Big Plain House Concerts

Date: Sunday May 25th 2008
Time: 7:00 pm
Suggested Donation: $15.00
Reservations: 913-904-1285 or email concerts_AT_bigplain_DOT_com

Mason Brown you know already from our house concerts, with his disgracefully excellent guitar playing, funky banjo chops, warm voiced songs and gentle wit. Jed Marum is known as a gifted singer, a unique and talented player and an accomplished songwriter. He is a warm and comfortable performer with a story to tell and gift for the telling.

Jed Marum albums play regularly on Folk/Bluegrass and Celtic radio programs around the world. His music is also distributed widely on all the major MP3 services. Throughout the US each year Jed plays over 150 shows at festival, club and concert venues and his 2007 touring plans include performance dates in Canada and Mexico as well.

Reflected in his song writing and song selection is a keen interest in history and the passing of culture from generation to generation. Jed performs traditional songs and contemporary songs in musical style that is both Celtic and American, with strong Bluegrass roots.

Nicky Rossiter is host of STORIES on Irelands South East Radio says,

“Jed Marum has his genetic roots in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Those genes must come from a long line of bards and storytellers to judge from his recorded output. I have collected a number of albums from this troubadour and he never fails to deliver.”

James P. Gannon former Wall Street Journal editor and author of “Irish Rebels, Confederate Tigers” writing about one of Jed songs said,

“Prayer from Little Round Top is the song one of the great Irish poets might have written had he marched to Gettysburg with Jed’s Irish immigrant from Alabama. The melody seems to well up from some misty glen in Connemara, wrapping the soldiers sad story in a teardrop. It may mark me as a sentimental Irish man to say this, but if you can listen to this haunting song without finding your eyes moistening, then somewhere along life’s way, you’ve lost your soul.”

Steve arrived at our house last year, spilling out of a pickup truck with a pack of dogs, a guitar and a hat. In the only outdoor show we’ve had, he gently and efficiently drew everyone into his wry affectionate songs holding us spellbound as the night fell. He’s back again, with his brand of music that we’ll describe as country blues, but, if you ask him yourself, might be described with a whole different set of words. Come listen.

Singer/songwriter and canvas artist Steve Howard has been performing his original music in bands, trios, duos in New Mexico, Colorado and Texas for some thirty odd years, and, for past three years, as a solo act in and around Taos, New Mexico. Steve’s unique acoustic sound evolved from many musical influences and might best be described as a popular rock influenced Americana with
a backdrop of C&W.

“I’m traveling Kansas now singing and performing my new CD ‘Last Call at Lascaux’……for any Kansans willing to take a chance on a singer they have surely never heard of, they should come on out and give it a listen….life and live music is a gamble!!”

John Steven Howard

“If you have ever wanted to hear a performer whose songs and lyrics come straight from the heart…listen to John Steven Howard”.
Stewart Herd - Taos New Mexico

“Howard’s haunting melodies, along with his soft touch acoustic guitar style, reveal the temperament of a poet. He also throws in some edgier tunes surrounding his wry social commentary”
Stan Herd - Lawrence Kansas

Coming in October 2008…
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA — In the Fall of 2005, Vancouver singer and flute player Norah Rendell and Twin Cities guitarist Brian Miller found themselves both living in Ireland in search of a deeper understanding of the traditional Irish music they had fallen in love with back home. Their first concerts as a duo were a hit with the Irish. The Munster Express said they “bring sunlight into your heart and set your feet a dancing.” Now based in the Twin Cities, Norah and Brian have launched a debut album of gorgeous traditional and contemporary folk songs and driving Irish dance tunes, Wait There Pretty One.

(more…)

Here are some of Katherine’s photos from the Heaton’s house concert last Sunday. Great memories, great show, looking forward to the next one.

Matt and Shannon Heaton will be here on October 14th, our first official repeat performers. They’ve been touring through the area for years now and have built a strong following. Make your reservation early!

“Irish music with a wonderfully rich and earthy sound…and an infectious spirit and vitality that translates into bright, uplifting music that will make you smile.”
Dirty Linen

Matt and Shannon met playing tunes in the Irish traditional music hotbed of Chicago. Since then, they have spent many nights playing sessions in the States and Ireland, and performing in festivals, concerts and clubs throughout America. Their shows feature strong and lean acoustic music that leaps from one mood to the next, with a killer sense of time, bucketloads of emotion, and plenty of fantastic stories from the road.

Date: Sunday October 14th
Time: 7:00 pm
Suggested Donation: $15.00
Reservations: 913-620-1821 or email concerts_AT_bigplain_DOT_com

If you attended the Doug Goodhart/Mason Brown show a couple of weeks ago, you’re probably aware that they recorded the performance, or at least that they had mysterious little microphones sitting in front of them. Doug and Mason have generously allowed us to post some tracks from that show here. Enjoy the music!

Many thanks to everyone who showed up last night for a great show by Doug Goodhart and Mason Brown. Here’s some photos from Katherine.

Just heard from Matt Heaton that he and Shannon will be back in Kansas in October. So they’re penciled into our calendar for Sunday October 14th.

Ever since Mason Brown moved to Kansas City in early 2006, he has been performing with multi-instrumentalist Doug Goodhart. Quiet men both, they’ve managed to each accumulate a full lifetime of experience and surprising career histories. We’re delighted to have them perform here this month.

Date: Sunday July 22nd
Time: 7:00 pm
Suggested Donation: $10.00
Reservations: 913-620-1821 or email concerts_AT_bigplain_DOT_com

Doug Goodhart has been performing and teaching West African polyrhythmic music for 25 years with legendary performers Abubakari Lunna (Dagomba music), Gideon Foli Alorwoyie and Kwaku Ledzekpo (Ewe music). His pursuit and passion of polyrhythmic traditions has also led him to Afro-Cuban drumming (Agustin Romero Diaz), Flamenco Guitar (Miguel Rodriguez) and Mexican music from Veracruz (Alberto de la Rosa). Doug’s unique and gentle teaching style is known for getting students “up and running” with polyrhythmic music. From 1987 to 1994 Doug was director of Center For World Music, an arts organization dedicated to performance and pedagogy of many world traditions including West Africa, France, Spain, Ireland, the United States, Mexico, Cuba and Brazil. From 1994 to 1997 Doug lived in France learning and performing traditional French music.As a fiddler Doug spent 30 years studying and performing Appalachian music of the upper South. In 2000, he began studying the long-bow tradition of West Virginia with Alan Jabbour as well as Dr. Jabbour’s own unique style. He has studied extensively the fiddling of Michoacan, Mexico with Atilano Lopez and Dimas Camilo. He has spent years performing Cajun fiddle in southwest Louisiana with ensembles headed by Donald Fontenot and Ally Young, among others.

Over the last few years Doug has added the music of Renaissance vihuela, lute and viola da gamba to his repertory. His latest CD entitled A Box of Fiddle Tunes, which focuses on Appalachian fiddling, was released in 2006.

Mason Brown’s voice, guitar, banjo, and viola da gamba can be heard in the Kansas City area and elsewhere. His forthcoming solo album will be titled When Humans Walked the Earth. His previous album, Am I Born to Die, was a collaboration with Chipper Thompson. He has also worked with Mike Dugger, Turlach Boylan, Kelly Dougherty, Roger Landes, Connie Dover, Nathan Pellerin, Michael Fraser, Mark Dudrow, Ed Caner, Ben Wright, Charlene Adzima, and Jed Marum, and has instructed guitar and banjo at ZoukFest.

He recently (April 2007) performed with Glen Road in Dollywood. Pictures here. When not on the road, Mason performs (almost) every Saturday from 3 to 6 in the afternoon at O’Malley’s Pub (540 Welt St, Weston Missouri).

A couple of weeks ago we caught a Steve Howard show in Lawrence. He’s been a friend of Katherine’s for a few years now and we’re delighted to be able to host him here for a house concert.

Date: Sunday March 25th
Time: 7:00 pm
Suggested Donation: $10.00
Reservations: 913-904-1285 or email concerts_AT_bigplain_DOT_com

Singer/songwriter and canvas artist Steve Howard has been performing his original music in bands, trios, duos in New Mexico, Colorado and Texas for some thirty odd years, and, for past three years, as a solo act in and around Taos, New Mexico. Steve’s unique acoustic sound evolved from many musical influences and might best be described as a popular rock influenced Americana with
a backdrop of C&W.

“I’m traveling Kansas now singing and performing my new CD ‘Last Call at Lascaux’……for any Kansans willing to take a chance on a singer they have surely never heard of, they should come on out and give it a listen….life and live music is a gamble!!”

John Steven Howard

“If you have ever wanted to hear a performer whose songs and lyrics come straight from the heart…listen to John Steven Howard”.
Stewart Herd - Taos New Mexico

“Howard’s haunting melodies, along with his soft touch acoustic guitar style, reveal the temperament of a poet. He also throws in some edgier tunes surrounding his wry social commentary”
Stan Herd - Lawrence Kansas