****** NOTEWORTHY PAST (AND UPCOMING) EVENTS ******

Updated Monthly with newest items first-- Items Removed Upon Obsolescence


NEW TAB BOOK!

  • 11/06-- Transcriptions of 27 tunes from "Far Green Country" are now available as an 80-page spiral-bound collection from the the on-line self-publishing site lulu.com for $11.95 plus shipping-- just enter "far green country" into Lulu's search engine for details (warning: Lulu's "Preview" function does not show pages at full resolution; for a more representative image click here ). The content is also downloadable as a .pdf document.



    SILVER ARM'S NEW ALBUM

  • 8/05-- Entitled "Links", this album is the first to feature Silver Arm's current lineup-- watch this space for more details, and check out the direct link (including .mp3 music samples!) here

    JIGGING WITH THE PIGGIES-- THE WINDHAM HILL CONNECTION

  • 12/04--Fellow musicians Eddie Cotter (bodhran), Brian McCoy (whistle) and I were tapped by composer/pianist and Windham Hill recording artist Philip Aaberg to help him complete a project for the label that will feature various Windham Hill artists' interpretations of film music relating to animals. For his contribution, Phil chose an Irish-accented selection from the celebrated movie "Babe", about a champion sheep-herding pig-- the recording was done at our friend Craig Markley's studio, and Windham Hill's offering should be out early next year.

    NEWS FLASH: it's out as of 3/22/05-- click here to learn more about it!

    A short sample of "The Farmer's Dance"

    *POP* GOES SILVER ARM (OR, SILVER ARM GOES POP)

  • 5/04-- Silver Arm will be joining Erich Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra for two performances showcasing Celtic music at Riverbend Music Center in mid-July. Also appearing will be fiddler Liz Knowles and piper Kieran O'Hare, as well as the McGing Irish Dancers and Cincinnati's Caledonian Pipe Band- click here for all the details!

    TEAM RILEY GARNERS GOLD AT MIDWEST FLEADH

  • 5/04-- The Riley School of Irish Music made a major splash at Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Eireann's 2004 Midwest Fleadh, held at the Drawbridge Inn in Ft. Mitchell, KY on May 15. Top prizes were won in several categories by the school's students and instructors, and I was honored to be part of the Senior Grupa Cheoil's winning effort in competition with formidable bands from Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit. Special congratulations are due to the organizers and arrangers of our original, varied and spirited performance-- I believe these things were what put us over the top!



    3 MORE MIDWEST SHOWS WITH TOM PAXTON

  • 8/03-- Tom will be performing at the Bloomington, IN Lotus Festival on Sept. 26-27, and in Ohio in Cincinnati and Columbus on Nov. 21 and 22 respectively. I'll be his accompanying guitarist at each of these gigs-- the last time I did this was a few days before the tragedy of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Tom later wrote a song, "The Bravest", in honor of the NYFD firefighters who risked and gave their lives to save those of the WTC occupants. Click here to download this tune (it's free!)

    BACK TO SCHOOL

  • 8/03-- My teaching duties have expanded, for the fall at least, to include a stint teaching guitar and banjo as part of the Riley School of Irish Music's fall quarter curriculum. I'm really looking forward to this opportunity to cultivate interest in the guitar's application to the Irish repertoire within the context of the promotion and instruction of Irish music generally. Though guitars have a sort of "helpmate" status in Irish music and are regularly used in an accompaniment role, the fingerstyle Irish repertoire is still played mostly by artists from other nations, and I hope by this avenue to do my bit toward integrating it with the presentation and propagation of Irish traditional music. Click the link for more information on this Cincinnati school's offerings for the coming quarter and beyond--

    THE KELTIKA INTERVIEW

  • 5/03-- In March I was interviewed for the Italian Celtic music magazine KELTIKA(cover and article headline page at left). The magazine is sent to subscribers with a compilation CD containing music from all artists featured in the issue. I licensed "Eamonn an Chnoic" and the "Gooseberry Bush" set for this disc, and am proud to be sharing company with the groups Lunasa, Na Dorsa, Malinky, Celtic Salsa and banjo virtuoso Eamonn Coyne-- I hope to have a page with the translated article available by and by, if I can find my Italian dictionary...



    SHERMAN JOINS SILVER ARM

  • 4/03-- I've linked up with long-time friends and colleagues Cindy and Steve Matyi to form the latest incarnation of Silver Arm, long Cincinnati's premier Celtic instrumental band. I'll be the guitarist ONLY in this configuration (only one instrument to carry !) The other new member is up-and-coming fiddler/ mandolinist Justin Bridges, currently a student of renowned fiddler Kevin Crehan. Cindy (flute and concertina) and Steve (banjo and bouzouki) have been mainstays of Cincinnati's Celtic scene for going on two decades, and have been central figures in bringing touring Celtic acts to the Queen City and organizing the Cincinnati Celtic Festival (for more information on Cincinnati's Celtic activities, including links to Cindy's Art & Music page, see the Cincinnati Folklife Page). In addition to the core repertoire of Irish and Scottish dance tunes, we'll be adding tunes from the French, Acadian and Scandinavian traditions as well, and some songs; we'll be performing at several festivals this summer-- check the playdates for details!







    BLACKSTONE RIVER THEATRE HOSTS CAROL BARNEY SCHOLARSHIP BENEFIT

  • 3/02-- The Blackstone River Theatre will hold a benefit to fund a scholarship in Carol Barney's name on Apr. 27, 2002. The scholarship is to be offered annually to a recipient who will be able to attend the Augusta Heritage Center workshops under its auspices. This music camp in Elkins, WV is where Carol and I first met in 1996, and I can't think of a better way to honor her memory. I'm honored in turn to be part of this first benefit concert, a split bill with fellow fingerstylist David Surette.

    NEW FINGERSTYLE COMPILATION FROM MEL BAY

  • 4/00-- Mel Bay has released its "Fingerpicking 2000" compilation, a massive 400 page tome (with 3 CDs !) of original and arranged pieces by nearly 70 fingerstylists-- if anyone got left out of this one, I don't know who it is (actually I can think of a few, but their day will come). My original tune "The Rascally Rabbit" is included-- click here for more on this new offering.

    SHERMAN SELLS OUT! CORPORATE SHILL TELLS ALL

  • 11/99-- This month I became a formal endorser of W.L. Gore and Associates Elixir(R) strings, which in recent years have taken the acoustic guitar world by storm. For many years I had felt frustrated by the evanescence of the "bright" sound of new guitar strings-- Elixirs don't sound "brand new" to start with, but thanks to their PolyWeb(R) coating, they keep their clarity and consistency of tone far longer than any other string I've tried. I felt that they represent a genuine advance in the technology available to our community, and so am quite happy to be working with Gore to promote them. For more information on this product, please see the Elixir website which is being expanded to include profiles of the musicians endorsing them (250 at last count, so it may be awhile before they get around to me).


    MORE MEL BAY RELEASES

  • 1/99-- Mel Bay has just released a book/CD compilation entitled "The Best of Acoustic Guitar Solos- 1999" featuring the work of 31 guitarists. The Celtic contingent is well-represented with contributions from Steve Baughman, El McMeen, Paul Lolax, and myself ("Loch Tay Boat Song"). Click here to find out more about this book. I also have submitted an original composition in a Celtic vein entitled "The Rascally Rabbit" which will appear in an anthology to be published at year's end.

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