Aubrey Atwater and Elwood Donnelly will perform at the New Lebanon Library Friday, August 9, at 7 pm. The highly acclaimed husband-wife duo will present a delightful program of traditional American and Celtic folk songs, a capella pieces, old time gospel songs, dance tunes and original works.
Donnelly and Atwater blend gorgeous and unusual harmonies and play guitar, Appalachian mountain dulcimer, mandolin, tin whistle, harmonica, banjo, bones, spoons, limberjacks and include other surprises – Appalachian clog dancing, French Canadian footwork and Tap. Their performance is appealing to all ages, and, with humor, audience participation and a relaxed stage presence, Aubrey and Donnelly explain song origins to create a deeper understanding of the music and its cultural history.
On Saturday, August 10, at 10:30 am, Atwater returns to the New Lebanon Library to teach a workshop in Clogging, also known as Flatfooting or Buckdancing, a percussive form of dance that precedes Tap. Atwater, who has the distinction of being the only currently performing clogger in Rhode Island, will teach steps learned from the masters in Appalachia, the Ozarks and other parts of the US and Canada. Her style of clogging is old and improvisational and, in keeping with the tradition, she helps students develop their own “bag of tricks” as dancers.
Married since 1989, Atwater and Donnelly perform throughout the United States and, on occasion, abroad. Their ten recordings receive international airplay. Highlights include airplay on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered,” Fiona Ritchie’s “Thistle and Shamrock,” and the nationally syndicated “Midnight Special” out of Chicago. The duo has performed and researched traditional folk music and dance in Appalachia, the Ozarks, New England and other key places in the United States as well as Ireland, England and Prince Edward Island. They have performed with or shared festival billing with folk legends Jean Ritchie, Pete Seeger and Doc Watson. The Atwater~Donnelly Duo won Motif Magazine’s Music Awards in the following categories: “Best Local Folk Act” award in 2006, three awards in 2007 – “Best Folk Act” for the Atwater~Donnelly Band, “Album of the Year” for “The Halfway Ground,” and “Best Female Vocalist” for Aubrey Atwater, which Atwater won again in 2009. Atwater~Donnelly also won Best Folk Act for 2010 and Folk Act of the Year for 2011.
For further information on this event, please call the Library at 518-794-8844. The public is welcome, and the event is free. The Library is located at 550 State Route 20, ¼ mile north of the yellow blinking light at the intersection of Routes 20/22.