Craig Edwards
AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC
Appalachian, Blues, Bluegrass, Cajun, Celtic, Early Country, Folk, Swing, Zydeco
Whew! What a busy Spring! Just returned from the second Connecticut Sea Music Festival in Essex, CT, where I worked the the historical demonstration/reenactment group Dirty Blue Shirts showcasing maritime skills and sailor customs from the Age of Sail. I'm hard at work on writing a history of sea chanteys (Title: The Secret History of Sailor Chanteys) for Reaktion Press, the popular publishing arm of University of Chicago Press, to be completed by year's end. I've started teaching for an arts/culture/community non-profit in Westerly, Rhode Island, the UnitedTheater, which coordinates with the local schools, string orchestra, and the non-profit Knickerbocker Music Center (formerly the Knickerbocker Cafe) They responded enthusiastically when I asked if they would be interested in a Roots Music Program, so I'll be teaching fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, button accordion, and group classes in old time string band, Irish music, and Cajun music. I had a great contradance tour with with the Dead Sea Squirrels, and I've got a busy concert, festival, bar, dance, and farmer's market, and recording schedule coming up this summer. And if anyone is interested in buying my recent sea music recording, "Alone on the Wide Wide Sea: Solo Sailor Songs," you can find it on BandCamp. As I said - whew!
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BANDS
The Root Farmers- string band blues, old-time breakdowns, rags, stomps, ballads, rags, stomps, toddles, waltzes, heart songs, and reels.
A group of multi-instrumentalists and singers tilling the fertile fields of American music to produce a bumper crop of fine songs and tunes both familiar and obscure. With Craig Edwards on fiddle, guitar, banjo, and mandolin.
The Root Farmers- string band blues, old-time breakdowns, rags, stomps, ballads, rags, stomps, toddles, waltzes, heart songs, and reels.
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Sweet Mercy- a Stonington, CT-based band playing the original Americana music of singer/songwriter/guitarist/pianist/harmonica player John Speziale. John's rich, gravelly, expressive voice enlivens his superb songwriting, evoking the sounds of New Orleans barrelhouse music, folk, soul, zydeco, honky-tonk, circus music, blues, and rockabilly. With Craig Edwards on fiddle, button accordion, and mandolin, Sandy "Sandman" Allen on lap steel and mandolin, Jaime Duquette on upright and electric bass, and the expanded version with the addition of Jim Tarbox on guitar and Chris Gonsalves on drums and percussion. The band debuted at the famed Knickerbocker Cafe in Westerly and won the American Roots Music category in the New London CT' 2015 Whalie Awards, played the Block island Music Festival in 2016, 2017, and 2018 and we've honed our sound in a steady stream of local bar gigs. We're hunkering down for the recording right now, but keep looking here for postings about upcoming performances, or check out John's website: http://www.johnspeziale.com/bands/
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The Dead Sea Squirrels- old time string band music for contradancing.
Cathy Mason (fiddle), Craig Edwards (fiddle, mandolin, banjo), and Henry Yoshimura (guitar) play driving, danceable, music for contradancing. Check out our facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/deadseasquirrelsband/