Choose Your Partners!: Contra Dance & Square Dance Music of New Hampshire

by CHOOSE YOUR PARTNERS: CONTRA DA

Overview

New Hampshire is one of the American locales in which square dancing is most popular, both in contra dances (in which two lines of partners face each other) and square dances (in which four couples arrange themselves in a square formation). This 67-minute disc has 16 tunes suitable for the purpose, recorded in early 1999 by half a dozen bands active in the New Hampshire square dancing community. It's heaviest, as you might expect, on the fiddle, also including some dulcimer, mandolin, flute, and other instrumentation. The repertoire concentrates on music derived from British Isles and Celtic folk, including reels, jigs, and a couple of slower waltzes that break up the pace nicely; some of the songs include dance callers. It's more fun to dance to than listen to, but it's well recorded and annotated, and indeed probably good fodder for practicing these styles of folk dancing. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	06/22/1999
Label:	Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
UPC:	0093074012628
Rank:	110292

Tracks

1. Farewell to Whiskey/Silver and Gold Two Step
2. Money Musk
3. The Woman Fiddler/Munster Lass/Rock Valley/Hullichan's Jig  - Deanna Stiles
4. Larry O'Gaff  -  2 Fiddles
5. Maggie in the Woods  -  2 Fiddles
6. Mouth of the Tobique/R¿¿el des Jeunes Mari¿¿s/R¿¿el de Montr¿¿al
7. Lady of the Lake/Fisher's Hornpipe/Red-Haired Boy/Miss Thompson
8. Rosin the Beau/Waltz for Jane  - Rodney Miller
9. Golden Slippers
10. Crooked Stove Pipe
11. Shandon Bells/Out on the Ocean/The Lame Duck/Mug of Brown Ale
12. Fireman's Reel/Rising of the Lamprey/Silver Spear/High ...
13. Neil Vincent's Welcome to Earth/Pig Town Fling/Durang's Hornpipe/Peace
14. The Battering Ram/The Concertina Reel/Kiley's Reel
15. Cat in the Hooper/Coleraine/Shores of Lough Gowna
16. Amelia/Great Memories  - Bob McQuillen

Album Credits

Performance Credits

2 Fiddles   Primary Artist
Dave Bradely   Bass (Upright)
Steve Panish   Fiddle
Ricky Barrow   Mandolin,Mandola
Mary Cay   Brass,Piano
Dudley Laufman   Fiddle,Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Deanna Stiles   Flute,Piccolo
Carol Compton   Piano
Steve Zakon-Anderson   Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Francis Orzechowski   Piano
David Cousineau   Bass (Upright),Bass (Electric)
Alive Atherton   Piano
Burt Feintuch   Fiddle
Bob McQuillen   Piano
Alan Graham   Drums,Guitar
Peter Yarensky   Dulcimer,Hammer Dulcimer,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Sarah Hydorn   Flute
Stuart Kenney   Piano (Electric),Electric Upright Bass
Mary DesRosiers   Vocals,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part
Margaret Fanning   Dulcimer,Hammer Dulcimer
Lester Bradely   Guitar,Vocals
Jane Orzechowski   Fiddle
Andrew Stewart   Fiddle
David Murray   Flute
Rodney Miller   Fiddle
Terry Traub   Piano
Dave Bradley   Bass (Acoustic)
Alice Atherton   Piano
Lester Bradley   Guitar,Speech/Speaker/Speaking Part

Technical Credits

Jim Amweg   Dancer
Jessie Blackman   Dancer
Ian Blackman   Dancer
Deanna Stiles   Composer
Christopher Amweg   Dancer
Mary Monseur   Production Coordination
Ginger Blackman   Dancer
Arthur Tufts   Photo Courtesy
Burt Feintuch   Assistant
Anthony Seeger   Production Supervisor
Gerry Putnam   Mixing,Engineer
Bob McQuillen   Composer
D.A. Sonneborn   Production Supervisor
Rick Watson   Mixing,Engineer
Joe Peidle   Photography
Jack Beard   Annotation,Liner Notes,Introduction,Associate Producer
Kimber Amweg   Dancer
Jane Orzechowski   Dancer
Stephanie Smith   Assistant,Production Coordination
Andrew Stewart   Assistant
Charlie Pilzer   Mastering
Pete Reiniger   Sound Advisor,Sound Production
Rodney Miller   Composer
Thomas Vennum, Jr.   Editorial Assistant
Carol Dirga   Design,Artwork,Layout Direction
Johanna Blackman   Dancer
2 Fiddles   Performer
Lynn Martin   Producer,Annotation,Liner Notes,Photography,Introduction
Charlene Amweg   Dancer
Kate Van Winkel Keller   Annotation,Liner Notes,Introduction