Kaiser Family Band

LATEST NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS


2010 Happenings!

BIG NEWS!! -- It's done! Our third CD is here!! "We Do Pickin' Right" features 18 tunes, and has almost an hour of run-time. There are links to snippets of many of them on the "Tunes" page, so you can hear a bit of what's on it. As always, we feature the "high energy" style of the kids, trading the lead and featuring each instrument in turn... hammered dulcimer, violin and banjo (or guitar). I think you'll find that they've really grown with their skills and arrangements. We really like this one! :-)

July 25, 2010 (Sunday) - We'll be back again for Olde Tyme Farm Days in Canton, held at the grounds of the Travis-Bartlett house, at 500 N. Ridge Road, just north of Cherry Hill. Lots of free exhibits and fun activities, a farmers' market, and of course - US! Our concert will be from 11 - 1 at the Travis-Bartlett house itself. Free! For more info, go to http://leisure.canton-mi.org/newsroom/2010_gen_press.asp?id=6974

August 14, 2010 (Saturday) - Northeast Central Fiddlers' Convention, Hillsdale County Fairground, Hillsdale, MI. One of our favorites, and we will be their featured entertainment again this year! Come to the concert Saturday, at 5 p.m. We're really excited about this one! Please come out and enjoy a whole weekend or a day - lots of jamming, classes, and plenty of friendship and music talk. Admission likely to be $8 for the weekend; camping is an additional cost. More details to come. For more info on the Michigan Fiddlers' Association, go here: http://www.michiganfiddlers.com

August 26 - 29, 2010 -- Midland Dulcimer Festival, Midland County Fairgrounds, Midland, MI. We will be there for jamming and will probably perform on stage at least once. This is a really nice festival -- much like Evart on a smaller scale. We'll be arriving on the Wednesday before things kick into gear. Hope you can join us! For more info, go to http://folkmusicsociety.org/festival.php

OLD GREY CAT - It's here! Our second CD came out July 1, 2009. We had it to our gigs this past summer, and we were delighted with your response! Thanks to everyone for all of their encouragement! CD number 3 is about to be started! Yikes.



PAST NEWS/UPDATES


July 15 - 18, 2010 - ODPC Funfest. Evart, MI. We'll be arriving the weekend before actually, because we jam and play day and night for a week! We will be playing on stage Saturday night at approximately 10 p.m. We were stunned and overwhelmingly honored to be given the closing time slot on Saturday night this year! :-) This is the biggest and most amazing festival around. If you like to listen, learn or jam, you should go! For more info, go to http://www.dulcimers.com/evartpage.html

June 8, 2010 - Tuesday at 6 p.m. come to Kellogg Park in Plymouth and hear Kelly and Greg and the Celebration Youth Orchestras put on a great "pops" concert of movie music! Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Sound of Music, and more! Free - just bring a chair or blanket to sit on.

May 1, 2010 - North American International Banjo Convention, Dearborn, Michigan. The old GLIB Convention is reborn anew! We will be performing Saturday evening, sometime during the 7 p.m. show. There are also Friday evening and Saturday afternoon shows (though we won't be in them, they will be awesome, no doubt). We'll have CDs available. Tickets are $10 at the door for the Friday/Saturday evening shows, and $5 for the 2 p.m. Saturday matinee. You can learn more here: http://www.www.naibanjo.com

April 18, 2010 (Sunday) - Want to listen to something a little different? Come hear the Celebration Youth Orchestra members perform at the Plymouth Library's "Rhapsody" series at 3 p.m. Kelly will be performing with the Celebration Flute Choir, and Kelly and Greg will be featured soloists. Who knows, you might even hear a blue grass tune from them, to shake things up! :-) Registration is requested, but not required, and the event is FREE. You can learn more here: http://plymouthlibrary.org/events.htm

April 10, 2010 - Dulcimer at Hill Auditorium
The U of M Men's Glee Club is celebrating its 150th Anniversary this year, and will be having a special concert on Saturday April 10 at 8 p.m. at Hill Auditorium. This concert will have a special twist for dulcimer lovers! How often do you get to see a solo dulcimer player on stage, in a TUX? Ben Catt will be featured, performing two tunes with the Men's Choir. Composed by hammered dulcimer composer/player Malcolm Dalglish, these tunes will feature Ben and the the U of M Glee Club. The whole show should be fun. The tunes, especially "My Little Potato", should be a real treat. Tickets are $15 for main floor and mezzanine, balcony $5 with student ID. For more info, check http://ummgc.org

February 20, 2010 (Saturday) - Join us from 7 to 9:30 p.m. for a family evening of music and easy dancing in Livonia, Michigan! Tom Allen will be our caller for dancing even the most basic beginner can enjoy. This is an open event for families and people of all ages! Come out for an evening of old-time fun. Cost: $5/person, and ages 9 and under are free. If each family brings a snack or dessert to share (in a disposable tray) then we'll all eat well! Held at Trinity Covenant Church, 34500 Six Mile Road, Livonia. Questions? Drop us an email and we'll try to answer them for you!

January 30, 2010 (Saturday) - SnowFest! We will be playing two solo half hour shows as part of the SnowFest festivities in Frankenmuth, Michigan. The other group featured will be Sonas (DeeDee Tibbitt's group)! KFB will play at 1:30 and 3:30 in the Fischer Hall, with Sonas at 1 and 3. From 12-1, 2-3, and 4-5 there will be a large group of musicians (including us) playing for the public. Since this is a great place to come in out of the cold and warm up, and has lots of chairs, it's often a full house and very popular. SnowFest is a fun event for the whole family. Come see us in Frankenmuth if you can! Here is a link to info about the SnowFest event (though the traditional music isn't on the calendar yet). http://www.zehnders.com/snowfest/

September, 2009 -- Sigh.... It's time to go back to school. We like school, but we like music and gigs too.... and when school starts, festivals stop, and so do most of our gigs. We are still available for the occasional event, but the big stuff is over for the season. Thanks to everyone who came to see us play!

August 27 - 30, 2009 -- Midland Dulcimer Festival, Midland County Fairgrounds, Midland, MI. We will be there for jamming and will perform on stage at least once. This is a really nice festival -- much like Evart on a smaller scale. We'll be arriving on the Wednesday before things kick into gear. Hope you can join us! For more info, go to http://folkmusicsociety.org/festival.php

August 8, 2009, 5 p.m. (Saturday) - Fiddler's Convention, Hillsdale, MI. We will be playing a concert from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Hillsdale Co. Fairgrounds. Free and fun. We'll also be there for the weekend for the festival, and giving some workshops. Come see us! For general info about this group and the festival they hold, go to http://www.michiganfiddlers.com

July 26 (Sunday) - Canton, Michigan, at the Travis Bartlett House. We're booked for a two-hour show, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. More details to follow, but it will be free, and open to the public. There will also be a Farmer's Market that day, so there will be lots to do.

July 15 - 19 - ODPC Funfest. Evart, MI. We'll be arriving the weekend before actually, because we jam and play day and night for a week! We will be playing on stage either Friday or Saturday evening, and perhaps some other times as well. No idea when yet, of course! :-) This is the biggest and most amazing festival around. Kelly will even be teaching a workshop or two for fiddle players. If you like to listen, learn or jam, you should go! For more info, go to http://www.dulcimers.com/evartpage.php

July 3 (Friday) - The Kaiser Family Band will be playing live on the radio for the "Off the Kuf" show on WKUF in Flint. You can listen live at their website, from 7 - 9:00 a.m., or you can come to the Good Beans Cafe and Coffee Shop, 328 N. Grand Traverse, in Flint and listen in person. For more info at: http://www.wkuf.org Click on the big blue button on the right to listen over the internet!

May 22-24 - We made our way to the Fiddlers' Grove Festival in North Carolina, where we made some new friends, jammed a bunch, had a family reunion, and competed in several competitions. The kids - and just the three kids - competed in the Junior Old Time Band event and called themselves "String Theory". They won first place! Ben was also first in hammered dulcimer!

May, 2009 - It's coming down to the wire, and we hope to make in time for Evart.... with our SECOND CD. Most of the songs are recorded, many are mastered, and much of the art work is done. Our new CD will be called Old Grey Cat, and will feature 18 tunes/medleys, with all our usual instruments plus a saxophone for one, and some 12-string guitar as well. We really are happy with the tunes so far. It's a nice blend of all the things we like to play: traditional old-time favorites, banjo favorites, and some contemporary acoustic bluegrass tunes as well. We hope you'll like it as well! We should have the CD available for sale when we get to Evart for the ODPC Funfest in July. Thanks to everyone for all of their encouragement!

May 18 and 19 (Monday and Tuesday) - Kelly will be playing a Vivaldi Concerto on violin, along with a flute player, as a featured performer with the Plymouth Symphony in their "Koncert for Kids". Starting in 2007, the Plymouth Symphony has had a competition for the honor of performing with them for this concert. The "Koncert for Kids" brings the Plymouth Symphony to all the 4th grade students in the Plymouth-Canton and Wayne-Westland school districts. Kelly and a fellow violinists were the winners in 2007, and this year she and a flute player friend of hers (April) were the winners (previous winners can not compete the following year, and can never compete with the same person again; they also can not compete as a soloist). So Kelly and April will be the featured soloists for the concert, with the entire Plymouth Symphony behind them! It's an incredible experience! On Monday, at 9:30 a.m. they will play in Wayne; on Tuesday at 9:30 they will play in Canton. There is very limited seating for non-students.

April 25 (Saturday) -- Great Lakes International Banjo Convention --We will be playing in the Saturday 7 p.m. show at GLIB this year. Very cool! :-) GLIB has a web site this year for more info at: http://www.glibanjo.com

March 17 (Tuesday) --Happy St. Patrick's Day! The Kaiser Family Band will be playing live on the radio for the "Off the Kuf" show on WKUF in Flint. You can listen live at their website, from 8 - 8:30 a.m., and they will be featuring tunes from our band on Tuesdays. For more info at: http://www.wkuf.org Click on the big blue button on the right to listen over the internet!

January 30 - February 3, 2009 -- Kelly will be in the pit orchestra for a production of West Side Story at the Cherry Hill Village Theater. It should be a great show -- if you go, look down in the pit at intermssion and say hi to the violinist! :-) Tickets are $15 and shows are Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 31 at 2 and 7 p.m., Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m., with school shows at 9:30 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday. Check the theater for ticket availability because some shows are likely to sell out. For more info, go to the Cherry Hill Village website.

January, 2009 -- Happy 16th Birthday, Kelly!

December 13, 2008 -- Cherry Hill Village Christmas Home Tour, Canton, MI; Home #8. We will be playing from 5 to 7 p.m. Admission Charge.

November, 2008 -- Happy 14th Birthday, Greg!

October, 2008 -- Happy 19th Birthday, Ben! And to Grandma Catt too (though she's a bit past 19 now). :-)

October and beyond -- As school comes into session, the three teen members of the band (and the homeschooling mom of two of them) will return to school duties. While we have time for some occasional weekend gigs, the schedule will slow way down. Darn it. :-)

October 25, 2008 -- Private Party, Mt. Morris, MI

October 4, 2008 -- Kelly did it again! Today she won 1st place in the Michigan State Championship Old Time Fiddler's Contest. This is her second time entering, and her second 1st place win. This year Greg was her accompanist, and did an outstanding job as well. We are very, very proud of both of them.

September 13, 2008 -- We are so excited to be featured performers at the Flint Banjo Club's annual Banjorama! The Kaiser Family Band will be performing for 45 mintues to an hour. This is an indoor concert that takes place rain or shine. Tickets often sell out early, so order them by mail when they become available in mid-summer. For more info, go to their web site at http://www.flintbanjoclub.com

August 24, 2008 (Sunday) -- Village Faire at Cherry Hill. The Kaiser Family Band will be featured performers the Village Faire, held at the Travis-Bartlett House, located at 500 N. Ridge Road, just north of Cherry Hill, in Canton. We will be performing from about 12:30 p.m. to about 4:45 p.m., with some short breaks. (They are graciously allowing us some flexibility in our start time as we return from Midland that morning!) Free and open to all, with some cool vendors and demonstrations. There will also be a Farmer's Market in the vicinity until 2 p.m. We will have CDs available. No show in the event of severe weather or heavy rain. Canton Township has more info at http://leisure.canton-mi.org/familyfirst.asp

August 21 -24 -- Hope to see you at the Midland Dulcimer Festival! We'll be there for jamming and performing and to kick back and jam with our friends! We'll have CDs available, if you care to look us up! http://www.folkmusicsociety.org/festival.php

August 16 - Private Party (wedding): Motor City Casino Hotel Ballroom

August 8-9, 2008 -- Hope to see you at the North Central Fiddler's Convention in Hillsdale. We'll be performing at the pavillion and around for the jamming! CDs will be available. http://www.michiganfiddlers.com

August 3, 2008 (Sunday) - We will be performing at the Canton Farmer's Market and the Canton Historical Walking Tour. Come see us at the Travis-Bartlett House, located at 500 N. Ridge Road, just north of Cherry Hill, in Canton. We will be performing from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with some short breaks. Free and open to all, with some cool vendors as well! We will have CDs available. No show in the event of severe weather or heavy rain.

July 27, 2008 (Sunday) -- We will performing at the Canton Farmer's Market and Olde Time Farm Days. Come see us at the Travis-Bartlett House, located at 500 N. Ridge Road, just north of Cherry Hill, in Canton. We will be performing from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with some short breaks. Free and open to all, with some cool vendors as well! We will have CDs available. No show in the event of severe weather or heavy rain.

July 12-16 (prefestival) and July 17-20 (festival)-- Evart! We'll be heading up early for the ODPC Evart Dulcimer Funfest! We'll be dedicated jammers, morning, noon and night! We will have CDs available before the festival, July 12-16, and during the festival we will be selling them after our on stage performances. Hope we can see you there! It's a blast! For more info, go to http://www.dulcimers.com/evartpage.php

July 10, 2008 - IT"S READY! Our first CD is finally available! It was a lot of work, a lot of late nights, a lot of worry.... and a whole lot of fun. We are really pleased with how it turned out, and we hope you will be too. You can click on the "Our CD" button at the top of this page for info on how to order one, or where to pick one up where we are playing. We will certainly have CDs available at the Banjorama in September, but we'll have them at numerous other gigs and festivals as well. Email us for details. We hope you like it!

June 18, 2008 -- It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of our dear friend and mentor, Derek Channing. Derek was much more than a fantastic musician. He was an all around great guy, and a true gentleman. Every one who met him was enriched by knowing him, and he was truly one of a kind. He would do anything to help a friend. We first knew him as leader of the Next Generation Banjo Band, of which Kelly and Greg were members since Derek started it four years ago. From there, Derek became an important part of our lives in many other ways as well. We will miss him each day, and we will continue to try and follow the wonderful example he set both as a musician and as a person. Thank you, Derek. You will be missed my many.

June, 2008 - CD Update -- Whew! We knew this would be work, but wow! The CD is coming along, and we hope to finish it within the next two weeks. It looks like it will feature 18 tunes -- we like people to get their money's worth! -- and be titled "Now in Color". You'll have to read the liner notes to find out why! :-) The CD should be available for sale in July, and if all goes well, we will have a link to sell it from this web site as well.

May, 2008 - Congratulations to Greg on winning 3rd place in the national Fretted Instrument Guild (FIGA) competition for youth. He received his certificate on stage, during the Great Lakes International Banjo Convention, after the Kaiser Family Band performed there. In May, he received his medal. Thanks to our friend Derek Channing for encouraging Greg to compete this year.

April 26, 2008 -- Come see us play at the Great Lakes International Banjo Convention. The Kaiser Family Band will perform at the afternoon concert, and Kelly and Greg will perform with the Next Generation Banjo Band at the evening concert. The Banjo Convention is a lot of fun, and the Saturday afternoon concert is FREE.
Hope to see you there!

April 12, 2008 - We are delighted to have been asked to play for an anniversary celebration at Uncle Carl's Dulcimer Club in Spring Arbor, MI. There will be an afteroon of jamming, a pot luck, and the we will perform for about an hour. Uncle Carl's is an awesome club, so it should be a blast. We hope you can come see us. Details about Uncle Carl's can be found at http://www.unclecarls.org

April 6, 2008 - If you like classical music, we hope you'll join us at the Plymouth Library for their 2nd "Rhapsody at the Library" concert. This one features four classical musicians, each performing for 15 minutes.... and Kelly will be the final featured performer. The concert is free, and you don't need to be a Plymouth resident to attend. You can register online at plymouthlibrary.org. Update: The concert went wonderfully, and the group has already been invited back for next year!

February, 2008 -- Well, we're doing it! We were pleased that so many people asked for it, so we're finally starting to get things together to record our first CD. We've talked to some of the composers for a few of the songs we want to feature, and we've got one song most of the way done. Whew! This is hard work! We hope to have it finished by late June. Hope.

February 3, 2008 -- Kelly competed in the Plymouth Canton Symphony Society's Youth Artist Competition, playing Viotti's Concerto No. 23 in G major. She won Honorable Mention. She had to rush in and play then rush over to the Theatre for a show starting minutes later. It was a busy couple weeks!

February 1-5, 2008 -- Kelly is playing as part of the Canton Concert Band as the pit orchestra for Everafter Productions Les Miserables at the Cherry Hill Village Theatre. Come see the show -- it's awesome!

January, 2008 -- Happy 15th Birthday, Kelly!

November, 2007 -- Happy 13th Birthday, Greg!

October, 2007 -- Happy 18th Birthday, Ben!

October 6, 2007 -- Today Kelly competed in the Michigan Championship Old Time Fiddlers Contest, and she won First Place! It was her first competition, and we had to talk her into it, but she did great. There were competitors from around the state, and it was open to all ages. So now Kelly can say she is the Champion Michigan Old Time Fiddler for 2007! We're so proud of her!

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