newtowne Morris Men, from 2 to 3 PM with an opportunity for audience participation. If the weather is good, there may be more dancing at the entrance to Redfield Auditorium and around town.
Kim Moberg
From 2:30 to 3:30 PM, singer/songwriter Kim Moberg entertains in the Woods Hole Public Library. Moberg, who also performs in the duo Still Willow, will be soloing this time, singing a variety of acoustic roots, folk, Americana, and country music. Her original music expresses personal and universal themes of love and loss, renewal and celebration, heartbreak and healing.
Amy Larkin and friends, 2016
The J. Larkin Cajun Band performs from 3 to 4 PM in Quicks Hole Tavern, 10 Luscombe Avenue. J. Larkin, Fugan Dineen, and Aaron Mayo will play traditional music native to rural southwest Louisiana on accordion, guitar, and percussion. The regional culture dates back to the mid-1700s, when the French-speaking Acadians settled there.
Solstice Singers
From 3:30 to 4:30 PM, the Solstice Singers will perform European medieval and Renaissance music at the Bank of Martha’s Vineyard, 2 Water Street, weaving together songs, drama, dance, and poetry, while adorned in period costumes.
Cat’s Melodeon, 2014
Cat’s Melodeon plays from 4 to 5 PM on the Coffee Obsession porch, 38 Water Street. Led by Irish traditional musician Bill Black, Cat’s Melodeon plays Celtic music on fiddle, flute, recorder, accordion, banjo, guitar, uillean pipes, and bodhrán, a goat-skin frame drum.
Nikki Engstrom, shown here with Stanley and Grimm
Nikki and the Bobkats perform from 4:30 to 5:30 PM in the Water Street Kitchen, 56 Water Street. This Celtic trio is comprised of award-winning fiddler Nikki Engstrom and the husband-and-wife duo of Robert Emmet Dunlap on guitar and vocals and Kathi Taylor on drums and vocals.
Black Whydah at Landfall Restaurant, 2016
From 5 to 6 PM, the Black Whydah Pirates perform at the Landfall Restaurant, 8 Luscombe Avenue. Black Whydah plays Irish, folk, old-time, popular, and original music on all things with strings. Jean Sagara and Cathy Hatch will entertain with fiddle tunes and sing some old favorites two-part harmony.
Morgan Rattler, 2016
Morgan Rattler continues the pirate theme from 5:30 to 6:30 PM at the 41-70 Restaurant, 71 Water Street. Morgan Rattler offers music and song from the Golden Age of Piracy—the 17th through the 20th century—traditional American, Irish, English, and French seafaring music. The group includes Jacek Sulanowski on vocals and bodhrán, Barbara Blair on fiddle and whistles, and Ron Geering on hurdy-gurdy, concertina, and melodeon.
Falmouth Fiddlers, Arts Alive, 2016
The Falmouth Fiddlers play from 6 to 7 PM at Woods Hole Community Hall. With their special guests, the Falmouth Monday Night Slow Session, this large and lively group of musicians will play and sing old-time, bluegrass, and Celtic tunes on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo, dobro, tin whistle, bodhrán, cello, and string bass.
Passacaglia, 2016
From 6:30 to 7:30 PM, Passacaglia performs in the Redfield building lobby, 29 Water Street. Passacaglia plays music from the medieval and Renaissance eras to the present, including fresh interpretations of lute songs, madrigals, canzonas, processionals, and traditional music. Members are Jan Elliot on recorder, crumbhorn, cornamuse, concertina, and whistle; Lisa Esperson on percussion; Tom Hanna on lute, guitar, mandolin, and bouzouki, and Molly Johnston on viola da gamba and Vielle.
Sonnay Fiddlers, 2016
The Sonnay Fiddlers perform Celtic tunes from 7 to 8 PM in Woods Hole Community Hall. The Sonnay Fiddlers students of Nikki Engstom ranging in age from 5 on up. Engstrom, a member of the Celtic duo Stanley and Grimm, has performed, competed, and taught throughout New England and Canada.
Contra Dance, 2016
The Contra Dance begins at 8 PM in Community Hall and runs until 11 PM. All are welcome to join in and learn a new dance or two as the Woods Hole Folk Orchestra plays on. The fee for the dance is $8.
Free parking is provided by WHOI and MBL on Dyer’s Dock on Water Street, at WHOI’s Challenger House on Woods Hole Road, in the WHOI School Street and Shivericks lots, and in the MBL lot on Water Street. Signs will be posted. Bus service to Woods Hole is available. Visit www.capecodtransit.org/sealine-route.htm for information.
For more information on the Trad Stroll and ArtsFalmouth, visit artsfamouth.org. ArtsFalmouth is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and celebrating artist in the Upper Cape.
Notes on The Arts 