February Travels and Behind the Scenes of the New Molasses Creek Recording.

Molasses Creek soundchecking up at the OBX Community Forum

Hello there fans!

Molasses Creek will be giving two performances this weekend!
Friday, March 15, between 2 & 6 PM ~ Molasses Creek at OBX Taste of the Beach BBQ Showdown, at the Southern Shores Marketplace, Kitty Hawk, NC.  For tickets and more information about the weekend festival, visit http://www.obxtasteofthebeach.com/home.htm

Saturday, March 16, 6:30 PM ~ Faces of Compassion Gala and Auction for the Hospice of Jacksonville.  Event is at the Infant of Prague Parish Hall, 214 Marine Blvd., Jacksonville, NC.  For more information visit http://thefoundationforhospice.org/.

Also if you traveling to Ocracoke for Easter weekend, Friday, March 29, Ocracoke Alive will be hosting Philip Howard with an Ocracoke Squaredance at the Ocracoke Community Center.
On Saturday, March 30, Molasses Creek will be in concert at Deepwater Theater on Ocracoke.

 
It has been a blustery February on Ocracoke Island, NC, as to be expected.  Islanders have also been a wee bit more isolated than usual.  Early in the year, the ferry channel in the Hatteras-Ocracoke inlet filled in enough that that route was shut down for almost a month while a new/temporary channel was dredged.  The temporary route is a little bit longer, so the northern ferries have been running every 1.5 hours instead of the usual on-the-hour plan.  Recently, a noreaster came through and took out dunes in Hatteras and flooded the S-curves (even Manteo had quite a bit of flooding).  The route heading north of Buxton has been treacherous for the past week as a result.

All this means more traveling to the mainland via the Swan Quarter and Cedar Island ferries, even to go to appointments up the Outer Banks.  The third week in January, Molasses Creek zipped around to to play at the Outer Banks Forum for the Lively Arts, at the grand auditorium at First Flight High School in Kitty Hawk.  The packed out concert hall and enthusiastic audience really got our blood pumping.  We were able to take that excitement and energy back home to plug into our new recording!  Thanks so much to all of our fans up there for joining us, and to the Kastens and all of the great friends at the Outer Banks Forum.  They put on quite a season!  Here are some pictures

Gary

Gerald

Louie!

Marcy

What is this?  Musical ninja?

Back on Ocracoke, Fiddler Dave had the rare treat of a tour of the Ocracoke lighthouse while assisting the administrator of the Ocracoke Preservation Society (his wife, Amy Howard) and Clayton Gaskill in a film project.  Here are some pictures.  

From the outside.  A beautiful day!

For holding the fuel

Up the stairs!

Up into the top

A shot of the lens

And the source of light (the bulbs are designed to rotate automatically if one burns out).

From the top!

Any now, back down!

Behind the Scenes at Work on the New Molasses Creek Album at Soundside Studios!

Marcy lays down a vocal track while Gary mans the command center.

Usually, it takes us 6-8 months of studio work to put together a new recording.  We start with a long list of songs that we are considering for an album, and gradually shave these selections down as we see how they develop.

Sometimes we record pieces that came from past seasons' repertoire.  This has a couple of advantage in that everyone has generally worked out their parts (we hope) and the arrangement has settled organically. The disadvantage is that it can be harder to think fresh about a song with a predetermined arrangement. Also when releasing a new project, the artist wants the audience to be excited about taking a CD home with them. . . meaning that the ensemble must be committed to playing CD pieces live for a couple of seasons.  If you like to change the songlist each year, as Molasses Creek does, then you have to be careful how many past season's pieces you are putting on a new project, if you are not planning to include them in future live shows.

Many bands create a recording with completely new material and then do an "album release tour" to support the new project.  The advantage of this scenario is that the material will have a fresh spark, and you will be excited about performing it.  The disadvantage is that this process can take more studio time (and cost) because you are developing ideas as you go.  Also, a lot of arrangements mature and settle as a result of playing pieces live for a season.  At the end of this trial time in front of a audience, we have distilled the essence of a piece and usually play it a little different from when we first start.  

In spite of all these heady decisions, time marches on and the new album is due in May at the beginning our Ocracoke season whether we like it or not!

Here is a list of the potential songs for Molasses Creek's 13th CD!  We'll tell you more about them in later blogs.

Nevertheless           

Tico Creeko

Ehringhaus Blues

Something Worth Having

Joe Bell Flowers

Roseville Fair           

My Window Faces the South

Five Minutes           

King’s Shilling

Tennessee Stud

Galway Girl           

Oh Death My Friend

Waterman

Fiddler Dave and son, Lachlan, after some intense recording sessions.  Time for a vacation?

February is Traveling Time if you live on Ocracoke Island

Every community has it own particular rhythm.  If you live in a seasonal beach destination, then chances are that summertime is your period of most intensive work.  The Ocracoke season runs from Easter to Thanksgiving.  December brings a lot of community holiday events, which leaves January and February as your best options for family vacations and traveling. 

Last month Fiddler Dave, Amy Howard, and son, Lachlan traveled to the Pacific Northwest to visit Amy's mother Julie and husband Gary in beautiful Bellingham, WA.  On the way to the airport in Raleigh, the family visited the NC Museums of History and Natural Sciences in Raleigh, and caught a performance by the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Philip Howard as a WWI soldier at the Museum of History

Lachlan Howard feeling slothful

Tigers & lions at the circus.  Not quite as amazing as the trained housecats in ring #1.

Once out in the Northwest, they took care of priorities!

Donuts and a Rocket?!! Awesome combination!

A rockslide last year uncovered the first footprint ever found of a Diatryma

A mammoth molar (you should have seen the size of the dental pliers!)

Around Bellingham Bay . . . very different from the sandy shores of Ocracoke, NC

Amy shows off a sweatered tree outside a Bellingham Quilt shop.

A visit to the Taylor Shellfish Farm south of Bellingham

 While in the area, Fiddler Dave, Amy and Lachlan traveled to the Taylor Shellfish Farms and were given a tour and shown one of the critters being farmed in the area.  The clam is called a geoduck (pronounced "gooey-duck") which translates from the native Washington people to mean "dig deep."  Burrowed deep in the mud, the shell at the base only protects the vital innards, while the tip of the siphon or "neck"is just above the sea-bottom so that it can suck in plankton and get rid of wastes.  The neck is the edible part.  Some of these geoducks have been recorded as living in excess of 100 years!  For more details visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoduck.   

A farm raised geoduck at the Taylor Shellfish Farms

The family also traveled to Vancouver, BC for sightseeing.  Vancouver has the second largest Chinatown in North America.  During their visit, they happened upon a huge New Year's celebration with dancing dragons, martial artists, and . . . bagpipes?!

Peaceful Sun Yat-Sen Garden in Chinatown, Vancouver, BC.

Amazing where they will plant trees nowadays . . .must be long roots!

Skiing at Mt Seymore near Vancouver

Amy, David, & Lachlan also traveled to the Vancouver Aquarium, where they were able to see couple of Beluga whales and brilliant jellyfish.

While Dave and family were in the Pacific Northwest, Gary was working on the new recording, and Gerald was repairing instruments, Marcy attended a quilt retreat at Rosemary’s Quilt Shop in Highland, IL (http://rosemarysfabricnquilts.weebly.com/index.html)
She made this connection when three Molasses Creek fans who have been visiting Ocracoke and the Deepwater Theater for years found out that Marcy is a quilter.  They (Margie and Jim Allen and Margie’s sister Diane Dalton), too, are quilters and invited Marcy to join them for their annual pilgrimage to Rosemary’s Fabric and Quilt shop and she did this February!  It was a long weekend filled with quilting, shopping for fabric, eating and pajama-wearing fun!

Marcy has also been awarded a Writing Fellowship Residency at the Hambidge Center in the mountains of Georgia!  She’ll be working on her book-in-progress for the last two weeks of March.  An exciting honor!  Go Marcy! www.hambidge.org.

That's about all for now.  Here is a link to a Youtube video we just received of a performance/residency that we did at the Towson High School in Baltimore, MD last year.  What fun!

If you are traveling to Ocracoke for Easter weekend, Molasses Creek will be doing a show on Saturday, March 30 at Deepwater Theater at 8 PM.  Hope to see you out on the road!

Gary, Fiddler Dave, Marcy, Lou & Gerald

Molasses Creek

UPCOMING SHOWS

Friday, March 15, between 2 & 6 PM ~ Molasses Creek at OBX Taste of the Beach BBQ Showdown, at the Southern Shores Marketplace, Kitty Hawk, NC.  For tickets and more information about the weekend festival, visit http://www.obxtasteofthebeach.com/home.htm

Saturday, March 16, 6:30 PM ~ Faces of Compassion Gala and Auction for the Hospice of Jacksonville.  Event is at the Infant of Prague Parish Hall, 214 Marine Blvd., Jacksonville, NC.  For more information visit http://thefoundationforhospice.org/.

March 30, Saturday ~ Molasses Creek in concert at Deepwater Theater, Ocracoke Island, NC. http://www.molassescreek.com/deepwatertheater.cfm

April 6, Saturday ~ James City County Rotary Club concert series presents Molasses Creek at the Kimball Theater, Williamsburg, VA.  http://www.jccrotary.org/

Molasses Creek's Woodsongs Adventure . . .and we announce the winner of the Ocracoke visit!

Bigum TV Stars!

Hello there dear friends,

We know that you are itching to find out if you were the winner of the week's stay on Ocracoke!  (No? . . . Ah well, I guess we will just put it at the end of the newsletter then . . .).  Now back to our news.

 Normally around Thanksgiving time Molasses Creek is having a little bit of a break, but this year we had a very busy November.  The second weekend of the month we traveled to the small town of Belhaven, NC for the opening of a fabulous new gallery and restaurant called the Spoon River Artwork and Market. 

Inside the Spoon River Artwork & Market

 The next day our hosts took us to their family flower farm, the Terra Ceia Farms.  This business was established in 1943 by Leendert Van Staalduinen, an emigrant from Holland.  Today the farm has 250 acres dedicated to cut flowers and a nursery.  Read more about their fascinating history at www.terraceiafarms.com. Thanks so much to Teresa, Mark and Jennifer for the warm hospitality!  If you are traveling through eastern NC, make sure to plan a stop at the Spoon River for an incredible culinary experience!

Bulb selection at the Terra Ceia Farm Shop

 On Saturday night we performed for a private event at the North Carolina Estuarium in Washington, NC.  On our way to the performance we had a few hours to stop by the Goose Creek State Park for a hike. 

 

AH! IT'S BLACKBEARD'S HEAD! . . no wait a minute!  Hey!

Lou and Marcy reliving the Hair Band days

A visit to the Coffee Caboose in Washington, NC

And we thought there were big crabs in Lake Mattamaskeet!

Alternative Energy at work at the NC Estuarium

After the evening's performance we hoofed it to Burlington for an overnight with family.

On Sunday morning we rendezvoused with Gerald and loaded up the van for an eight hour trip to Lexington, KY, home of the Woodsongs Radio Show.  Along the way we stopped at the Tamarack Center in West Virgina.  If you are traveling along I-77, then a stop in at this place is a must.  West Virginia has gathered together the work of 500 juried artisans from across the state . . .potters, glass blowers, blacksmiths, weavers, basket makers, woodworkers, musicians . . . there are even workshops where you can observe the artists in action.

 Sunday night, the band arrived in safe and sound at the home of Brian Wade, a longtime friend of Marcy Brenner.  We tucked into bed and sprung out early to journey to the studio of WKYT CBS to film a vinette to promote the evening's Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour show. 

When are they letting Fiddler Dave out of jail? OH! This is the TV Station!

Setting up.

And now a word from our sponsor, Dapper Dan!

By 4 PM in the afternoon we had arrived at the Kentucky Theater, in Lexington where volunteers were scurrying about setting up for the radio show.  Molasses Creek met the other band Caravan of Thieves (incredible group . . . check em out at www.caravanofthieves.com) and show host, Michael Jonathan who walked us through the evening's gameplan.

 

The biggest surprise was when John Lennon accidentally walked into Gary's dressing room!

 

Our little magic corner of the stage.

NASA . . .we have liftoff!

Although Woodsongs is performed in front of a live audience of 200-300, the main audience are the millions of listeners who have their ears to the radio across the country.  The show aired live on the web and will broadcast in about two months out to 500 radio stations and in about 90 million households through radio and public television.  After the show, we hung out with Michael at a local restaurant, swapping stories and hearing about his childhood growing up next door to this crazy banjo player (Pete Seeger).

On Tuesday and Wednesday we caravaned back to Ocracoke, arriving just in time for Thanksgiving oysters and the Ocrafolk Festival Thanksgiving Fundraising Concert (raised $3197 this year!). 

December is in full swing now, and we have already run through the Ocracoke Community Christmas Concert, Wassailing at the Ocracoke Preservation Society, and Library Cookie Swap.  

"Davu Doris, Davu Doris, Welcome Welcome Christmas Cheer!"

Xmas at the Ocracoke Preservation Society

We have also been hard at work in the studio on our 13th Molasses Creek album.

GET THAT AWAY FROM HIM!! WHO GAVE FIDDLER DAVE THE BIG MIKE??!!!

"Is this the party to whom I'm speaking?" (Marse auditions for the role of the operator)

(I can't believe I'm trying to be a serious musician around these people)

Upcoming Performances

Hope that you folks will come on out to First Night Williamsburg (Monday, December 31).  Molasses Creek will be stationed this year along side our friends in the The Company Store at the Williamsburg United Methodist Church, New Fellowship Hall.  The Company Store will play at 6, 8 & 10 PM and Molasses Creek at 7, 9, & 11 PM.  Visitors to First Night buy a button pass that will get them in to any of the 40+ performances held throughout the town. 

In January, we will be at the Americana Stage in Morganton, NC (Saturday, January 12), at the Rooster's Wife in Aberdeen, NC (Sunday, January 13), and in concert with the Outer Banks Forum for the Lively Arts in Kill Devil Hills (Saturday, January 26).

Holiday order specials these next two weeks!

Order $30 or more from the Molasses Creek store and receive free shipping through the end of next week (Friday, December 18).  All orders will be send out First Class USPS (with Highway 12 compromised in Hatteras that is as fast as it goes!). Visit the Molasses Creek store at www.molassescreek.com/store.cfm.

Drumroll please!

And now, the moment you have been waiting for, sort of.  The winner of our email drawing for 2012 for a week's stay on Ocracoke Island was from Brooklyn, NY.  We have a classified email address and are waiting to hear a response from them.  We'll update this post when we have confirmed the winner is a a real human being!

Love you folks . . . see ya on down the road!
Gary, Fiddler Dave, Marcy, Lou & Gerald