FwT: Albums & Concerts & Grants, oh my!!!
Hello friends!
I wanted to say hi and let you know what's been happening lately with the Fiddling With Traditions [FwT]!
RECORDING A NEW ALBUM!
Daniel Kelly and I are in the process of recording a Fiddling With Traditions album!! The album should be out in late fall/early winter, fingers crossed. We have 12 traditions represented -- quilting, knitting, bread making, paper making, rug braiding, sugaring, bee keeping, painting, boat building, blacksmithing, silversmithing and ice harvesting.
The recording was supported, in part, by the Petya Perkins Fund, in honor of Gerald Perkins. Thank you, TAUNY!!
SCHOOL PROGRAM LAUNCH!!
We took FwT to 1500+ St. Lawrence County school kids for a trial program. (Pix below, plus more on my facebook page.) We shared it with 2-6th grade and they LOVED it!! I had kids saying, "I want to learn how to build a boat with that guy" and "I wish I knew how to braid a rug!" and one very special young man came up to us and said, "You know that blacksmith. He's my dad." Wonderful surprise to meet James' son!!!!!
We felt like a rock star as the kids cheered!! It was awesome!! Grateful to all who helped coordinate the epic launch of the FwT school programs. (Let TAUNY know if you have connections to a school that might like this program!)
A thousand thank yous for the support from TAUNY, and Dr. D. Susan Badenhausen Legacy Fund, a charitable fund of the Northern New York Community Foundation.
WPBS-TVs “INSIDE THE STORIES!”
WPBS-TV continues showing your music videos on the Tuesday night show, "Inside the Stories." Here are links to my short interviews about each tune/artist and the videos that have aired so far. One more to be aired …and I need to finish up 4 more new ones!!
•Spinning - https://www.pbs.org/video/gretchen-koehler-castle-wheel-c9dsfc/
•Silversmith -https://www.pbs.org/video/gretchen-koehler-the-sounds-of-silver-shcric/
•Paper making -https://www.pbs.org/video/gretchen-koehler-pulling-paper-shakes-rattles-ro-sceinv/
•Quilting -https://www.pbs.org/video/gretchen-koehler-bobin-apotec/
•Rug Braiding -https://www.pbs.org/video/gretchen-koehler-sunset-on-the-raquette-b2ojgg/
•Painting -https://www.pbs.org/video/gretchen-koehler-gunks-75nvhc/
•Boat Building- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRLbjBE3hdo
EDWARDS OPERA HOUSE, Edwards, NY
We performed at the Edward Opera House last week, and will continue to perform the full evening show (which has been updated from our premiere at Pickens Hall.) Daniel & I will perform at Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz on July 28, Great Camp Sagamore on July 31, and I received a NYSCA community grant* to perform at 2 other locations in St. Lawrence County this fall.
*”This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council.”
“Fiddling with Traditions” is a magnificent show! What a gift to traditional artists of the North Country and elsewhere. The dedication of your subjects to their craft is met with your own musical excellence and grace, as you weave their stories with your own and then together into your musical compositions. Then you invite your audiences into this creation with story and video and memory and delight in such a way that we all participate in a collective joyous remembrance. The people laughed, they sighed, they swooned, and maybe even cried. It is a truly beautiful show." ~Kathleen Huber, Edwards Opera House
2024 COMMUNITY ARTS GRANT
I am thrilled to have received a Community Arts Grant so that we can bring Fiddling With Traditions to 2 more locations in St. Lawrence County, create a film of the audience's personal anecdotes about the traditions, and purchase a few pieces of equipment to help make the show even better! Whoo hoo! (I started collecting videos of audience reactions and remembrances at the shows and will share as that new part of FwT comes together! Lots of ice harvest stories so far!)
“This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Legislature and administred by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council.”
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES
We are looking forward to performing at Mohonk Mountain House, New Paltz, NY! I am creating a Mohonk themed verison of Fiddling With Traditions for the Festival of the Arts, July 28. And Daniel & I are excited to return to Great Camp Sagamore, Raquette Lake, NY on July 31!
THANK YOU!!
Last, but not least, thank you!! Audiences of all ages are responding so positively to this celebration of art, craft, hard work, history, and love of tradition.
I am so happy to share what came from us spending time together. Each of you has inspired me to push myself, take pride in my work, see things from a new perspective, and it has resulted in many lovely returns.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart,
Gretchen!!
“Fiddling with Traditions is an amazing work of art, and Gretchen and Daniel are fabulous musicians and educators. They can work with anyone at any level, and bring much joy and excitement to the classroom. I’d have them back in a heartbeat.”
~Jill Savage, Potsdam Central Schools, String Orchestra Director, 4-12