Menu
Contra; Couples dancing, clogging, international dance, and more.
Callers: Seth Tepfer; Wendy Graham
Workshop: https://rockymountainranchdance.com/callers/
Countercurrent – with Alex Sturbaum & Brian Lindsay
Countercurrent is a powerhouse acoustic folk duo based in Olympia, Washington, featuring driving guitar, lyrical fiddle, harmony vocals, and foot percussion. Bringing the deep drive of dance music to every performance, their arrangements blend both traditional and modern influences with astounding musicianship and fluency. They have achieved nationwide acclaim for their high-energy style, which draws on deep traditional roots from Ireland and North America while incorporating new influences to create a sound that is at once unique and timeless. A repertoire of songs that includes potent contemporary anthems, trad ballads, old-time hollers, and biting political content leaves no room for boredom. Alex Sturbaum’s driving guitar and gifted songwriting, Brian Lindsay’s lyrical fiddle and rock-solid foot percussion, and the duo’s lively interplay, tight vocal harmonies, and unstoppable groove make a Countercurrent performance an event unlike any other. Wherever they go, the question remains the same: “How does that much sound come from just two people?”
Performing together since 2009, they have played at such venues as Club Passim (Cambridge,MA) The Freight and Salvage (Berkeley,CA), The Flurry Festival (Saratoga Springs, NY), and have frequently been the closing band for The Northwest Folklife Festival (Seattle, WA). Countercurrent is one of the most in-demand bands for contra dance weekends and camps across the country. Being highly collaborative musicians, Alex and Brian are part of several other bands (together or separately) including One Dollar Whiskey, Gallimaufry, The Iona Fyfe Trio, The Engine Room, Dear Crow, and others. Alex Sturbaum is a songwriting sensation, gaining notoriety across the continent for their work bringing visibility and queer representation in newly composed trad folk songs. Brian Lindsay is also one of the region’s top sound engineers for acoustic performances and recordings, and uses his expertise to ensure that every Countercurrent performance is a stellar auditory experience.
Countercurrent is a truly genre-bending experience, rooted firmly in the traditional music of the Celtic Isles and America; music that lifts you up and charges fearlessly into the future of folk music.
Joanna Hyde & Tadhg Ó Meachair
Tadhg Ó Meachair of Dublin, Ireland, and Joanna Hyde, a native of Colorado, have an eclectic artistic partnership that extends back to 2012, where they met while studying and teaching at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick. Now married and working together on various projects, Tadhg (piano, piano accordion) and Joanna (vocals, fiddle) first came to know each other as artists rooted in the musical traditions of their respective countries, and their collaborations comprise a continuous conversation about the interplay between American and Irish artforms.
Tadhg, an All Ireland piano champion and founder member of traditional group Goitse, grew up in an Irish speaking family steeped in Irish traditional music. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Ethnomusicology & Folklore. Joanna grew up loving bluegrass, classical, jazz, Appalachian, Irish and other folk musics, performing with her brother, Iain, as The Hydes. Along the way, she gathered numerous musical awards, including the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation’s Graduate Arts Award, which first brought her to study music in Ireland some 12 years ago.
Tadhg and Joanna released their debut duet album in 2017, and have spent the last several years touring Europe and North America together – Germany, Switzerland, France, England, the US, Canada, Iceland – in addition to performing and teaching throughout Ireland and the US. Their current projects include One for the Foxes, a transatlantic folk trio with Dave Curley, and with whom they were awarded “Album of the Year” by the 2021 ACLSR Music Awards* for their current release, “Take a Look Around”. Likewise, having recently lived in West Cork, Ireland, they were commissioned to produce the audio documentary series On the Wireless in association with Creative Ireland on the subject of creativity in older age, looking at several arts programmes supported by Cork County Council.
Since moving to Bloomington, Indiana while Tadhg pursues his PhD, Tadhg and Joanna have been introduced to the vibrant local contra dance scene, often playing for their local weekly dances with Eric Schedler of Supertrad. They have also played and taught at other contra dance events across the country including Cumberland Dance Week and Whitewater Whirl.
(*American Celtic Listener Supported Radio Music Awards)
Harken! – with Connie Michael & Harmony Tucker
Connie Michael studied classical piano at Interlochen Arts Academy and graduated from Lawrence University with a degree in music education. She moved to Albuquerque, NM in 1980 and discovered the magic of contra dancing. She began playing in the group Chili Tones and played English dances in the area, as well as contra dances. In 1999, living in Grand Junction, CO, she and friend Ron Young started the traditional dance series which is still going strong. Their band, Fifth Reel, plays contra, English and International folk dances and has had the honor of providing music at Stellar Days and Nights as well as FolkMads dance camp in Socorro.
Harmony Tucker plays fiddle with the bands “Fifth Reel”, “Harken!” and “Questionable Decisions” and is very excited to be playing Stellar 2025!