Tapestry cancellation, Feb. 23

We're sorry to announce that Contratopia won't be playing for the contra dance at Tapestry this Saturday, Feb. 23. A combination of possibly dangerous weather-related travel conditions and a couple of other conflicts have led us to cancel this gig.

We believe that the dance will still be held with music provided by some of our excellent musician friends and we encourage everyone to come out and have a good time despite our absence.

Wintergreen 2019

This was the view from our luxury (really!) housing complex last Sunday, late afternoon, just north of Bozeman. We were relaxing after finishing up the Sunday portion of a great dance weekend. We were also enjoying the balmy 40 degree temps while back home in Minnesota/Iowa things were being enveloped by the dread polar vortex.

We can't say enough good things about the wonderful folks in Bozeman. Marty Albini and the rest of the organizers were super nice. I won't attempt to name names because I know I'll forget someone, but we've never been treated so well. I will, however, single out Adam and Johanna from Sassafras Stomp who were a joy to work with as the "other" band.

The weekend finale was an hour long set with the two bands playing together (without much, actually any, preparation) and I have to say that we all managed to make it work beautifully. Sassatopia was a group to remember and I hope we get to do it again someday.

Many, many thanks also to our generous housing provider (Bozeman folks know who I'm talking about) who freely turned her house over to us and made us all feel at home. The whole weekend, from late night Thursday arrival to ridiculously early Monday morning departure, was about as good as it gets.

I know that the whole band and our buddy Ted Hodapp had a wonderful time and we hope to return before we all get too old.

In about 3 weeks we will be playing at Tapestry in Minneapolis for the Saturday contra, with Ted calling. Three weeks after that we will convene at Glen Echo Park for the start of what will surely be an epic weekend of dances and fun.

We hope to see you at one or more of these events.

Tapestry, Dec. 1, this weekend

Well, this has been a pretty sleepy blog this past year. Just a quick note to let readers know that Contratopia, in a special trio form, will be playing this Saturday at the Tapestry Folkdance Center in Minneapolis. Pat, Patrice and the great Tim Reese will provide a fresh look at familiar Contratopia tunes and, I suspect, they will also play a few of Pat O'Loughlin's recent compositions as well.

Erik Sessions and I will remain here in Decorah this weekend for various reasons, chief among them the threat of bad weather.

Looking forward, however, we just received confirmation today that we will be playing at Glen Echo Park next March 15 & 17 for contra dances both nights and the afternoon Waltztime dance as well. We will also be playing in Annapolis, MD on Saturday March 16.

In addition, we will be playing for the 2019 Wintergreen Dance Weekend in Bozeman, Montana, January 25-27. Ted Hodapp will be joining us as chief caller for the weekend and we will also get to enjoy the music of Sassafras Stomp while we are there. There are still a few openings left, so sign up soon if you are interested.

Finally, Contratopia Classic (Patrice, Pat, Erik, John) will be playing for the regular Saturday night dance at Tapestry on Feb. 23, 2019.

Hope to see some friendly faces at these upcoming dances!

Picnic & A Pint in Decorah, June 3

We are looking forward to a friendly group of smiling faces this coming Sunday from 4-7 when we play in the space pictured above as part of the Picnic & A Pint summer series at the Courtyard and Cellar in downtown Decorah. The weather looks promising and it should be a great place to relax and enjoy Contratopia playing an unusual mix of contra dance sets and couples' dance tunes.

If you are in the area already or if you feel like a visit to a lovely small town in the Driftless region (with eagles, bike trails and famous craft beer) we'll be happy to see you drop in. Bring the family or just your thirst, we'll supply the tunes.

Call of the Loon 2018

(photo of Erik Sessions at Loon 2016, courtesy of Trish Finn)

I suppose we could name it "Call of the Frozen Loon" since it looks like we might have some interesting weather this weekend. In any event we're all looking forward to playing for a big crowd at Tapestry from Friday through Sunday as part of this year's Loon.

We are especially looking forward to hearing, and meeting, the members of Elixer and caller Lisa Greenleaf. 

We're also excited that we get to work with the great Ted Hodapp this weekend. This is the first time that we won't have to travel a long distance to work a full weekend with Ted and we expect to hear a ton of new bad jokes. 

Registration for the Weekend has closed but we hope, if you are reading this, that you have already signed up and we will see you in a couple of days. Remember to bring your dancing clothes and your winter weather gear!

Ask us about our ill-fated trip to Takoma Park in March.

Winter to Spring, 2018

We are waking this blog from its long slumber to mention a few upcoming events and opportunities.

First, just two weeks from today we (including our buddy, caller Ted Hodapp) will be in the middle of another long weekend in the D.C. region. We'll be playing the Friday night contra in the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park (check our Dances page for links and details), the Shepherdstown Contra Dance on Saturday night and both the afternoon Waltz Time and evening contra dance at Glen Echo on Sunday.

From April 13-15 we will be the "local" band for the Call of the Loon weekend at Tapestry in Minneapolis, along with the mighty Elixer and callers Ted Hodapp and Lisa Greenleaf. This is always a great weekend and I think there are still a few spots left.

On Sunday afternoon June 3 we will be playing from 4-7 in the lovely courtyard of the Courtyard & Cellar in charming Decorah, IA. This will be a family-friendly "picnic and a pint" event, bring the kids or just come and enjoy the relaxed setting.

Finally, many of the readers of this blog probably already know that Patrice Pakiz, our piano, oboe and percussion player, is a member of Laura MacKenzie's fabulous band Brass Lassie. If, however,  this is your first time hearing about this group you should check them out and consider supporting their Indiegogo CD fundraiser. You'll be glad you did!

If you are able to hear us at one of these upcoming gigs please stop and say hello. We are really looking forward to playing some tunes and hope we'll see you around.

Maryland and Back

Erik and Ted playing a hambo during the Friday Night dance break.

We have all returned safe and sound from another visit to our eastern headquarters in Takoma Park. It is impossible to thank Lynn and Ted enough for their generous hospitality. They even keep two friendly cats at their house so we will have pets to play with when we visit.

The dances were all wonderful and the music was full of fun. We especially enjoyed our first band visit to Annapolis and we were able to spend a couple of hours being tourists and having a fine meal at the Galway Bay Irish Pub.

Thanks to all of our old friends who came out to dance and hear us play, and thanks to those new listeners who became friends before and after the dances and during the breaks.

We are actively trying to plan a return visit early in 2018 and we'll keep you posted about that.

We will also be playing again on April 1st at Tapestry in Minneapolis, even though we aren't yet listed on the calendar. Come out and dance if you are in the area.

Glen Echo - Annapolis, the Maryland Tour happens this weekend

The band is beginning to pack our bags, looking forward to three dances this weekend at Glen Echo Park and our first visit to Annapolis. The remarkable Ted Hodapp will be calling the contra dances while supplying foot percussion and playing the occasional hambo. Ted and Lynn, our ever-generous hosts, are trying to Contratopia-proof their humble abode. The cats have been alerted.

Here are the gig details:

The Friday Night Dance at Glen Echo Park, Glen Echo, MD (March 17);
Annapolis Contra Dance, Annapolis, MD (March 18);
Waltz Time Sunday Afternoon Dance, Glen Echo, MD (March 19)
Folklore Society of Greater Washington Sunday Night Contra and Square Dance, Glen Echo, MD (March 19)

We hope to see lots of folks at these events. It's been two years since our last visit, and we're not getting any younger. Even the weather looks promising at this point.

Stop and say hello if you come out. We'd love to see you.

Tapestry, Feb. 11 - Free Dance in Memory of Jan Greenfield

(Photo courtesy of Trish Finn)

Contratopia is honored to be playing this Saturday night for a special event at Tapestry Folkdance Center in Minneapolis. A generous donor has funded a free dance in memory of Jan Greenfield, a beloved member of the Tapestry dance community.

Jan was also a big fan of Contratopia so we are glad that can be a part of this event. Come for the whole night of dancing or just stop by for a dance or two. It's free!

This will be our first dance of 2017 and will serve as a bit of preparation for our upcoming Mid-Atlantic tour in March. It's been almost two years since we have played at Glen Echo for a contra dance and at least three since we have played for the Sunday afternoon Waltz Time. So we are looking forward to that trip.

If you are reading this on Thursday, Feb. 9 there is still time to go see Pat O'Loughlin and his brother John give a Kingston Trio tribute concert tomorrow night (the 10th) at Maggie's Farm in St. Louis Park. It's a guaranteed good time. Then stop by the free dance on Saturday to tell Pat how much you loved the show.

A Contratopia Cornucopia - This Week Only

Please join us at the Cellar in the Old Armory building in Decorah at 7:00 on Friday, Oct. 28 for A Contratopia Cornucopia, a unique combination of music and food. We will provide seasonal, organic, acoustic, mostly homegrown tunes and master chef Justin Scardina will serve up small plates of tasty dishes with a harvest theme. The Water Street Music Series is presenting this event and you can purchase advance tickets through the WSMS website.

The band is having fun designing our musical menu and we will feature some new combinations of familiar and exotic fare. This concert with food will give Contratopia a chance to mix up some of our basic ingredients to create some new flavors. We hope you will consider joining us.

We played for two dances this past weekend: Friday in Northfield, Saturday at Tapestry in Minneapolis. Both dances were tremendous fun and served as a great kickoff to our new season. Unfortunately it will be a few weeks before we get to play another dance, but it's always wonderful to wind Contratopia up again and start it spinning down the road. We hope we'll see many of you along the way in this our 17th season as a band.

Season 17 (2016-2017) Almost Here

The photo above shows the four of us, I believe, on the front porch of the house that Erik and Sara were renting outside of Decorah somewhere around the turn of the century. I think we were rehearsing that day to prepare for recording our first CD, Hands Four.

Many years later we are set to commence our 17th (although I could be off by a year or two) Fall to Spring season as Contratopia. We have a flurry of activity this month and we will be returning to the east coast in March. In between I am sure we will play a few more dances here in our home region.

Things will kick off (this should be the only football analogy) on Friday Oct. 21 with another great Harvest Stomp contra in Northfield, MN. This dance will be held at the Northfield Ballroom; the town Armory, our former site, is no longer available.

The following night, Oct. 22, we will play once again at the Tapestry Folkdance Center in Minneapolis. We have played at Tapestry many times over the years and we think of it as our group home.

On Friday Oct. 28 Patrice and Pat will travel to Decorah to join John and Erik in presenting A Contratopia Cornucopia: A Harvest of Local Food and Music, along with chef extraordinaire Justin Scardina. This will be the first event of the new season for Decorah's Water Street Music Series and will be a combination of a concert and a feast of delicious culinary creations. (Tickets are available now but seating is limited, so don't delay if you are interested.)

Looking ahead to March 2017 we are excited to be returning to the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park for contra dances on both Friday March 17 and Sunday March 19. On Saturday the 18th we will make our first visit to the contra dance in Annapolis, MD. We are also hopeful that we will once again be playing for the Sunday Waltz Time dance at Glen Echo on the afternoon of March 19.

I'm sure that we will schedule some more dances as we go along, but that's it for now. We hope you can join us for some of the fun!

Mother's Day (live from 2003)

Here's a lovely photo by Pat O'Loughlin of the iconic Highlandville Schoolhouse where we would have been playing a dance a few years ago on Derby Day (that's the first Saturday in May to you non-Louisville area folks).

I mention this today (Mother's Day 2016) because I thought it would be fun to share a live recording of the band playing our waltz "Mother's Day" back in April of 2003 at Camp Sertoma, NC during the Spring Dance Romance weekend.

The recording comes from a Sunday morning waltz session, it might be the first tune of the day. There's the occasional mistake but in general I think it sounds pretty good. Hope you enjoy the music!

https://soundcloud.com/jgoodin/mothers-day-contratopia-live-in-2003

Loon to Earth Day

Here's a fine photo of Erik Sessions as we played for part of the Friday night dance at the 2016 Call of the Loon Dance Weekend. Thanks to Trish Finn (ContraGypsy FotograFinn on Facebook) for this and several other fine shots of the band. Sharing the weekend with Wild Asparagus was great fun for us and very inspiring. Such nice folks and brilliant musicians!

In addition to getting to watch Wild Asparagus work, Erik, Patrice and John all managed to drive up to the Cedar Cultural Center on Friday to hear the last 40 minutes of Vasen's set on Friday. Also super inspiring. Thanks to Pat (who does photography at the Cedar) for helping us get in the door on short notice.

This coming Friday (April 20) we will be playing for a special Earth Dance at Carleton College in Northfield with guest fiddler Linda Breitag. Robin Nelson will once again call the dances. Teaching starts at 7:00 and the dance will be in the Cowling gymnasium on campus. We've done this before and it's always lots of fun.

We will have one final dance of the season, on June 11 at Tapestry, with Tim Reese fiddling, before we take our summer hiatus. Hope to see you at one of these events!

Northern Aire Coming Your Way

If you are in the D.C. area this week you have the opportunity to dance to the sounds of our own Pat O'Loughlin, sometimes Contratopian Tim Reese, and Bob Walser, who are touring as Northern Aire with caller Ted Hodapp.

It's probably a little late to catch them tonight in Baltimore but you can certainly hear them at Glen Echo on Friday and Sunday night. They will also be playing for the Richmond contra dance on Saturday night. The band sounds great and, if you're lucky, Ted may share a few of the new jokes he tried out last Saturday night at Tapestry in Minneapolis.

Speaking of Tapestry, Contratopia had a super good time there last weekend and the crowd was great. We also had a fine rehearsal on Saturday morning at Patrice's house and had the chance to try a few new things that night. Everyone at Tapestry seemed pretty excited about the upcoming Call of the Loon weekend with Contratopia and Wild Asparagus. Even though the dance weekend is booked to capacity I believe that they are taking names for a waiting list in case there are cancellations.

Bad News, Good News

Bad News first: we are sorry to announce that we will not be playing in Northfield on Feb. 19 because the Winter Stomp dance will not be taking place. There are perfectly good, although private, reasons for this but we hope to schedule another dance in Northfield soon.

Good News:

• Even though we won't be playing in Northfield on the 19th we will still be playing at Tapestry on Saturday Feb. 20.
• While we love all of the callers that we are privileged to work with at Tapestry we are excited to learn that we will be working with our old buddy Ted Hodapp on the 20th! 
• This will be our first time working with Ted since last winter on our short mid-Atlantic tour and our first time working with Ted at Tapestry since Feb. of 2013. So look out!
• Even though Contratopia won't be touring out East this winter, Pat's "other" band Northern Aire (featuring Bob Walser and Tim Reese) are bringing the Upper Midwest Sound out to Glen Echo and the mid-Atlantic area at the end of February. 
• We are really only a few weeks away from the Call of the Loon weekend at Tapestry in April. As you can imagine we are honored to be sharing the weekend with the great Wild Asparagus band. In addition, Pat and Northern Aire will also be featured on the Sunday of the weekend. 
• Registration for Call of the Loon has closed but I believe you can still sign up to be put on a waiting list. Hope to see you there.

Tapestry, December 12, 2015

We're just a couple of days away from the final Contratopia dance of 2015. We (featuring Erik Sessions on fiddle) will reconvene at Tapestry Folkdance Center on Saturday night for one more dance before winter arrives. Robin Nelson will be calling the dances and we'll do our best to make things fun for all.

Our Riff City CD cover is just another reminder that Contratopia CDs make great holiday gifts. We will also be offering a free copy of our Ballroom Echoes waltz CD for every copy of Riff City that is purchased at the dance on Saturday. What a deal!

We hope to see you there.

Tapestry, Nov. 21, 2015

Come on out to Tapestry on Saturday night and join us for a fun dance with David Kirchner calling and the great Tim Reese joining us on fiddle. With Tim in the mix we are sure to play a number of old Contratopia favorites along with some tunes that Tim will bring to the party.

The Riff City cover shot is a reminder that we still have a few of these CDs available for your holiday shopping. We will have plenty at the dance but you can also order the physical CD from CD Baby and you can purchase downloads from all of the usual suspects; iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, etc.

There is a lot of discussion these days in the musician community about the pros and cons of making recordings in the emerging "music business." Even the biggest names (with notable exceptions) only sell a fraction of the CDs that they used to sell. And downloads are shrinking too.

Fanfare Magazine (a great record review source) recently quoted an "executive at a top label" who reportedly said that the average number of sales for a classical CD in the U.S. is between 100 and 150 physical copies. It's not rocket science to calculate that this number of sales doesn't cover the cost of recording, or even manufacturing.

What's a band like Contratopia to make of this? We knew when we decided to record Riff City (after a 10 year break) that we wouldn't sell more than a few hundred copies. We were pretty careful with our expenses but we did use a first-rate studio (Wild Sound in Minneapolis) with great microphones and a great vibe. We all agree that it was worth the cost.

However, we would like to sell enough copies to break even, hence this long-winded sales pitch. We are still (as they love to say on public radio) short of our fund-raising goal. So, if you have enjoyed our music in the past and are trying to think of just the right present for that certain someone we have just the recording for you!

We hope to see you on Saturday night. If you can't make it this week there will another chance to dance with us on December 12. Erik Sessions will be fiddling that night and, yes, we will still have a few CDs for sale.

Harvest Stomp! 2015 in Northfield

Come join us in Northfield for another great dance at the Armory downtown on Friday night. This will be our first chance to play a dance together in several months so it's sure to be high energy music.

Hope to see you there!

Video no. 1 from concert at ArtHaus

Contratopia from Behind The Mic™ on Vimeo.

Many thanks to Al at Behind the Mic for filming, editing and uploading this fun video to his Vimeo account! This is the opening set of tunes from our ArtHaus concert on August 21: Loaves and Fishes/Too Many Goat/Fourth and Walnut. We don't often get to play together during the summer months so you can see that we were enjoying ourselves. We are hoping to see more footage from this concert over time.

Patrice needed to leave early the morning after the concert but Pat stayed around and joined Erik and me for a fun hour and a half at the Winneshiek Farmer's Market. We were fortunate to have nearly perfect weather for both events and we all had a great time.

Special thanks also to our friends at the Palisades Inn for sponsoring our concert appearance by providing lodging for our out of town band members and video crew!

Hope you enjoy the video. Thanks again to Al.

Contratopia Concert in the ArtHaus Courtyard on Friday August 21

Come on out and hear the band next Friday in the lovely courtyard next to ArtHaus on Water Street in Decorah. We plan to play two 40-45 minute sets and we will include a performance of our entire first CD, Hands Four, as part of the show. We will probably play the imaginary "first side" (tracks 1-6) of Hands Four just before the break and then open the second half with "side two" (tracks 7-11). We will play a few other tunes, including some from our current Riff City release, before and after the Hands Four recreation.

We've never done this before and we will have to brush up on a couple of arrangements before the show but I think it will all be a lot of fun. Check the ArtHaus site, linked above, for more details. Please tell your friends and, if you can, drop by and enjoy the music.

(Thanks again to Tom Gau for the use of his beautiful Hands Four cover art!)