Above: Warpath Rising (Photo by Da Ping Luo.)
Tannahill Weavers
With a full slate of musical offerings at Isis Restaurant & Music Hall this month, here are just a few of the concerts you’ll want to mark down on your calendar.
The members of Harpeth Rising named their group after a river in Tennessee because water is a powerful force. So, too, is their music. Harpeth Rising will be in concert at the Isis at 9 p.m. on Friday, April 8. It will be their first time playing in Asheville. Tickets are $15.
Harpeth Rising is comprised of violinist Jordana Greenberg, banjo picker Rebecca Reed-Lund, and Maria di Meglio on cello. The three met in music school at Indiana University. They began playing four to five nights a week and eventually decided to take their talent on the road, cramming themselves and their instruments into Jordana’s Prius. “We drove it for about a year before purchasing the band its very own!” Jordana told The Laurel. “We named him ‘Babe’ after Paul Bunyan’s blue ox.”
FolkWales magazine said of their concert in the U.K., “Harpeth Rising—three young women musicians from all over the North American continent—brought the house down at Llantrisant Folk Club with a stunning array of cracking songs, intelligent humour, breathtaking arrangements, and harmonies to die for.”
Photo by Stephen Houseworth
Al Petteway and Amy White are regional treasures with an international following. Their concert at Isis will be at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 9. Tickets are $20. The performance will be a celebration of Amy’s new album titled Didn’t We Waltz, plus guitar solos by Al from his recent CD Dream Guitars, Vol. II.
Amy is an immensely talented multi-instrumentalist (piano, mandolin, guitar, Celtic harp, mountain dulcimer, and an occasional hand-whistle) and provides beautiful vocals for many of their compositions. Al and Amy’s musical styles include original and traditional Celtic and Appalachian music. They will be joined on the Isis stage by local electronic music guru Sally Sparks on Haken Continuum and Fretless bass.
A Grammy Award-winner, Al was also voted one of the Top 50 Guitarists of all time by the readers of Acoustic Guitar magazine. Al and Amy’s music has been featured in several of Ken Burns’ documentaries, including his Emmy Award-winning The National Parks: America’s Best Idea. Al and Amy have recorded 14 CDs together.
At 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13, the Tannahill Weavers will present a concert of Scottish traditional ballads. Tickets are $15.
The group formed in 1968 in Paisley, Scotland, and is known as one of the first popular bands to include a Great Highland bagpipe in the musical mix. Named for Paisley’s historic weaving industry and for local poet laureate Robert Tannahill, the group quickly became known throughout the country and around the world.
As noted by the Winnipeg Free Press, “The Tannahill Weavers—properly harnessed—could probably power an entire city for a year… The music may be old-time Celtic, but the drive and enthusiasm are akin to straight ahead rock and roll.”
Isis Restaurant & Music Hall (winner of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s 2015 Momentum Award for Festival/Event/Venue) is located at 743 Haywood Road in West Asheville. For tickets and more information about these and other performances—including Mountain Spirit concerts—throughout the month, visit isisasheville.com or call 828.575.2737.
