PUTNEY — Next Stage Arts Project and Twilight Music will present “The Turning of the Year: A Holiday Celebration with John Whelan, Low Lily & Katie McNally” at Next Stage on Friday, Dec. 1, at 7:30 p.m.
Seven-time all-Ireland accordion champion and Narada recording artist John Whelan teams up with roots band Low Lily and Scottish-style fiddler Katie McNally for a spectacular holiday mini-fest of traditional and original music from Ireland, Scotland, and America.
Alongside uptempo jigs and reels will be lesser-known Christmas carols and wintry classics, featuring two fiddles, accordion, guitars, mandolin, double bass, and lush, layered vocals. This diverse and energetic show brings the generations together for a fresh new take on roots music from both sides of the pond.
Although Whelan grew up near London in Dunstable, England, he was raised on the fiddle and pipe music of Ireland. At the age of 14, already a seasoned winner of numerous accordion championships, Whelan recorded his first album, Pride of Wexford.
Since then, he has recorded six albums and has collaborated with such luminaries as Eileen Ivers, Bernadette Peters, Johnny Cunningham, Tim O'Brien, and Kathy Mattea. He appeared in the major motion pictures Ride with the Devil, The Drowning Plains, and Gods and Generals, and has performed live on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Fox After Breakfast.
Voted the Falcon Ridge Festival's “Most Wanted” band of 2016, the Brattleboro-based band Low Lily explores the roots and branches of American folk music.
Low Lily is Liz Simmons (vocals, guitar) Flynn Cohen (vocals, guitar, mandolin) and Lissa Schneckenburger (vocals, fiddle), with Corey DiMario (double bass) - players, composers, and arrangers with deep relationships to traditional music styles ranging from bluegrass to Irish, Scottish, New England, and Old Time Appalachian sounds.
Katie McNally has made waves in both the American folk music scene and abroad since the release of her debut album, Flourish, in 2013. A 2009 New England Scottish Fiddle Champion and recent cover girl for Fiddler Magazine, she has performed and taught fiddle courses in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Scotland, England, and France.