Molasses Creek Headed to Easton & Westminster, MD

Upcoming Shows

October 13 (Thur), 8pm – 10pm Molasses Creek Concert at the Avalon Theatre, Stoltz Listening Room, Easton, MD

October 14 (Fri), 8pm – 10pm Molasses Creek Traditional Ocracoke Square Dance/Concert at the Avalon Theatre, Stoltz Listening Room, Easton, MD

Because of your enthusiastic response, our friends at the Avalon Theatre in Easton have added a second night of Molasses Creek fun on Friday, October 14th.  Molasses Creek will direct a Traditional Ocracoke Square Dance for half the show and will perform a one set concert (different materials from Thursday night's concert).  Tickets will be $20 with a $10 price for return attendees from Thursday's show.  Look forward to seeing you there! 

Tickets available at http://tickets.avalontheatre.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=5&c=7&pg=

October 15 (Sat), 7:30pm – 9:30pm Molasses Creek performance with the Carroll County Arts Council, Westminster, MD

Buy tickets online at  http://carrollcountyartscouncil.ticketleap.com/molasses-creek/

November 4 (Fri), 8:00pm – 10:30pm Molasses Creek at the Pittsboro General Store, Pittsboro, NC

November 5 (Sat), 11am – 11:45 am NC Museum of History, Raleigh, NC ~ Bicentennial Plaza Stage

November 5, 8pm – 10pm (Sat) Green Grass Cloggers 40th Anniversary Concert, Wright Auditorium, UNC Greenville, NC Tickets available at http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cfac/SRAPAS/ Wright Auditorium, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, with Molasses Creek of Ocracoke, NC, & The Freight Hoppers of Bryson City, NC! ONLY $10.00! General seating! Details to come! http://www.ecuarts.com/ Till then, catch us at gigs currently listed on our calendar, plus more as they come together.

          

Congratulations to Jamie Coberly, our newsletter winner from last post. Jamie won a Scotch Bonnet shell washed up on Ocracoke beaches during hurricane Irene. All winners should contact us at info@molassescreek.com to arrange having their prize sent. To be entered in our drawings make sure you are signed up as a fan on the Molasses Creek Facebook page and/or signed up on our Molasses Creek newsletter list. Next newsletter we will be drawing for a 2011 Ocrafolk Festival T-shirt!


Molasses Creek Performs at Carrboro Music Festival

Molasses Creek had a great time at the Carrboro Music Festival on the weekend of September 25. We performed at the Carrboro Century Center right across from Weaver Street Market.

 
With 25 stages and over 200 performances, the Carrboro Music Festival features an incredible array of musical styles. After an early evening performance, Gerald and Beth headed back to Franklinville while Gary wandered the town and Marcy, Lou, and Fiddler Dave caught a performance by their friends in Craicdown.

Craicdown in action

Pea Island's Temporary Bridge in Hatteras To Open Soon

John Golden and Gary Mitchell stoically await the opening of the Pea Island Bridge (Actually they were dressed up for a Civil War performance at the Chicamicamico Life Saving Station)

After many weeks of waiting, the word has come down from the Department of Transportation that the Hatteras bridge will be complete and (hopefully) open this coming Tuesday. On October 6, officials reported that the paving of the road and temporary bridge at Pea Island was finished. “Crews still need to install four of the 12 bridge bearing supports, anchor the bridge in place, finish installing deck panels and install the bridge guardrail. “ If you are traveling Hatteras & Ocracoke direction, best get your information directly from the DOT website at http://www.ncdot.org/travel/nc12recovery.

After Hurricane Irene passed through over a month ago and cut a major channel in Hatteras Island, the fall tourist season slowed to crawl on Ocracoke and Hatteras. Travel to our village has been difficult even for residents due to the limited available spaces on the Swan Quarter and Cedar Island Ferries. Our thanks go out to everyone who has been working hard to restore life to normal!

Molasses Creek Plans National Promotion

Molasses Creek has been meeting via phone with Career Assessment Specialist Kari Estrin out of Nashville, TN working on planning a National CD release and promotion set to launch in the spring of 2012. We are very excited and pleased with the way that Kari has helped us to take a fresh look at both the business and creative sides of what we do. Kari has worn many hats in her long career in the folk music industry, from tour managing folks like Tony Rice and Janis Ian, to assisting direction of the Merle Watson Festival, to writing for Sing Out Magazine. Find out more about Kari at www.kariestrin.com.
 

Ocracoke Island’s Charles Temple Returns to Jeopardy

Sir Charles Temple

Many of you remember when our good friend, Charles Temple, made Ocracoke Island proud earlier this year by winning Jeopardy's Teacher’s Tournament. Aside from the $100,000 prize money and having his smiling face posted across the nation, Charles also won the right to compete in the Jeopardy Tournament of Champions. This last week, he flew to California and rubbed elbows with some very brainy folks. He has now returned to our humble little town and is keeping mum about the results of the competition. The tournament is going to air around the beginning of November (Nov 2). Keep your eyes peeled for our boy! We’ll be celebrating with him here on Ocracoke (even though he already knows the results!)

Mandolin Orange

Mandolin Orange

This last Sunday, Ocrafolk Festival favorites Mandolin Orange came to the island to give an album release concert on the Live Oak Stage at Books to Be Red on School Road. The beautiful fall sun brought out villagers for a community potluck and to enjoy the wonderful performance by Andrew Marlin and Emily Franz. Fiddler Dave had caught the duo with their full band the previous weekend at the Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro, NC. “Over 400 fans packed the place!” said Fiddler Dave. “I usually see them as a duet, but they really delivered and more of a rock-like concert.  

There wasn’t any stage diving in Carrboro since Andrew was recovering from a broken pelvis from a fall that he had a couple of weeks before.” After three encores, Emily finally begged the audience not to make Andrew crutch back onto to the stage. Mandolin Orange’s new release, “Hard Hearted Stranger” is actually a two CD set that features both the magic of the duet and a larger band ensemble. Find out more about this duo at www.mandolinorange.com.

Halloween’s Coming

 

It’s pumpkin carving time. Fiddler Dave and son, Lachlan, carved up a doosie for this year’s trick or treaters. The way the warm weather is going, it is going to be one nasty-smeeellly jack-o-lantern by October 31!

Cross Country Ocracoke Style
by Fiddler Dave

Kitty Mitchell, wife of Gary & past member of Molasses Creek, has been hard at work with a new running club and cross country team at the Ocracoke School. This last week, Ocracoke hosted a 5K race for the Hatteras Island team down South Point Road towards the beach. Cheering on the eighteen enthusiastic Ocracoke runners (5th grade through high school), I was impressed not only at their commitment, but also how a small school of 150 students (K-12) provides wonderful opportunities for students of different ages to interact, appreciate, and support each other’s talents. Thanks to Kitty and all the helpers who brought this to life!

Guitarland with Louie!

by Lou Castro

We have a Baby Taylor that sounds great for such a tiny guitar. It’s so small that I play it on the ferry all the time behind the wheel, windows open or closed. It also goes on the beach all the time. I have always been impressed with Taylor Guitar’s consistency and great tone unplugged or plugged in, but what really sold me was the Florentine cutaway on their 815ce model. I looked everywhere for my Rock and Roll Cutaway and nobody seem to make guitars like that (Wechter Guitars make a double Florentine cutaway model similar to Jack Black’s acoustic in “Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny”). 

The Taylor 815ce usually has a natural blond finish but Marcy found this custom made piece with a Tobacco Burst and no pickguard! Wow! Lately I’ve preferred natural or ‘burst finishes! The top is Sitka Spruce and the side are Indian Rosewood. The binding is Curly Maple, the fretboard is Ebony and the Rosette is Abalone. This guitar was about six times the price of the Dean so it does not get thrashed and comes out for gigs where I have elbow room. I’m hoping NOT to bring it to Gerald (real name) Hampton or Jack Willis any time soon. I trust these guys with repairs that I can’t do myself.

Fun in Greenville with the Green Grass Cloggers

Thanks to photographer Tom Whelan for these great photos taken in Greenville!

Fiddler Dave & Lou Castro of Molasses Creek

Gary Mitchell and Marcy Brenner of Molasses Creek

Green Grass Cloggers go!

The whole Molasses Creek shebang!