Personal Milestone: Playing Mill Race Folk Fest

[Toobist]

Hi all,

It's grainy and an iPhone video... But it's my first one so sue me!

Anyhow, I had the joy and privilege to be invited to play with "The Haret" this past weekend. The band is normally comprised of just two musicians, though they sound like many more: Ryan Baer (formerly of one of my favourite bands, Tuba Skinny of NOLA) and David Neigh. Between the two of them they cover vocals, guitar, cornet, assorted percussion and fiddle... oh yeah! and Dave plays tuba while playing guitar or fiddle. He does it with a tuba stand/foot pedal of his own design that manipulates the valves. He is able to play basic bass lines while strumming/sawing away. Actually, it's awesome to see/hear. He and Ryan are both very talented. The band has a few albums out as The Haret and also Frog and Henry. Very cool stuff.

This was shot by a friend of mine so I could have something to remember the weekend (though I hope to do much more with them!).
http://youtu.be/B3k7BlawlGM

It's a real departure from what I'm used to. I hadn't played nearly any of the tunes on the show before and, while this stuff might be others' bread and butter, this style is very new and challenging for me. It's an absolute joy though. Such a vastly different experience - an incredible one! - compared to my usual symphony gigs. Had a wonderful 1-hour set that Sunday. I'm hoping to do a great deal more of this early jazz/blues/folk work. In fact, I'm already booked to play a wedding gig with Ryan at the end of the month. Very excited, to say the least.

Video info:
St. James Infirmary
"The Haret" (and guest)
Ryan Baer - vocals, cornet, percussion
David Neigh - tuba, guitar
Al Carter (guest) - tuba
The Mill Race Folk Festival
Cambridge, ON Canada
August 4, 2014