Sep 16 Steve Ballman calling to the music of Cathy Grant and Fiddlers Galore.

Cathy Grant and Fiddlers Galore features Cathy and a group of her adult fiddle students.

Cathy is a skilled fiddler, whose background playing many different styles allows her to play in dance bands for English country, Scottish country, Irish ceili, contra and square dancing.  She has been a full time violin and fiddle teacher for nearly a decade, combining her love for traditional music, her classical training, and her passion for teaching.  

Fiddlers Galore consists Cathy's students who mostly began fiddling as adults and have been playing for five to nine years or so. This group meets every Tuesday night, sometimes to learn a new tune or to focus on a specific aspect of music or fiddling and sometimes to just play tunes as a class. At times the adult group is joined by some of Cathy’s younger students. Adult fiddlers are: Kathy Walker, Paul Stowers, Chuck Saffer, Tim Atchison, Daniel Dawson, Susan Paitsel, Mary Anderson, Andy Park, Sue Yancy, Crystal Brewster and Amy Brabbin. Youth fiddlers are: Jarred Carter, Heather Schoolcraft, Riley Sisco and Jerrica Hilbert.

Oct 21 Kate Power from Columbus, OH calling to the music of Gypsy Stars

Columbus caller Kate Power delights in collecting dances with good flow and great moves!  Her clear walk-throughs put beginning dancers at ease, while engaging experienced dancers with an exciting range of contras and squares.

The Gypsy Stars started as a band dedicated to bringing the traditional New England contra dance sound of fiddle and piano to West Virginia, says Paul Epstein, who also fiddles for the popular contra dance band, the Contrarians. The addition of Paula Bickham’s accordion and hand drums added a distinctive gypsy-like flavor that allowed them to play a little around the edges of the tradition. Rita Ray plays a solid, yet imaginative piano accompaniment.

Nov 18 Cindy Harris from Pittsburgh, PA calling to the music of Adam Hurt and Beth Hartness

Cindy Harris has been calling over 10 years. In addition to frequent appearances in Pennsylvania and Ohio, she's called as far south as Lexington, KY, as far north as Syracuse, NY, as far east as New Jersey and as far west as California. Known for her ability to make difficult dances seem easy and her rollicking squares, she easily adjusts her style to maximize the impact of the bands she works with on dancers.

Adam Hurt draws on diverse musical influences from the North Carolina piedmont, the mountains of central West Virginia, the Ohio River Valley, and beyond to create his own elegantly innovative clawhammer banjo and fiddle playing. Adam has won the state fiddle championships of Virginia and Maryland and the state banjo championships of Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. and placed in or won most of the major old-time banjo competitions including Clifftop, Mount Airy, and Galax. He will be accompanied by rock-steady Beth Hartness on guitar.

Dec 2 Kathy Anderson from Dayton, OH calling to the music of The Fox Hunt.

Special dance - 1st Friday this month!

Kathy Anderson of Dayton, OH, known for her flowing contras and fast-moving, exciting squares, is a strong advocate of well taught, clearly called squares and contras. She has brought her enthusiastic style to dancers across the US, Canada, and Europe, and has long been a favorite caller at dances and dance camps

The Fox Hunt are a West Virginia based multi-instrumentalist string-band that play traditional fiddle music. With a deviant cast of characters and some truly exceptional talents, The Fox Hunt offer a unique approach to one of the most sustainable forms of music, and add to it a style all of their own. With only a few years now behind them, they have begun to build an ever growing allegiance of fans across the US and beyond! John Miller: guitar, upright bass, vocals; Darrin Hacquard: guitar, upright bass, vocals; Matt Metz: mandolin, banjo, vocals; Ben Townsend: fiddle, banjo, guitar, vocals

Dec 31 Good RiDANCE - Warren and Terry Doyle calling to the music of Joe Dobbs and Friends. Columbia Gas Auditorium

Special New Year's Eve Dance
Family friendly, alcohol free!

Celebrate New Year's Eve and bring in the new year at a contra dance party.

Live Music!
Dancing!
Snacks!
Refreshments!

In the spirit of the Good Night activities in Charleston, this party is
FREE to all!
Family friendly!
Alchohol Free!

Jan 20 Gaye Fifer from Pittsburgh, PA calling to the music of The Contrarians.

Gaye Fifer is an accomplished contra caller from  Pittsburgh, PA. An active dancer herself, Gaye understands the subtleties of making contra dances particularly satisfying for dancers. Her instructions are clear and concise as she is a teacher by profession. An easy smile and delightful sense of humor are part of Gaye's relaxed, pleasant style at the microphone. Gaye calls contra dances throughout the U.S. and Canada . She is also an enthusiastic advocate and instructor of contra-style waltz.

The Contrarians of West Virginia, a four piece contra dance band play contra dance and square dance music on fiddle (Paul Epstein), guitar, piano, and trumpet (Gary Reynolds), mandolin, fiddle , tenor banjo, and sax (John Longwell) upright bass (Will Carter). A Contrarians event delivers dazzling melody - including some great original tunes - along with a solid yet imaginative approach to rhythm. The band has consistently "wowed the crowd" at dances and dance weekends from Tennessee to D.C., New York to Atlanta, Georgia.  

Feb 17 Steve Ballman calling to the music of Ricochet.

Ricochet is new duo in the contra dance scene. Members are Walter Hojka (fiddle) and Rya Martin (piano). Walter Hojka is originally from Chicago (where he still travels to teach workshops at the Old Town School of Folk Music and play with Good Gravity, Dr. Hojka's Medicine Show, and other groups), but who now resides and works in Martinsburg WV. Rya Martin is an accomplished contra musician and avid dancer from Charlottesville, VA. She also is a member of Charlottesville-based band, Floorplay. Ricochet specialize in rollicking traditional French-Canadian and New England tunes, and they have some original tunes in their tune-kit as well. Walter is a fine old-time fiddler, and will have some of those in the evening's set list for squares and the occasional contra.

Mar 16 Frank Buschelmann calling to the music of Odie Parkins and Friends.

Apr 13 [Second Friday] Bronwyn Woods calling to the music of The Gypsy Stars.

Pittsburgh caller Bronwyn Woods creates engaging programs with great flow and minimal but effective teaching.  She believes that a well chosen set of dances can be both novel without being difficult and familiar without being boring.  Bronwyn wears many hats in the contra dance community.  When not calling she is an avid dancer, an occasional dance choreographer, an upcoming sound technician, and a community web site manager.  She brings the resulting understanding of the folk dance world to bear on her leadership at the microphone.

The Gypsy Stars started as a band dedicated to bringing the traditional New England contra dance sound of fiddle and piano to West Virginia, says Paul Epstein, who also fiddles for the popular contra dance band, the Contrarians. The addition of Paula Bickham’s accordion and hand drums added a distinctive gypsy-like flavor that allowed them to play a little around the edges of the tradition. Rita Ray plays a solid, yet imaginative piano accompaniment.

May 04-06 Whitewater Whirl 2012
Callers: Gaye Fifer and Shawn Brenneman
Bands: The Avant Gardeners and The Contrarians

May 18 Terry Doyle calling to the music of The Elftones.

Hailing from North Carolina, Roger Gold and Mara Shea are that well-beloved duo known as The Elftones. Roger's guitar and Mara's fiddle create a wonderful blend of energetic, lyrical, driving, and just plain good dance-able music. Listeners invariably say, "But there are only two of them! It sounds like five!" This is a band of two musicians who can lift dancers right off the floor--don't miss them! Check out their website and recordings at www.elftones.com; you can also listen to some more excerpts from their CDs at cdbaby.com, click here.

Jun 15 Phoebe Williams calling to the music of Coffee Zombies (trio).

The Coffee Zombies, Tom Cunningham-fiddle/guitar, Dianna Davis-piano/accordion/ clarinet, and Bob Douglas-percussion and guitar, have rocked dancers from Ann Arbor to Atlanta and St. Louis to Pittsburgh. Fusing old-time, Celtic, French-Canadian, and original tunes with a hard-driving rhythmic base, their sound makes everyone want to dance. 

Tom loves playing the fiddle and writing tunes for dancers. With the Hot Club of Derbytown, Schrodinger's TomCats, band du jour and Les Enfants du Fromage, he's played for dancers in several states. His music has also given him opportunities in theatre, in swing, country, Celtic and bluegrass bands, and his one-man show, FiddleTales, incorporates story-telling and singing along with his fiddling.

Dianna's music instrument addiction has not only taken over her house but has landed her opportunities to play in 2 contra dance bands, the improv group Thin Air, and a traditional Irish ceili band. She corrals many singers and instrumentalists as Music Director at an Unitarian Church and accompanies a social justice women's chorus. She has edited a clarinet method book, judged competitions, and is the scheduler and vice president of Indy contra dance. www.DiannaDavis.com.

Bob enjoys bringing his drumming experience with an array of musical genres to The Coffee Zombies. He has played afro-pop, reggae, classical, punk, r & b, jazz, blues, prog-rock and country all around the eastern U.S. He is also an accomplished vocalist. He loves being back home playing and recording with so many friends and local artists.